The Dark Red Amulet: Oral Instructions on the Practice of Vajrakilaya

Description

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.

Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche, along with Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche, is a founder and director of Padmasambhava Buddhist Center based at Padma Samye Ling in upstate New York. PBC is a worldwide Buddhist meditation and study network that includes local centers as well as retreat centers and monastic institutions.

"This is an extraordinary Vajrakilaya teaching and quite rare within the terma tradition. During the twentieth-century upheaval in Tibet, almost all of Tsasum Lingpa's works were in danger of being lost forever. Together the Khenpo Rinpoches have dedicated much of their lives to the preservation of the wondrous spiritual system envisioned by this 'crazy wisdom' terton. Revealed to the Western world for the first time, The Dark Red Amulet is a one-of-a-kind gem in every sense of the word."-Mikel Dunham, author of Buddha's Warriors "[The] extensive and thorough commentary clarifies and enlightens. . . . An absolute must-have for any scholar or Buddhist practitioner seeking to better understand the past and future path of the Vajrayana practice of Vajrakilaya."-The Midwest Book Review "[A] feast for the mind and spirit."-New Age Retailer "The Dark Red Amulet conveys the essential meaning of the Vajrakilaya teachings and provides an invaluable guide for Tibetan Buddhist practitioners to discover the absolute vajra nature. . . . The book includes a translation of a brief biography of the text's terton Tsasum Lingpa and a chapter of students' questions and the Khenpos' answers."-Eastern Horizon