The Books of the Treasury of Precious Instructions

The Treasury of Precious Instructions

Learn More

The eighteen volumes of the Treasury of Precious Instructions or Dam-ngak Rinpoché Dzö by Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Taye, one of Tibet’s greatest Buddhist masters, is a shining jewel of Tibetan literature

Palpung Monastery, Tibet

Explore the Treasury of Precious Instructions

Page Navigation Menu

Home Page of the Treasury
History of the Treasury of Precious Instructions

> The Books of the Treasury of Precious Instructions: An Overview of Each Volume
Jamgön Kongtrul's Descriptive Catalog (Karchag)
Video Series (for the Treasury of Precious Instructions)
Audio Streaming and Podcast
Matthew Kapstein on Dam Ngak (special instruction) based on the Treasury

Tibetan Resources on the Treasury from the Tsadra Foundation
Readers Guide to Jamgōn Kongtrul

The Books of the Treasury of Precious Instructions

An overview of the existing and forthcoming books of the Treasury of Precious Instructions. These brief descriptions are adapted from the Catalog where you will find more detail on each volume and the Treasury as a whole.

Nyingma, Volumes 1 & 2

Nyingma, Vol. 1 & 2 forthcoming

Thus the first two volumes of the Treasury of Precious Instructions concern the teachings of the Nyingma school, established in the eighth century with the arrival in Tibet of masters such as Padmākara and Vimalamitra. Kongtrul classifies the texts included in these volumes according to the Nyingma model of the three yogas (mahāyoga, anuyoga, and atiyoga) and the three categories within atiyoga: the Category of Mind (sems sde), the Category of Expanse (klong sde), and the Category of Direct Transmission (man ngag sde).

Kadam, Volumes 3 & 4

Kadam, Vol. 3 & 4 forthcoming

The third and fourth volumes contain texts from the Kadampa tradition that sprang from the teachings of the great Indian master Atīśa (980–1054) and structured itself on what the late E. Gene Smith called “the fundamental contribution of Atīśa—the Graduated Path (Lam rim), with its emphasis on the exoteric as an indispensable foundation for the esoteric.” These texts are categorized under three headings: the source texts (gzhung), which in this case are short works by Atīśa; the spiritual instructions (gdams ngag), which here focus on the system known as “mental training” (blo sbyong); and the pith instructions (man ngag), which include Vajrayāna teachings and practices.

Sakya Lamdre, Volumes 5 & 6

Sakya, Vol. 5 - available now

Sakya, Vol. 6

Volumes five and six contain teachings transmitted in the lineage of the Sakya school, founded by Sachen Kunga Nyingpo (1092–1158). The Sakya school is noted in particular for the system known as Lamdre
(the Path with the Result), which focuses on the Hevajra cycle and incorporates teachings on the three levels of Hīnayāna, Mahāyāna, and Vajrayāna.
As Kongtrul describes the contents of these two volumes:

In the section dealing with the third system, that of the spiritual advice concerning Lamdré (“The Path and Its Fruition”), are found the primary source—The Vajra Verses—and its commentaries, as well as the source text on The Inseparability of Samsara and Nirvana, with the instruction manuals and explanatory essays concerning this text. The section also includes the empowerment for the “pith instruction” tradition of Hevajra; texts from the extensive, more direct, and extremely direct lineages of the Lamdré teachings; the instructions on threefold purity according to the tantra The Vajra Pavilion; the “eight later cycles concerning the spiritual path”; and the “spiritual connections of the six avenues.” The auxiliary instructions include those concerned with Parting from the Four Kinds of Attachment; a ritual to honor the gurus of the Lamdré.

$44.95 - Hardcover

$39.95 - Hardcover

Marpa Kagyu, Volumes 7-10

Marpa Kagyu, Vol. 7 - available now

Marpa Kagyu, Vol. 8-10 forthcoming

The next four volumes of The Treasury of Precious Instructions (volumes 7 to 10) focus on teachings from the Kagyu tradition of Marpa the Translator (1012–1097)—Kongtrul’s primary affiliation, at least at that stage of his life—with its numerous schools and subschools. In the Vajrayāna context, the Kagyu teachings have a dual emphasis on the path of skillful method (Tib. thabs lam), epitomized by the Six Dharmas of Nāropa, and the path of freedom (Tib. grol lam), that is, the teachings on Mahāmudrā.

