The Roar of Thunder: Yamantaka Practice and Commentary

Description

The practice of Yamantaka is one of the most widely practiced deities within the Gelug tradition. It was Tsongkhapa's foremost personal deity, from whom he received direct visions that were a constant source of empowerment, inspiration, instruction, and even personal advice. Because of this, the Gelug tradition contains many unique and unexceled oral instructions on the practice of Yamantaka. These lineages fall into two main streams. The quintessential instruction of both of these lineages, including both their generation and completion stage teachings, are contained the two commentaries presented in this volume. The first commentary addresses the Thirteen-Deity practice and contains a wellspring of oral instructions that provide rich and highly accessible details concerning the practice of Yamantaka that are equally applicable to the Solitary Hero practice. The second commentary is concerned with the Solitary Hero practice and contains many extraordinary instructions that have not been written down in other texts but have been preserved through the oral lineage. This text is part of a highly secretive volume containing many texts on Solitary Hero Yamantaka, entitled the Eighteen Steps of Solitary Hero. The combination of these two texts gives the reader an unprecedented panoramic perspective on the entire spectrum of Vajrabhairava practice in both its Thirteen-Deity and Solitary Hero aspects. Also included in this amazing volume is the extensive sadhana of the Solitary Hero composed by Kyabje Pabongkha that can be used as a reference to facilitate a more thorough understanding of the commentaries.