LIVES AND LIBERATION OF PRINCESS MANDARAVA by Lama Chonam
Mandarava is the Indian counterpart of the Tibetan consort Yeshe Tsogyal. Lives and Liberation recounts her struggles and triumphs as a Buddhist adept throughout her many lives and is an authentic deliverance story of a female Buddhist master. Those who read this book will gain inspiration and encouragement on the path to liberation.
LIFE AND REVELATIONS OF PEMA LINGPA trans. by Sarah Harding
A pithy collection from the discoveries of Pema Lingpa (1450-1521), the great master and teasure-revealer of the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan. Also included is the life story of Pema Lingpa and his prior incarnations. These revealed treasures provide us with a window into the court of the Tibet's great king, Trisong Detsen, and his sublime master and receive from him quintessential instructions on meditation and the mind.
CHARIOT OF THE FORTUNATE: Life Story of Mingyur Dorje Drakpo Nuden Tsal by Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye
From Lives of the Hundred Treasure-Revealers by Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye.
Translator's Acknowledgements
This translation of The Chariot of the Fortunate could not have occurred without the kindness and hard work of several people. First of all, I must thank the seventh Mingyur Dorje Rinpoche for giving me both his permission to translate this book and, equally important, his encouragement. The Venerable Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche generously explained the colloquialisms with which the book is filled and also provided a great deal of backgroundinformation. I shudder to think of the errors this translation would contain had he not been available. Any errors that remain, however, are certainly my fault and not his.
This project would have remained a dream were it not for the tremendous exertion of the editorial and design staff of KTD Publications. I also want to especially thank all those who sponsored this publication, and finally, all who read it. We have made no corrections to the eccentric spelling in the Tibetan text except where the spelling of a word is clearly a copyist's error. by preserving the text as it is, we hope to at least avoid adding to its errors through rash correction. This book is meant to inspire us. May everyone who reads it gain at least a glimpse of Yongey Mingyur Dorje's wisdom, kindness, and ability!
Yeshe Gyamtso
This is the "secret biography" of one of Tibet's foremost saints, the Buddha Drukpa Kunley. Appearing in the spiritual lineage established by Tilopa, Naropa, Marpa, and Milarepa, Drukpa Kunley was recognized as an incarnation of the great Mahasiddha, Saraha. He is greatly loved by the people of Tibet as a "Crazy Wise" teacher and enlightened Master whose outrageous behavior and ribald humor were intended to awaken common people and yogis alike from the sleep of religious dogmatism and egoic self-possession.
APPARITIONS OF THE SELF: The Secret Autobiographies of a Tibetan Visionary by Gyatso Janet
Two secret autobiographies of the visionary Jigme Lingpa (1730-1798) reveal poetic and self-conscious writings that are as much about the nature of his own identity, memory, and the variability of autobiographical truth as they are about his experiences. Gyatso explores Jigme Lingpa's historical milieu, his visions and meditative practices, and investigates the unsettling role of the "dakini" in Tibetan religious literature.
RAINBOWS APPEAR: Tibetan Poems of Shabkar ed. by Matthieu Ricard, calligraphy by Jigme Doushe
Shabkar Tsogdruk Rangdrol (1781-1851) was a Tibetan yogi who spent many years in solitary meditation after which he devoted the rest of his life to teaching, traveling throughout the Tibet region, gaining renown for the powerful teachings he freely gave to everyone he encountered. His autobiography, from which these poems are taken, is a Tibetan classic.
Jigme Doushe has given Shabkar's songs a fresh and original calligraphic interpretation, mixing traditional versions of Tibetan forms with contemporary innovations. Rhythmic, elegant, and rich with Buddhist symbolism, his calligraphy is an homage to the splendor of a disappearing culture.
EXCELLENT BUDDHISM: An Exemplary Life by Kalu Rinpoche
Contains biographical reminiscences on Kalu Rinpoche, his teachings and inspiring stories about Buddhist practitioners of the past, and reflections on Buddhism and the West.
THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMGON KONGTRUL: A Gem of Many Colors trans. & ed. by Richard Barron (Chokyi Nyima)
Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye (1813-1899) was one of the most influential figures and prolific writers in the Tibetan Buddhist world. He was a founder and the single most important proponent of the nonsectarian movement that flourished in eastern Tibet and remains popular today. Two additional texts discuss his previous lives and recount Kongtrul's final days.
VAJRA GARLAND AND THE LOTUS GARDEN: Treasure Biographies of Padmakara and Vairochana by Lama Yeshe Gyamtso
The two biographies translated here are treasures revealed by Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye, who was an emanation of the translator Vairochana, the subject of the second of the two biographies Vairochana was a disciple of Guru Padmasambhava, the subject of the first biography. The purpose of these biographies is to inspire the reader. We are encouraged to vividly imagine the deeds of Guru Rinpoche and Vairochana, both so that we appreciate those deeds and so that we understand something of what such beings are. These stories are of people utterly unlike us in one sense and identical to us in another. Nevertheless, all of the qualities demonstrated by Guru Rinpoche and Vairochana are said by them to exist within us right now. We are in no way inferior to them in nature and are therefore potentially capable of doing everything they have done. However, because we have as yet not freed our potential from the limitations imposed on it by ignorance, our present state is very different from their present state. If we were incapable of achieving what these beings have achieved, there would be little point in studying their deeds. At the same time, seeing how extraordinary that achievement is can remind us that we have not yet realized our full potential. Therefore these stories are both uplifting and humbling.
THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A TIBETAN MONK by Palden Gyatso with Tsering Shakya, fore. by H.H. the Dalai Lama
Born in 1933, Palden Gyatso became a Buddhist monk and won a place as a student at Drepung Monastery where he came to spiritual and intellectual maturity. In 1959, along with thousands of other monks, he was forced into labor camps and prisons where he spent 33 years being tortured, interrogated, and persecuted simply for being a monk. After his release he escaped across the Himalayas to India, smuggling with him the instruments of his torture. Since then, he has devoted himself to revealing the extent of Chinese oppression in Tibet.
Top of page 
Go Back One Page