Kyabgon - Moonbeams of Mahamudra

Shogam Publications

Carlton North, Victoria 3054

www.shogam.com

Copyright 2015 Traleg Kyabgon

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without prior permission from the publisher.

National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry

The Essence of Buddhism: An Introduction to its Philosophy and Practice, Shambhala Publications, 2002 & 2014

Benevolent Mind: A Manual in Mind Training, Zhisil Chokyi Ghatsal, 2003

Mind at Ease: Self-liberation Through Mahamudra Meditation, Shambhala Publications, 2004

Nyima Tashi: The Songs and Instructions of the First Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche, KTD Publications, 2006

The Practice of Lojong: Cultivating Compassion Through Training the Mind, Shambhala Publications, 2007

Influence of Yogacara on Mahamudra, KTD Publications, 2010

Ninth Karmapa Wangchuk Dorjes Ocean of Certainty, KTD Publication, 2011

Four Dharmas of Gampopa, KTD Publications, 2013

Asangas Abhidharmasamuccaya, KTD Publications, 2013

Karma: What It Is, What It Isnt, Why It Matters, Shambhala Publications, 2015

Moonbeams of Mahamudra, Shogam Publications, 2015

Luminous Bliss: Self-realisation Through Meditation, Shogam Publications, 2015

Dedicated to the 10th tulku of the unsurpassed Traleg lineage. May he swiftly guide beings on the pure path again and may his vision for Buddhadharma in the West continue to flourish for the benefit of all sentient beings.

Index

TRALEG KYABGON RINPOCHE IX

Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche IX (19552012) was born in Nangchen in Kham, eastern Tibet. He was recognised by His Holiness XVI Gyalwang Karmapa as the ninth Traleg tulku and enthroned at the age of two as supreme abbot of Thrangu Monastery. Rinpoche was taken to Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim at the age of four where he was educated with other young tulkus in exile by His Holiness Karmapa for the next five years.

Rinpoche began his studies under the auspices of His Eminence Kyabje Thuksey Rinpoche at Sangngak Choling in Darjeeling. He also studied with a number of other eminent Tibetan teachers during that time and mastered the Hevajra Tantra, Guhyasamaja Tantra, and the third Karmapas Zabmo Nangdon (The Profound Inner Meaning) under Khenpo Noryang (abbot of Sangngak Choling). Rinpoche studied the Abhidharmakosha, Pramanavarttika, Bodhisattvacharyavatara, Abhidharmasamuccaya, Six Treaties of Nagarjuna, the Madhyantavibhaga, and the Mahayanuttaratantra with Khenpo Sogyal. He also studied with Khenpo Sodar and was trained in tantric ritual practices by Lama Ganga, who had been specifically sent by His Holiness Karmapa for that purpose.

In 1967 Rinpoche moved to the Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies in Sarnath, and studied extensively for the next five years. He studied Buddhist history, Sanskrit, Hindi, and English as well as Longchenpas Finding Comfort and Ease (Ngalso Korsum), Seven Treasuries (Longchen Dzod Dun), Three Cycles of Liberation (Rangdrol Korsum), and Longchen Nyingthig with Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche and Khenpo Tsondru.

When Rinpoche had completed these studies at the age of sixteen, he was sent by His Holiness Karmapa to study under the auspices of the Venerable Khenpo Yeshe Chodar at Sanskrit University in Varanasi for three years. Rinpoche was also tutored by khenpos and geshes from all four traditions of Tibetan Buddhism during this time.

Rinpoche was subsequently put in charge of Zangdog Palri Monastery (the glorious copper coloured mountain) in eastern Bhutan and placed under the private tutelage of Dregung Khenpo Ngedon by His Holiness Karmapa to continue his studies of Sutra and Tantra. He ran this monastery for the next three years and began learning to speak English during this time.

From 1977 to 1980, Rinpoche returned to Rumtek to fill the honoured position of His Holiness Karmapas translator at Rumtek in Sikkim, where he dealt with many English-speaking Western visitors.

Rinpoche moved to Melbourne, Australia in 1980 and commenced his studies in comparative religion and philosophy at La Trobe University. Rinpoche established E-Vam Institute in Melbourne in 1982, and for the next twenty-five years gave weekly teachings on classic Kagyu and Nyingma texts. After a break of a few years, Rinpoche established a Buddhist college called Shogam Vidhalaya at E-Vam Institute in 2010 and again instructed students on a weekly basis.

Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche founded two more Dharma centres in Australia and one each in New Zealand and the United States. He first established Maitripa Centre in Healesville, Australia in 1997 where he conducted two public retreats every year until 2012. He oversaw restricted annual retreats based on the traditional Tibetan three-year and three month retreat format at Maitripa Centre. Rinpoche founded Nyima Tashi Kagyu Buddhist Centre in Auckland, New Zealand in 2004 and Yeshe Nyima Centre in Sydney, Australia in 2009, where programs that teach yoga and pranayama are regularly held. Rinpoche opened E-Vam Institute, New York in 2000 and established practice and study groups in Milwaukee and West Virginia. He also accepted responsibility for the spiritual direction of Kamalashila Institute in Germany for five years during the 1980s.

Rinpoche was also active in publishing during the last two decades of his life, beginning with his quarterly magazine Ordinary Mind which ran from 1997 to 2003, and culminating with his own publishing imprint when he founded Shogam Publications in 2008. Rinpoche released a number of Buddhist books on history, philosophy, and psychology and left instructions for the continuation of this vision with future publications.

Rinpoches ecumenical approach can be seen in his other activities aimed at bringing buddhadharma to the West. He established the biannual Buddhism and Psychotherapy Conference (1994 to 2003), the Tibet Here and Now Conference (2005), and the annual Buddhist Summer School (1984 to the present).

Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche passed into parinirvana on 24 July 2012, on Chokhor Duchen, the auspicious day of the Buddhas first teaching. Rinpoche stayed in meditation (thugdam) for a week after his passing. A traditional cremation ceremony was conducted at Maitripa Centre and a stupa has been erected on the centres grounds in Rinpoches honour.

Mahamudra is the highest teaching in the Vajrayana. It is the most profound and sacred realisation of the enlightened ones. The late Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche was an authentic master of this enlightened lineage. What he expresses in this comprehensive book,