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.

Vajra Wisdom presents the commentaries of two great nineteenth-century Nyingma masters that 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 development stage meditation in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition is to directly realize the inseparability of phenomena and emptiness. Preceded by initiation and oral instructions, the practitioner arrives at this view through the profound methods of deity visualization, mantra recitation, and meditative absorption.

This playful and accessible guide presents a Buddhist psychological system for enhancing self-awareness, interpersonal communication, and creativity This book invites us to celebrate our strengths and work with our weaknesses by learning to identify and utilize five basic personal styles or energies based on a Tibetan Buddhist practice. Each of the five wisdom energies is associated with particular ways of perceiving and interacting with the world and also with particular colors, elements, senses, seasons, and times of day. With easy, fun, and engaging exercises and stories, Irini Rockwell shows us how to identify which energies are active in our lives, and how we can work with them in any situation to improve self-awareness, communication, and creative expression. According to the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, each of us has one or two dominant energies, but these can shift and change over time, and we can manifest different energies in different areas of our lives. Each of the five energies has its unique wisdom, but also its neurotic tendencies. By learning to recognize which energies we possess—and which are present in those around us—we can learn to relax and appreciate our natural traits and those of others, and we can move away from our neuroses toward the wisdom-aspects of our character.

Enter the rich world of Buddhist symbolism.The vajra and the vajra-bell are important sacred objects used in Tantric ritual, and this colourful book lays before us an unexpected array of associations and images to enrich our understanding of these powerful and fascinating symbols. We discover that they embody all masculine and feminine qualities, transcendental compassion and wisdom, bliss and emptiness. By reflecting deeply on this perfect pair, we too can become sources of wisdom and compassion for the world.

This collection contains four of the most cherished Tibetan Buddhist commentaries on the practices of visualization, mantra recitation, and meditative absorption—elements that form the core of development stage meditation, one of the most important practices of Buddhist Tantra. The texts within this volume—Ladder to Akaniṣṭha, Clarifying the Difficult Points in the Development Stage, The Four Stakes That Bind the Life-Force, and Husks of Unity—are among the most widely studied commentaries on this topic and have formed the basis for spiritual study and practice for centuries. In these eloquent and inspiring translations, Jigme Lingpa, Patrul Rinpoche, and Getse Mahāpaṇḍita explain the fundamental philosophy of the development stage, illuminating its profound insights into the nature of reality and how to utilize these insights through the practice of meditation.

An introduction to the Dharma for millennials by a young Tibetan lama. This unique and fresh presentation of Tibetan Buddhism provides all the tools a millennial needs to navigate the Buddhist path in a modern world. The twenty-five-year-old lama, Avikrita Vajra Sakya, was born and raised in America and now lives in a monastery in India, training in and teaching meditation and Buddhist philosophy to hundreds of monks and nuns. He has thousands of students all over the world, with over 100,000 people following him on Facebook. His style of writing is frank and open, hitting straight to the heart of young people's concerns for why they should bother with a spiritual path in the age of cell phones and shopping malls. There is no other book like this available that makes such a direct argument for being a twenty-first century Buddhist, whether you are living in Seattle or in a Himalayan hermitage. Fundamentally, we all have the same hang-ups and all equally have the potential to become buddhas ourselves by cultivating loving-kindness, compassion, and wisdom. And this book teaches readers to do just that.

The Light of Wisdom Vol. I contains the root terma ---hidden treasure text --- of Padmasambhava, The Gradual Path of the Wisdom Essence and its commentary The Light of Wisdom by Jamgon Kongtrul the Great. Annotations on the commentary Entering the Path of Wisdom spoken by Jamyang Drakpa and recorded by Jokyab Rinpoche are included as well as clarifications from other masters. Volume I presents in-depth explanations of the Vajrajana Buddhist perspective. It begins with the nature of the ground, the buddha nature present in all beings, continues with the teachings that are common to all vehicles, and concludes with the Mahayana and the link to Vajrayana. This essence of the causal and resultant vehicles, Especially the core of the realization the three sections of the inner tantras, Linking together the ground with the path, Makes you abandon the temporary defilements along with their tendencies, Realize fruition and quickly accomplish the welfare of self and others, In this way it is in conformity with each yet exalted above them all. -Padmasambhava The root text of Lamrim Yeshe Nyingpo, a terma revealed by the great treasure- finder Chokgyur Lingpa, and its commentary by Kongtrul Rinpoche, the great translator in person, form together a complete scripture that embodies all the tantras, statements and instructions of the Nyingma School of the early translations, which is most rare to find in the past, present, or future. -Kyabje Dilgo Kyentse Rinpoche