Jigme Lingpa - Treasury of Precious Qualities: The Rain of Joy with the Quintessence of the Three Paths - Book Two: Vajrayana and the Great Perfection

ABOUT THE BOOK

This second and concluding volume of Jigme Lingpas classic Treasury of Precious Qualities is presented together with a detailed commentary by Kangyur Rinpoche. Composed in the form of a lamrim , or presentation of the stages of the path, the first volume set out the teachings of the sutras. The present volume continues this same structure and is a general description of the tantra teachings followed by an exposition of the Great Perfection, which in the Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism is regarded as the summit of all vehicles and the final stage of the path of spiritual training. The section on the tantras is a compendious presentation of all important issues: lineage, empowerment, the generation and perfection stages, and samaya. The section on the Great Perfection is arranged according to the classification of Ground, Path, and Result and gives an extremely clear introduction to the doctrinal background that underpins the practice of this unique system.

Longchen Yeshe Dorje, Kangyur Rinpoche (18971975), of the monastery of Riwoche in Kham, was a great scholar and tertn. He spent much of his life as a wandering hermit, living in mountain retreats and practicing in various parts of Tibet. He left Tibet in the 1950s and was one of the first Tibetan masters to accept Western disciples.

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Buddha Shakyamuni

Guru Rinpoche

The Padmakara Translation Group gratefully acknowledges the generous support of the Tsadra Foundation in sponsoring the translation and preparation of this book.

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2013 by the Padmakara Translation Group

Cover art: Detail from fresco of Jigme Lingpa, used by permission of the Kangyur Trust, Orgyen Kunzang Chling Monastery, Darjeeling.

Line drawing of Jigme Lingpa by Olivier Philippot.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013942646

eISBN 978-0-8348-2857-5

ISBN 978-1-61180-045-6

Contents

Treasury of Precious Qualities
by Jigme Lingpa

The Quintessence of the Three Paths
by Longchen Yeshe Dorje, Kangyur Rinpoche

The Extraordinary Path of Beings of Great Scope
The Hidden Teachings of the Path Expounded in the Vajrayana, the Vehicle of Secret Mantra and the Short Path of the Natural Great Perfection

Publishers Note

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T he Treasury of Precious Qualities gives instructions for all the stages of the path to enlightenment according to the capacities of the three kinds of beings. I am very happy that this, the second volume, is now available in English, providing those of us who are interested with instructions that make it possible to reach enlightenment in a single lifetime. It is as though buddhahood were being placed in the palms of our hands.

Of course, the Buddhas teaching, from the preliminaries right up to the practice of the Great Perfection, is not a magical recipe that will simply give us enlightenment right away, so that we can become Buddhas without having to abandon our old habits. To practice the Dharma means to change, and to want to change, for the better. Therefore if we do actually read this book, we should do so with the genuine, heartfelt wish to be free from the samsara of our old ways, and with the wish to attain enlightenment for the sake of all beings.

As this text will show, the practice of the Vajrayana is based upon pure vision and the five perfections. The study, reflection, and meditation on them have produced great accomplished beings like Kyabje Kangyur Rinpoche, Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche, Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Kyabje Trulshik Rinpoche, and many others. Teachings like these are not meant to fill the filing cabinets of our intellects. They are not intended to be the source material for academic research. Neither, on the other hand, are they a holiday brochure for so-called practitioners to daydream about flying to accomplishment. To be no more than an erudite scholar on the one hand, or a dzogrim or dzogchen dreamer on the other, are ways to waste our precious human life. For neither of these alternatives is beyond the eight worldly concerns.

These teachings are meant to be taken seriously for what they are. Therefore, it is recommended that this book be read and studied under the guidance of authentic and accomplished teachers, whose compassion inspires us with genuine devotion to the teachings and to the lineage, a devotion that is based on sound reasoning and not just sentiment.

When we read a book like this, we need to take especial care, and to act according to the instructions and guidance of the tradition. This is the only way to ensure that we receive these teachings properly and that we lay the foundations for our freedominstead of even more delusion and mistaken understanding that are contrary to the Dharma.

I pray that all of us who read and study this book will do so correctly, and that we will be able to receive the blessings of these teachings and of the masters of the lineage, so that we will come to embody their humility, their compassion, and their wisdom.

T his book is a translation of the second and concluding section of the Treasury of Precious Qualities by Rigdzin Jigme Lingpa, together with the commentary of Longchen Yeshe Dorje, Kangyur Rinpoche. It brings to completion a project begun in 2000 with the publication, as an independent book, of the translation of Kangyur Rinpoches commentary on the first nine chapters. Fortunately, it became possible in 2010 to reissue this first volume, slightly revised and in more complete form, that is, accompanied by a translation of Jigme Lingpas root verses.

Despite the length of time separating the appearance of the first and second volumes, they nevertheless belong together as a single work. It is therefore unnecessary to repeat here the introductory material already supplied at the beginning of book 1, which is where the interested reader will find short biographies of Rigdzin Jigme Lingpa and Kangyur Rinpoche, together with general information applicable to the text as a whole.

The Treasury of Precious Qualities belongs to the literary genre known in Tibetan as lam rim, or stages of the path, in which the way to enlightenment is explained in terms of the system of three levels of spiritual capacity popularized by the great Indian master Atisha Dipamkara, who visited Tibet in the eleventh century. And since, in this exposition, the path is viewed according to the perspective of the Nyingma, or old translation school, of Tibetan Buddhism, its different levels are regarded as steps and stages leading to the teachings of the Great Perfection, which is considered the pinnacle of all vehicles.