"Tengyur translation initiative; Complete works of Jey Tsong Khappa and Sons collections."

This is the first in a two-volume annotated translation of Tsong Khapa's Illumination of the Hidden Meaning (sbas don kun sel). A magnificent and massive commentary on the Cakrasamvara Tantra, this is first English translation of a work that marks a milestone in the Tibetan assimilation of the Indian Buddhist tantras. This first volume, which includes Tsong Khapa's detailed introduction to chapters 1 to 24 of the 51 chapter root tantra, covers the history of the tradition, its interpretation, and a range of topics including the construction of the mandala, the consecration therein, and the decoding of mantras and their ritual applications, as well as extensive details concerning the clans of the yoginis and the procedures to win their favor. David B. Gray situates the work in context and explores in depth the sources used in composing this commentary. He also provides detailed notes, a trilingual English-Tibetan-Sanskrit glossary, and an appendix that includes a translation and a critical edition of the Laghusamvaratantrapatalabhisandhi, a synopsis of the Cakrasamvara Tantra composed by Sumatikirti, which is quoted in its entirety by Tsong Khapa in his commentary. This work will be followed by a second volume of the annotated translation subtitled Yogic Vows, Conduct, and Ritual Praxis (An Annotated Translation of Chapters 25-51) and a third volume that will include a critical edition of the entire Tibetan text. Published by American Institute of Buddhist Studies (AIBS)

This is the second volume of the annotated translation of Tsong Khapa's Illumination of the Hidden Meaning (sbas don kun gsal), a magnificent commentary on the Chakrasamvara Tantra. This is the first English translation of this important work, which marked a milestone in the Tibetan understanding and practice of the Indian Buddhist Tantras. It covers the vows, observances, and conduct of the initiated yogī, particularly in relation to the yoginīs, whose favor he must cultivate. It describes in great detail the rites of the tradition, including homa fire sacrifice and the uses of the mantras of the mandala's main deities. The author provides a trilingual English-Tibetan-Sanskrit glossary. Together with the present author's related publications in this series--including translations of the Root Tantra (2007), the critically edited texts in Sanskrit and Tibetan of the Root Tantra (2012), and the first volume of this master Tibetan commentary (2017)--the reader will have the first full study of this important Tantra available in English.

This is the first complete, critical English translation of the Cakrasamvara Tantra, also known as the Sriherukabhidhana and Laghusamvara. This is the first complete, critical English translation of the Cakrasamvara Tantra. Composed in India during the eighth century, it is a foundational scripture of one of the most important Indian Buddhist tantric traditions. The translator’s introductory essay provides an analysis of the historical and intellectual contexts in which the Cakrasamvara Tantra was composed. The heavily annotated translation was made on the basis of the surviving Sanskrit manuscripts of the tantra and its commentaries, parallel passages in related explanatory tantras (vyakhyatantra), two different Tibetan translations of the root text, and several Tibetan commentaries. Includes a trilingual glossary and index. The author has also translated the commentary on this tantra by the great Tibetan scholar Tsong Khapa (1357–1419), Illumination of the Hidden Meaning, now published in two companion volumes. Taken together, these three volumes provide the reader with the first full study in English of this pivotal tantra. Composed in India during the late eighth or early ninth century, the Cakrasamvara Tantra is a foundational scripture of one of the most important Indian Buddhist tantric traditions, as evidenced by the vast number of commentaries and ritual literature associated with it. Along with the Hevajra Tantra, it is one of the earliest and most influential of the yogini tantras, a genre of tantric Buddhist scripture that emphasizes female deities, particularly the often fiercely depicted yoginis and ?akinis.