Jonas is frustrated over a conversation about the dwindling population of the Tokpar he had with his father, an elder among the Tokpar and head of the NYC-based Tokpar Center. Teresa has left work because of a premonition of doom, which she knows will end in harm to herself or someone she loves. Their attraction is immediate but quickly ends in the deaths of Teresa and the person who tried to kidnap her. Jonas rushes Teresa’s body to his father, who places her essence in a stasis box to await a host body. Meanwhile Jonas is tasked to investigate the kidnapping.

Essence of Tokpar follows Jonas and Teresa, whose essence has been transferred to an attractive new host body, as they forge a relationship. Both have special gifts unique to the Tokpar race, and they soon join forces to find a group of Tokpar women who have also been kidnapped. Their quest leads them to Bear Mountain Lodge, where things take a turn for the worse, and Jonas learns the motive behind the kidnapping operation. His case is finally closed…for now.

The Tibetan Buddhist practice of Nyungne (“nyoong-nay”) has been gaining increased attention in Buddhist centers across North America. Participants say the practice purifies them both physically and spiritually. This volume is the only comprehensive treatment in English of these powerful teachings. Nyungne is a profound, two-and-a-half-day practice, a length of time especially helpful for people whose schedules cannot accommodate long-term retreat. It involves the keeping of strict vows; the second day is devoted to complete silence and fasting. The meditation centers on the recitations, mantras, and guided visualizations of the Thousand-Armed Chenrezig, the embodiment of all the buddhas’ loving-kindness and compassion. Translated as “abiding in the fast,” Nyungne is said to be effective in the healing of illness, the nurturing of compassion, and the purification of negative karma.

The only book in English on a popular Tibetan Buddhist lineage prayer that explains how it can be used as a guide to practice. One of the most beloved and oft-recited prayers in the Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, The Mahamudra Lineage Prayer combines a supplication to the Mahamudra lineage with a concise guide to Mahamudra practice and the stages of the path to enlightenment. In this commentary on the prayer, Thrangu Rinpoche teaches in his down-to earth yet direct manner the importance of the Mahamudra lineage, how to develop renunciation and devotion through the common and uncommon preliminary practices, and how to practice calm abiding (Shamatha) and insight (Vipashyana) meditation in the Mahamudra tradition. He explains that Mahamudra teachings are easy to practice yet are very powerful, and are especially appropriate for serious Western Dharma students.

Vajra Speech, by Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, renowned for his extra-ordinary experience and realization, is a wide ranging collection of pith instructions for the Dzogchen yogi. This Tibetan master's advice reduces negative emotions and naturally enables loving kindness, compassion and wisdom to flourish. "A swan can separate water and milk when drinking. The yogi should be like the swan in sepa rating the milk of original wakefulness from the water of ignorance." --Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche "Compared to many years studying books and going through analytical meditation, we found it more beneficial to ask questions of Tulku Urgyen and listen to his answers." --Orgyen Topgyal Rinpoche

Winner of a 2021 Kayden Translation Award A true story of love, separation, and rediscovery in a time of cultural and spiritual upheaval in Tibet. An inspiring and intimate tale set against the turmoil of recent Tibetan history, Inseparable across Lifetimes offers for the first time the translations of love letters between two modern Buddhist visionaries. The letters are poetic, affectionate, and prophetic, articulating a hopeful vision of renewal that drew on their past lives together and led to their twenty-year partnership. This couple played a significant role in restoring Buddhism in the region of Golok once China’s revolutionary fervor gave way to reform. Holly Gayley, who was given their correspondence by Namtrul Rinpoche himself, has translated their lives and letters in order to share their remarkable story with the world.

Love Letters from Golok chronicles the courtship between two Buddhist tantric masters, Tāre Lhamo (1938–2002) and Namtrul Rinpoche (1944–2011), and their passion for reinvigorating Buddhism in eastern Tibet during the post-Mao era. In fifty-six letters exchanged from 1978 to 1980, Tāre Lhamo and Namtrul Rinpoche envisioned a shared destiny to "heal the damage" done to Buddhism during the years leading up to and including the Cultural Revolution. Holly Gayley retrieves the personal and prophetic dimensions of their courtship and its consummation in a twenty-year religious career that informs issues of gender and agency in Buddhism, cultural preservation among Tibetan communities, and alternative histories for minorities in China. The correspondence between Tare Lhamo and Namtrul Rinpoche is the first collection of "love letters" to come to light in Tibetan literature. Blending tantric imagery with poetic and folk song styles, their letters have a fresh vernacular tone comparable to the love songs of the Sixth Dalai Lama, but with an eastern Tibetan flavor. Gayley reads these letters against hagiographic writings about the couple, supplemented by field research, to illuminate representational strategies that serve to narrate cultural trauma in a redemptive key, quite unlike Chinese scar literature or the testimonials of exile Tibetans. With special attention to Tare Lhamo's role as a tantric heroine and her hagiographic fusion with Namtrul Rinpoche, Gayley vividly shows how Buddhist masters have adapted Tibetan literary genres to share private intimacies and address contemporary social concerns.

The first Tibetan to attain complete enlightenment was in all probability the woman Yeshe Tsogyal, the closest disciple of Padmasambhava, the master who brought Buddhism to Tibet in the eighth century. This classical text is not only a biography but also an inspiring example of how the Buddha's teaching can be put into practice. Lady of the Lotus-Born interweaves profound Buddhist teachings with a colorful narrative that includes episodes of adventure, court intrigue, and personal searching. The book will appeal to students of Tibetan Buddhism and readers interested in the role of women in Buddhism and world religions.

The words of advice collected here are part of the ancient tradition of religious texts known as terma that were hidden in secret places during the first spread of Buddhism in Tibet in the ninth century.