Khedrup Norsang Gyatso - Ornament of Stainless Light: An Exposition of the Kalachakra Tantra

T he Library of Tibetan Classics is a special series being developed by The Institute of Tibetan Classics to make key classical Tibetan texts part of the global literary and intellectual heritage. Eventually comprising thirty-two large volumes, the collection will contain over two hundred distinct texts by more than a hundred of the best-known Tibetan authors. These texts have been selected in consultation with the preeminent lineage holders of all the schools and other senior Tibetan scholars to represent the Tibetan literary tradition as a whole.

ORNAMENT OF STAINLESS LIGHT

The Library of Tibetan Classics is a special series being developed by THE INSTITUTE OF TIBETAN CLASSICS aimed at making key classical Tibetan texts part of the global literary and intellectual heritage. Eventually comprising thirty large volumes, the collection will contain over two hundred distinct texts by more than a hundred of the best-known Tibetan authors. These texts have been selected in consultation with the preeminent lineage holders of all the schools and other senior Tibetan scholars to represent the Tibetan literary tradition as a whole. The works included in the series span more than a millennium and cover the vast expanse of classical Tibetan knowledge from the core teachings of the specific schools to such diverse fields as ethics, philosophy, psychology, Buddhist teachings and meditative practices, civic and social responsibilities, linguistics, medicine, astronomy and astrology, folklore, and historiography.

Ornament of Stainless Light: An Exposition of the Klacakra Tantra

Khedrup Norsang Gyatso (14231513)

The Klacakra, literally wheel of time, likely evolved into a full-fledged system of theory and praxis within Indian Mahayana Buddhism around the tenth century. In expounding the root text of this important Vajrayana Buddhist tradition, Indian master Puarka, who according to legend was one of the Kalk kings of the mythic land of Shambhala, wrote the influential work Stainless Light. Our volume is an authoritative Tibetan exposition of this important Buddhist text. The transmission of the Klacakra teachings came to Tibet in the eleventh century when Gyijo ser translated the key texts of this system into Tibetan.

One of the central themes of the Klacakra literature is a detailed understanding of a correlation between the human body and the external universe. As part of working out this complex correspondence, the Klacakra texts present an amazingly detailed theory of cosmology and astronomy, especially about the movements of the various celestial bodies. They also present a highly complex system of Buddhist theory and practice that involve, among others, the employment of vital bodily energies, deep meditative mental states, and a penetrative focus on subtle points within the bodys key energy conduits known as channels.

The Klacakra teachings attracted commentarial works from many great Tibetan authors. Khedrup Norsang Gyatsos Ornament of Stainless Light, which has been selected specially by His Holiness the Dalai Lama for inclusion in The Library of Tibetan Classics, ranks among the most authoritative works on the theory and practice of this important Buddhist system.

KHEDRUP NORSANG GYATSO (14231513), a wellknown scholar and adept of the fifteenth century, was a student of the First Dalai Lama and a principal teacher of the Second Dalai Lama. Though belonging to the Geluk school of Tibetan Buddhism, Norsang Gyatso is recognized as a seminal figure in the promotion of a syncretic approach between the Geluk and Kagy schools to the teachings and practices of mahmudr. Along with Phukpa Lhundrup Gyatso, Norsang Gyatso is credited also with the founding of the highly influential Phuk school of Tibetan astronomy and astrology. Because of his dedication to intensive meditative practice for more than four decades as a wander ing hermit, Norsang Gyatso came to be revered as a great meditator and teacher, and he is included among the lineage masters of many important practice traditions, including the lineage of Klacakra.

GAVIN KILTY studied Buddhism and Tibetan language in Dharamsala, India, for thirteen years, including eight years at the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics. Since the mid 1990s, he has worked as a Tibetan translator. The translator of The Splendor of an Autumn Moon: The Devotional Verse of Tsongkhapa, he lives with his wife and three children in Devon, U.K.

THUPTEN JINPA was trained as a monk in India at the Ganden Shartse monastic university, where he received the Geshe Lharam degree, and he also holds a Ph.D. in religious studies from Cambridge University. Jinpa has been the principal English translator for His Holiness the Dalai Lama for nearly two decades and has translated and edited numerous books by the Dalai Lama. His own works include Songs of Spiritual Experience and Self, Reality and Reason in Tibetan Philosophy. He is currently the president of the Institute of Tibetan Classics and lives in Montreal, Canada, with his wife and two daughters.

T HE KLACAKRA, or wheel of time, tantra likely entered Indian Mahayana Buddhism around the tenth century. In expounding the root tantra, the Indian master PuarIka, one of the legendary KalkI kings of the land of Shambhala, wrote his influential Stainless Light. Ornament of Stainless Light is an authoritative Tibetan exposition of this important text, composed in the fifteenth century by Khedrup Norsang Gyatso, tutor to the Second Dalai Lama.

One of the central projects of Klacakra literature is a detailed correlation between the human body and the external universe. In working out this complex correspondence, the Klacakra texts present an amazingly detailed theory of cosmology and astronomy, especially about the movements of the various celestial bodies. The Klacakra tantra is also a highly complex system of Buddhist theory and practice that employs vital bodily energies, deep meditative mental states, and a penetrative focus on subtle points within the bodys key energy conduits known as channels. Ornament of Stainless Light addresses all these topics, elaborating on the external universe, the inner world of the individual, the Klacakra initiation rites, and the tantric stages of generation and completion, all in a highly readable English translation.

Gavin Kiltys translation is scholarly and practical, his lucid introduction demonstrating his excellent grasp of the subject. Whether you are a Klacakra practitioner, a student of Tibetan Buddhism, or interested in science from a new angle, this book is worthy of study. Mandala

A radiant gem drawn from the vast ocean of Tibetan literature on the Klacakra tantra. It provides a clear, comprehensive summary of the basic structure and essential features of this important system of mysticism. Gavin Kiltys faithful translation makes this work easily accessible a fitting inaugural volume for The Library of Tibetan Classics. John Newman, MacArthur Professor of Asian Religions, New College of Florida

Ornament of Stainless Light is an important resource for anyone who has attended or will attend one of the many public performances of the Klacakra initiation around the world. Buddhadharma: The Practitioners Quarterly

Message from the Dalai Lama

THE LAST TWO MILLENNIA witnessed a tremendous proliferation of cultural and literary development in Tibet, the Land of Snows. Moreover, due to the inestimable contributions made by Tibets early spiritual kings, numerous Tibetan translators, and many great Indian