KALACHAKRA: The Tantric Buddhist Ritual Given by H.H. the Dalai Lama photostory by Bojan Brecelj, text by Maja Megla
Image after image with intelligent narrative--here is the Kalachakra Initiation in the Spiti Valley in India, August, 2000. The landscape at 13,000 feet is spectacular--every day the 15,000 devotees gathered and experienced this most remarkable of initiations. This is a beautiful way to experience the daily events and teachings of this two-week event.
ORNAMENT OF STAINLESS LIGHT: An Exposition of the Kalachakra Tantra by Khedrup Norsang Gyatso, trans. by Gavin Kilty
Kalachakra is a method of transforming the universe by working with the body and mind. This text develops the theory of correlation between the living body and the external world, and gives a detailed account of Tibetan astrology. This volume is the first in series editor Thupten Jinpa's Library of Tibetan Classics.
"A radiant gem drawn from the vast ocean of Tibetan literature on the Kalacakra tantra. It provides a clear, comprehensive summary of the basic structure and essential features of this important system of mysticism. Also, Khedrup Norsang Gyatso's interpretations of controversial issues in the Kalacakra contribute to our understanding of the evolution of Tibetan theories of mysticism. Gavin Kilty's faithful translation makes this work easily accessible - it is a fitting inaugural volume for The Library of Tibetan Classics."-- John Newman, MacArthur Professor of Asian Religions, New College of Florida
THE KALACAKRATANTRA: The Chapter on the Individual together with the Vimalaprabha trans. by Vesna A. Wallace
This is the first complete English translation of the fourth chapter of the esoteric Buddhist Kalacakratantra text, and its eleventh-century commentary, the Stainless Light (Vimalaprabha), often accorded pride of place as the first volume of the Tibetan Tanjur. This chapter describes in detail the Buddhist tantric practice of the stage of generation, including the instructions on the protection of the place of practice, the meditative practices of the origination of the body and the deities abiding in the body, the yogic practices of the stage of generation, and diverse mundane sadhanas designed to induce the mundane siddhis. The translation is supplemented with copious annotations and references to Tibetan commentaries and other esoteric Buddhist works. It also includes the first critical edition of the Mongolian version of the fourth chapter.
TRANSCENDING TIME: An Explanation of the Kalachakra Six-Session Guru Yoga by Gen Lamrimpa, trans. by B. Alan Wallace, ed. by Pauly Fitze
Offers an overview of Kalachakra practice: the preliminaries, initiation, generation and completion stages--he especially makes the Six-Session Guru Yoga practice understandable by explaining its parts and how it is to be practiced six times every 24 hours. "To the best of my knowledge, no such detailed account of these secret practices has previously appeared in English"--B. Alan Wallace
THE TREASURY OF KNOWLEDGE, Book One: Myriad Worlds by Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye, trans. by the Kalu Rinpoche Translation Group, under the direction of Ven. Bokar Rinpoche
Buddhist Cosmology in Abhidarma, Kalachakra and Dzog-chen
Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye (1813-99), a pivotal figure in eastem Tibet's nonsectarian movement, was one of the most outstanding writers and teachers of his time. In his monumental Encyclopedia of Buddhism he presents a complete account of the major lines of thought and practice that comprise Tibetart Buddhism. Myriad Worlds is the first part of that work.
As a prelude to Kongtrul's survey of the entire range of Buddhist teachings, Myriad Worlds describes four major cosmological systems found in the Tibetan tradition-those associated with the Hinayana, Mahayana, Kalacakra and Dzog-chen teachings. To suit the capacities of different grades of beings, Buddha taught four levels of cosmology: the numerically definite cosmology of the individual way; the cosmology of infinite buddhafields of the universal way; the special cosmological system of the Kalacakra Tantra; and the dazzling non-cosmology of the Dzog-chen system, which dispenses with the dualistic perspectives revealing the creative principle to be awareness alone.
Each of these cosmologies shows how the world arises from mind, whether through the accumulated results of past actions or from the constant striving of awareness to know itself.
This detailed and thorough account of worldviews that present conceptions of space and time which differ significantly from Western ideas is at once illuminating and challenging.
KALACAKRATANTRA and The Tibetan Calendar by Edward Henning
Kalacakra and The Tibetan Calendar describes the contents of current Tibetan almanacs, from basic mathematics to symbolic and historical information. Essential for understanding the Kalacakra Tantra's first chapter, this book describes the origin of the calendrical systems in this Tantra and translates and elucidates the relevant sections from its famous commentary, the Vimalaprabha. The main calendars in use in Tibet today have remained unchanged since the 15th century, when lamas i several different traditions tried to make sense of the calculation systems they had inherited from India, and to adjust them to remove increasingly obvious errors. This book analyzes the main systems that survive today, assessing their accuracy and comparing them with the methods described in the original Tantra.
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