In addition to his revelations, Jatson Nyingpo wrote commentaries, essays on Tibetan religious history, and a number of memoirs. These include accounts of some of his previous lives, his recollections of being with his teachers, and what he classified as his fourfold memoirs.
As readers will discover, he called his actual autobiography his Outer Memoir. It is translated in its entirety in this book. Readers will also discover that he finished it and then added more to it several times; I have called these sections Chapter One, Chapter Two, and so on, and indicated the years they deal with. His last entry was while he was in his fifty-seventh year, in 1642 C.E.
Jatson Nyingpo called his collected songs and written advice his Inner Memoir. This is not translated here, but many examples of his songs are to be found in these pages as they are also part of the autobiography itself.
Rainbow Essence: The Life and Teachings of Jatson Nyingpo, Yeshe Gyamtso, KTD Publications, 2017, 192 pp, $19.95
The title vidyadhara, bearer of awareness, is accorded only the greatest of vajrayana masters. The vidyadhara Jatson Nyingpo was one of the greatest tertons of the Seventeenth Century. A terton is a revealer of terma: concealed teachings and other sacred objects. Jatson Nyingpo's revelations continue to be widely practiced throughout the Himalayan region, and even in other parts of the world.
His teachings spread throughout many branches of the Nyingma, Kagyu, and other Tibetan Buddhist schools, and formed part of the spiritual practice of many great teachers, including Jamgon Lodro Taye and the Fifteenth Karmapa Kakhyap Dorje.
The exceptionally skilled Lama Yeshe Gyamtso, is one of the foremost translators of Tibetan Buddhist written and oral teachings.
After completing two traditional three-year retreats under the guidance of Kalu Rinpoche and Lama Norlha, at Kagyu Thubten Choling in Wappingers Falls, New York, he has served as an interpreter for many eminent teachers, including the Seventeenth Gyalwang Karmapa, the Third Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche, Kyabje Kalu Rinpoche, Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche, and Mingyur Dorje Rinpoche.
Lama Yeshe's published translations include Chariot of the Fortunate: The Life of Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche; The Vajra Garland and the Lotus Garden: Treasure Biographies of Padmakara and Vairochana; Nyima Tashi: The Songs and Instructions of the First Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche; Treasury of Eloquence: The Songs of Barway Dorje; The Precious Essence; Garland of Jewels: The Eight Great Bodhisattvas; and The Hundred Tertons. He is also the author of On the Four Noble Truths and Shower of Blessings.
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CONTENTS: Rainbow Essence: The Life and Teachings of Jatson Nyingpo
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vii.
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Translator's Introduction
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1.
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Part One: The Outer Memoir of the Supreme Emanation, the Vidyadhara Jatson Nyingpo
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3.
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Chapter One: 1585-1626
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51.
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Chapter Two: 1627-1635
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83.
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Chapter Three: 1636-1639
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107.
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Chapter Four: 1640
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117.
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Chapter Five: 1640-1642
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137.
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Part Two: Wondrous Light: A Brief Account of the Final Days of the Vidyadhara Jatson Nyingpo
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155.
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Part Three: From the Embodiment of the Three Jewels: A Brief Account of the Terton
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163.
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Part Four: Jatson Nyingpo's Visionary Journey to the Glorious Copper-Colored Mountain as Extract from his Secret Memoir: Visions of Boundless Purity
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