Ebook: Drukchen Padma Karpo's Collected Works on Mahamudra Volume II

This book is the second volume of a two volume set. The two volumes collectively contain all of Padma Karpo’s writings on Mahamudra as found in his Collected Works. Volume one contains the introduction and important explanations which set the ground for the practical explanations found in the texts of volume two. Both volumes are equally important in terms of gaining the full understanding of Mahamudra presented by Padma Karpo.

Padma Karpo [1527-1592 C.E.] was the fourth Drukchen or leader of the Drukpa Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. He is one of the most famous of all Tibetan authors, and is well-known for his erudite explanations of difficult subjects.

A few of the smaller texts in this book have been seen in English. For example, the short but pithy Notes on Mahamudra, which is widely used in all Kagyu lineages these days as an instruction manual on the Four Yogas of Mahamudra, has been translated a number of times, beginning with Evans-Wentz’s famous first effort. It has been freshly translated to solve various problems with the earlier translations. This raises an important point. All the translations in this book are based on extensive personal teaching received from various Drukpa Kagyu masters over the span of a decade, often privately and directly in Tibetan. The Drukpa Kagyu has its own way of understanding the view and practice; existing translations by followers of other Kagyu lineages go astray in places because of lack of knowledge of the particulars of Drukpa Kagyu view and meditation. This book does not suffer from that problem. To the contrary, it is the first major presentation of texts of the Drukpa Kagyu in English done by someone who has studied closely with the Drukpa Kagyu.

Despite the fact that the Drukpa Kagyu view is presented in these texts, the book should be of immense value to anyone who is studying and practising Mahamudra. There are many explanations of the Four Yogas of Mahamudra in here which show the whole system in a level of detail not seen before. A bonus is that, in one text, Padma Karpo quotes extensively from his predecessor, the second Drukchen Gyalwang Je, who was famous for the brilliance of his expositions on tantra. Another gem is Padma Karpo’s explanation of a song of Saraha on the non-dual view which came to Marpa the Translator in a dream.

More about the author

iography
Lama Tony is a very well-known practitioner, scholar, and translator who has spent over forty years of his life fully dedicated to studying, practising, teaching, and translating the Buddhist teachings. He has been a full-time Buddhist practitioner-scholar since 1973. He was a member of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche's Nalanda Translator Committee in which he retains honorary status. He was Tsoknyi Rinpoche's personal translator during the 1990's and has translated orally and in writing for many other great teachers during the years. He has been a member of several translation committees and has published or been involved in the publication of many Tibetan Buddhist texts.

Based on his long experience with Kagyu teachings, he has prepared many books on the Kagyu view, called "Other Emptiness", and on Mahamudra and the Kagyu teaching of it.

Tony has spent decades with the Nyingma teachings. In particular, he spent long periods in Tibet, receiving and practising the highest Dzogchen teachings in retreat. He has made a point of translating the key texts of the system for others who need accurate, reliable, and in-depth information about the practices of Dzogchen. His translation of the ultimate text of Longchen Nyingthig, known in Tibetan as "triyig yeshe lama" or "Guidebook to Highest Wisdom", has been highly praised by Tibetan teachers.

Tony is well-known not only as an author but as a teacher who gives particularly clear explanations of dharma at all levels, from sutra through to Dzogchen and Mahamudra. To support his teachings and to provide resources for Tibetan Buddhists in general, he has also translated many sutras and sutra-related items.

One of the things that readers of Tony's books often say is that the vocabulary used across all of the books is consistent, making it easy to have a library of books that are easy to comprehend. Another comment is that all of the books have copious notes and a very extensive glossary which provide many insights into the deeper meanings embodied in these teachings. The Tibetan text is usually provided with each translation as well, if not in the book, on the Padma Karpo Translation Committee website in searchable digital form. A free reader is also provided for easy use of the digital texts.