Marpa Kagyu, Volume 7(available now) contains selections authored by Saraha, Tilopa, Rangjung Dorje, Naropa, Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, Milarepa, Gampopa, Vajradhara, Zhang Lotsawa, and of course Jamgon Kongtrul. The works come from the Cycle of Root Text and Commentaries (including the Shared Mahamudra Cycle and the Unshared Six Dharmas Cycle) and Instructions for Abhishekas for Maturation and Instructions on Liberation, specifically the Rechung Aural Transmission.

$49.95 - Hardcover

Shangpa Kagyu, Volumes 11 & 12

Shangpa Kagyu, Vol. 11 available now

Shangpa Kagyu, Vol. 12

Volumes eleven and twelve contain the teachings of the Shangpa Kagyu school founded by the remarkable Tibetan master Khyungpo Naljor (990–1139), who is reputed to have lived to the age of 150, visited India seven times, and studied with more than 150 masters, including the two dakinis Niguma and Sukhasiddhi. Kongtrul had a special affinity with this tradition, which he felt was in danger of losing its identity as a distinct tradition, owing both to the vicissitudes of the Tibetan religio-political scene and to the fact that many of its teachings had been absorbed into other schools. Kongtrul was very concerned that the Shangpa Kagyu not just survive but thrive as a viable school of spiritual thought and practice, and to this end he made it a major focus in his program for the three-year, three-month retreat center he established at his hermitage of Kunzang Dechen Ösel Ling, near Palpung Monastery, the seat of the Tai Situpas in eastern Tibet. Kongtrul’s dedication to preserving and revivifying the Shangpa Kagyu tradition was carried on by one of his incarnations, Kalu Rinpoche Karma Rangjung Kunkyap Trinle Pal Zangpo (1908–1989), so that the school is currently undergoing something of a renaissance and has gained the support of such eminent figures as the current Tai Situ Rinpoche, Pema Dönyö Nyingje.

Shangpa Kagyu, Volume 11contains works by Niguma, Khyungpo Naljor, Atisha, Virupa, Taranatha, Tekchok Dorje, Losal Tenkyong, and Jamgon Kongtrul.

$44.95 - Hardcover

$49.95 - Hardcover

Zhije, Volume 13

Zhije, Vol. 13 - available now

The Zhije tradition, which takes its name (Pacification of Suffering) from a line in the Heart Sutra that describes the mantra of Prajñāpāramitā as “the mantra that brings about the pacification of suffering,” is based on teachings brought to Tibet by Dampa Sangye (d. 1117) during some five visits to Tibet, organized into three main lineages with numerous branch lineages. With an enormous number of teachings that were brought from Buddhist India to Tibet over several centuries, the Severance tradition is renowned as the single example of a school of Buddhist thought and practice developed in Tibet that was accepted as authentic by Indian students and taken back to their home country to be promulgated there

It includes source scriptures by Dampa Sangye, empowerments by Lochen Dharmashrī (of Mindroling), and guidance by Dampa Sangye, Lochen Dharmashrī, and Sönam Pal. Also included are lineage charts related to the transmission of Zhije teachings as well as detailed notes and an orientation to the texts by translator Sarah Harding.

$39.95 - Hardcover

Chöd, Volume 14

Chöd, Volume 14 - available now

In this, the fourteenth volume, Kongtrul compiles the teachings on Severance, or Chöd. It includes some of the tradition’s earliest source scriptures, such as the “grand poem” of Āryadeva, and numerous texts by the tradition’s renowned founder, Machik Lapdrön. Kongtrul also brings together the most significant texts on the rites of initiation, empowerments for practice, and wide-ranging instructions and guides for the support of practitioners. Altogether, this quintessential guide to Severance offers vast resources for scholars and practitioners alike to better understand this unique and remarkable tradition—the way of severing the ego through the profound realization of emptiness and compassion.

