In the Eighth Century of our era, the Tibetan translator Vairochana went to India and returned to Tibet with the Tantras of the Great Perfection. All are in agreement that the Five Early Translations and Thirteen Later Translations are among the earliest scriptures to be translated into Tibetan, but there is some lack of agreement about the titles and contents of these collections. In the centuries following these translations the dynasty that ruled Tibet crumbled, and after a long period of darkness the love of learning was rekindled by newly arriving teachings from India. By the Twelfth Century, more than three hundred years after the life of Vairochana, those who held to the teachings from his time became called the Ancient Ones or Nyingma, while those who held to the new teachings from India were called Modern Ones or Sarma. Many writings had survived the centuries of upheaval in the possession of private persons, being copied and passed on as appropriate, but many titles had come to have multiple versions, both brief and extensive, and many differing lists of titles for the Eighteen Tantras exist. It was in this environment that Nyima Dorje, a minor cleric from gNyi-ba, did the work of putting together an edition of the Tantras of the five early and thirteen later translations that includes two full sets of eighteen Tantras. The first is a collection of extensive versions of each title. This is then supplemented with the quartet of the Cutting through Samsara at the Root cycle, which contains within it summary versions of the eighteen Tantras. The Tantras of the Five Early Translations are in The Filthless Tantra that is Equal to the Sun and Moon. The Tantras of the Thirteen Later Translations are in The Unborn Tantra that is Equal to a Precious Jewel. Nyima Dorje's edition of the Five Early and Thirteen later Translations was canonized into the Hundred Thousand Tantras of the Ancient Ones (Nyingma Gyubum), which is where these Tantras are found today.In the classification system that divides the Great Perfection literature into three sections: The mind section, the space section, and the upadesa instruction section, the Eighteen Tantras belong in the mind section, and are considered to be core reading in this area.

Atiyoga: The Eighteen Tantras, Christopher Wilkinson (translator), Paperback, 597 pages, $50.00

Christopher Wilkinson began his career in Buddhist literature in 1972 at the age of fifteen, taking refuge vows from his guru Dezhung Rinpoche. In that same year he began formal study of Tibetan language at the University of Washington under Geshe Ngawang Nornang and Turrell Wylie. He then received many instructions from Kalu Rinpoche, completing the traditional practice of five hundred thousand Mahamudra preliminaries. He became a Buddhist monk at the age of eighteen, living in the home of Dezhung Rinpoche while he continued his studies at the University of Washington. He graduated in 1980 with a B.A. degree in Asian Languages and Literature and another B.A. degree in Comparative Religion (College Honors, Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa). After a two year tour of Buddhist pilgrimage sites throughout Asia he worked for five years in refugee resettlement in Seattle, Washington, then proceeded to the University of Calgary for an M.A. in Buddhist Studies where he wrote a groundbreaking thesis on the Yangti transmission of the Great Perfection tradition titled "Clear Meaning: Studies on a Thirteenth Century rDzog chen Tantra." He proceeded to work on a critical edition of the Sanskrit text of the 20,000 line Perfection of Wisdom in Berkeley, California, followed by an intensive study of Burmese language in Hawaii. In 1990 he began three years' service as a visiting professor in English Literature in Sulawesi, Indonesia, exploring the remnants of the ancient Sri Vijaya Empire there. He worked as a research fellow for the Shelly and Donald Rubin Foundation for several years, playing a part in the early development of the famous Rubin Museum of Art. In the years that followed he became a Research Fellow at the Centre de Recherches sur les Civilisations de l'Asie Orientale, Collge de France, and taught at the University of Calgary as an Adjunct Professor for five years. He is currently completing his doctoral dissertation, a study of the Yoginitantra first translated into Tibetan during the Eighth century of our era, at the University of Leiden's Institute for Area Studies.

Acknowledgments	i
Introduction	iii
The Five Early Translations	1
1. The Glory of Well Being: The Cuckoo of the Awareness	3
2. The Great Search for the Bodhicitta	45
3. The Great Garuda of the Bodhicitta	75
4. Bodhicitta Meditation	125
5a. Effulgent Vajra Light	141
5b. The Unwritten	179
The Thirteen Later Translations	199
1. Our Holy Lord	201
2. The Drop of the Unchanging Circle of the Bodhicitta	205
3. The Wheel of Life	211
4. The King of the Sky	217
5. The Bodhicitta in which the Summit Arises Victorious	225
6. Smooth Bliss	241
7. A Subtle Display of Happiness	247
8. All Together	253
9. Taking Flight into the Sky	259
10. The Sprout of Happiness	263
11. The General Determination that is Perfect	273
12. The Lamp of the Three Realms	277
13. Meditation on the Bodhicitta	279
Cutting Through Samsara at the Root	327
1. The Unwritten Tantra that is Equal to the Sky	329
2. The Untroubled Tantra that is Equal to the Ocean	363
3. The Filthless Tantra that is Equal to the Sun and Moon	399
4. The Unborn Tantra that is Equal to a Precious Jewel	433
Tibetan Text	471
About the Translator	587