The Great Perfection, also known as the Atiyoga or Dzogchen (rDzogs chen), is a tradition of esoteric Buddhism that propounds instantaneous enlightenment and was first brought to Tibet in the Eighth Century of the Common Era. The Indian manuscripts of this tradition have been lost in time, and only the Tibetan translations remain. The original teachings of this tradition are contained in books called Tantras, and are generally divided into three categories: The Mind Section, the Space Section, and the Upadesha Instruction Section. The Upadesha Instruction section is devoted to the pointing out instructions or practical advice in the understanding and application of the Great Perfection. It is generally described as having seventeen root scriptures. The Jewel Maker here translated is considered to be the source for the other sixteen Tantras, which form the body of the seventeen works. As such, we may say that this Tantra is the core of the core teachings on the Upadesha instructions of the Great Perfection. This Tantra is also secret, and is said to be under the guardianship of dakinis. The Tantra itself proclaims the importance of keeping it, copying it and preserving it. This translation is part of an effort to preserve and maintain this ancient literature, in keeping with the directives written in the Tantra itself.

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	vii
Introduction	ix
1: The Roots of the Upadesa Instructions Arrange in a variety of Ways and Brought into Certainty	3
2: The Roots of Awareness's Display of Our Core Conception Are Definitely Manifest	99
3:The Array of Wisdom Tuly Arises as the Effulgence in our Vision	137
4: Teaching that Displays of Reality is the Root of the Visions of Our Minds	163
5: Teaching the Display of Views and Maditations that are the Roots of our Presence.	181
6: The Specific Display	199
: The Tibetan Text	211
: About the Translator	299