Jean-Luc Achard

A complete translation of two of the eleventh-century Seventeen Tantras--texts that are among the most important in all of Tibetan Buddhism. "If one knows the Self-Arisen Vidya Tantra, the Self-Liberated Vidya Tantra, and the Tantra Without Syllables, one will have command over the general meaning of the tantras, like a king who has command over his subjects."--Treasury of the Supreme Vehicle The eleventh-century Seventeen Tantras are among the most important texts in the tradition of the Great Perfection--and in all of Tibetan Buddhism. This edition of the first of the two volumes presented here, the Self-Arisen Vidya Tantra, is the first-ever complete English translation of that text. The second text, the Self-Liberated Vidya Tantra, is a crucial aid to understanding the first tantra, as well as a profound text in its own right. This set provides these two luminous texts in crystal-clear translation, along with Malcolm Smith's comprehensive introduction and two vital appendixes: a brief historical account and survey of the Seventeen Tantras; and an examination of the themes of the Seventeen Tantras, translated from the String of Pearls Tantra. This is vital reading for any student of Dzogchen.

Esteemed Tibetologist Jean-Luc Achard contextualizes and provides a clear translation of highly secret precepts on Dzogchen practice unlike anything published. The Instructions on the Six Lamps is a profound and important work from the B n Dzogchen tradition and is one of the root texts of the Zhangzhung Nyengy (Oral Transmission of Zhangzhung) series of orally transmitted teachings. Considered to be the central work of the inner cycle of these teachings, it expertly details the principles of the natural state and its visionary marvels. The root text describes highly secret precepts of Dzogchen (Great Perfection) practice--the teachings of Trekch and Th gel--as revealed by Tapihritsa to Gyerpung Nangzher L po. The teachings in this text represent oral instructions transmitted by a single master to a single disciple in the mode known as "single transmission." It is through such a practice that one can see the clear light of one's own mind before achieving complete buddhahood. In this respect, the text contains a complete teaching of Dzogchen, from beginning to end.

Shardza Tashi Gyeltsen (1859-1934) is one of the most important luminaries of the Bon tradition of Tibet and certainly the most striking recent master of the teachings of the Great Perfection. Throughout his life, he applied the principles of the Great Perfection in numerous isolated retreats and perfected both spiritual realization and scholarly erudition. His works have nowadays become immensely important references for the modern Bon tradition, even if, for some lineage holders of this Tibetan school, he is best associated with the movement known as "New Bon". This widely diffused view, however, is wrong as is clearly shown by the analysis of Shardza Rinpoche's Collected Works in the present volume.