Highest Yoga Tantra [Paperback]

Daniel Cozort (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1986

Extremely lucid overview of both the stages of generation and completion.--Middle Way

Editorial Reviews

Review

. . . captures both the essence and detail that bring these esoteric topics to life. -- Jeffrey Hopkins

...the best introduction to the subject, well written and authoritative. -- John Powers

This book is an extremely lucid overview of the generation and completion stages of Highest Yoga Tantra. -- The Middle Way --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From the Back Cover

This extraordinary book clearly outlines and discusses the methods for transforming both body and mind through the highest forms of tantric practice. Highest Yoga Tantra is the pinnacle of tantric systems found in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition.

Part One discusses the practices common to sutra and tantra.

Part Two presents the generation stage of Highest Yoga Tantra.

Part Three covers the entirety of the completion stage yogas (i.e., physical isolation, verbal isolation, mental isolation, illusory body, clear light, and union).

Part Four compares the Kalachakra and Guhyasamaja stages of completion.

Remarkable for its definitive clarity, this exposition of the stages of Highest Yoga Tantra is the first of its kind in the English language and a must for anyone interested in these highest tantras.

"This book is an extremely lucid overview of the generation and completion stages of Highest Yoga Tantra."--The Middle Way

"This book deserves to be a most popular book on Tantra. It captures both the essence and detail that bring these esoteric topics to life."--Jeffrey Hopkins, University of Virginia

"...the best introduction to the subject, well written and authoritative."--John Powers, Australian National University

"Although the Kalachakra Tantra contains unique qualities not found elsewhere in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, it is essential to understand that it also exemplifies the category of practices referred to as Anuttara Yoga tantra (highest yoga tantra). Cozort's now-classic text is peerless as an introduction to the theoretical and practical underpinnings of highest yoga tantra, and to the relationship of this level of practice to sutra traditions and the Buddhist path as a whole. A special section comparing the completion stage in the Kalachakra to that of Guhyasamaja will be especially informative and helpful for the aspiring student and practitioner."--Mandala: A Tibetan Buddhist Journal --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Snow Lion Publications (January 1, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559390360
• ISBN-13: 978-1559390361
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,869,793 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An exoteric-esoteric tradition faithfully continues, December 6, 2005

By 

sundazing - See all my reviews

This review is from: Highest Yoga Tantra (Paperback)

Daniel Cozort studied with Jeffrey Hopkins at the University of Virginia. I believe that this book is an outgrowth of his thesis work there. I have the UVa Press edition and I am very happy to see Snow Lion Press pick this up.

As the previous reviewer mentions, if you have an empowerment, it would make the material here a little more accessible. However, even without one, the metaphorical descriptions like "moonlight on water" will help you get a taste for what Cozort has so faithfully translated.

I believe this is this first time this tantra has been made available to the Western reader. (If the author reads the reviews here, I have been waiting for years now for you to translate more of these jewels.)

Tantra is meant to be lived and, perhaps, "rehearsed", not merely read. Cozort, remarkably, maintains the exoteric/esoteric intent of the original author. For the seeker, it is art, poetry, psychology, drama, and philosophy...more than enough to make you want to know more. For the initiated, it is a reliable roadmap, often urgently needed.

While there are dozens of basic and general books on Tibetan Buddhism, it is great to see something a little more advanced being written for the Western reader. Hope to see much more from this promising author.

(An aside to the previous reviewer: As I know it, Vajrayana uses desire in the path. As such, it may be well-suited to a typically outward Western livestyle. You may not have to adapt the beggar's bowl at all to successfully practice it.)

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A straightforward discussion of the methods to transform one's body and mind through the highest forms of tantric practice, December 9, 2005

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Highest Yoga Tantra (Paperback)

Professor of Religion Daniel Cozort offers the fruits of his studies with numerous Tibetan lamas in Highest Yoga Tantra, a straightforward discussion of the methods to transform one's body and mind through the highest forms of tantric practice, as applied in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Part One offers an introduction to the practices common to sutra and tantra, Part Two presents the generation stage of Highest Yoga Tantra, Part Three studies the completion stage yogas (physical isolation, verbal isolation, mental isolation, illusory body, clear light, and unison), and Part Four compares the Kalachakra and Guhyasamaja stages of completion. Highest Yoga Tantra offers a clear-minded, no-nonsense scrutiny of the meditation disciplines requisite to advanced practices of Tibetan Buddhism, and is highly recommended for anyone interested in learning more about or personally experiencing the highest tantras.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid book, February 1, 2008

By 

A reader (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Highest Yoga Tantra (Paperback)

As other reviewers have noted, this is a fine overview of the topic. I only wish to add, because it may be of interest to some readers and is not discernable from the promotional material, that Cozart discusses the matter entirely from the Geluk perspective. Readers interested in Sakya and Kagyu perspectives will have to look elsewhere.