A Lamp to Illuminate the Five Stages: Teachings on Guhyasamaja Tantra (Library of Tibetan Classics): 15 - Hardcover

Tsongkhapa

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0861714547 ISBN 13: 9780861714544

Publisher: Wisdom Publications,U.S., 2013

Synopsis

Tsongkhapa s Lamp is one of the most comprehensive and detailed presentations of the highest yoga class of Vajrayana Buddhism, especially the key practices in the advanced phase of Guyhasamaja Tantra. Tsongkhapa draws extensively from Indian sources, especially the writings of Nagarjuna, Aryadeva, Candrakirti, and Naropa, to systematize this quintessential practice of Buddhist esoterism. Traditionally the work belongs to a class of hidden texts that are to be read only by those who have received initiations. Of the two stages of generation and completion, this volume focuses on the latter stage. In the generation stage, meditators visualize the Buddha in the form of the deity Guhyasamaja residing in a mandala palace. In the completion stage, meditators transcend ordinary consciousness and actualize the state of a buddha themselves. In tantra, this is achieved through manipulation of a subtle physiology of internal winds, or prana, and the channels they run through, and the highest realization occurs when the wind energies dissolve in the central channel at the heart chakra. For on the winds ride the consciousness, like a rider on a horse, and this dissolution initiates a dissolution of ordinary conceptuality and the dawning of the intrinsic nature of the mind, which is empty and luminous. Other topics, such as the Buddhist understanding of the process of death and dying, the intermediate state of existence, and rebirth, as well as complex theories of human psychology such as the scope and dynamic of the emotions, dream states, and near-death experiences are also addressed in detail in this work. This work was Tsongkhapa s last major composition, completed in 1419, the year of his death.

About this title

Review:

"The Guhyasamaja Tantra and its circle of texts changed the face of tantric Buddhism. Kilty's translation is at once accurate and a pleasure to read. It represents a major contribution to our growing knowledge of this profound and beautiful tradition and will be valued by scholars and practitioners alike for many years to come."--Jacob P. Dalton, UC Berkeley, author of Tibetan Tantric Manuscripts from Dunhuang

"Another masterful translation by Gavin Kilty! The teaching of Guhyasamaja Tantra is the fundamental purpose of the Gelukpa tantric colleges, and Tsongkhapa's Lamp is the foundational guide through this most profound system. Gavin Kilty has again presented us with a most accessible, accurate rendering of this central text in lucid translation."--Jeffrey Hopkins, Emeritus Professor of Tibetan Studies, University of Virginia

"This important work, the great Tsongkhapa's final major masterpiece, brings to English readers the most authoritative account of the highest, most esoteric practice of Tibetan Buddhism. Gavin Kilty should be congratulated for having produced a highly readable translation of a very difficult and complex text."--Daniel Cozort, Dickinson College, author of Highest Yoga Tantra

"Tsongkhapa's Lamp to Illuminate the Five Stages stands as one of the greatest literary contributions to the genre of highest yoga tantra ever written. In his translation of this extremely profound text, Gavin Kilty has successfully captured both its meaning and eloquence with such precision and grace that it will stand as the benchmark to which future translations of similar material must aspire."--David Gonsalez, translator of Source of Supreme Bliss

"A work of singular importance. Gavin Kilty's masterful English translation is a gem that will deeply enrich the lives of many generations of readers."--Art Engle, Fellow at Tsadra Foundation

"Working from an extremely difficult Tibetan text, Gavin Kilty has succeeded in making his translation readable and comprehensible while at the same time most careful and accurate. I read Kilty's translation alongside the Tibetan and believe it to be the kind of exemplary achievement every translator should aspire to."--Yael Bentor, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

About the Author:

Tsongkhapa Losang Dragpa (1357-1419) is arguably the finest scholar-practitioner produced by the Buddhism of Tibet. Renowned for both his written works and his meditative accomplishments, he founded the Gelug school, which produced the lineage of the Dalai Lamas.

Gavin Kilty has been a full-time translator for the Institute of Tibetan Classics since 2001. Before that he lived in Dharamsala, India, for fourteen years, where he spent eight years training in the traditional Geluk monastic curriculum through the medium of class and debate at the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics. He also teaches Tibetan language courses in India, Nepal, and elsewhere, and is a translation reviewer for the organization 84000, Translating the Words of the Buddha.

About this edition

• Publisher: Wisdom Publications,U.S.
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0861714547
• ISBN 13: 9780861714544
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 768