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Mahamudra: The Quintessence of Mind and Meditation

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It took me 10 years to get past the sutra quotes in this book and start reading the text in between. This is an amazing book because it provides the reader with about as much detail as could be imagined for progressing through a development path in meditation. NOT AT ALL THIS LANGUAGE, but the messages are things like "Here is a meditative state or activity. Here are forty different conceptual explanations for what it is and how it works. Here are two dozen ways that you can exercise to get yourself to experience it. After you experience it, this is the next thing to gain and experience of." And: "The teachings all say that you're supposed to start at the level that's right for you and go as fast as you're comfortable with. Here are twelve Sutra quotes affirming this." And: "Distractions arise from the neuro-physical energies in your body. Here are another eight Sutra quotes on this." And: "Let's not get all confused about emptiness and non-existence of self - that was all transitional teaching anyway; we're into vajrayana here so let's get on with it." And: "If you can't sit full lotus, sit cross legged and straight backed, and (lots more detail), and this is why it improves the energy flow that helps you stabilize your mental state." And: "Don't try to sit for a pre-set length of time. Sit until you have the insight and stabilize the experience, then get up, and come sit again." Perhaps most amazing is that it WORKS! Very fulfilling in terms of progress toward the Goal. Great book. Yes, a real loss that it's out of print. Please write the publisher and ask them to restart it.

Among the 250 or so text that made up my library, this masterpiece bye Takpo Tashi Namgyal, was always my favorite, and most imporant text. Sadly, I lost my library, and this text that I once owned 12 years ago, is out of print! I Highly recommend this book to all who seek to perfect their sitting practice. Anyone new to mahamudra and are without a good understanding of vajrayana, will find this book a struggle and you will no doubt read it again and agian. Takpo Tashi Namgyal's language is a wonderful experince, but can be difficult at times, but he is not lacking any explaintions! My best read ever.

I also recommend Cloudless Sky by Jamgön Kongtrul or Garland of Mahamudra Practices to companion this book and study of Mahamudra.

If your needing a meditation manual, look no farther, Mahamudra: The Quintessence of Mind and Meditation by Takpo Tashi Namgyal will last many years to come.

This 16th century work by Tagpo Tashi Namgyal is the classic text on Mahamudra. It is divided into two major sections. The first section describes the common methods of meditating on tranquility and insight, and the second explains in great detail the special methods of Mahamudra. This text is not only useful as a practical handbook of meditation but also as a reference for understanding the various views on Mahamudra taught by generations of masters in India and Tibet. The translation by Lobsang Lhalungpa is clear and very readable, but the encylopaedic nature of the book makes it easy to get lost in the details. Someone with no background in Mahamudra would be better off starting with a more basic introduction such as "The Mahamudra Eliminating the Darkness of Ignorance" by the Ninth Karmapa Wang-ch'ug Dorge (translated by Alex Berzin). But anyone interested in studying or practicing Mahamudra in more depth would find this masterful work by Tagpo Tashi Namgyal to be a great treasure.

I can't believe this book has been allowed to go out of print. It's the definitive manual on Mahamudra meditation, with a wonderful and clear translation by Lobsang Lhalungpa. It'll be a huge loss if it stays out of print.

Mahamudra: The Quintessence Of Mind and Meditation, translated by Lobsang P. Lhalungpa, is an essential study for students of the mastery of awareness. Written by one of the greatest of Tibetan sages and teachers, this is the book that first opened my eyes to the depth and profundity of Tibetan Buddhist seeing into the stages of awareness leading to enlightenment. After soaring with don Juan's nagualist teachings for half a dozen years and believing my meditative awareness had gone as far as it could, meditating on the four yogas of the Mahamudra provided the next vehicle for transcendental journeys beyond the realms of conventional awareness. The exploration of consciousness through the four yogas of the mahamudra is without parallel and sublimely transcendental.