Author: Klaus-Dieter Mathes Publisher: Simon and Schuster ISBN: 1614297282 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 595
Book Description
"Saraha's spontaneous songs, or dohas, contain the special instructions of a guru, whose qualities of realization can then directly enter the heart of devoted disciples. These songs represent the rare perfection of the Buddhist art of expressing the inexpressible, and they can trigger a mind-to-mind transmission that some take to have the power of directly pointing out the true nature of mind. Saraha's dohas are quoted fairly often in Indic materials, which points to the fact that he was indeed an influential authority. The dohas are the most distinctive literary expression of a class of tantric Buddhist masters called siddhas, hailed by tradition as beings of exceptional spiritual realization. Essentially, these are gnomic verses; composed not just in the doha meter proper using a kind of literary Middle Indic called Apabhramsa, they also purportedly convey a high degree of mystical insight and were transmitted in collections. The "text" (already a tricky term) of Saraha's Spontaneous Songs has not yet been available in full, nor has it been stabilized to any degree of satisfaction. The discovery of two hitherto-overlooked manuscripts has helped to fill in the gaps. In fact, the present volume is the first in over six decades to bring to light new original material"--
Author: Gert Melville Publisher: ISBN: 3643963637 Category : Monasticism and religious orders Languages : en Pages : 354
Book Description
For over a thousand years, monks, nuns, canons, friars, and others under religious vows stood at the pinnacle of Western European society. For their ascetic sacrifices, their learning, piety, and expertise, they were accorded positions of power and influence, and a wide range of legal, financial and social privileges. As such they present an important opportunity to consider the nature and dynamics of an "elite" in medieval culture. Using medieval religious life as their interpretive lens, the essays of this volume seek to uncover the essential markers of elite status. They explore how those under vows claimed and manifested elite status in complex spiritual, temporal, and social combinations. They explore the workings of elite status from day to day, across region and locale - who earned recognition and how, whether through specific achievements or the deployment of specific capacities; who recognized, conferred, or helped maintain elite status, how and why; how elite status could be redefined, contested or rejected. The essays also seek to understand how medieval European religious elites compared to those found in other cultures and settings, from Syria and South Asia to the early modern transatlantic world.
Author: Publisher: Simon and Schuster ISBN: 1614296367 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 704
Book Description
The first volume in an historic and noteworthy 6-volume series containing many of the first English translations of the classic mahamudra literature compiled by the Seventh Karmapa. Sounds of Innate Freedom: The Indian Texts of Mahamudra is an historic six-volume series containing many of the first English translations of classic Mahamudra literature. The texts and songs in these volumes constitute the large compendium called The Indian Texts of the Mahamudra of Definitive Meaning, compiled by the Seventh Karmapa, Chötra Gyatso (1456–1539). Mahamudra refers to perfect buddhahood in a single instant, the omnipresent essence of mind, nondual and free of obscuration. This collection offers a brilliant window into the richness of the vast ocean of Indian Mahamudra texts, many cherished in all Tibetan lineages, particularly in the Kagyü tradition, giving us a clear view of the sources of one of the world’s great contemplative traditions. This first volume in publication contains the majority of songs of realization, consisting of dohas (couplets), vajragitis (vajra songs), and caryagitis (conduct songs), all lucidly expressing the inexpressible. These songs offer readers a feast of profound and powerful pith instructions uttered by numerous male and female mahasiddhas, yogis, and dakinis, often in the context of ritual ganacakras and initially kept in their secret treasury. Displaying a vast range of themes, styles, and metaphors , they all point to the single true nature of the mind—mahamudra—in inspiring ways and from different angles, using a dazzling array of skillful means to penetrate the sole vital point of buddhahood being found nowhere but within our own mind. The beautifully translated texts brilliantly capture the wordplay, mystical wonder, bliss, and ecstatic sense of freedom expressed by awakened Mahamudra masters of India. It includes works by Saraha, Mitrayogi, Virupa, Tilopa, Naropa, Maitripa, Nagarjuna, the female mahasiddhas princess Laksmimkara and Dombiyogini, and otherwise unknown awakened figures of this rich tradition. Reading and singing these songs that convey the inconceivable and contemplating their meaning in meditation will open doors to spiritual experience for us today just as it has for countless practitioners in the past.
