Natural Perfection: Longchenpa's Radical Dzogchen

by Lonchen Rabjam, Keith Dowman (Translator), Chogyal Namkhai Norbu (Foreword by)

Overview

Dzogchen, or the "Great Perfection," is considered by many to be the apex of Tibetan Buddhism, and Longchen Rabjam is the most celebrated of all the saints of this remarkable tradition. Natural Perfection presents the radical precepts of Dzogchen, pointing the way to absolute liberation from conceptual fetters and leading the practitioner to a state of pure, natural integration into one's true being.

Transcending the Tibetan context or even the confines of Buddhist tradition, Longchen Rabjam delivers a manual full of practical wisdom. Natural Perfection is a shining example of why people have continued to turn to the traditions of Tibet for spiritual and personal transformation and realization. Keith Dowman's illuminating translation of this remarkable work of wisdom provides clear accessibility to the profound path of Dzogchen in the here-and-now.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780861717255
Publisher:	Wisdom Publications MA
Publication date:	06/25/2012
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	300
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Keith Dowman has been involved in the arena of Buddhism for more than forty years, living and raising a family in India and Nepal and in Tibetan refugee society. He received lay ordination in the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism and is the author of more than a dozen books on Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism, including Flight of the Garuda, Sky Dancer, and Original Perfection.

Table of Contents

Foreword Chögyal Namkhai Norbu ix

Translator's Introduction 1

The Treasury of Natural Perfection 21

The Commentary to The Treasury of Natural Perfection

Prologue 51

The Concise Exposition 59

The Extensive Exposition 67

The First Vajra Theme: Absence 67

The Second Vajra Theme: Openness 137

The Third Vajra Theme: Spontaneity 163

The Fourth Vajra Theme: Unity 205

The Fifth Vajra Theme: Advice to Recipients of the Transmission 235

The Conclusion of the Treatise 255

Notes 263

Appendix I The Tibetan Text and Quotations 275

Appendix II Index of Similes 287

Appendix III List of Tibetan Headings in the Auto-commentary 293

Glossary 303

Selected English Bibliography 319

Other Titles by Keith Dowman 321

About the Author 322

Editorial Reviews

"Now that Dzogchen is spreading in the West, we need a popular translation of this extraordinary text...the benefit will be seen as direct experience of the nature of mind. Keith Dowman, the translator who has spent many years with many great masters and has absorbed the realization of Dzogchen, has overcome the difficulties of translation and produced a straight-forward english rendition. I hope that this text may bring realization of the nature things, just as they are, to all living beings."

Chogyal Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche

"The warm breath of experience has brought a fresh springtime through the dedicated work of Keith Dowman, in which the frozen words of the past thaw out and work in ways that move us."

James Low