Karma Chagme

The inspiring life story of Tert n Migyur Dorje, who revealed a new cycle of Tibetan Buddhist teachings, together with a commentary on the preliminary practices written by his main student. Tert n Migyur Dorje revealed the Namch treasure teachings while in a three-year retreat that began when he was only thirteen. The Great Compassionate One (Avalokiteshvara) and Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambhava) appeared to him in pure visionary experience and gave him these teachings. Migyur Dorje then dictated them to his teacher Karma Chagme. The Namch treasures later became the main teachings and practices of the Palyul lineage, and these teachings continue to be presented in Palyul monasteries and retreat centers throughout Asia, North America, and Europe. This book brings together two texts that have inspired countless practitioners in this lineage. The first text tells the life story of Migyur Dorje. It was composed by Karma Chagme, the master who first recognized the seven-year-old Migyur Dorje as an exceptional tulku and tert n and who was responsible for preparing him to be a major treasure revealer. The second text is a commentary on the Namch preliminary practices. Written by Rigdzin Kunzang Sherab, Migyur Dorje's main student and the first throne holder of the Palyul lineage, it explains the foundational practices that should be completed before pursuing more advanced ones: the four contemplations that turn the mind to dharma and the fivefold practice of taking refuge, arousing bodhichitta, mandala offering, Vajrasattva purification, and Guru Yoga.

An accessible commentary by a popular and respected Tibetan Buddhist master opens the door for Westerners to Karma Chagme's classic text that integrates two of the great meditation systems of Tibet: Mahamudra and Dzogchen. This book grows out of an oral teaching that Khenchen Thrangu gave in Crestone, Colorado, on Karma Chagme's text "Meaningful to Behold: The Essential Instructions of the Compassionate One on the Union of Mahamudra and Dzogchen." Thrangu Rinpoche explains in lucid detail the advanced meditation practices of Mahamudra and Dzogchen and also their similarities and differences, including advice on how to safely perform some of the more advanced Dzogchen practices. Many chapters include his answers to questions from the audience, which give the book an intimate feeling."

This manual of Tibetan meditation simply and thoroughly presents the profound Dzogchen and Mahamudra systems of practice. Karma Chagme sets forth the stages of meditation practice, including the cultivation of meditative quiescence and insight, the experiential identification of awareness, and the highest steps of Mahamudra and Atiyoga leading to perfect enlightenment in one lifetime. Drawing from his enormous textual erudition and mastery of Tibetan oral traditions, he shows how these two meditative systems can be unified into a single, integrated approach to realizing the ultimate nature of consciousness. Karma Chagme was a major lineage-holder of the Karma Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, and his writings have also become central to the Payul Nyingma order, making him an ideal figure to integrate two of the great meditation systems of Tibet: Mahamudra and Atiyoga.

In this classic seventeenth-century presentation of the union of Mahamudra and Dzogchen, Karma Chagm , one of the great teachers of both these lineages of Tibetan Buddhism, begins with an overview of the spirit of awakening and the nature of actions and their ethical consequences. Next, drawing from his enormous erudition and profound experience, Chagm gives exceptionally lucid instructions on the two phases of Dzogchen practice--the "breakthrough" and the "leap-over"--followed by an accessible introduction to the practice of the transference of consciousness at the time of death. The concluding chapters of this treatise present a detailed analysis of Mahamudra meditation in relation to Dzogchen practice. This tour de force of scholarly erudition and contemplative insight is made all the more accessible by the lively commentary of the contemporary Nyingma Lama Gyatrul Rinpoche. Although this book stands alone, it is the concluding section of a single body of teachings by Karma Chagm , the earlier section published under the title A Spacious Path to Freedom. Karma Chagm was a major teacher of the Karma Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, and his writings have also become central to the Payul Nyingma order, making him an ideal figure to integrate these two great meditation systems.