Author: Herbert V. Guenther Publisher: Jain Publishing Company ISBN: 0895819341 Category : Religious life Languages : en Pages : 257
Book Description
Beginning with a brief account of Saraha's life from what little is known of it, the book surveys his major work, his trilogy of songs: the People, King and Queen Doha. The scarcity of indigenous Indian source material necessitates constant reference to the rich Tibetan tradition, in particular the nDzogs-chen/sNyingthig teaching.
Author: Rinpoche Thrangu Publisher: Simon and Schuster ISBN: 0861715039 Category : Body, Mind & Spirit Languages : en Pages : 194
Book Description
Mahamudra is the basic meditation practice for many Tibetan Buddhists, particularly of the Kagyu tradition. It is particularly adaptable for modern people, since it involves no rituals and can be incorporated into all daily activities. Saraha's "Song for the King" is a short verse text from classical India that is a basis for the tradition and is widely known in Tibetan Buddhist circles. It is often the basis for teachings given in the West, but there is only one outdated translation of it in print, first published in 1969. Michele Martin has produced a stellar new translation, which is accompanied by a commentary from the well-known teacher Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, who is uniquely skilled and concerned with making this method of meditation available to Westerners. While pithy and accessible, the book easily stands up to academic scrutiny, and includes the original Tibetan as well - making it ideal for the popular, scholarly, and Tibetan audiences all at once.
Author: Karl Brunnhölzl Publisher: Simon and Schuster ISBN: 1614297150 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 1083
Book Description
The third volume in a historic six-volume series containing many of the first English translations of the classic mahamudra literature compiled by the Seventh Karmapa. Sounds of Innate Freedom: The Indian Texts of Mahamudra are historic volumes containing many of the first English translations of the classic mahamudra literature. The texts and songs in these volumes constitute the large compendium called The Indian Texts of the Mahamudra of Definitive Meaning, compiled by the Seventh Karmapa Chötra Gyatso (1456–1539). Translated, introduced, and annotated by Karl Brunnhölzl, acclaimed senior teacher at the Nalandabodhi community of Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, the collection offers a brilliant window into the richness of the vast ocean of Indian mahamudra texts cherished in all Tibetan lineages, particularly in the Kagyu tradition, giving us a clear view of the sources of one of the world’s great contemplative traditions. This third volume contains twenty-four texts, the bulk of which are dohas by Saraha and commentaries on them, as well as works by other renowned Indian Buddhist mahasiddhas such as Naropa, Krsna, and Sakyasribhadra. The extensive commentaries brilliantly unravel enigmas and bring clarity to the songs they comment on as well as to many other songs of realization in the series. These expressive songs of the inexpressible offer readers a feast of profound and powerful pith instructions uttered by numerous male and female mahasiddhas, yogis, and dakinis, often in the context of ritual ganacakras and initially kept in their secret treasury. Displaying a vast range of themes, styles, and metaphors, they all point to the single true nature of the mind—mahamudra—in inspiring ways and from different angles, using a dazzling array of skillful means to penetrate the sole vital point of buddhahood being found nowhere but within our own mind. Reading and singing these songs of mystical wonder, bliss, and ecstatic freedom and contemplating their meaning will open doors to spiritual experience for us today just as it has for countless practitioners in the past.
