The Mahamudra path of direct perception is the pre-eminent method of the Dakpo Kagyu tradition. This definitive manual systematically explains its approach to meditation, complete with definitions, pointing-out instructions, and advice for the many pitfalls and errors that beset practitioners. Central to these errors is our failure to acknowledge the difference between understanding and experience, and our tendency to fixate on meditative experiences and mistake them for realization. This translation conveys the freshness and immediacy of these instructions. Belonging to the generation of teachers to first bring Tibetan Buddhism across cultures, Traleg Kyabgon (1955-2012) presents these Mahamudra instructions in a direct, relaxed, and intimate style.

Mahāmudrā or the great Seal, refers to a Mahayana Buddhist system of meditation on nature of the mind and is undertaken for realising Enlightenment. Taught by Buddha manifesting in the form of Vajradhara, its lineage was passed in India from Tilopa to Naropa to Marpa, and then in Tibet to Mila-repa and Gompa-pa, author of The Jewel Ornament of Liberation. The specific lineage represented here is that of the Karma Ka-gyü which passed from Gampo-pa to the First Karmapa and then through successive Gurus until the present day. This text by the Ninth Karmapa (1556-1603) is one of the most famous expositions of this meditational system. It covers both the preliminary practices as well as the actual Mahāmudrā meditations of mental quiescence (samatha) and penetrative insight (Vipasyana). Explaining the stages and paths as travelled in this system, it represents a complete path to Enlightenment. Accompanying the root text is a commentary given orally by Beru Khyentse Rinpoche, based on the teachings of his Guru, His Holiness the Sixteenth Karmapa. As a proper relation with a Guru is essential for realising Mahāmudrā, also included is the basic text on Guru-devotion by the first century B.C. Indian Master Aśvaghoṣa with an oral commentary by Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey. This work is published under the auspices of the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to make available living teachings from the many traditions of Buddhism as preserved in Tibet.

Mahamudra is the first English translation of a major Tibetan Buddhist presentation of the theory and practice of meditation-a manual detailing the various stages and practices for training the advanced student. The original Tibetan text of nearly 800 pages was composed by Takpo Tashi Namgyal (1512-1587), a great lama and a scholar of the kagyu sect of Tibetan Buddhism. His text is so vast and thorough in scope that it is still the primary source used by living Tibetan meditation masters in instructing their disciples. The first major text representing the meditational methods of both mahayana and vajrayana Buddhism to appear in English, Mahamudra is an invaluable guide for advanced students, scholars, and Buddhist practitioners. Mahamudra is the first english translation of a major Tibetan Buddhist presentation of the theory and practice of meditation-a manual detailing the various stages and practices for training the advanced student. The original Tibetan text of student. The original Tibetan text of nearly 800 pages was composed by Takpo Tashi Namgyal (1512-1587) a great lama and a scholar of the Kagyu sect of Tibetan Buddhism. The first major text representing the meditational methods of both mahayana and vajrayana Buddhism to appear in english. Mahamudra is an invaluable guide for advanced students, scholars, and buddhist practitionaers.

A Buddhist Classic A practical manual for both teacher and student alike, Clarifying the Natural State covers the path from mindfulness to complete enlightenment, simply and methodically. Presenting the profound and ultimate instructions of Mahamudra, it embodies the realization of India and Tibet's greatest masters. The words of Dakpo Tashi Namgyal are unique. Adorned with plenty of pithy advice out of his personal experience, practitioners are greatly benefited by his instructions on how to remove hindrances and progress further. His methods for practicing Mahamudra are preeminent. This book is indispensable as it focuses exclusively on practice. -Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche Elevate your experience and remain wide open like the sky. Expand your mindfulness and remain pervasive like the earth. Steady your attention and remain unshakable like a mountain. Brighten your awareness and remain shining like a flame. Clear your thought free wakefulness and remain lucid like a crystal. - Dakpo Tashi Namgyal 16th Century

Mahamudra practice can lead to a profound realization, but it is also a peaceful and gentle practice.

This guidebook for cultivating the meditative practices of stability and insight—the first major work from the Drukpa Kagyu lineage to become available in English—stands out among works of its kind as one of the clearest and most comprehensive presentations of coemergence, or mahamudra. In it, the eighteenth-century Tibetan master Ngawang Kunga Tenzin, the Third Khamtrul Rinpoche, details a step-by-step program of spiritual exercises that bring the meditator directly to clear realization of the fully perfect, ever-present, nondual nature of mind. Beginning with the close relationship between phenomena and mind and the immense benefits of meditating on the nature of mind, the Third Khamtrul Rinpoche offers careful instructions on the four yogas of mahamudra together with advice on how to recognize genuine progress and how to remove obstacles that arise during meditation. Characteristic of the Drukpa Kagyu approach is that, even from the earliest stages of training, the author explains how all experience, thoughts, and perceptions may be used as the path to enlightenment from the perspective of insight into the nature of mind.

The Ocean of Definitive Meaning by the Ninth Karmapa (1556–1603) is the most profound and famous text on Mahamudra ever written and is of vital importance in the living Kagyu tradition. It offers a detailed, uniquely comprehensive presentation of instruction on both the view and the practice. In the teachings contained in this book, Thrangu Rinpoche has distilled the essence of the Ninth Karmapa's massive text into manageable proportions and has given pointed guidance on the implementation of its instruction. According to Thrangu Rinpoche, Mahamudra practice is especially appropriate for Westerners and contemporary practitioners because it can be realized in the context of virtually any lifestyle. Mahamudra dissolves the artificial separation between phenomena and emptiness, revealing the radiant display of mind. The Ninth Karmapa's text has traditionally been available only to advanced students. However, Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche has kindly consented to the publication of these core teachings on the text, which he gave in the context of a retreat he led in 2001 in the mountains of British Columbia for 140 Western students. His compelling presentation provides teachers and students with a systematic approach to some of the highest practices in the Kagyu tradition. Thrangu Rinpoche's extraordinary wisdom and insight make this new commentary a peerless jewel in the canons of spiritual literature.