In this new book, Khenchen Thrangu provides an exhaustive commentary on the longest and most comprehensive of the three classic treatises on Mahamudra composed by the sixteenth-century scholar Wangchuk Dorje, the Ninth Karmapa.

Khenchen Thrangu's teachings encompass the entire path of Mahamudra, including the preliminaries, the main practice, removing obstacles, and attaining the result of buddhahood with detailed instruction in tranquility and insight meditation. This is the only available volume that presents Khenchen Thrangu's detailed commentary on this entire text.

An Ocean of the Ultimate Meaning, Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, Shambhala Publications, Paperback, 206 pages, $24.95

Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche is a renowned Tibetan Buddhist master known for his deep compassion and the clarity of his teachings. He was selected by His Holiness the Dalai Lama to serve as the principal tutor to His Holiness the 17th Karmapa, Oryen Trinley Dorje.

Thrangu Rinpoche is a full holder and teacher of the Kagyu Vajrayana lineages. He founded the Namo Buddha retreat center in Nepal, has established two shedras (monastic universities) in Nepal and India, and serves as Abbot of Gampo Abbey in Nova Scotia. He also built Tara Abbey, where nuns receive a full dharma education qualifying them to become khenpos or teachers. Thrangu Rinpoche teaches extensively throughout Asia, Europe and the United States. He has centers in Maine and California, and is building the Vajra Vidya Retreat Center in Crestone, Colorado.

CONTENTS: Ocean of the Ultimate Meaning
Translator's Preface			ix
Acknowledgments			xiv
Introduction			xv
PART ONE THE PRELIMINARIES
1.	The Particular Preliminaries		3
	The Causal Condition: An Aspiration for the Dharma		3
	The Primary Condition: The Teacher		6
	The Objective Condition: Recognizing the True Nature		9
	The Immediate Condition: Looking at Mind as It Is		9
PART TWO THE MAIN PRACTICE
Shamatha
2.	Essential Points of the Main Meditation		13
	Essential Points of the Body: Posture		14
	Essential Points of the Mind: The Eight Consciousnesses		16
3.	Settling the Unsettled Mind		25
	The General Instructions: Resting the Mind		27
	Methods of Meditation		30
		Focusing on an Impure Object	30
		Focusing on a Pure Object	32
		Focusing Internally	33
		Focusing without an Object	34
		Focusing on the Breath	34
	Stages of Mental Stability		38
4.	Stabilizing the Settled Mind		41
	Eliminating Dullness: Binding Above		41
	Eliminating Agitation: Binding Below		42
	Cutting through Thoughts		44
	Nine Methods for Stabilizing the Mind		45
	Other Remedies for Dullness and Agitation		48
5.	Enhancing Stability in Meditation		54
	Focusing on Sensory Perceptions		54
	Focusing on Thoughts		55
	Tightening and Loosening		58
	Eliminating Errors in Meditation		59
6.	Understanding Emptiness: The Three Turnings of the Dharma Wheel		63
	The First Turning: The Selflessness of the Individual		65
	The Second Turning: The Selflessness of Phenomena		67
	The Third Turning: Buddha Nature		69
Vipashyana
7.	Ascertaining the Mind's Nature		73
	Looking at the Mind at Rest		76
	Looking at the Mind in Movement		80
8.	Cutting through the Root		83
	Eleven Activities of Vipashyana		87
9.	Developing Certainty in the Union of Emptiness and Awareness		92
	Pointing Out the Nature of Mind through Movement		99
	Pointing Out the Nature of Mind through Appearances		105
	Philosophical Explanations of Appearances as Mind		105
		The Hinayana Views	106
		The Mind Only View	108
	Recognition through Direct Experience		110
		Point Out That Appearances Are Mind	110
		Pointing Out That the Mind Is Empty	115
		Pointing Out That Emptiness Is Natural Presence	117
		Pointing Out That Natural presence Is Self-Liberated	118
PART THREE THE CONCLUDING TOPICS
10.	Enhancing the Result		123
	Eliminating the Five Misconceptions		123
	Developing the Three Skills		129
	Avoiding the Four Deviations		133
	Passing through the Three Dangerous Pathways		138
11.	Eliminating Obstacles		145
	The Obstacle of Illness		145
	The Obstacle of Demons		148
	The Obstacles to Meditation		149
12.	Proceeding along the Path: The Four Yogas of Mahamudra		152
13.	Attaining the Result		161
PART FOUR THE SUPPLEMENTARY TEACHINGS
14.	Further Explanations of Mahamudra		167
	The Nature of Mahamudra		167
	Categories of Mahamudra		169
		Ground Mahamudra	169
		Path Mahamudra	169
		Result Mahamudra	171
	The Meaning of the Word		174
	Joining with Coemergence		176
	Gaining the Ultimate Result		176
Afterword			178
Notes			182
Glossary			187
Index			201
About the Author			205