Strand of Jewels: My Teachers' Essential Guidance on Dzogchen

by Khetsun Sangpo, Anne Carolyn Klein (Translator)

Overview

This book is a translation of a teaching text and commentary by the Nyingma master Khetsun Sangpo Rinpoche (1920-2009). It's also the latest offering from well-known Tibetan translator and scholar Anne Carolyn Klein, professor of religious studies at Rice University in Houston, Texas.

     For anyone interested in Tibetan Buddhist practice and philosophy, particularly the Dzogchen teachings of the Nyingma lineage, this book gives detailed instruction and friendly and inspiring advice, offering guidance on how to approach the path and giving instruction for specific meditation and contemplation techniques.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781559394383
Publisher:	Shambhala
Publication date:	02/02/2016
Pages:	400
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

KHETSUN SANGPO (1921-2009) was born in central Tibet and worked in a monastery as a servant when he was a boy, learning to read and write during his free hours. He later pursued study for several years with a renowned nun. (It was unusual for a man to seek teachings from a woman.) He eventually pursued formal monastic education in both the Gelukpa and Nyingma traditions. He fled Tibet to India in 1959. He had a close relationship with Dudjom Rinpoche, who asked him to teach in Japan for ten years as his representative. After that period, he spent the rest of his life in India and Nepal. ANNE CAROLYN KLEIN is professor of religious studies at Rice University in Houston, Texas, and founding director and resident teacher at Dawn Mountain, a Tibetan temple, community center, and research institute, also in Houston.

Table of Contents

Long-Life Prayer for Khetsun Sangpo Rinpoche xiii

Acknowledgments xvii

Translators Introduction xxi

Meeting Khetsun Rinpoche xxxiii

Technical Note xxxix

Part 1 The Text

Homage and Prologue 3

1 Your Original Face: Base, Path, and Fruition 7

Brief Explanation of the View 7

The Ordinary Mind: Eighty Conceptions 15

Our Moving Mind: More on the Eighty Conceptions 17

Illusions Laced with Holes 25

Buddhas and Other Beings 31

Realizing the Great Seal 33

2 Mindnature: The Great Seal in Nyingma 41

3 Path: Distinctions That are Key to Dzogchen Practice 53

Distinguishing Mind from Sheer Awareness 53

Distinguishing Mental Functioning from Sublime Knowing 55

Distinguishing Consciousness from Primordial Knowing 55

Distinguishing the Allground from the Sheer Essence Dimension 57

Serene Abiding and Dzogchen 57

The Three Doors of Liberation 61

Special Seeing in Dzogchen Meditation 65

4 Fine Points of Practice 87

Sidetracking and Slipping: Pitfalls on the Path 87

Specifics on Slippage 95

Phases of Practice 101

The Three Buddha Dimensions 103

Epilogue 111

Part 2 The Oral Commentary Homage and Prologue 117

5 Your Original Face: Base, Path, and Fruition 121

Brief Explanation of the View 124

The Ordinary Mind: Eighty Conceptions 127

The Seven Conceptions Associated with Obscuration 130

Our Moving Mind: More on the Eighty Conceptions 131

First Meditation 134

Illusions Laced with Holes 134

The Forty Conceptions Associated with Desire 136

Second Meditation 137

Questions and Responses: Posture, Dzogchen, and Indrabhuti 137

Buddhas and Other Beings 141

Realizing the Great Seal 144

6 Mindnature: The Great Seal in Nyingma 149

Third Meditation 154

Questions and Responses: The Three Dimensions and the Two Types of Clarity 155

7 Path: Distinctions That are Key to Dzogchen Practice 159

On Sublime Knowing and Primordial Knowing 159

Distinguishing Mind from Sheer Awareness 160

Distinguishing Mental Functioning from Sublime Knowing 161

Distinguishing Mental Functioning from Primordial Knowing 161

Distinguishing Consciousness from Primordial Knowing 162

Distinguishing the Allground from the Sheer Essence Dimension 163

The All-inclusive View That Is Dzogchen 164

Fourth Meditation 168

Questions and Responses: Distinctions Key to Dzogchen 169

Serene Abiding and Dzogchen 173

Special Seeing in Dzogchen Meditation 176

The Three Doors of Liberation 179

Knowing Your Mind 179

Fifth Meditation 182

Questions and Responses: Serene Abiding, Drowsiness, and Furthering Compassion 182

8 Fine Points of Practice 187

Instructions and Stories 187

Sidetracking and Slipping: Pitfalls on the Path 193

Questions and Responses: Pitfalls Regarding Emptiness, Tantra, and Dzogchen 199

The Tibetan Context: Different Moves on the Mountain 205

Stories of Great Practitioners 206

Foundations of Dzogchen Practice 209

Sixth Meditation 213

Questions and Responses: Furthering Meditation and Helping Others 213

The Three Buddha Dimensions 231

Epilogue to Strand of Jewels 237

Part 3 Khetsun Sangpo Rinpoche: Episodes from a Life of Practice

Khetsun Sangpo Rinpoche: A Life of Practice 243

Khetsun Sangpo Rinpoche: A Brief History in His Own Words 249

Prayer for Khetsun Sangpo Rinpoches Swift Return 261

Notes 265

English-Tibetan Glossary 293

Tibetan-English Glossary 311

Bibliography of Works Cited 329

Bibliography of Tibetan-Language Works Khetsun Sangpo Rinpoche 337

Credits 339

Index 341

Editorial Reviews

"This book is a rare gift. These teachings, so generously and clearly presented, are not only beautiful, but we can use them day to day. Strand of Jewels offers a vehicle for true transformation in our lives." —Sharon Salzberg, author of Real Happiness at Work

From the Publisher