Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Taye presents the Zhije (Pacification) teachings of some of Tibet's most historically significant and influential teachers in this next volume of the Treasury of Precious Instructions series, Kongtrul's great collection of teachings from all of Tibet's Buddhist lineages. The Treasury of Precious Instructions by Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Taye, one of Tibet's greatest Buddhist masters, is a shining jewel of Tibetan literature, presenting essential teachings from the entire spectrum of practice lineages that existed in Tibet. In its eighteen volumes, Kongtrul brings together some of the most important texts on key topics of Buddhist thought and practice as well as authoring significant new sections of his own. In this volume, Kongtrul presents a diverse corpus of texts from the Zhije (Pacification) tradition that trace especially to the South Indian master Dampa Sangye (d. 1117), whose teachings are also celebrated in the Chöd (Severance) tradition. It includes source scriptures by Dampa Sangye, empowerments by Lochen Dharmashrī, 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.

Essential Teachings presents the first English translation of a series of talks given in 1974 by the Dalai Lama in Bodh Gaya, India—the site of the Buddha's enlightenment—to a gathering of Tibetan refugees and Western Buddhists. His precise and eloquent commentary on the "Path of the Bodhisattva," one of the most important teaching texts of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, offers a step-by-step guide to thirty-seven practices designed to help cultivate the spirit of compassion for all life and service to others that is at the heart of Buddhism.

In Chöd in the Ganden Tradition, we encounter not only the life and teachings of one of the greatest Tibetan masters in modern times, but also instructions in one of the most interesting Tibetan techniques for working with basic fears, applicable to Chöd practitioners from all lineages. The instructions are offered with the engaging directness, wit, and stories for which Rinpoche was legendary. He tells miraculous accounts of the Ganden Oral Lineage masters and then gives detailed explanations of the actual practice, including such topics as the degree of fear necessary for Chöd practice, and how to remember dream and death morning, noon, and night. Also provided are the Chöd sadhanas for chanting in English.

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.

Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Taye presents practical teachings from a variety of Tibetan Buddhist traditions in this volume of The Treasury of Precious Instructions. The Treasury of Precious Instructions by Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Taye, one of Tibet's greatest Buddhist masters, is a shining jewel of Tibetan literature, presenting essential teachings from the entire spectrum of practice lineages that existed in Tibet. In its eighteen volumes, Kongtrul brings together some of the most important texts on key topics of Buddhist thought and practice as well as authoring significant new sections of his own. In this, the eighteenth 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.

The first-ever extensive biography of Tibet's most famous nonsectarian Buddhist lama Known as the “king of renunciates,” Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye (1813–1899) forever changed the face of Buddhism through collecting, arranging, and disseminating the various lineage traditions of Tibet across sectarian lines. His extensive treasury collections of profound Buddhist teachings continue to be taught and transmitted throughout the Himalayas by all major traditions and represent the breadth and profundity of Tibetan Buddhist philosophy and practice. Jamgon Kongtrul was a polymath, dedicated retreatant, ritual expert, writer, and teacher from the eastern Tibetan kingdom of Derge. During the nineteenth century, while central Tibet experienced extreme sectarian divides, Jamgon Kongtrul, along with Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo and Chokgyur Lingpa, set about collecting, teaching, and transmitting the major practice traditions found in Tibet. Their activity—much of which did not adhere to the traditional divides of the Tibetan “schools” and included both tantric lineages coming from India as well as Tibetan treasure (terma) lineages—is one of the finest examples of Tibetan ecumenism, or Rimay, and Jamgon Kongtrul is perhaps the most famous among Tibet’s Rimay masters. This is the most accessible work available on Jamgon Kongtrul’s life, writings, and influence, written as a truly engaging historical biography. Alexander Gardner provides an intimate glimpse into the life of one of the most important Tibetan Buddhist teachers to have ever lived.

Lama Wangdu Rinpoche is a contemporary practitioner of the Buddhist Chöd tradition. This autobiography is a delightful portrait of a great meditation master during his personal trials in feudal Tibet and his life in exile. The essence of the book is the authors spirit of ever-giving generosity and wisdom as a Buddhist teacher and healer. A true inspiration in today's world. This autobiography is supplemented by teachings on the transference of consciousness and Kusuli Chöd practice.

It is crucial for students of Vajrayana Buddhism to find an authentic wisdom teacher and know how to properly rely upon that teacher in order to awaken to their buddha nature and thereby attain full enlightenment. Fortunately, the topic has been thoroughly explored by Jamgon Kongtrul in the tenth chapter of The Treasury of Knowledge. This essential text clearly lays out what credentials and qualities one should look for in a wisdom teacher, why a wisdom teacher is necessary, and how the relationship between this teacher and disciple best develops once it is established.

The Kalacakra Tantra (Kalacakra means "wheel of time") is a tradition of Buddhist theory and practice whose root text treats a fantastic expanse of knowledge ranging from observations of the cosmos to investigations of meditative states and vital bodily energies. In the Tibetan-speaking world, a public Kalacakra initiation remains the most sought-after event in the life of a devout Buddhist. The Fourteenth Dalai Lama has long had a strong connection with the Kalacakra Tantra; he brought the initiation to the West in 1981, performing it in the United States, Switzerland, Spain, and Australia. This volume has been created to celebrate his long involvement with the Kalacakra teachings. The twenty-five contributors, scholars who have made tantric studies their specialty, have contributed translations of works by great Indian and Tibetan Kalacakra masters, analyses of historical figures, methods of practice, essays on medicine ritual expertise, and ethical discipline. The collection also includes practical advice for Western students and practitioners from contemporary Tibetan Kalacakra masters.

Fear, anger, and negativity are states that each of us have to contend with. Machik's Complete Explanation, the most famous book of the teachings of Machik Lapdrön, the great female saint and yogini of eleventh- to twelfth-century Tibet, addresses these issues in a practical, direct way. Machik developed a system, the Mahamudra Chöd, that takes the Buddha's teachings as a basis and applies them to the immediate experiences of negative mind states and malignant forces. Her unique feminine approach is to invoke and nurture the very "demons" that we fear and hate, transforming those reactive emotions into love. It is the tantric version of developing compassion and fearlessness, a radical method of cutting through ego-fixation. This expanded edition includes Machik Lapdrön's earliest known teaching, the original source text for the tradition, The Great Bundle of Precepts on Severance (Chöd). This pithy set of instructions reveals that the teachings of the perfection of wisdom are the true inspiration for Chöd. It is beautifully clarified in a short commentary by Rangjung Dorje, the Third Karmapa.