Torch of True Meaning: Instructions and the Practice for the Mahamudra Preliminaries

by Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye, Ninth Karmapa Wangchuk Dorje, Wangchuk Dorje, Ogyen Trinley Dorje

Overview

Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye’s classic text The Torch of True Meaning gives clear and concise instructions on the preliminary and main practices of mahamudra meditation. But it not only teaches mahamudra, it describes vividly what is necessary for any meditation practice. It is presented here in a new translation that includes the previously unpublished final chapter of Jamgn Kongtrul’s work, a brief yet inspiring description of the actual practice of mahamudra. Paired with Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye’s instructions is The Chariot That Travels the Noble Path, the standard practice text for the mahamudra preliminaries in the Karma Kagyu lineage, in a new version compiled by the Seventeenth Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje. Together, these two works are essential for anyone who wants to practice mahamudra.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781934608524
Publisher:	KTD Publications
Publication date:	12/16/2014
Pages:	184
Sales rank:	1,047,078
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye (1813-1899) is the renowned master of the traditions of accomplishment and learning and one of the most influential Tibetan Buddhist masters of the nineteenth century. A holder of diverse lineages of both the Sarma (New) and Nyingma (Ancient) schools of Buddhism, his writings comprise more than a hundred volumes and still form the basis for much of the meditation practice of several lineages. He was also a terton, an artist, and a skilled physician. His writings are distinguished by their clarity, precision, and impartial faith. He was the guru of the Fifteenth Gyalwang Karmapa and many other great teachers of his time. His reincarnations have continued his work down to the present day.

Table of Contents

Foreword by His Holiness the Seventeenth Gyalwang Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje vii

Translator's Introduction ix

The Torch of True Meaning 1

The Four Ordinary Preliminaries 3

1 The Precious Human Life 5

2 Meditation on Impermanence 11

3 Karmic Cause and Effect 15

4 The Defects of Samsara 21

The Four Uncommon Preliminaries 29

1 Going for Refuge 31

The Generation of Bodhichitta Connected with Going for Refuge 37

2 The Instructions on the Hundred-syllable Mantra that Purifies Misdeeds and Obscurations 47

3 The Instructions for Mandala Offerings, Which Perfect the Two Accumulations 57

4 Guru Yoga, Which Brings Blessings Swiftly 69

Instructions on the Main Practice 85

The Chariot that Travels the Noble Path 101

The Four Ordinary Preliminaries 104

Refuge and Bodhichitta 108

The Meditation and Recitation of Vajtasattva 119

Mandala Offerings 124

Guru Yoga 135

Notes 161

Glossary 167