Mahamudra: A Practical Guide

by His Eminence The Twelfth Zurmang Gharwang Rinpoche, Sakya Trichen (Foreword by)

Overview

Essential instructions on Mahamudra from one of today's greatest Mahamudra masters.

In his first major book, His Eminence the Twelfth Zurmang Gharwang Rinpoche, the head of the Zurmang Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, elucidates the essence of a fundamental Mahamudra teaching.
 
At the heart of this book are Rinpoche’s practical instructions on how to settle the mind and meditate in a way that directly works with the mind, with the aim of discovering and becoming familiar with the nature of the mind. These instructions are given as commentary to a short text written by Bokar Rinpoche, which is itself a concise commentary on the Ninth Gyalwa Karmapa Wangchuk Dorjé’s Ocean of Definitive Meaning, which is considered to be one of the most authoritative and exhaustive treatises on Mahamudra. The book covers topics such as the preliminary practices, the practice of samatha and vipasyana according to the Mahamudra tradition, and advice for overcoming obstacles and making progress along the path.
 
His Eminence Zurmang Gharwang Rinpoche offers revealing commentary on Bokar Rinpoche’s pithy teaching, illuminating and unlocking it for contemporary readers, showing us the way to understand the very nature of our own minds

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781614296102
Publisher:	Wisdom Publications MA
Publication date:	04/20/2021
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	200
File size:	9 MB

About the Author

His Eminence Zurmang Gharwang Rinpoche offers revealing commentary on Bokar Rinpoche’s pithy teaching, illuminating and unlocking it for contemporary readers, showing us the way to understand the very nature of our own minds.

His Eminence the Twelfth Zurmang Gharwang Rinpoche was born a son of the Sikkimese Royal Court and was recognized by His Holiness the 16th Karmapa as the twelfth incarnation of the Gharwang Tulkus. Rinpoche is the supreme lineage holder of the Whispered Lineage of the Zurmang Kagyu tradition. He teaches around the world.

His Holiness the Sakya Trichen is the revered forty-first throne holder of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism, which dates back to 1073. He is a member of the Khon family, who have been important teachers of Buddhism in Tibet since the eighth century. A brilliant master, he manifests profound wisdom and compassion, and his command of English renders his teachings particularly beneficial to students in the West. He was born in 1945 in Sakya, Tibet, and in 1959 escaped with tens of thousands of Tibetan people to India, where he continues to live and work tirelessly to rebuild the Sakya tradition. He has guided the establishment of over thirty monasteries in India and Nepal and has helped found Sakya centers around the world. His seat in North America is Tsechen Kunchab Ling in Walden, New York.

Table of Contents

Foreword vii

Preface ix

Introduction 1

A Concise Commentary on The Ocean of Definitive Meaning 11

The Title and Opening Verse 13

Part I The Preliminaries 15

1 The Common Preliminaries 17

2 The Uncommon Preliminaries 19

3 The Special Preliminaries 37

Part II The Actual Practice: 5amatha and Vipasyana 45

4 Samatha 47

A General Presentation of Samatha 47

A Detailed Presentation of Samatha 53

5 Vipasyana 69

Looking at the Nature of Reality, the Essence of Mind 69

Cutting the Fundamental Root 70

Introduction by Determining Awareness to Be Empty 75

Part III Conclusion 81

6 How to Develop One's Capacity and Make Progress 83

7 How to Eliminate Obstacles 103

8 How to Traverse the Path 109

9 How to Actualize the Result 119

Part IV Translation 123

19 Detailed Outline of the Root Text 125

11 Translation of Root Text 129

12 Tibetan Text 161

About the Author 189

Editorial Reviews

Gharwang Rinpoche’s work serves as a definitive manual, guiding aspiring mahamudra students along the complete path, beginning with a clear presentation of the preliminaries, through a detailed presentation of samatha and vipasyana, and concluding with enlightening instructions on the actualization of the result.”

from the foreword by His Holiness the Sakya Trichen

The line between sa?sara and nirva?a is very thin. This is because sa?sara is simply the projection of our minds, a projection created by confusion. Nirva?a is simply freedom from this confusion. You can sit on either side of the line between sa?sara and nirva?a. It’s up to you. But although the line is very thin, it takes extraordinary skill and profound wisdom to traverse the path from one side to the other—to dissolve the division itself. This book and these teachings are intended to serve as support for that journey.”
—from H. E. Zurmang Gharwang Rinpoche’s introduction

H. E. Zurmang Gharwang Rinpoche

Gharwang Rinpoche’s work serves as a definitive manual, guiding aspiring mahamudra students along the complete path, beginning with a clear presentation of the preliminaries, through a detailed presentation of samatha and vipasyana, and concluding with enlightening instructions on the actualization of the result.”
—from the foreword by His Holiness the Sakya Trichen

His Holiness the Sakya Trichen