Path and Grounds of Guhyasamaja According to Arya Nagarjuna" is a very significant eighteenth century Tibetan treatise (with a brief contemporary commentary) which maps out the paths and the grounds of Guhyasamaja Tantra according to Arya Nagarjuna's tradition. It is based on the incomparable masterpieces of Manjushri, Lama Tsongkhapa and his hear-like disciples. In many Buddhist Tantras and works of realized masters, Guhyasamaja is referred to as "the supreme and king of all Tantras." Acharya Chandrakirti's "Bright Lamp" (sgron gsal) states, "This (Guhyasamaja) is the supreme subsidiary practice; a compendium of the meanings of all Tantras." Khedrup Rinpoche in his "Short Writing (Yig chung) states, "Moreover, if one initially understands Guhyasamaja one will automatically understand other Tantras." His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama has also stated that the Guhyasamaja provides structure to other Highest Yoga Tantras; it , therefore, makes it easier to understand other Tantras of the same class. In short, this work is an indispensable guide for initiated Buddhist tantric practitioners especially those of Guhyasamaja.
Path and Grounds of Guhyasamaja According to Arya Nagarjuna, Yangchen Gawai Lodoe, Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, 164 pages, $17.50
Nagarjuna (circa 2nd Centry C.E.), one of Buddhism's greatest philosophers, has held continuous attention of Buddhist scholars in Asia since his own day. Even today he comamnds the greatest attention in the Western world insfoar as philosophic Mahayana tradition is concerned. Though he did not establish a school of a system fo thought as such, he did attract such overwhelming interest and appeal on the part of the masses by way of his unique writings that a tradition of a sort soon arose during his lifetime and a large following in consquence of it. His ideas though subtle and profound, carried such deep understanding and implications of fundamental Buddhist truths that they will influence, one way or another, all or most the subsequent Mahayana developments in India, China, Tibet, Korea and Japan.
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