Books that really spell out sadhana practice

Forum for discussion of Tibetan Buddhism. Questions specific to one school are best posted in the appropriate sub-forum.
LolCat
Posts: 172
Joined: Mon Feb 24, 2014 3:50 am

Re: Books that really spell out sadhana practice

Post by LolCat »

Do any of these books have a good explanation of pure vision, both in formal and informal practice?
Don't mean to hijack this thread, but it seems a bit frivolous to start a new thread for this.
Natan
Posts: 3685
Joined: Fri May 23, 2014 5:48 pm

Re: Books that really spell out sadhana practice

Post by Natan »

Longchenpa is very clear.
Vajra fangs deliver vajra venom to your Mara body.
LolCat
Posts: 172
Joined: Mon Feb 24, 2014 3:50 am

Re: Books that really spell out sadhana practice

Post by LolCat »

Crazywisdom wrote: Mon Aug 20, 2018 6:04 pm Longchenpa is very clear.
Does this require a transmission to read?
Natan
Posts: 3685
Joined: Fri May 23, 2014 5:48 pm

Re: Books that really spell out sadhana practice

Post by Natan »

LolCat wrote: Mon Aug 20, 2018 6:22 pm
Crazywisdom wrote: Mon Aug 20, 2018 6:04 pm Longchenpa is very clear.
Does this require a transmission to read?
Some think so. But the book is free on internet from Gyurme Dorje’s thesis. I honestly don’t believe there can be harm from studying a well-documented tantra. To practice it however would require initiation, transmissions, explanations, etc. It is a root tantra for Nyingma so Longchenpa goes to great length to be clear about everything so you could apply those things to a Sadhana you do have. Having things clear up is a blessing.
Vajra fangs deliver vajra venom to your Mara body.
Natan
Posts: 3685
Joined: Fri May 23, 2014 5:48 pm

Re: Books that really spell out sadhana practice

Post by Natan »

I also love Martin Boord’s, A Bolt of Lightening from the Blue. The special deal of this book is it’s Yeshe Tsogyal compiling the instructions of Padmasambhava, Vimalamitra and Silavajra for each point. You can’t get clearer than that. Superb text.
Vajra fangs deliver vajra venom to your Mara body.
LolCat
Posts: 172
Joined: Mon Feb 24, 2014 3:50 am

Re: Books that really spell out sadhana practice

Post by LolCat »

Thank you for the resources! Will check them out.
User avatar
treehuggingoctopus
Posts: 2507
Joined: Sun Jun 05, 2011 6:26 pm
Location: EU

Re: Books that really spell out sadhana practice

Post by treehuggingoctopus »

dharmafootsteps wrote: Sun Aug 19, 2018 6:56 am I've read two books recently that have been of huge benefit to me in allowing my wooden headed, former atheist brain to get a much more heartfelt appreciation of vajrayana practices. One was Turning Confusion into Clarity by Mingyur Rinpoche, which allowed me to see ngöndro as a beautiful, transformative practice I could happily incorporate for the rest of my life, instead of a bunch of mechanical numbers to get through.

The other was Dzogchen Deity Practice which includes teachings by Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, and, as it says on the tin, has given me a much better understanding of deity practice from an atiyoga perspective.

They helped so much as they really spelled out not just what to do in these practices, but how to do it, and why, in a way this clunky, mechanical Western brain can appreciate.

The other reason they got through to me, is that they helped me to understand the big picture from a Dzogchen perspective. Everything is always brought back to how you recognise, and sustain the recognition of the nature of mind. My main teachers are the sons of Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche and ChNN, so I find that immensely helpful. If there's such a thing as a book with detailed practice instructions on a sadhana from a lower yana but that still relates it to Dzogchen/Mahamudra, in the way Turning Confusion into Clarity does with ngöndro, that would be ideal.

Does anyone have any suggestions?
Certainly -- James Low's "Being Guru Rinpoche," which is I believe the best (written) entry to the sadhana practice, a step-by-step, in-depth analysis of the Big Rigdzin (just to read the book no lung required, though). I wish someone had told me to read it ten years ago.

http://www.khordong.de/DE/james-low/being-guru-rinpoche

you can get it from the Amazon as well, I think. Try also the essays/talks which he posts on his website: http://www.simplybeing.co.uk/
Générosité de l’invisible.
Notre gratitude est infinie.
Le critère est l’hospitalité.

Edmond Jabès
Kris
Posts: 956
Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2012 1:19 am

Re: Books that really spell out sadhana practice

Post by Kris »

Do any of the tomes mention if verbally or mentally reciting a sadhana is more effective?
I've heard reasons why to do either approach but have never read anything on it.
The profound path of the master.
-- Virūpa, Vajra Lines
User avatar
conebeckham
Posts: 5714
Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2010 11:49 pm
Location: Bay Area, CA, USA

Re: Books that really spell out sadhana practice

Post by conebeckham »

Sennin wrote: Mon Aug 27, 2018 7:55 pm Do any of the tomes mention if verbally or mentally reciting a sadhana is more effective?
I've heard reasons why to do either approach but have never read anything on it.
I seem to recall Light Of Wisdom, vol. II addresses this.
དམ་པའི་དོན་ནི་ཤེས་རབ་ཆེ་བ་དང་།
རྟོག་གེའི་ཡུལ་མིན་བླ་མའི་བྱིན་རླབས་དང་།
སྐལ་ལྡན་ལས་འཕྲོ་ཅན་གྱིས་རྟོགས་པ་སྟེ།
དེ་ནི་ཤེས་རབ་ལ་ནི་ལོ་རྟོག་སེལ།།


"Absolute Truth is not an object of analytical discourse or great discriminating wisdom,
It is realized through the blessing grace of the Guru and fortunate Karmic potential.
Like this, mistaken ideas of discriminating wisdom are clarified."
- (Kyabje Bokar Rinpoche, from his summary of "The Ocean of Definitive Meaning")
Kris
Posts: 956
Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2012 1:19 am

Re: Books that really spell out sadhana practice

Post by Kris »

conebeckham wrote: Mon Aug 27, 2018 7:58 pm
Sennin wrote: Mon Aug 27, 2018 7:55 pm Do any of the tomes mention if verbally or mentally reciting a sadhana is more effective?
I've heard reasons why to do either approach but have never read anything on it.
I seem to recall Light Of Wisdom, vol. II addresses this.

:good:
Great lead. It's in there, the 'four doors of secret mantra'.
The profound path of the master.
-- Virūpa, Vajra Lines
Post Reply

Return to “Tibetan Buddhism”