Strand of Jewels: My Teachers’ Essential Guidance on Dzogchen

Description

This book is a translation of a teaching text and commentary by the Nyingma master Khetsun Sangpo Rinpoche (1920-2009). It's also the latest offering from well-known Tibetan translator and scholar Anne Carolyn Klein, professor of religious studies at Rice University in Houston, Texas. The teachings here are the distillation of a lifetime’s commitment to Dzogchen realization and practice. Khetsun Sangpo offers to readers with varying levels of experience the peak of Dzogchen wisdom, largely from hermit masters unknown in the West. For anyone interested in Tibetan Buddhist practice and philosophy, particularly the Dzogchen teachings of the Nyingma lineage, this book gives detailed instruction and friendly and inspiring advice, offering guidance on how to approach the path and giving instruction for specific meditation and contemplation techniques. Review "This book is a rare gift. These teachings, so generously and clearly presented, are not only beautiful, but we can use them day to day. Strand of Jewels offers a vehicle for true transformation in our lives." —Sharon Salzberg, author of Real Happiness at Work About the Author KHETSUN SANGPO (1921-2009) was born in central Tibet and worked in a monastery as a servant when he was a boy, learning to read and write during his free hours. He later pursued study for several years with a renowned nun. (It was unusual for a man to seek teachings from a woman.) He eventually pursued formal monastic education in both the Gelukpa and Nyingma traditions. He fled Tibet to India in 1959. He had a close relationship with Dudjom Rinpoche, who asked him to teach in Japan for ten years as his representative. After that period, he spent the rest of his life in India and Nepal. ANNE CAROLYN KLEIN is professor of religious studies at Rice University in Houston, Texas, and founding director and resident teacher at Dawn Mountain, a Tibetan temple, community center, and research institute, also in Houston.