About the Book
Study the Great Perfection with the celebrated Lerab Lingpa, who imparted teachings to the Thirteenth Dalai Lama, and discover the common ground of Tibetan Buddhism's many schools in essays by his disciples. Lerab Lingpa (1856-1926), also known as Tertön Sogyal, was one of the great Dzogchen (Great Perfection) masters of the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries and a close confidant and guru of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama. This volume contains translations by B. Alan Wallace of two works that are representative of the lineage of this great "treasure revealer," or tertön.
The first work, composed by Lerab Lingpa himself, is The Vital Essence of Primordial Consciousness. It presents pith instructions on all the stages of the Great Perfection, which is the highest form of meditation and practice in the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. In this practice, the meditator comes to see directly the ultimate nature of consciousness itself. The work guides the reader from the common preliminaries through to the highest practices of the Great Perfection--the direct crossing over and the achievement of the rainbow body.
The second work, Selected Essays on Old and New Views of the Secret Mantrayana, is a collection of seven essays by two of Lerab Lingpa's close disciples, Dharmasara and Jé Tsultrim Zangpo. Dharmasara wrote six of the essays, providing detailed, erudite explanations of the compatibility among the theories and practices of Great Perfection, Mahamudra (a parallel practice tradition found in other schools), and the Madhyamaka view, especially as these are interpreted by the Indian pandita Candrakirti, the Nyingma master Longchen Rabjam, and Tsongkhapa, founder of the Geluk school of Tibetan Buddhism. The one essay by Jé Tsultrim Zangpo (a.k.a. Tulku Tsullo), "An Ornament of the Enlightened View of Samantabhadra," contextualizes the Great Perfection within the broader framework of Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism and then elucidates all the stages of practice of the Great Perfection, unifying the profound path of cutting through and the vast path of the spontaneous actualization of the direct crossing over.
This volume will be of great interest for all those interested in the theory and practice of the Great Perfection and the way it relates to the wisdom teachings of Tsongkhapa and others in the new translation schools of Tibetan Buddhism.
Edited by Eva Natanya.
About the Author :
B. Alan Wallace is president of the Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies. He trained for many years as a monk in Buddhist monasteries in India and Switzerland. He has taught Buddhist theory and practice in Europe and America since 1976 and has served as interpreter for numerous Tibetan scholars and contemplatives, including H. H. the Dalai Lama. After graduating summa cum laude from Amherst College, where he studied physics and the philosophy of science, he earned his MA and PhD in religious studies at Stanford University. He has edited, translated, authored, and contributed to more than forty books on Tibetan Buddhism, medicine, language, and culture, and the interface between science and religion. Alan is also the founder of the Center for Contemplative Research (CCR), which has retreat center locations in Crestone, Colorado and Castellina Marittima, Italy and a center in New Zealand slated to open soon. The CCR is dedicated to researching the role and methods of the ancient contemplative practices of shamatha and vipashyana, and their involvement in mental health and wellbeing, as well as their role in fathoming the nature and origins of human consciousness. His Holiness the Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people, a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, and a beacon of inspiration for Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike. He has persistently reached out across religious and political lines and has engaged in dialogue with scientists in his mission to advance peace and understanding in the world. In doing so, he embodies his motto: "My religion is kindness."
Eva Natanya is a scholar of Indian and Tibetan Buddhism, Christian theology, and comparative religion, and has served in many capacities as a spiritual teacher, translator of Tibetan texts, author, and retreat leader. Following a nine-year career as a professional ballet dancer with both the New York City Ballet and the Royal Ballet of England, she earned an MA in Christian Systematic Theology at the Graduate Theological Union, and a PhD in Religious Studies from the University of Virginia. Her dissertation examined the complex interactions of Madhyamaka, Yogacara, and Abhidharma teachings as they underlie the Vajrayana philosophy of Je Tsongkhapa. She has spent more than four years in solitary meditation retreat, is the co-founder of the Center for Contemplative Research, and currently serves as resident teacher at the CCR's Miyo Samten Ling Hermitage in Crestone, Colorado, while continuing her solitary retreat practice.
Review :
"Lerab Lingpa, Je Tsultrim Zangpo and Lozang Do-ngak Chokyi Gyatso all have the unusual ability to teach the profound wisdom of the Great Perfection out of their own experience, in a direct and meaningful way to dharma students living in our challenging times. It's a tribute to Alan Wallace, a long-term practitioner, dharma teacher, and scholar, that he has translated these teachings (a very difficult task) into clear and sparkling prose that we can understand and use for practice."--Tsoknyi Rinpoche, founder, Pundarika Foundation and author of Open Heart, Open Mind
"Tertön Sogyal is celebrated as one of the greatest Tibetan Buddhist teachers in the 20th century. This is a precious book that carries his profound wisdom. Thanks to Alan Wallace for doing such great job in translating it into English. Open Mind is a gift to those who have affinity with the way of Dzogchen."--Anam Thubten, author of The Magic of Awareness
