Vajra Wisdom: Deity Practice in Tibetan Buddhism

Description

Vajra Wisdom contains two of the most important explanations of the "development stage" of meditation, relevant for most practitioners in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition.Now available in paperback for the first time. The practices of deity, mantra, and wisdom are also known within the Tibetan system as the "development stage," because the practitioner is said to attain spiritual insight by developing meditative visualizations that bring the experience of awakening directly into one's present life, without having to wait for later spiritual fulfillment. Vajra Wisdom presents the commentaries oftwo great nineteenth-century Nyingma masters,KunkyenTenpeNyima andShechenGyaltsapIV,which guide practitioners engaged in development stage practice through a series of straightforward instructions. The rarity of this kind of material in English makes it indispensable for practitioners and scholars alike. The goal of the development stage of meditation in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition is to realize the inseparability of phenomena and great emptiness. Using the methods of deity visualization, mantra recitation, and meditative absorption, the practitioner arrives at this nonconceptual view.

KHARTRULKUNKYENTENPENYIMA,recognized as a reincarnation of_x015A_antaraksita, was a nineteenth-century master fromRepkong, the homeland ofShabkarand many other masters. His father wasCh yingThobdenDorje, the author of The Complete Nyingma Tradition, a landmark text widely studied in eastern Tibet. SHECHENGYALTSAPIV spent most of his life in retreat and was one of the main teachers of the lateDilgoKhyentse Rinpoche. THEDHARMACHAKRATRANSLATION COMMITTEEdraws its inspiration from the vision, commitment, and magnificent achievements of past Buddhist translators. Directed byCh kyiNyima Rinpoche, the Committee is dedicated to making Buddhist classics available to modern readers in their native languages.

"As more and more people embrace the Tibetan Buddhist path with sincerity and dedication, priceless instructions like these by the great masters of the past take on a crucial importance. Only with such clear and practical guidance can we fully appreciate the depth of the extraordinary practices of the Vajrayana, and discover for ourselves their transformative power."-Sogyal Rinpoche, author of The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying