Ngawang Zangpo

Ngawang Zangpo (Hugh Leslie Thompson) completed two three-year retreats under the direction of the late Kalu Rinpoche. He is presently working on a number of translation projects that were initiated under the direction of Chadral Rinpoche and Lama Tharchin Rinpoche. He has also contributed to Kalu Rinpoche's translation group's books Myriad Worlds and Buddhist Ethics.

Ngawang Zangpo

Ngawang Zangpo (Hugh Leslie Thompson) completed two three-year retreats under the direction of the late Kalu Rinpoche. He is presently working on a number of translation projects that were initiated under the direction of Chadral Rinpoche and Lama Tharchin Rinpoche. He has also contributed to Kalu Rinpoche's translation group's books Myriad Worlds and Buddhist Ethics.

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GUIDES

The Books of the Complete Nyingma Tradition

Explore the Complete Nyingma Tradition

Home Page of The Complete Nyingma Tradition
>The Books of The Complete Nyingma Tradition
Choying Tobden Dorje and the Story Behind the Complete Nyingma Tradition

In Memorium: Alak Zenkar Rinpoche reflects on Lama Tharchin Rinpoche and the Complete Nyingma Tradition
Lama Sonam Tsering on The Complete Nyingma Tradition
Praise for The Complete Nyingma Tradition

The Books of the Complete Nyingma Tradition

Book 1: Discipleship and forsaking misleading companions
Book 2: How the sacred Buddhist doctrine is transmitted through teaching and listening, and how its foundation, faith, is developed
Book 3: The difficulty of attaining a free and fully endowed human life
Book 4: The impermanence of composite phenomena
Book 5: Ennobling and corrupting actions, karma, and consequences
Book 6: The round of rebirth’s nature as suffering
Book 7: Taking refuge; the legal code of the spiritual path of individual liberation; and the basis, path, and result of the hearers’ and solitary sages’ ways of Buddhist practice
Book 8: The middle way’s foundation—the two truths, and the initial uplifting of the mind to awakening
Book 9: The middle way’s path—the twofold cultivation of goodness and wisdom during three intervening incalculable eons
Book 10: The middle way’s result—the two wisdom bodies of final, manifest complete enlightenment

Books 11-12: Translation Forthcoming

Book 11: The array of the realms that fill the bounds of space
Book 12: The ten major and minor subjects of Buddhist culture

Complete Nyingma 13

This volume presents the philosophical systems of India and Tibet, according to the writings of Longchen Rabjam and the revelations of Orgyan Lingpa. First, it discusses the views attributed to classical Hinduism, Jainism, materialism, and nihilism. Second, it describes the standpoints of the Vaibhashika and Sautrantika exponents of the lesser vehicle, exemplified by pious attendants and hermit buddhas, and the Cittamatra (“mind only”) and Madhyamaka (“middle way”) commentators of the great vehicle, exemplified by great bodhisattva beings. Third, it analyzes the inner and outer vehicles of the Buddhist tantras, with an emphasis on the three classes of the great perfection. Fourth, it documents the lines of philosophical transmission within Tibet, including Bon, Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakya, Kadampa, and Geluk. It concludes with an extract from a well-known treatise of the Fifth Dalai Lama, applying the techniques of consequential reasoning to the first chapter of Vasubandhu’s Treasury of Phenomenology.

An Overview of Buddhist Tantra, is the fourteenth book from this collection and the first in the series to focus on tantra. Whereas previous volumes presented the general exoteric teachings of Buddhism, this work outlines the esoteric practice of tantra according to the Nyingma system. The author defines the parameters of tantra by dividing the work into outer and inner tantras, and concludes with explaining the result of the tantric path—enlightenment itself. Designed to be a companion for dedicated practitioners who receive direct instructions from a qualified teacher, this work is a comprehensive manual that provides the foundation for understanding the genuine and profound teachings of Buddhist tantra.

The Essential Tantras of Mahayoga is presented in two volumes and concerns the first of the three classes of inner tantra. It presents the entire text of the Guhyagarbha Tantra, in Tibetan and English, together with the interlinear sections of one of its most important commentaries, Dispelling the Darkness of the Ten Directions, by the outstanding fourteenth-century master Longchen Rabjam. Also included is Choying Tobden Dorje’s rewriting of Candragomin’s inspirational Extensive Commentary on the Sublime Litany of the Names of Manjushri.

This translation is comprised of two physical books for the single price.

Anuyoga: Book 18 (Title and translation Forthcoming)

In the commentary to anuyoga tantras, their foundation—empowerment; their vital force—tantric bonds; their path—view, meditation, and conduct; and their result

Atiyoga: Books 19-20 (Title and Translation Forthcoming)

Book 19:  Atiyoga, the ground of being. In the commentary to the natural great perfection tantras, their origin and an enumeration of their texts; their foundation—empowerment; and their vital force—the tantric bonds’ four principles
Book 20: The view of Atiyoga. For those of the highest degree of acumen, who can attain freedom in this lifetime—coming to conclusive certainty in the view of atiyoga

Trekchöd: Book 21 (Title and Translation Forthcoming)

This book includes commentary that focuses on trekchöd, the meditation on cutting through the solidity of dualistic experience

Thogal: Book 22 (Title and Translation Forthcoming)

This book includes commentary on thogal, meditation on the four visions within direct vision

Books 23-25 (Title and Translation Forthcoming)

Book 23: Enrichment of spiritual experience through conduct, introduction to the nature of mind, and signs indicative of degrees of success
Book 24: For those of a middle degree of acumen, instruction for liberation during the period between lifetimes; and for those of an average degree of acumen, liberation in the realms of the manifest wisdom body
Book 25: The final result—enlightenment’s five bodies and five wisdoms, and acts of spontaneous enlightened activity

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The Complete Nyingma Tradition: A Resource Guide

Explore the Complete Nyingma Tradition

>Home Page of The Complete Nyingma Tradition
The Books of The Complete Nyingma Tradition
Choying Tobden Dorje and the Story Behind the Complete Nyingma Tradition

In Memorium: Alak Zenkar Rinpoche reflects on Lama Tharchin Rinpoche and the Complete Nyingma Tradition
Lama Sonam Tsering on The Complete Nyingma Tradition
Praise for The Complete Nyingma Tradition

This guide to exploring The Complete Nyingma Tradition, a remarkable series of texts by Choying Tobden Dorje. Included in this guide are selections from the text in addition to words of advice and praise from distinguished teachers along with helpful resources. Use the above navigation menu above to explore each page and discover this truly remarkable and timeless series of texts!

Choying Tobden Dorje
Choying Tobden Dorje

About the Complete Nyingma Tradition

Mdo rgyud rin po che'i mdzod (Treasury of Precious Sūtras and Tantras)

In 1838, Choying Tobden Dorje, a Buddhist yogi-scholar of eastern Tibet, completed a multivolume masterwork that traces the entire path of the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism from beginning to end. Written by a lay practitioner for laypeople, it was intended to be accessible, informative, inspirational, and above all, practical. Its twenty-five books, or topical divisions, offer a comprehensive and detailed view of the Buddhist path according to the early translation school of Tibetan Buddhism, spanning the vast range of Buddhist teachings from the initial steps to the highest esoteric teachings of great perfection. Choying Tobden Dorje’s magnum opus appears in English here for the first time.

The Story of Lama Sherab Dorje, Lama Tarchin Rinpoche, and the translation project of the Complete Nyingma Tradition

Lama Sherab Dorje

"During his lifetime, a Tibetan master often mentioned in his disciple’s hearing The Complete Nyingma Tradition from Sutra to Tantra as an excellent text that had greatly influenced him. The disciple had never seen the text and tried to procure a copy over many years, asking many high lamas and scholars where he could find it. Eventually, many decades after his master had passed away, he was given the condensed version of the work, and set out to have it translated. All this in the name of gong dzok—keeping alive the blessed sight and wisdom mind of a living buddha. The deceased master in question had never asked for this book to be translated; he merely praised the book on occasion. Those few words, perhaps delivered casually, remained: this book was something that gave pleasure to this master during his lifetime; that recollection on the part of his attentive disciple was enough to launch this project.

The master was Lama Sherab Dorjé Rinpoche, a native of Repkong and the same Nyingma communities of lay tantric practitioners that produced Choying Tobden Dorje. He was an authentic master who took a young relative under his wing as his disciple or apprentice—the master we now know as Lama Tharchin Rinpoche.

Lama Tharchin Rinpoche

Lama Tharchin began his spiritual journey as a perfect disciple of two masters he held in the utmost regard: His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche and Lama Sherab. It is possible to object, “Well, he had two excellent masters to follow. It would have been difficult for him to become something other than a good disciple!” But discipleship is no easy matter. As rare as it is for us to find and to meet a perfect spiritual master, those incredible masters have just as challenging a task before them: finding persons who are worthy disciples at every level. Some excellent masters live and die never having met the right vessels for their instruction. This is a recurring tragedy: strong lineages do not depend simply on the appearance of a single living buddha but on a series of such buddhas, male or female, each of whom while alive pours the essence of timeless realization into a living golden vessel, who must then live long enough to find another.

Lama Tharchin was just such a golden vessel.

He was also the guiding light behind this project. I wish I could end that sentence with “from start to finish,” but he passed away too soon to see his tireless work come to fruition in this and the other books of this series. This would be the right place to write of him, but it is not the right time. It has been just a matter of months since he left. I am not yet sufficiently sober, emotionally, to reflect upon all he has given me and this project, and to put those thoughts into words. Another time, I hope."

Ngawang Zangpo from the Translator's Introduction to Foundations of the Buddhist Path

Available Books in the Series

We currently have four volumes available with more volumes coming in 2023. A full description of each volume, including those to come, can be found on the Complete Nyingma Tradition's books page or continue reading below to discover volumes that are currently available.

 

 

In Foundations of the Buddhist Path, which covers the first ten of the treatise’s twenty-five books, the author surveys the scope of the entire work and then begins with the topics that set the cornerstones for all subsequent Buddhist practice: what constitutes proper spiritual apprenticeship, how to receive the teachings, how to make the best use of this life, and how to motivate ourselves to generate effort on the spiritual path. He then describes refuge and the vows that define the path of individual liberation before turning to the bodhisattva’s way—buddha nature, how to uplift the mind to supreme awakening, the bodhisattva’s training, and the attainments of the paths leading to supreme awakening.

Complete Nyingma 13

Book 13 presents the philosophical systems of India and Tibet, according to the writings of Longchen Rabjam and the revelations of Orgyan Lingpa. First, it discusses the views attributed to classical Hinduism, Jainism, materialism, and nihilism. Second, it describes the standpoints of the Vaibhashika and Sautrantika exponents of the lesser vehicle, exemplified by pious attendants and hermit buddhas, and the Cittamatra (“mind only”) and Madhyamaka (“middle way”) commentators of the great vehicle, exemplified by great bodhisattva beings. Third, it analyzes the inner and outer vehicles of the Buddhist tantras, with an emphasis on the three classes of the great perfection. Fourth, it documents the lines of philosophical transmission within Tibet, including Bon, Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakya, Kadampa, and Geluk. It concludes with an extract from a well-known treatise of the Fifth Dalai Lama, applying the techniques of consequential reasoning to the first chapter of Vasubandhu’s Treasury of Phenomenology.

An Overview of Buddhist Tantra is the fourteenth volume from this collection and the first in the series to focus on tantra. Whereas previous volumes presented the general exoteric teachings of Buddhism, this work outlines the esoteric practice of tantra according to the Nyingma system. The author defines the parameters of tantra by dividing the work into outer and inner tantras, and concludes with explaining the result of the tantric path—enlightenment itself. Designed to be a companion for dedicated practitioners who receive direct instructions from a qualified teacher, this work is a comprehensive manual that provides the foundation for understanding the genuine and profound teachings of Buddhist tantra.

Books 15 to 17: The Essential Tantras of Mahayoga is presented in two volumes and concerns the first of the three classes of inner tantra. It presents the entire text of the Guhyagarbha Tantra, in Tibetan and English, together with the interlinear sections of one of its most important commentaries, Dispelling the Darkness of the Ten Directions, by the outstanding fourteenth-century master Longchen Rabjam. Also included is Choying Tobden Dorje’s rewriting of Candragomin’s inspirational Extensive Commentary on the Sublime Litany of the Names of Manjushri.

This translation is comprised of two physical books for the single price.

For the complete list of books including those forthcoming, see our Book Page for The Complete Nyingma Tradition.

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SNOW LION NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE

Understanding the "Four Orders" of Tibetan Buddhism

Being identified with one of the four orders—Geluk, Kagyu, Nyingma, or Sakya—may say less about one’s practices than we think, according to Ngawang Zangpo, translator of Jamgon Kongtrul’s The Treasury of Knowledge: Books 2-4: Buddhism’s Journey to Tibet, in this adaptation from his translator’s postscript.

The four orders of Tibetan Buddhism are, simply put, institutions—containers that house diverse scriptural transmissions and lineages of meditation techniques. The institutions were likely founded with the intent to preserve and promote specific scriptures and meditations, yet those institutions’ missions invariably evolved over the centuries. For example, while Tilopa, Naropa, Marpa, and Milarepa—non-monks all—might view with astonishment the many Kagyu monastic networks erected in their name, Gampopa, Dusum Kyenpa, Pamo Drupa, and the others who founded those networks might be equally amazed at their modern content. What a strictly Kagyu practitioner learns today as the lineage’s core curriculum of theory and practice would hardly have been considered kosher in the founding fathers’ day.

To identify anyone as affiliated with one of the four orders is fair—we all start somewhere. In Kalu Rinpoché’s case, he joined a Kagyu monastery during his adolescence and he would sometimes add the prefix “Karma” to his name in veneration of the Karmapa and his lineage. Nevertheless, after his early training, his three-year retreat course consisted of mostly non-Karma Kagyu meditations, and in his post-retreat-graduate period of education and meditation, he seems to have treated Tibetan Buddhism as a self-serve buffet from which he slowly but surely tried and savored just about everything. Some of us had the impression that at some point he reached the end of the path, about which he was fond of saying, “There is no such thing as a Nyingma, Sakya, Kagyu, or Géluk enlightenment, just enlightenment.” He worked tirelessly to give back to the institutions, mainly Kagyu, that had given him so much over the years, but he found it tiresome and limiting to be regarded as a Kagyu Buddha, even among a stellar group of other equally misidentified Kagyu, Nyingma, Sakya, and Géluk buddhas.

Kalu Rinpoché did not live long enough to successfully supplant the “four orders” schema with the eightfold framework of meditation lineages that is more helpful in situating us in relation to our spiritual path in Tibetan Buddhism. An institution provides the setting, teachers, and companions that most of us need at the outset of our practice. Yet it is one of the eight lineages of meditation practice that we receive and follow, ideally in stages from the preliminary to the culminant practices. And having finished one course, we could then engage in another, and then another, to our heart’s content, without changing our affiliation and loyalty to the first institution we joined. Kalu Rinpoché remained a lifelong Kagyu lama whose mastery extended to most, if not all, the eight lineages of meditation practice. Like Jamgön Kongtrul before him, he lived as a happy spiritual omnivore, encouraged others to do the same once they had completed one path from start to finish, and expected at all times from his followers unfailing respect toward all spiritual traditions, Buddhist or non-Buddhist.

Tibetan Buddhism, Karmapa, Dalai LamaOne significant difference between the four-order and eight-lineage approaches is their respective locations: the four orders are centered in the Himalayas; the eight lineages of meditation exist mainly in the spiritual masters who embody them, and once you have received instruction in one of the lineages, it only really takes life wherever you sit on a meditation cushion or whenever their teachings’ wisdom intrudes upon the flow of your daily plans and preoccupations. Further, one cannot assume that monasteries labeled as belonging to a specific order will specialize in the teachings we might associate with that order. For example, the senior lamas of Kalu Rinpoché’s “Kagyu” monastery were likely to be most proficient in the Shangpa Doctrinal Lineage, whereas at Bokar Rinpoché’s “Kagyu” monastery, the greatest enthusiasm was reserved for Vajra Yoga, the lineage of meditation instructions related to the Wheel of Time (Kalachakra). Other “Kagyu” monasteries seem to feature a preponderance of Ancient Lineage rituals and practices in their programs. Some “Nyingma” groups focus on Severance practices, as do some Kagyus. If the institutions are unpredictable in orientation, the same and more can be said for individuals, whose lifelong dedication to the Buddhist path can be expressed in many different rites, liturgies, and practices.

Among “organized religions,” Buddhism is the least organized, but I do not mean to suggest that its Tibetan strain has descended into chaos and anarchy. Yet if one is only armed with the organizing principle of “four orders,” one will soon be confronted with many inconvenient facts of lived faith that are clearly incompatible with that framework. If one instead learns and retains the eight lineage template, everything that may have seemed incongruous and haphazard in Himalayan meditation practice can be understood as part of a larger, coherent system. It is this system that Kongtrul introduces to us here, to the detriment of the four-order scheme, which does not merit a single explicit mention in this chapter.

The four-order scheme can be useful as long as its field of usage is identified and that it is wielded gently and mindfully. It is not a precision instrument. My personal preference is to mentally adopt the Chinese names for the four Tibetan orders. In the place of our transliterated Tibetan names—Nyingma, Sakya, Kagyu, and Géluk—the Chinese use their own words for the four: red, multicolored, white, and yellow. These terms seem like code, and they are in fact ingenious in that they identify all we can know for sure without further enquiry concerning any specific monastery: the color of its exterior walls. (To explain “multicolored,” Sakyas paint a single horizontal, multicolored stripe around their buildings.) When I meet a Nyingma, all I can safely assume about her is that she and her spiritual community gather to learn, reflect, meditate, and worship in a red building; if Géluk, in a yellow one. That system has the virtues of simplicity, ease of use, and accuracy, but I don’t expect it to gain any currency: we are not yet close enough to Tibet to comfortably call things by our own names.

Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro TayeJamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Taye (1813–1900) was a versatile and prolific scholar and one of the most outstanding writers and teachers of his time in Tibet. He was a pivotal figure in eastern Tibet’s nonsectarian movement and made major contributions to education, politics, and medicine.

Ngawang Zangpo (Hugh Leslie Thompson) completed two three-year retreats under the direction of the late Kalu Rinpoche. He is presently working on a number of translation projects that were initiated under the direction of Chadral Rinpoche and Lama Tharchin Rinpoche. He has also contributed to Kalu Rinpoche's translation group's books Myriad Worlds and Buddhist Ethics.

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Recognize Your Sacred Ground

The following article is from the Autumn, 2011 issue of the Snow Lion Newsletter and is for historical reference only. You can see this in context of the original newsletter here.

The phenomena of the wheel of life and of transcendence of suffering arise from the creative display of awareness. If one realizes this, phenomena are pure lands; without such realization, they are ordinary reality. Practitioners neither accept nor reject; they have no reference points. Wherever they look, the sun of radiant awareness dawns on the horizon. This absolute expanse that pervades all space does not need to be created.

It is a great spaciousness that surpasses all grasping thoughts. Regardless of what designs the clouds of mind may take, gathering or separating, the sky of unceasing innate awareness cannot be obscured. The great exaltation of the body of ultimate enlightenment is the changeless, great pervasive sphere.

From Sacred Ground: Jamgon Kongtrul on Pilgrimage and Sacred Geographyby Ngawang Zangpo

Sacred Ground

$24.95 - Hardcover

By: Ngawang Zangpo

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Timeless Rapture

The following article is from the Autumn, 2003 issue of the Snow Lion Newsletter and is for historical reference only. You can see this in context of the original newsletter here.

images

Throughout history awakened ones have celebrated the rapture of mystical states with inspired verse, sung extemporaneously. This book offers a rare glimpse into the mysticism of the Shangpa Kagyu lineage, a tradition based mainly on the profound teaching of 2 women. This compendium of spontaneous verse sung by tantric Buddhist masters from the 10th century to the present includes translations as well as short descriptions of each poet's life and a historical overview of the lineage.

Ngawang Zangpo's fluid translation and rich commentary truly brings us into the presence of the extraordinary masters of the Shangpa Kagyu tradition. -As we listen to their verse, we are transported by their devotion, awakened wisdom, and blessing to the Vajra world that has become their home. Lama Drupgyu Tenzin

A selection of excerpts from Timeless Rapture follow.

In Nepal, I once translated for a Tibetan lama visited by both Westerners and Tibetans. As the private interviews were given at random, I stayed in the room while he spoke directly with Tibetans who came for his advice. On one occasion, an ordinary Tibetan woman in her 40s-50s asked a question, which I hadn't listened to, and which the yogi began to answer in normal, conversational language. He then abruptly switched into song. He continued for a few minutes, singing his advice to her in verses that seemed to me both fluid and impromptu. It was stunning. There was a naked meeting of minds between them that produced the song. Yes, if one were technical about it, there was a singer and a listener, two bodies and two faces, one of which had tears streaming down it. But there were less than two minds in that encounter, or even less than one mind: there was only non-dual wisdom and the song that emerged from it.

Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye compiled these songs in the nineteenth century, mainly from the autobiographies of the lineage's masters. What is clear from the first song is that this collection mainly gathers songs of spiritual teachings. Western readers have fallen in love, just as Tibetans do, with the songs of Milarepa and of Shabkar. Those realized masters were wandering yogis, who sometimes sang of profound teachings they'd received and practiced but often imparted down-to-earth advice to the good people they met. They would also sing of their surroundings, for these men often lived in the wilds, and their songs allow us to share their awe in the presence of enlightenment, reflected in the spiritual master who appears in symbolic form in nature, in all appearances.

As Kalu Rinpoche sings:

Thus the whole universe―visible, audible, and conceptual

Pointing out to myself and others the direct apprehension of the underlying reality,

Is nothing but the gesture of my lama.

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Above illustration of Jamgon Kongtrul by Chris Banigan [from Snow Lion's The Treasury of Knowledge series)

Milarepa and Shabkar invite us to participate in that experience. Nevertheless, Kongtrul's choice of the Shangpa masters' songs reflects a different concern. He has mainly included songs of teaching. They do not transport us to the hills and valleys of Tibet but to terrain familiar to all Buddhists―the questions of how to live a meaningful life, how to confront death, and how to enter and remain within the sacred sanctuary of the mind's nature, enlightenment.

Lamas of every tradition―Gelug, Sakya, Nyingma, and Kagyu―have received and practice the Shangpa tradition. The lineage is extremely discreet but not exclusive; it silently pervades the Himalayan region yet is centered nowhere. In this the Shangpa lineage resembles another lineage of tantric meditation begun by a woman: the Severance (Clio), established by Machik Lapdron, a Tibetan reincarnation of one of the Shangpa lineage founders, Sukasiddhi. Her spiritual children as well have always preferred the freedom of homelessness, the exhilaration.

The Wisdom Dakini known as Sukasiddhi received full empowerment into a sacred circle emanated by the illustrious master Virupa and in one night reached awakening's eighth stage. She then met Buddha Vajra Bearer and became inseparable from the Honored Buddha Selfless One. She sang this song to bestow the essential instructions on her fortunate disciples:

Disengaged from the six senses' domains,

Not thinking is the path of transcendence.

The absolute expanse has no concepts.

Freedom from mental activity is Great Seal.

Don't meditate! Don't meditate! Don't meditate with the mind!

The mind's meditation amounts to deluded thoughts.

Thoughts bind you to cyclic existence.

With release from the mind, there is no meditation.

In space, emptiness without awareness,

Tame the root of the mind endowed with awareness.

Tame its root and relax.

Metripa

The illustrious accomplished master Shavari accepted as his direct, disciple Metripa, who received a prediction that he would reach Great Seal's supreme accomplishment during the intermediate state after death. Conqueror Metripa, also known as Advayavajra, was chief of infinite numbers of spiritual heroes and dakinis and lord of the profound teachings of dwelling without mental activity in the essential, ultimate nature of mind.

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Jamgon Kongtrul on Sacred Ground

The following article is from the Summer, 2001 issue of the Snow Lion Newsletter and is for historical reference only. You can see this in context of the original newsletter here.

Sacred Ground:

Jamgon Kongtrul on

Pilgrimage and Sacred Geography

 

Tibetan Buddhism, Sacred Ground, Jamgon KongtrulTibetan Buddhism, Sacred Ground, Jamgon Kongtrul

Sacred Ground describes two journeys: a journey outward to specific pilgrimage places in Eastern Tibet; and a journey inward, to the sacred world of tantra, accessible through contemplation and meditation. It sheds light on Himalayan Buddhists' concepts of sacred land, places of pilgrimage in tantric Buddhism, and how pilgrimage is undertaken. It enhances our appreciation of the world and its sacred aspect everywhere—first and foremost, wherever we sit now. On the basis of a judicious choice of rare Tibetan texts, translated here for the first time, correlating inner and outer pilgrimage, this book is of considerable value to the Buddhist practitioner.


"Sacred Ground is a revelation! Here for the first time in any Western language are several key ideas: the exact way outer sacred lands relate to points in the tantric body and the parallel terminology between the types of sacred ground and the stages of attainment. Ngawang is precise and to the point."

HUBERT DECLEER, Director of the Tibetan Studies Program of the School for International Training, and author of Lightning Terror

"Ngawang Zangpo has again given us a well-researched and richly informative setting to another jewel from Jamgon Kongtrul's writings. Anyone who is a pilgrim, in any sense of the term, will find this book fascinating."

—RICHARD BARRON (CHOKYI NYIMA), translator of Buddhahood without Meditation and The Way of Abiding

"Sacred Ground is like a rich mineral spring bubbling over with important information that will help Buddhists better appreciate the tremendous talent and profound spiritual realization of these great lineage holders and their lineages which through their kindness have passed into our hands."

—Sangye Khandro, translator of Perfect Conduct and The Life of Liberation of Princess Mandarava


 

Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye(1813-99) was one of the most outstanding Tibetan writers and teachers of his time.

The following is an excerpt from the Preface.

Kongtrul's Pilgrimage Guide to Tibet is a guide book for pilgrimage to a tiny area of sacred ground in Eastern Tibet. It was written in the mid-1800's for Tibet's Buddhists who could contemplate such a spiritual journey. It appears here in translation for a modern, non-Tibetan readership, to shed light on Himalayan Buddhists' concepts of sacred land, places of pilgrimage in tantric Buddhism, and how pilgrimage is undertaken. This book is written with the armchair or meditation-cushion traveler in mind. I do not intend to encourage readers to contemplate the difficult and dangerous journey to this remote place, but to enhance our appreciation of the world and its sacred aspect everywhere—first and foremost, wherever we sit now. I hope that this view of a remote land will enrich our daily life at home.

