A collection of texts and commentaries from the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism on Dzogchen, or Great Perfection teachings, which introduce us to our most basic nature—the clear and pristine awareness that is the nature of the mind. The Treasury of Precious Instructions, compiled by Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Taye, one of Tibet’s greatest Buddhist masters, is a shining jewel of Tibetan literature, presenting essential teachings from the entire spectrum of practice lineages that existed in Tibet. In its eighteen volumes, Kongtrul brings together some of the most important texts on key topics of Buddhist thought and practice as well as authoring significant new sections of his own. Teachings and practices of the Nyingma lineage, the first of the eight lineages, are presented in the first and second volumes of the series, the second one of which is translated here. These texts are all related to the three yogas: Mahāyoga, Anuyoga, and Atiyoga. The first Nyingma volume includes works that are representative of the first two yogas, while this volume focuses especially on those belonging to the “pith-instruction class,” specifically those related to the unsurpassed secret section—the Heart Essence, or Nyingtik. According to the understanding of the Nyingma school, the most profound tenet of the Buddha’s teachings is that within the mind of every being—as its bedrock, fundamental stratum, or element—lies the buddha nature. The teachings of this volume each present this essential tenet in a variety of ways and are composed by various Tibetan and Indian masters, including the Buddha, Garab Dorje, Mañjuśrīmitra, Śrīsiṃha, Jñānasūtra, Padmasambhava, Longchen Rabjam, and Jamgon Kongtrul Lodrö Taye.

A collection of texts and commentaries from the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism on Dzogchen, or Great Perfection teachings, which introduce us to our most basic nature—the clear and pristine awareness that is the nature of the mind. The Treasury of Precious Instructions, compiled by Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Taye, one of Tibet’s greatest Buddhist masters, is a shining jewel of Tibetan literature, presenting essential teachings from the entire spectrum of practice lineages that existed in Tibet. In its eighteen volumes, Kongtrul brings together some of the most important texts on key topics of Buddhist thought and practice as well as authoring significant new sections of his own. Teachings and practices of the Nyingma lineage, the first of the eight lineages, are presented in the first and second volumes of the series, the second one of which is translated here. These texts are all related to the three yogas: Mahāyoga, Anuyoga, and Atiyoga. The first Nyingma volume includes works that are representative of the first two yogas, while this volume focuses especially on those belonging to the “pith-instruction class,” specifically those related to the unsurpassed secret section—the Heart Essence, or Nyingtik. According to the understanding of the Nyingma school, the most profound tenet of the Buddha’s teachings is that within the mind of every being—as its bedrock, fundamental stratum, or element—lies the buddha nature. The teachings of this volume each present this essential tenet in a variety of ways and are composed by various Tibetan and Indian masters, including the Buddha, Garab Dorje, Mañjuśrīmitra, Śrīsiṃha, Jñānasūtra, Padmasambhava, Longchen Rabjam, and Jamgon Kongtrul Lodrö Taye.

In 1838, Choying Tobden Dorje, a Buddhist yogi-scholar of eastern Tibet, completed a multivolume masterwork that traces the entire path of the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism from beginning to end. Written by a lay practitioner for laypeople, it was intended to be accessible, informative, inspirational, and above all, practical. Its twenty-five books, or topical divisions, offer a comprehensive and detailed view of the Buddhist path according to the early translation school of Tibetan Buddhism, spanning the vast range of Buddhist teachings from the initial steps to the highest esoteric teachings of great perfection. Choying Tobden Dorje’s magnum opus appears in English here for the first time. In Foundations of the Buddhist Path, which covers the first ten of the treatise’s twenty-five books, the author surveys the scope of the entire work and then begins with the topics that set the cornerstones for all subsequent Buddhist practice: what constitutes proper spiritual apprenticeship, how to receive the teachings, how to make the best use of this life, and how to motivate ourselves to generate effort on the spiritual path. He then describes refuge and the vows that define the path of individual liberation before turning to the bodhisattva’s way—buddha nature, how to uplift the mind to supreme awakening, the bodhisattva’s training, and the attainments of the paths leading to supreme awakening.

A classic collection of writings on the meditation practice and theory of Dzogchen, the Great Perfection, by the celebrated fourteenth-century scholar and adept Longchen Rabjam (Longchenpa). This classic collection of texts on the meditation practice and theory of Dzogchen presents the Great Perfection through the writings of its supreme authority, the fourteenth-century Tibetan scholar and visionary Longchen Rabjam. The pinnacle of Vajrayana practice in the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, Dzogchen embodies a system of training that awakens the intrinsic nature of the mind to reveal its original essence, utterly perfect and free from all duality—buddha nature, or buddhahood itself. In The Practice of Dzogchen, Tulku Thondup translates essential passages from Longchen Rabjam’s voluminous writings to illuminate and clarify this teaching. He also draws on the works of later masters of the tradition, placing Dzogchen in context both in relation to other schools of Buddhism and in relation to the nine-vehicle outline of the Buddhist path described in the Nyingma tradition. This expanded edition includes Counsel for Liberation, Longchenpa’s poetic exhortation to readers to quickly enter the path of liberation, the first step toward the summit of Dzogchen practice.

The Dark Red Amulet presents the Vajrayana practice of Vajrakilaya according to the oral transmission lineage of the great seventeenth-century treasure-revealer Tsasum Lingpa. Vajrakilaya embodies the enlightened activity of all the buddhas that subjugates delusion and negativity in order to clear obstacles to spiritual practice. The essential purpose of Vajrakilaya practice is to discover the absolute vajra nature that will transform every duality hindrance into clear wisdom and compassion. In this text, the renowned scholars and meditation masters Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche and Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche present the history of this lineage and the miraculous story of how Tsasum Lingpa revealed this terma teaching. Their line-by-line commentary on the short and condensed sadhanas provides an invaluable guide for practitioners to combine the skillful means of compassion and wisdom that are the foundation of Tibetan Buddhism.

Just as the images on television are nothing more than light, so are our experiences merely the dance of awareness. Often we form attachments to or feel enslaved by these experiences. But they are only reflections. As easily as television pictures vanish when the channel is changed, the power of our experiences fades if we penetrate to the heart of reality—the light of the natural mind within everyone. You Are the Eyes of the World presents a method for discovering awareness everywhere, all the time. This book does not discuss how to turn ordinary life off, and it does not describe how to create beautiful spiritual experiences; it shows how to live within the source of all life, the unified field where experience takes place.

In Tibetan religious literature, Jamgön Kongtrül's Treasury of Knowledge in ten books stands out as a unique, encyclopedic masterpiece embodying the entire range of Buddhist teachings as they were preserved in Tibet. In his monumental Treasury of Knowledge, Jamgön Kongtrül presents a complete account of the major lines of thought and practice that comprise Tibetan Buddhism. This first book of The Treasury which serves as a prelude to Kongtrul's survey describes four major cosmological systems found in the Tibetan tradition—those associated with the Hinayana, Mahayana, Kalachakra, and Dzogchen teachings. Each of these cosmologies shows how the world arises from mind, whether through the accumulated results of past actions or from the constant striving of awareness to know itself.