$59.95 - Hardcover

Kalachakra and Orgyen Nyendrup, Volume 15

Kalachakra and Orgyen Nyendrup, Vol. 15 forthcoming

Volume 15 includes teachings from the last two of the eight lineages of accomplishment: that of Vajra Yoga (also known as the Six Branches of Union, or Jordruk) and Dorje Sumgyi Nyendrup (Stages of Approach and Accomplishment of the Three Vajras). The former is a system of advanced tantric practices based on the teachings of the Kālacakra tantra, particularly as transmitted through the Jonang tradition of Tibet. Though ostensibly a tantra of the Sarma tradition, the Kālacakra was also highly esteemed in the Nyingma school. The great Nyingma master Jamgön Ju Mipam Gyatso (1846–1912) wrote a two-volume commentary on the Kālacakra cycle and considered the teachings of this tradition to reflect those found in the Dzogchen approach of the Nyingma. The final lineage is the least known among the eight, one transmitted by the master Orgyenpa Rinchen Pal (1230–1309), who was also a student of the second Karmapa, Karma Pakshi (1204–1283), and a teacher of the third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje (1284–1339). Orgyenpa received this lineage, which incorporates practices also found in the Vajra Yoga approach, in a visionary transmission from Vajravārāhī and other ḍākinīs. Although the lineage continued unbroken until Kongtrul’s time, it was another tradition that he considered “exceedingly rare and in danger of dying out.”

Mahasiddha Practice, Volumes 16 & 17

Mahasiddha Practice, Vol. 16 - available now

Mahasiddha Practice, Vol. 17 forthcoming

In a traditional manner to ensure an auspicious conclusion to the collection, volume 16 and 17 contains transmissions focusing on the deities of longevity: the white Tārā, Amitāyus, and Uṣṇīṣavijayā.
As Kongtrul writes:

The ninth section of this collection contains a number of unrelated teachings—spiritual advice that derives from various traditions. These include the blessing ritual and instructions concerning the Eighty-Four Mahasiddhas; the individual empowerments and instructions for The Six Instructions of Maitripa; the cycles of Mahakarunika Chittavishramana and The Threefold Quintessential Meaning as transmitted in the Zhalu tradition; the five definitive instructions on Avalokiteshvara; Thangtong Gyalpo’s practice associated with the six-syllable mantra; the Mahamudra instructions and The Sutra Ritual of the Sage from the Bodong tradition; the instruction on chandali and the transference of consciousness transmitted by Rechen Paljor Zangpo; the “mother transference” of Rongtön; the instructions on the “seven lines of specific transmission” according to the new translations of the Jonang tradition; and various kinds of alchemical procedures.

The collection concludes in a positive manner with the authorizations for the three deities of longevity, the intimate oral lineage of the seven-day longevity sadhana, the instructions for the longevity practice of White Tara according to the tradition of Bari Lotsawa, and a ritual to honor the three deities of longevity.

Mahasiddha Practice, Volume 16(available now) presents a selection of teachings and practices centered on the mahāsiddhas, Indian tantric masters, specifically, the mahāsiddha Mitrayogin.

$39.95 - Hardcover

Jonang, Volume 18

Jonang, Volume 18 - available now

In this volume, Kongtrul expands on The One Hundred and Eight Guidebooks, a collection of teaching manuals compiled by the sixteenth-century Tibetan master Kunga Drolchok, adding Indic source texts, Tibetan antecedents, and later interpretations. Though compiled by a Jonangpa abbot and transmitted by the Jonang tradition, these teaching manuals are actually drawn from the Kadam, Sakya, Kagyu, and, to a lesser extent, Nyingma traditions. They are succinct and impart practical wisdom, as transmitted by key figures like Kunga Chogdrub and Lowo Khenchen Sonam Lhundrub. Gyurme Dorje, the translator, provides extensive notes and helpful context throughout. The resulting volume preserves and integrates the diverse lineages of Tibetan Buddhism while providing useful advice to practitioners.

This was the penultimate translation of one Gyurme Dorje, one of the greatest translators of Tibetan into English. Read more about Gyurme here.