Among Chakrasamvara practices, the ChakrasamvaraBody Mandala Sadhana of Ghantapada is regarded as themost profound. Through practicing the body mandalafocusing on the nadis, syllables, bindus, and vayus indifferent parts of the body, one awakens the great bliss.The great bliss corresponds to realizing the perfectinner purities of the thirty seven enlightenment factorsbased on the four foundations of mindfulness, as well asaccomplishing the outer purelands where the awakenedheroes and dakinis of the Chakrasamvara mandala arestill present in the world today.

Vajrayogini Sadhana practice manual is the distilled essence of the Ultimate Secret of the Chakrasamvara Tantra, the most profound meaning of the Buddha's teaching presented with full color images to help practitioners with the sadhana practice. Her sadhana practice consists of eleven yogas, through which practitioners transform every aspect of their life, even transforming daily activities into the profound path of awakening. Awakened masters in every school of Tibetan Buddhism have taken these eleven yogas of Naropa's Vajrayogini practice as the main focus of their daily practice because while it is an easy practice, its meaning is profound, and its results are swift. Through the practice of the eleven yogas of Vajrayogini, it is possible to achieve Buddhahood in this lifetime.

This book consists of the concise Ghantapada Body Mandala Sadhana of Sri Chakrasamvara with a Mantra Appendix. These texts were compiled by Khenpo Lama Migmar Tseten from traditional sources. It is our hope that the following pages offer a window into the awakened state and inspire you in your own practice. May all sentient beings everywhere experience peace. Important requirement: It is very important to receive the empowerment, transmission, and instruction from the Master who holds the Ghantapada Sri Cakrasamvara Body Mandala lineage to do the practices.

Vajrayogini is a tantric goddess from the highest class of Buddhist tantras who manifests the ultimate development of wisdom and compassion. Her practice is prevalent today among practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism. This ground-breaking book delves into the origins of Vajrayogini, charting her evolution in India and examining her roots in the Cakrasamvara tantra and in Indian tradition relating to siva. The focus of this work is the Guhyasamayasadhanamala, a collection of forty-six sadhanas, or practice texts. Written on palm leaves in Sanskrit and preserved since the twelfth century, this diverse collection, composed by various authors, reveals a multitude of forms of the goddess, each of which is described and illustrated here. One of the sadhanas, the Vajravarahi Sadhana by Umapatideva, depicts Vajrayogini at the center of a mandala of thirty-seven different goddesses, and is here presented in full translation alongside a Sanskrit edition. Elizabeth English provides extensive explanation and annotation of this representative text. Sixteen pages of stunning color plates not only enhance the study but bring the goddess to life.

In the classic bestseller, Introduction to Tantra, Lama Yeshe offered a profound and wonderfully clear glimpse into the sophisticated practices of Tibetan Buddhist tantra. This present book, the last major teachings of this great lama, opens up the world of advanced practices for Highest Yoga Tantra initiates in much the same way his earlier work opened up the world of tantra in general. Following Je Tsongkhapa's (1357-1419 C.E.) text Having the Three Convictions, Lama Yeshe introduces the renowned Six Yogas of Naropa, focusing mainly on the first of these six, the practice of inner fire (tummo). Mastery of inner fire quickly brings the mind to its most refined and penetrating state--the experience of clear light, an extra-ordinarily powerful state of mind that is unequaled in its ability to directly realize ultimate reality. Lama Yeshe felt that twentieth-century Westerners could easily grasp the often misunderstood ideas of this esoteric tradition: "We really need tantra these days because there is a tremendous explosion of delusion and distraction.and we need the atomic energy of inner fire to blast us out of our delusion." Lama Yeshe's aim was for his students to actually taste the experience of inner fire rather than merely gain an intellectual understanding. Lama's own realization of the transformative power of these practices comes through, inspiring his students to discover for themselves their own capacity for inexhaustible bliss.

In Tibetan religious literature, Jamgön Kongtrül's Treasury of Knowledge in ten books stands out as a unique, encyclopedic masterpiece embodying the entire range of Buddhist teachings as they were preserved in Tibet. In his monumental Treasury of Knowledge, Jamgön Kongtrül presents a complete account of the major lines of thought and practice that comprise Tibetan Buddhism. This first book of The Treasury which serves as a prelude to Kongtrul's survey describes four major cosmological systems found in the Tibetan tradition—those associated with the Hinayana, Mahayana, Kalachakra, and Dzogchen teachings. Each of these cosmologies shows how the world arises from mind, whether through the accumulated results of past actions or from the constant striving of awareness to know itself.

The Arya Tara Practice Manual provides a complete set of texts and instructions for the practice of the female Buddha, Tara. It includes Tara Puja, the Praises to the Twenty-one Tara, Tara mantras, Sadhana practices, and a Tara Ganacakra Offering. This book also provides 22 color Tara thangka pictures and paintings for visualization performed along with the mantra and mudra practices. These practices for accumulating merit and wisdom will guide us to realize Tara's awakened wisdom and compassion for ourselves.

The mind-training practices contained in the Dzogchen tradition of Tibetan Buddhism have never before been presented in the English language. The main text translated here, The Steps to Liberation, will be of great interest to Western practitioners, since its instructions are pithy and direct, and experiential rather than scholarly. The contemplations on core Buddhist principles like impermanence and karma, intended for beginning meditators, unfold as dramatic stories in which the meditator is to vividly imagine himself or herself as the main character who undergoes a sequence of experiences that result in transformative realizations. They distill the most essential teachings of the Buddha into a practical system that can be easily implemented in a daily meditation practice. At the same time, they bring together the most foundational Buddhist teachings with the profound methods of the Vajrayana (the esoteric teachings of Buddhist tantra). This is the hallmark of Dzogchen mind training and what sets it apart from other mind-training lineages.

They may shave their heads, don simple robes, and renounce materialism and worldly desires. But the women seeking enlightenment in a Buddhist nunnery high in the folds of Himalayan Kashmir invariably find themselves subject to the tyrannies of subsistence, subordination, and sexuality. Ultimately, Buddhist monasticism reflects the very world it is supposed to renounce. Butter and barley prove to be as critical to monastic life as merit and meditation. Kim Gutschow lived for more than three years among these women, collecting their stories, observing their ways, studying their lives. Her book offers the first ethnography of Tibetan Buddhist society from the perspective of its nuns. Gutschow depicts a gender hierarchy where nuns serve and monks direct, where monks bless the fields and kitchens while nuns toil in them. Monasteries may retain historical endowments and significant political and social power, yet global flows of capitalism, tourism, and feminism have begun to erode the balance of power between monks and nuns. Despite the obstacles of being considered impure and inferior, nuns engage in everyday forms of resistance to pursue their ascetic and personal goals. A richly textured picture of the little known culture of a Buddhist nunnery, the book offers moving narratives of nuns struggling with the Buddhist discipline of detachment. Its analysis of the way in which gender and sexuality construct ritual and social power provides valuable insight into the relationship between women and religion in South Asia today.