Author: Yael Bentor Publisher: Simon and Schuster ISBN: 1614298300 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 835
Book Description
This commentary on Guhyasamaja tantra is the seminal guide to deity yoga and tantric visualization for the Geluk school of Tibetan Buddhism. The Guhyasamaja Tantra, called the king of all tantras, is revered in Tibet, especially by the Geluk school. Ocean of Attainments, a commentary on Guhyasamaja practice, was composed by Khedrup Jé Gelek Palsang (1385–1438), a key disciple of the Geluk school founder, Tsongkhapa Losang Drakpa. It explores the creation stage, a quintessential Buddhist tantric meditation that together with the completion stage comprises the path of unexcelled tantra. In the creation stage, meditators visualize themselves as buddhas at the center of the celestial mandala, surrounded in all directions by male and female buddhas, bodhisattvas, and other enlightened beings. Yet creation-stage practice is not merely visualization but deity yoga—indivisibly uniting the meditation on emptiness with the visualization of the mandala. The creation stage uses the conceptualization in visualization to overcome conceptualization, thereby creating a nonconceptual and nonerroneous direct perception. Such a mind, profound and vast, can bring about a transformation that stops samsaric suffering. How can visions generated as mental constructs not be erroneous? To the awakened eye, the buddhas and other beings who dwell in the mandala are “reality,” and in a sense they are more than real. While the previously published Essence of the Ocean of Attainments is a concise exposition on the practice of the Guhyasamaja sadhana, Ocean of Attainments is far more detailed, providing extensive scriptural citations, clear explanation of the body maanala, arguments on points of contention, reference to other tantric systems, and critiques of misinterpretations. With its extensive and clear introduction, this volume is a vital contribution to the growing body of scholarship on Guhyasamaja and on Buddhist tantra in general.
Author: Klaus Dieter-Mathes Publisher: Shambhala Publications ISBN: 0834843986 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 401
Book Description
Maitrīpa (986–1063) is one of the greatest and most influential Indian yogis of Vajrayāna Buddhism. The legacy of his thought and meditation instructions have had a profound impact on Buddhism in India and Tibet, and several important contemporary practice lineages continue to rely on his teachings. Early in his life, Maitrīpa gained renown as a monk and scholar, but it was only after he left his monastery and wandered throughout India as a yogi that he had a direct experience of nonconceptual realization. Once Maitrīpa awakened to this nondual nature of reality, he was able to harmonize the scholastic teachings of Buddhist philosophy with esoteric meditation instructions. This is reflected in his writings that are renowned for evoking a meditative state in those who have trained appropriately. He eventually became the teacher of many well-known accomplished masters, including Padampa Sangyé and the translator Marpa, who brought his teachings to Tibet. Drawing on Maitrīpa’s autobiographical writings and literary work, this book is the first comprehensive portrait of the life and teachings of this influential Buddhist master. Klaus-Dieter Mathes also offers the first complete English translation of his teachings on nonconceptual realization, which is the foundation of Mahāmudrā meditation.
Author: Klaus-Dieter Mathes Publisher: Shambhala Publications ISBN: 1611806704 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 401
Book Description
Maitrīpa (986–1063) is one of the greatest and most influential Indian yogis of Vajrayāna Buddhism. The legacy of his thought and meditation instructions have had a profound impact on Buddhism in India and Tibet, and several important contemporary practice lineages continue to rely on his teachings. Early in his life, Maitrīpa gained renown as a monk and scholar, but it was only after he left his monastery and wandered throughout India as a yogi that he had a direct experience of nonconceptual realization. Once Maitrīpa awakened to this nondual nature of reality, he was able to harmonize the scholastic teachings of Buddhist philosophy with esoteric meditation instructions. This is reflected in his writings that are renowned for evoking a meditative state in those who have trained appropriately. He eventually became the teacher of many well-known accomplished masters, including Padampa Sangyé and the translator Marpa, who brought his teachings to Tibet. Drawing on Maitrīpa’s autobiographical writings and literary work, this book is the first comprehensive portrait of the life and teachings of this influential Buddhist master. Klaus-Dieter Mathes also offers the first complete English translation of his teachings on nonconceptual realization, which is the foundation of Mahāmudrā meditation.
Author: Klaus-Dieter Mathes
Author: Saraha
Author: Gert Melville
Author: 
Author: Herbert V. Guenther
Author: Rinpoche Thrangu
Author: Karl Brunnhölzl
Author: Yael Bentor
Author: Klaus Dieter-Mathes
Author: Klaus-Dieter Mathes