"Dispeller of Obstacles" is the first in a new series that will include video, audio, photos, and commentaries to support practice and is the heart essence of the accomplished 9th-century master Padmasambhava. This hidden treasure is a revelation with a rich history that is explained in the book. In addition to the root text and classical commentaries by Chokgyur Lingpa and Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, the treasure-revealers themselves, there are also explanations by modern-day masters such as Tulku Urgyen and Orgyen Topgyal Rinpoches. This extensive cycle contains teachings and practices for the preliminaries up to and including Dzogchen. Linking to a fresh treasure has the power to imbue us with hot and juicy blessings that invigorate our being and generate devotion and joy. Just as we prefer to have fresh food, these treasure teachings are endowed with a very special quality that has not been interpolated by anyone else, but has come directly from Padmasambhava by means of one of his disciples appearing as a present-day incarnation. The teaching is then spread to people for their immediate practice.

Tara is an emanation of the mother of all the Buddhas of the three times. She carries out all their activities, dispelling the obstacles created through the eight or 16 types of fear. When anyone supplicates Tara, her response is swift. The activities resulting from her aspirations are extraordinary, and there is ample evidence of this, right up to the present day. The special quality of Tara is her extraordinary compassionate resolve to benefit all beings by removing whatever causes them to feel anxious or afraid. Tara is the heroine who swiftly carries out the activities of all the Buddhas. She is the very identity of enlightened activity -- beyond that which we can mentally imagine or fathom -- and has incredible virtues that surpass any thought. In short, through the symbolic meaning, you realize the true state of original wakefulness. This book gives the devotee the tools to apply the great energy and vitality of Tara in practice. Offering an overview of the many practices associated with this incredible Buddha, it gives of the gift of enlightenment into the palm of the readers' hand and affords the possibility to benefit others.

The vow to perfect oneself in order to perfect others is called the thought of enlightenment or bodhichitta. This implies that every single action word or thought even the most trivial is dedicated to the good of all beings. To accomplish the good of others, we must first perfect ourselves by purifying and transforming our minds. This is the aim of what we call the preliminary practices, which establish the foundations of all spiritual progress. In this book, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche explains a key practice text composed by Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo (1820-1892) on the Vajrayana preliminaries: taking refuge, generating the thought of achieving enlightenment for the sake of all beings, performing the meditation, and recitation of Vajrasattva to remove hindrances on the path to enlightenment, offering the mandala to accumulate merit and wisdom, and developing proper reliance on a spiritual teacher. Clear, direct, and personal, these instructions illuminate the heart of Vajrayana practice. Included here are the Tibetan text as well as the mantras and prayers commonly recited in conjunction with this practice.