Vajra Wisdom: Deity Practice in Tibetan Buddhism - Paperback

by Kunkyen Tenpe Nyima (Author), Shechen Gyaltsap (Author), Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche (Foreword by)

Vajra Wisdom contains two of the most important explanations of the "development stage" of meditation, relevant for most practitioners in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Now available in paperback for the first time.

The practices of deity, mantra, and wisdom are also known within the Tibetan system as the "development stage," because the practitioner is said to attain spiritual insight by developing meditative visualizations that bring the experience of awakening directly into one's present life, without having to wait for later spiritual fulfillment.

Vajra Wisdom presents the commentaries of two great nineteenth-century Nyingma masters, Kunkyen Tenpe Nyima and Shechen Gyaltsap IV, which guide practitioners engaged in development stage practice through a series of straightforward instructions. The rarity of this kind of material in English makes it indispensable for practitioners and scholars alike.

The goal of the development stage of meditation in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition is to realize the inseparability of phenomena and great emptiness. Using the methods of deity visualization, mantra recitation, and meditative absorption, the practitioner arrives at this nonconceptual view.

Author Biography

KHARTRUL KUNKYEN TENPE NYIMA, recognized as a reincarnation of Śāntarakṣita, was a nineteenth-century master from Repkong, the homeland of Shabkar and many other masters. His father was Chöying Thobden Dorje, the author of The Complete Nyingma Tradition, a landmark text widely studied in eastern Tibet.

SHECHEN GYALTSAP IV spent most of his life in retreat and was one of the main teachers of the late Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.

THE DHARMACHAKRA TRANSLATION COMMITTEE draws its inspiration from the vision, commitment, and magnificent achievements of past Buddhist translators. Directed by Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche, the Committee is dedicated to making Buddhist classics available to modern readers in their native languages.