Customer Reviews

King of Samadhi: Commentaries on the Samadhi Raja Sutra and the Song of Lodrö Thaye

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This is one of TR's older books, based on 1993 seminars in Nepal, including a very loose commentary (per most of his books) on a sutra recommended by the Karmapa as an introduction to Mahamudra (MM) study plus a stanza-by-stanza commentary on Jamgon Kongtrul's "The Song of Lodro Thaye. As usual, TR gives the traditional view of Ngondro preliminaries, definitions of emptiness, etc. The translator has interspersed some chapters from the sutra but not enough IMHO; an appendix & glossary would have been helpful. As TR says: p. 19: "If we only examine the superficial meaning it does not seem to be about Mahamudra at all." Indeed, he works hard to map it to MM. But, he also states: p. 53: "We should possess two qualities--the quality of being independent of other people's statements and the quality of being unswayed by what others assert." I didn't find the sutra very helpful but the commentary explains many terms not well explained elsewhere (e.g. retaining the sutra, discriminating knowledge & wisdom, & conceptual mind). It supports the contention that translators have chosen strange English words--for example: p. 75: "The Tibetan word for `discipline' is tsultrim, which means `keeping a gentle, correct mode of behavior...The Sanskrit word for `discipline' is shila, which means `tranquility' or `serenity.'" Then why translate these terms as "discipline?" It doesn't fit very well. Importantly for Westerners, TR explains the psychological vs. psychic or literal nature of blessing, empowerment, sacrifice, dedication, & custom.

Antithetically, I found the Song of Lodro Thaye quite wonderful--esp. TR's elucidating commentary. He contrasts the 12 segments of MM with the 6 yogas of Naropa; provides a detailed & logical 5-stage life cycle for Samsaric creation; relates mother or ground luminosity to son or path luminosity; & explains the 3 stages of birth (i.e. 3 types of students or approaches to learning--gradual, instantaneous, & skipping-the-grades--which Namgyal calls evanescent), stating p. 172: "Whichever of these 3 categories we may fall into we should connect with or realize those qualities." Thus, p. 179: "The great master Shang Tsalpa once said, `Mahamudra training is the sudden path, and it is delusion to divide it up into different stages'" but TR takes exception to this because IMHO TR represents the gradual approach vs. Tsalpa's instantaneous approach. The book concludes with a great quote: p. 191: "As Tilopa said, `You are not fettered by the way you experience, but by your attachment to it;'" i.e. avoid attachment even to the words of Buddhist masters.

The Sutra is one that is quoted often. Please see the wiki page for some valuable background on it, ([...]). The previous reviewer has pleaded out what I think is a real problem with the book and I know its origin. For a book with the title the "King of Samadhi Sutra", there is very little of the Samdhiraja Sutra or Candrapradapa Sutra in it! I understand a full 40 chapter sutra may have been impractical, but so little of the sutra makes getting an actual taste of it difficult. The source for this kind of problem is that when Tibetan Buddhist teachers came from Tibet the source tracts were not translated and easily available. They would use outlines of the texts as outlines for a lecture presenting the teachings of the text. For a sutra that even the scholars say speaks in generalities that makes this particular sutra's point of view hard to pin down, this kind of presentation even further distances the reader from the text. As the previous reviewer noted the second section is much more successful and a joy. I really like the author and translators, Khenchen Rinpoche (Author), Erik Pema Kunsang (Translator), and have many other books by them that have amazing qualities ---- yes this book is a keeper for me. But bottom line... It Just was not the book I thought I was buying.