Beyond Secret: The Upadeśa of Vairocana On the Practice and of the Great Perfection

Description

A translation into English of a the Pan sgrub rnams kyi thugs bcud snying gi nyi ma, or The Sun of My Heart: A Hearty Elixer for Panditas and Siddhas, a unique Tibetan manuscript containing the commentaries of Vairochana Rakshita, who was active during the 8th century of our era, on the Tantras known as the Five Early Translations and the Tantra on the Miraculous Occurrence. This book will be of primary interest to those who study contemplative traditions and to practitioners of the Great Perfection tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. Scholars of the early transmission of Buddhism to Tibet will find this to be a basic resource. The original Tibetan text of this unique manuscript is included. About the Author Christopher Wilkinson began his career in Buddhist literature at the age of fifteen, taking refuge vows from his guru Dezhung Rinpoche. In that same year he began formal study of Tibetan language at the University of Washington under Geshe Ngawang Nornang and Turrell Wylie. He became a Buddhist monk, for three years, at the age of eighteen, living in the home of Dezhung Rinpoche while he continued his studies at the University of Washington. He graduated in 1980 with a B.A. degree in Asian Languages and Literature and another B.A. degree in Comparative Religion (College Honors, Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa). After a two year tour of Buddhist pilgrimage sites throughout Asia he worked for five years in refugee resettlement in Seattle, Washington, then proceeded to the University of Calgary for an M.A. in Buddhist Studies where he wrote a groundbreaking thesis on the Yangti transmission of the Great Perfection tradition titled “Clear Meaning: Studies on a Thirteenth Century rDzog chen Tantra.” He proceeded to work on a critical edition of the Sanskrit text of the 20,000 line Perfection of Wisdom in Berkeley, California, followed by an intensive study of Burmese language in Hawaii. In 1990 he began three years’ service as a visiting professor in English Literature in Sulawesi, Indonesia, exploring the remnants of the ancient Sri Vijaya Empire there. He worked as a research fellow for the Shelly and Donald Rubin Foundation for several years, playing a part in the early development of the famous Rubin Museum of Art. In the years that followed he became a Research Fellow at the Centre de Recherches sur les Civilisations de l'Asie Orientale, Collège de France, and taught at the University of Calgary as an Adjunct Professor for five years. He is currently completing his doctoral dissertation, a study of the Yoginitantra first translated into Tibetan during the Eighth century of our era, at the University of Leiden’s Institute for Area Studies.