There is no better illustration of the radical transformative power of the ancient Tibetan contemplative teachings of Dzogchen than the extraordinary phenomenon of bodily disappearance or 'rainbow body', which is considered its ultimate fruit. In this groundbreaking study of rainbow body in the Bon tradition, which is the first of its kind in a western language, the neophyte reader is guided into the profound insights of Dzogchen, while all the components required to understand this most mysterious and enigmatic of phenomena are laid out gently and methodically. Illustrated by unique thangkas commissioned especially for this study, the book's emphasis is on clarity of exposition. Simple enough for the layman, but detailed enough to do justice to these ancient and subtle traditions, Rainbow Body serves both as an introduction to Dzogchen, and as a groundbreaking study, based on Tibetan textual sources, of its ultimate fruit. It is offered to the public in the hope that as many people as possible may benefit from the profundity of this ancient wisdom. For as Loel Guinness states in his preface, 'Dzogchen is not just for monks. It is as suitable for the businessman, the academic, the adventurer, or the practitioner. The insights of Dzogchen are relevant for all.'
Rainbow Body, Loel Guinness, Serindia Publications, Hardcover, 300 Pages, 2018, $125.00
Loel Patrick Guinness is a businessman and adventurer who currently resides in Bangkok, Thailand. He was born in 1957 and his early education was in Switzerland and the USA. He later received an MPhil in Oriental Studies (Tibetan) from the University of Oxford. His philanthropic activities, first through the Loel Guinness Foundation and later though the Kalpa Group, have been many and varied. In particular, he has financially supported many developmental, media and research initiatives associated with Bon, the pre-Buddhist religious tradition of Tibet and the high Himalaya. Chief among them being the establishment of the Bonpo monastery Shenten Dargye Ling in the Loire valley, France. For over fifteen years he has been a practitioner of Dzogchen according to the precepts of this tradition. This is his first book.
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Contents: RAINBOW BODY
TABLE OF CONTENTS |
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FOREWORD by Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin
Namdak Rinpoche |
7 |
PREFACE |
13 |
ACKNOWLEGEMENTS |
25 |
INTRODUCTION |
27 |
PART ONE; GROUND |
39 |
CHAPTER
1: THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE MIND |
41 |
CHAPTER 2: THE BODY |
59 |
CHAPTER
3: THE IMPORTANCE OF TRANSMISSION LINEAGE |
85 |
PART TWO: PATH |
93 |
CHAPTER 4: PRELIMINARIES |
95 |
CHAPTER 5:
RUSHAN AND A-TRI |
119 |
CHAPTER
6: TREKCHO, CUTTING THROUGH |
133 |
CHAPTER 7:
THOGAL, "TRANSCENDENCE" |
149 |
PART THREE:
FRUIT |
175 |
CHAPTER 8:
THE VISIONS |
177 |
CHAPTER 9:
SHARDZA'S VARIETIES OF RAINBOW BODY |
207 |
CHAPTER 10:
EXAMPLES OF RAINBOW BODY, ANCIENT AND MODERN |
225 |
CHAPTER 11: RAINBOW
BODY IN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE |
243 |
CHAPTER 12: SCIENCE
AND THE PROBLEM OF PROOF |
257 |
NOTES |
263 |
WORKS CITED |
278 |
GLOSSARY |
281 |
INDEX |
296 |
LIST OF PLATES |
303 |
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