Mirror of Light brings into the English language for the very first time the great physician and meditation adept Yuthok Yonten Gonpo's teachings on Ati Yoga. Ati Yoga (Tib: Dzogchen), literally meaning the 'utmost yoga, ' is the pinnacle of Buddhist Vajrayana practice. It is the most simple, direct, and profound path to reveal the primordial wisdom which is one's basic nature. In his remarkably clear and accessible commentary which seamlessly weaves in verses from Yuthok's own root text and quotations from Tibet's great masters of meditation, Dr Nida Chenagtsang skillfully points us to the sky-like nature of our own mind which is clear, vast, and unobstructed by the clouds of afflictive emotions. Much more than a theoretical exposition, Volume One of Mirror of Light contains precise instruction on Ati Yoga's preliminary practices and trekchod (cutting through hardness') -- ancient proven techniques that reveal the present fresh awareness that is free from all confusion and beyond the 'hardness' of dualistic thinking.

Mirror of Light : A Commentary on Yuthok's Ati Yoga, Nida Chenagtsang , Sky Press, 256 pp, $29.95

Dr. Nida Chenagtsang was born in Amdo, in Eastern Tibet. Interested in the traditional healing science of his people, he began his early medical studies at the local Tibetan Medicine hospital. Later he gained scholarship entry to Lhasa Tibetan Medical University, where he completed his medical education in 1996. Dr. Nida completed his practical training at the Tibetan Medicine hospitals in Lhasa and Lhoka. Dr. Nida has published many articles and books on Sowa Rigpa (Traditional Tibetan Medicine). He has extensively researched ancient Tibetan healing methods, and has gained high acclaim in the East and West for his revival of traditional Tibetan external healing therapies. Dr. Nida is the Co-Founder and Medical Director of Sorig Khang International (formerly the International Academy for Traditional Tibetan Medicine). He is also the Co-Founder of the International Ngak-mang Institute, established to preserve and maintain the Rebkong Ngakpa yogic culture within modern Tibetan society. Dr. Nida trains students in Sowa Rigpa and the Yuthok Nyingthig spiritual tradition in over 40 countries around the world. Hailed by the New York Times as the leading American expert on Tibetan Buddhism, Robert Thurman is a professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies in the Department of Religion at Columbia University. He is President of Tibet House US, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Tibetan civilization, and President of the American Institute of Buddhist Studies, which is dedicated to the translation of the Tengyur, an important part of the Tibetan canon. The first American to have been ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist monk and a personal friend of His Holiness the Dalai Lama for nearly 50 years, Professor Thurman is a dedicated advocate and spokesperson for the truth regarding the current Tibet-China situation and the human rights violations suffered by the Tibetan people under Chinese Communist rule. His commitment to finding a peaceful solution for Tibet and China inspired him to write Why the Dalai Lama Matters: His Act of Truth as the Solution for China, Tibet, and the World, which was published in June 2008. Professor Thurman also translates important Tibetan and Sanskrit philosophical writings, and lectures and writes on Buddhism, particularly Tibetan Buddhism; Asian history, particularly the history of the monastic institution in Asian civilization; and critical philosophy, with a focus on the dialogue between the material and inner sciences of the world's religious traditions.

Ben Joffe is a cultural anthropology PhD candidate from South Africa who is currently based at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He specializes in the anthropology of contemporary Tibet, Tibetan exile, and Buddhism; in the study of religion, magic, witchcraft, esotericism(s), neo-paganism(s), and neo-shamanism(s). His doctoral dissertation research is focused on Tibetan Buddhist non-celibate tantric ritual specialists, or ngakpa/ma who live outside of Tibet, and the globalization of Tibetan Buddhism.

Contents Mirror of Light
Author's Preface	4
Translator's Preface	6
Foreword by Professor Thurman	15
Publisher's Acknowledgments	19
Introduction
12 Special Characteristics of the Yuthok Nyingthig	23
Songs and Prayers
Prayer to Yuthok	43
Five Line Prayer to Yuthok	49
Yuthok's Song	51
Yuthok Nyingthig Outer Guru Yoga	57
Yuthok's Ati Yoga - Chapter 1
Introduction and Preliminaries	73
Yuthok's Ati Yoga - Chapter 2
Primordial Purity and Cutting Through Hardness	117
Ati Yoga's Spontaneous Song	203
Short Practice of Medicine Protector Shangdon	223
Appendices	227
A: Yuthok Nyingthig Tree	229
B: Preliminary Practices	230
C: 75 Identifiers	232
D: Nine Levels of Practioners	234
Glossary	237