The second volume in an historic and noteworthy 6-volume series containing many of the first English translations of the classic mahamudra literature compiled by the Seventh Karmapa as well as extensive commentary that brilliantly unravels enigmas and clarifies cryptic verses.
Sounds of Innate Freedom: The Indian Texts of Mahamudra are historic volumes containing many of the first English translations of classic mahamudra literature. The texts and songs in these volumes constitute the large compendium called The Indian Texts of the Mahamudra of Definitive Meaning, compiled by the Seventh Karmapa, Chotra Gyatso (1456-1539). The collection offers a brilliant window into the richness of the vast ocean of Indian mahamudra texts cherished in all Tibetan lineages, particularly in the Kagyu tradition, giving us a clear view of the sources of one of the world's great contemplative traditions.
Besides the individual dohas (couplets), vajragitis (vajra songs), and caryagitis (conduct songs) in this second volume in publication, the three extensive commentaries it contains brilliantly unravel enigmas and bring clarity not only to the specific songs they comment on but to many other, often cryptic, songs of realization in this collection. These expressive songs of the inexpressible offer readers a feast of profound and powerful pith instructions uttered by numerous male and female mahasiddhas, yogis, and dakinis, often in the context of ritual ganacakras and initially kept in their secret treasury. Displaying a vast range of themes, styles, and metaphors, they all point to the single true nature of the mind--mahamudra--in inspiring ways and from different angles, using a dazzling array of skillful means to penetrate the sole vital point of buddhahood being found nowhere but within our own mind. Reading and singing these songs of mystical wonder, bliss, and ecstatic freedom, and contemplating their meaning, will open doors to spiritual experience for us today just as it has for countless practitioners in the past.
Sounds of Innate Freedom: The Indian Texts of Mahamudra, Vol. 4; compiled by the Seventh Karmapa, Chotra Gyatso; Translated by Karl Brunnholzl; Wisdom Publications, Hardcover, 700 pp, $59.95
Karl Brunnholzl, MD, PhD, (translator) was originally trained as a physician. He received his systematic training in Tibetan language and Buddhist philosophy and practice at the Marpa Institute for Translators, founded by Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, as well as the Nitartha Institute, founded by Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche. Since 1989 he has been a translator and interpreter from Tibetan and English. Karl Brunnholzl is a senior teacher and translator in the Nalandabodhi community of Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, as well as at the Nitartha Institute. He lives in Seattle and is the author and translator of numerous texts, including A Lullaby to Awaken the Heart: The Aspiration Prayer of Samantabhadra and Its Tibetan Commentaries.
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CONTENTS: Sounds of Innate Freedom Volume 4
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| Foreword by Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche |
ix |
| Preface |
xi |
| Abbreviations |
xvii |
| Introduction |
1
|
|
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| (70) |
A Commentary Elucidating Native True Reality on "A Song That Is a Completely Filled Doha Treasure Store" |
25 |
| (71) |
A Doha Treasure |
155 |
| (72) |
A Doha Treasure |
165 |
| (73) |
A Commentary on Half a Stanza on True Reality Teaching That All Phenomena Are Utterly Nonabiding |
171 |
| (74) |
The Purification of Being |
203 |
| (75) |
A Discussion of Nonconceptuality |
207 |
| (76) |
The Means to Realize the Unrealized |
211 |
| (77) |
A Discussion That Is a Synopsis of the Essence in Its Entirety |
215 |
| (78) |
The Root of the Accomplishment of Immortality |
219 |
| (79) |
A Pith Instruction on Mahamudra |
227 |
| (80) |
A Synopsis of Mahamudra |
233 |
| (81) |
The Stages of Self-Blessing |
237 |
| (82) |
Twelve Stanzas of Pith Instructions |
241 |
| (83) |
An Investigation of the Mind |
245 |
| (84) |
Familiarizing with the Basic Nature of the True State |
249 |
| (85) |
A Doha Treasure |
267 |
| (86) |
A Song in Five Stanzas |
273 |
| (87) |
A Glorious Vajra Song |
275 |
| (88) |
The Samadhi of Yoga Conduct |
277 |
| (89) |
Eighty-Four Lines by Sri Virupa |
281 |
| (90) |
A Commentary on the Treasury of Conduct Songs |
285 |
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| Appendix 1: A Paracanonical Version of Tilopa's Doha Treasure (Text 72) and His Six Nails That Are the Essential Points |
419 |
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| Appendix 2: Marpa Lotsawa's Translation of a Paracanonical Version of Tilopa's Pith Instruction on Mahamudra (Text 79) with the Third Karmapa's Outline and Commentary |
425 |
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| Appendix 3: Taranatha's Commentary on Krsna's Song in Five Stanzas (Text 86) |
443 |
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| Appendix 4: A List of Potential Quotes from Other Songs from the Caryagitkosa in Text 90 |
453 |
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| Notes |
455 |
| Selected Bibliography |
677 |
| About the Translator |
691 |
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