The Supreme Siddhi Of Mahamudra

The first major collection of core texts from the meditation masters of the Drukpa Kagyu lineage, a special yogic tradition of Tibetan Buddhism The Drukpa Kagyu lineage is renowned among the traditions of Vajrayana Buddhism for producing some of the greatest yogis from across the Himalayas. After spending many years in mountain retreats, these meditation masters displayed miraculous signs of spiritual accomplishment that have inspired generations of Buddhist practitioners. The teachings found here are sources of inspiration for any student wishing to genuinely connect with this tradition. Theses translations include Mahamudra advice and songs of realization from major Tibetan Buddhist figures such as Gampopa, Tsangpa Gyare, Drukpa Kunleg, and Pema Karpo, as well as modern Drukpa masters such as Togden Shakya Shri and Adeu Rinpoche. This collection of direct pith instructions and meditation advice also includes an overview of the tradition by Tsoknyi Rinpoche. Combined with guidance from a qualified teacher, these teachings offer techniques for resting in the naturally pure and luminous state of our minds. As these masters make clear, through stabilizing the meditative experiences of bliss, clarity, and nonthought, we will be liberated from suffering in this very life and will therefore be able to benefit countless beings.

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.

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

Mahamudra is the union of great bliss and emptiness—the very subtle mind that experiences great bliss and realizes ultimate truth. By enabling us to go within to uncover the deepest level of our mind and then to use the very subtle mind to meditate on ultimate truth, Mahamudra practice destroys all our delusions at their very root and thus propels us quickly to the state of full enlightenment. Mahamudra Tantra begins by explaining the basic correct view and intention needed for successful Mahamudra meditation, as well as the meaning of Tantra and the two stages of Highest Yoga Tantra practice, and then explains the preliminaries and stages of training in this profound practice.

Revised edition of: Readings on the Six Yogas of Naropa, 1997.

A fascinating biography of Drukpa Kunley, a Tibetan Buddhist master and crazy yogi. The fifteenth-century Himalayan saint Drukpa Kunley is a beloved figure throughout Tibet, Bhutan, and Nepal, known both for his profound mastery of Buddhist practice as well as his highly unconventional and often humorous behavior. Ever the proverbial trickster and “crazy wisdom” yogi, his outward appearance and conduct of carousing, philandering, and breaking social norms is understood to be a means to rouse ordinary people out of habitual ways of thinking and lead them toward spiritual awakening. Elizabeth L. Monson has spent decades traveling throughout the Himalayas, retracing Drukpa Kunley’s steps and translating his works. In this creative telling, direct translations of his teachings are woven into a life story based on historical accounts, autobiographical sketches, folktales, and first-hand ethnographic research. The result, with flourishes of magical encounters and references to his superhuman capacities, is a poignant narrative of Kunley’s life, revealing to the reader the quintessential example of the capacity of Buddhism to skillfully bring people to liberation.

An explanation of the Indian Mahasiddha Tilopa's renowned Gangama Mahamudra meditation instructions, given in a traditional Tibetan context by one of its lineage's most accomplished contemporary masters. These ancient instructions, in the form of a "song of realization," are the original source for all Mahamudra lineages of meditation. All lineages of Mahamudra meditation have their source in a verse teaching--a "song of realization"--sung by the Mahasiddha Tilopa to his disciple Naropa on the banks of the Ganges River more than a thousand years ago. Since that time the meaning of the instructions has been passed directly from master to disciple in a continuous transmission lineage that exists unbroken to this day. Mahamudra meditation, while highly advanced, is yet simple and practical because what is identified and meditated upon is the very essence of one's own mind. This book offers the reader a window into the oral transmission of these instructions, given in a traditional Tibetan context by one of the Kagyu lineage's most learned and accomplished contemporary masters.