Padmasambhava Guru Rinpoche - Treasures from Juniper Ridge: The Profound Instructions of Padmasambhava to the Dakini Yeshe Tsogyal

EMAHO
Lotus-Born, unchanging like a vajra is your form.
Your voice of conquerors is egoless, the Dharma tones resound.
Omniscient is your mind, a treasury of all that is profound.
To you, my lord and savior of all beings, I sincerely bow.

Treasures from Juniper Ridge is the third volume of a collection of treasure teachings given by Padmasambhava during his stay in Tibet in the ninth century. Most of the pieces presented here and in the earlier two books, Dakini Teachings and Advice from the Lotus-Born, are questions and answers between Padmasambhava and his main students, especially the dakini Yeshe Tsogyal. In the unfolding of this delightful and inspiring project over the years, a gradual progression naturally occurred.

The first volume, Dakini Teachings, is composed primarily of the profound foundational trainings such as refuge, bodhichitta, deity, and guru practices. The treasure revealers are Nyang Ral Nyima zer and Sangye Lingpa. Advice from the Lotus-Born takes the teachings to a slightly deeper level, being comprised of instructions on view, meditation, and conduct. In addition to the first two treasure revealers, Rigdzin Gdem and Chokgyur Lingpa are represented.

This third volume, Treasures from Juniper Ridge, has the most subtle and insightful guidance of all. These selections are for the more seasoned practitioner with emphasis on the view and the combination of conceptual and non-conceptual meditations.

This volume is based primarily on the revealed termas of the 12th century tertn, Nyang Ral Nyima zer (1124-1192). The manuscripts that I have used were kept in the Royal Danish Library, having been brought back from a Mongolian monastery by Henning Haslund Christiansen, a Danish explorer of Central Asia. When Dilgo Khyentse visited the library in 1976, he asked to be shown all the original handwritten manuscripts and decided to have photocopies made of six volumes of books that were unavailable at that time in India. Among these six were a collection of some of Nyang Rals termas called Jomo Shulen, (The Questions and Answers of the Lady Tsogyal).

Other teachings are included in Juniper Ridge come from such termas as Nyang Rals Martri, Sangye Lingpas Lama Gongd Cycle, Rigdzin Gdems Gongpa Zangtal Cycle, Rinchen Lingpas Chigch Kndrl Chenpo, and the rediscovered treasures of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo and Chokgyur Lingpa.

In the earlier volumes, we were reticent to present too much emphasis on the view, fearing that it would be misunderstood. However, in the fifteen years since the publication of Dakini Teachings, the growing audience of Dharma students has been fortunate to gain access to many very deep and previously secret teachings which are now available in modern languages. As the Dharma matures in the West and more and more wonderful translators manifest, this trend will continue to the benefit of modern practitioners. Coupling these circumstances with Tulku Urgyen Rinpoches command, Translate everything. Remain faithful to the original. Dont correct anything and dont leave out the view, otherwise Padmasambhava looks too pietistic, we felt authorized to offer the collection presented here.

The Treasure of the Lotus Crystal Cave, which forms the final chapter of our volume, differs from the others chapters in that it recounts Padmasambhavas personal development at the feet of his guru, Shri Singha.

In conclusion I would like to thank everyone involved in this endeavor. First of all, I have incredible gratitude to Padmasambhavas compassionate brilliance in bestowing upon us these inspiring and astounding teachings, to Yeshe Tsogyal for devotedly recording and hiding them, to the tertns for revealing them, and to Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche for giving me the courage and encouragement to translate them.

Thanks also go to the Dharma friends who helped produce this book, to Marcia Schmidt for constant prodding to complete the work, to Michael Tweed for his skilful editing, to Ward Brisick for editing The Treasure of the Lotus Crystal Cave, to the copy editor, Meghan Howard, to the proofreaders, Zack Beer and Catherine Dalton, to the typesetter Joan Olson, and of course to the production sponsor, Richard Gere, who has shown constant kindness and support over many years.