Marpa Kagyu Part 1

A translation from Tibetan of an eighteenth-century compilation by one of Tibet's greatest Buddhist masters of practice texts of the Marpa Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. The Treasury of Precious Instructions 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. The seventh volume of the series, Marpa Kagyu, is the first of four volumes that present a selection of core instructions from the Marpa Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. This lineage is named for the eleventh-century Tibetan Marpa Chökyi Lodrö of Lhodrak who traveled to India to study the sūtras and tantras with many scholar-siddhas, the foremost being Nāropa and Maitrīpa. The first part of this volume contains source texts on mahāmudrā and the six dharmas by such famous masters as Saraha and Tilopa. The second part begins with a collection of sādhanas and abhisekas related to the Root Cakrasamvara Aural Transmissions, which are the means for maturing, or empowering, students. It is followed by the liberating instructions, first from the Rechung Aural Transmission. This section on instructions continues in the following three Marpa Kagyu volumes. Also included are lineage charts and detailed notes by translator Elizabeth M. Callahan.

The Library Of Tibetan Classics is a special series being developed by The Institute of Tibetan Classics to make key classical Tibetan texts part of the global literary and intellectual heritage. Eventually comprising thirty-two large volumes, the collection will contain over two hundred distinct texts by more than a hundred of the best-known Tibetan authors. These texts have been selected in consultation with the preeminent lineage holders of all the schools and other senior Tibetan scholars to represent the Tibetan literary tradition as a whole. Peter Alan Roberts was born in Wales and lives in Hollywood, California. He obtained a B.A. in Sanskrit and Pali and a Ph.D. in Tibetan Studies from Oxford University. For more than thirty years he has been working as an interpreter for lamas and as a translator of Tibetan texts. He specializes in the literature of the Kagyii and Nyingma traditions with a focus on tantric practices, and he is the author of The Biographies of Rechungpa. Thupten Jinpa holds a Geshe Lharam degree from Ganden monastic university and a Ph.D. in religious studies from Cambridge University. The translator and editor of numerous books, he has been the principal English-language translator for His Holiness the Dalai Lama for over two decades, and he is the author of Self Reality and Reason in Tibetan Philosophy. He lives in Montreal with his wife and two daughters.

Marpa the Translator, the eleventh-century farmer, scholar, and teacher, is one of the most renowned saints in Tibetan Buddhist history. In the West, Marpa is best known through his teacher, the Indian yogin Nâropa, and through his closest disciple, Milarepa. This lucid and moving translation of a text composed by the author of The Life of Milarepa and The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa documents the fascinating life of Marpa, who, unlike many other Tibetan masters, was a layman, a skillful businessman who raised a family while training his disciples. As a youth, Marpa was inspired to travel to India to study the Buddhist teachings, for at that time in Tibet, Buddhism had waned considerably through ruthless suppression by an evil king. The author paints a vivid picture of Marpa's three journeys to India: precarious mountain passes, desolate plains teeming with bandits, greedy customs-tax collectors. Marpa endured many hardships, but nothing to compare with the trials that ensued with his guru Nâropa and other teachers. Yet Marpa succeeded in mastering the tantric teachings, translating and bringing them to Tibet, and establishing the Practice Lineage of the Kagyüs, which continues to this day.

The five volume set, Karma Chakme's Mountain Dharma, includes the text as taught by Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche at Karma Triyana Dharmachakra (KTD) from 1999 to 2003, with translations by Lama Yeshe Gyamtso and Chojor Radha. Volume two examines the complete path of Mahamudra from initial experience to full realization. There is emphasis on how to conduct a proper retreat, including the use of geomancy in determining the appropriate site, the longevity practices of White Tara and Tseringma, chA practice, and how to use compassion as protection from fear and danger. This volume introduces the tantras, and gives anuttara yoga tantra instructions for Vairochana purification practices both for oneself and for the deceased.

Jamgön Kongtrül’s ten-volume Treasury of Knowledge is a unique, encyclopedic masterpiece embodying the entire range of Buddhist teachings as they were preserved in Tibet. Tibetan Buddhist teachers expected their students to study Buddhist philosophical texts as well as practice reflection and meditation; present-day students have also realized that awakening has its source in study as well as in reflection and practice. Buddhism’s Journey to Tibet presents Kongtrül's masterful history of Buddhism in India and Tibet. Beginning with the appearance of the Buddha in our world (Book Two), it describes the Buddha's life, his enlightenment, and what he taught (Book Three) from a multitude of Buddhist viewpoints. Buddhism's transmission to and preservation in Tibet is the focus of the main part of this volume (Book Four), which describes the scriptural transmissions and lineages of meditation practice as well as the Buddhist arts that together make up the world of Tibetan Buddhism.

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.

The Kagyu Monlam Book was composed by H.H. 17th Karmapa, for the annual monlam in Bodhgaya, India and North America. A rich source of Tibetan Buddhist prayers, with the Tibetan, English, and transliteration, it consists of 438 pages and a 138-page supplement.