Sacred Ground presents the subject of pilgrimage places as understood by tantric Buddhists of the Himalayan region. In content and intent, this book follows Jamgon Kongtrul's Retreat Manual and Enthronement. Like these two books, Sacred Ground focuses on an important aspect of Tibetan spiritual life as explained by Jamgön Kongtrül, a major meditation master and writer of the nineteenth century. As in the preceding books, I have liberally supplemented the translation of one central text with excerpts or supporting documents culled from Kongtrül's extensive writings. My overriding concern in each of these three works has been loyalty to the spirit in which they were written; thus, my reliance on Kongtrül's work and inclusion of information specific to his life and times. Nineteenth-century Tibet is a context as far removed from our modern world as can be imagined, yet I feel that our study and practice of Buddhism can be improved by consideration of the experience of that era's masters. At the very least, study of Kongtrül can help us understand modern Tibetans' spiritual life. At best, his work leads us to discover new aspects of our own experience and practice of Buddhism.


Although Kongtrul wrote for an audience that could undertake the pilgrimage he describes, he also wrote the book to transmit a universal message: that sacred ground is to be found everywhere.

Sacred Ground includes a detailed description of a piece of land in Eastern Tibet that is distant and inaccessible to most of us. Although Kongtrül wrote for an audience that could undertake the pilgrimage he describes, he also wrote the book to transmit a universal message: that sacred ground is to be found everywhere. Buddhism has been called a "guest religion," a way of spirituality that adapts to its host culture. Shakyamuni Buddha tailored his teaching to the predominant spiritual and cultural reference points of his day, yet Buddhism was never constrained by the geography and mentality of India in 500 B.C. To find living Buddhism today, one must look not only to the land and people of its origins, but to such countries as Tibet, Thailand, Burma, or Korea. These countries, which were once, in Buddhist terms, places of darkness, became imbued with enlightenment; they became sacred ground. This transformation continues nowadays: my teacher was fond of remarking that "the sun of Buddhism is setting in the East and rising in the West."


Buddhism has been called a "guest religion," a way of spirituality that adapts to its host culture.

If we are to fully experience our intrinsic enlightenment, our "buddha-nature," we must study, reflect upon, and put into practice the path shown by those who have already uncovered their innate awakening. Our respect and appreciation for past Buddhas and Bodhisattvas should increase our respect and appreciation for our own and others' present inner wealth; in the same way, our faith and interest in the sacred ground far from home should enhance our sensitivity to the wonders of the world where we live. I believe this to be the spirit in which Kongtrül wrote this book and I have tried my best to honor it in this translation.

Ngawang Zangpo

For more information:

Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye

Jamgön Kongtrül Lodro Taye (1813–1899) was a versatile and prolific scholar. He has been characterized as a "Tibetan Leonardo" because of his significant contributions to religion, education, medicine, and politics.

Ngawang Zangpo (Hugh Leslie Thompson) completed two three-year retreats under the direction of the late Kalu Rinpoche. He is presently working on a number of translation projects that were initiated under the direction of Chadral Rinpoche and Lama Tharchin Rinpoche. He has also contributed to Kalu Rinpoche's translation group's books Myriad Worlds and Buddhist Ethics.

Additional Resources:

Reader's Guide: Jamgon Kongtrul

The Books
Shambhala has published thirty-one titles Kongtrul, wrote, compiled, or is central in. There are eighteen more on the way. In this reader's guide article, you will also find references to a handful of other excellent books not published by us but highly recommended.
The first two books presented have the most information about Kongtrul himself.  Additionally check out, Alexander Gardner's The Life of Jamgon Kongtrul the Great, published in 2019, a definitive biography looking at the life, works, and legacy of this great figure.For a short biography online, please see Alak Zenkar Rinpoche’s biography hosted by Lotsawa House.

Related Videos

The following videos are with Shambhala Publications on Vimeo, click on the titles/links below.

Alex Gardner shares more about his findings of Jamgön Kongtrül

Ken McLeod on Jamgön Kongtrül’s The Great Path of Awakening

Related Books

Sacred Ground

$24.95 - Hardcover

By: Ngawang Zangpo

Enthronement

$24.95 - Paperback

By: Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye & Ngawang Zangpo

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The Treasury of Knowledge

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