Keith Dowman

Dzogchen, a tradition of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism, is considered by many to be an extremely powerful path to enlightenment. This ground-breaking book offers translations of four sacred texts of the Dzogchen tradition: Secret Instruction in a Garland of Vision, The Flight of the Garuda, Emptying the Depths of Hell, and the Wish-Granting Prayer of Kuntu Zangpo. With an informative introduction by the translator, Flight of the Garuda is an invaluable resource for both practice and scholarship. Flight of the Garuda conveys the heart advice of one of the most beloved nonsectarian masters of Tibet. Ordained as a Gelug monk, the itinerant yogi Shabkar was renowned for his teachings on Dzogchen, the heart practice of the Nyingma lineage. He wandered the countryside of Tibet and Nepal, turning many minds toward the Dharma through his ability to communicate the essence of the teachings in a poetic and crystal-clear way. Buddhists of all stripes, including practitioners of Zen and Vipassana, will find ample sustenance within the pages of this book, and be thrilled by the lyrical insights conveyed in Shabkar's words. Along with the song by Shabkar, translator Keith Dowman includes several other seminal Dzogchen texts. Dzogchen practice brings us into direct communion with the subtlemost nature of our experience, the unity of samsara in nirvana as experienced within our own consciousness. Within the Nyingma school, it is held higher than even the practices of tantra for bringing the meditator face to face with the nature of reality.

The Dzogchen Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism

The Flight of the Garuda

Songs and Histories of the Eighty-Four Buddhist Siddhas (Suny Series in Buddhist Studies)

Masters of Mahamudra

Dzogchen Nonmeditation introduces Dzogchen as a functional description of nonduality in the here-and-now. In Dzogchen parlance nonmeditation is the existential mode of identity with the nature of mind and thus it is central to the Dzogchen project. Nonmeditation is primarily identified as such, without any structure whatsoever; then in the traditional trekcho context as formal nonmeditation; in the context of togal as directed nonmeditation; and finally as 'skygazing'. This work on nonmeditation acts as both a pointing-out, revealing the magic of Dzogchen vision, and as a practical manual and guide in nonmeditation. Part One of the book comprises descriptions of the various permutations of nonmeditation, while Part Two consists of translations of extracts of original traditional texts by Dzogchen masters - Garab Dorje, Jigme Lingpa, and Dudjom and Khyentse Rinpoches - illustrating the nature of nonmeditation. This small book on Dzogchen nonmeditation, presenting the core of Dzogchen as nonmeditation, is the first in the Dzogchen teaching series. Keith Dowman is a translator and teacher of the Tibetan tradition.

Dzogchen Nonmeditation

Maya Yoga is the title of Keith Dowman's translation of Finding Comfort and Ease in Enchantment composed by the inimitable Longchen Rabjampa. In the Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism this text is considered second to none in its power to evoke the nature of the nondual reality of the Dzogchen view. With poetic mastery Longchenpa provides the precepts that can instantly illuminate the buddha-reality that is our ordinary everyday experience. He asserts that we are presently under the spell of magical illusion and that by recognizing it, we are instantaneously released from a conceptual cage into an enchanting reality which is pure pleasure itself. That reality is maya, apparent yet absent, and the recognition of it in the state of natural relaxation is maya yoga. In this renowned atiyoga manual, we find the key to the natural mystical state that Dzogchen, the Great Perfection, constantly evokes.This is the 2014 American Edition, comprising a improved second edition of the work. Longchen Rabjampa (1308-1363) was the greatest of Tibet's celebrated mystical poets and sages. The Trilogy of Finding Comfort and Ease is his most renowned work.Keith Dowman is a peripatetic scholar, translator, teacher and yogi in the Dzogchen tradition.

Longchenpa's Finding Comfort and Ease in Enchantment

Maya Yoga

Dudjom Rinpoche

Dudjom Rinpoche's Ritro

Mountain Dharma : Alchemy of Realization

The Secret Life & Songs of the Lady Yeshe Tsogyel

Sky Dancer

New translations of key texts from a tradition many consider the most direct path to enlightenment.

Kloṅ-chen-pa Dri-med-ʼod-zer

English translation of 3rd part of Trilogy of finding comfort and ease (Nal gso skor gsum) called Sgyu ma nal gso.

Longchenpa's Finding Comfort and Ease in Enchantment : a Book of Dzogchen Precepts

This famous seminal text of radical Dzogchen provides a profound yet simple poetic statement of how it is to immerse oneself in the matrix of the now and recognize buddha. It is the personal statement of a peerless yogin-adept. Certainly the magic of his poetry impresses us that way and surely this Treasury of the Dharmadhatu, the Choyingdzo, reveals the consummation of Dzogchen. In it we are assured that over and above all the yogas and dhyanas of Hindustan, all the ritual and magic of Tibet and all the quasi religious new-age therapies of the West there exists a simple, timeless manner of being, easy of access, requiring no onerous technique or renunciate lifestyle, that can give us some constant satisfaction in this vale of laughter and tears between birth and dying. With Longchenpa, Dzogchen Ati reaches its most complete revelation; the Choyingdzo is Longchenpa's most revealing statement about the vajra-heart, and Keith Dowman has made a fine translation. The pathless path of Dzogchen comes alive in this poetic exposition of the apex of Tibetan mysticism. The form of language, the translation, the use of poetic invention creates as atmosphere of understanding, as if a mahasiddha were writing in Oxford English with a touch of American slang. This is radical Dzogchen not only in the actual teaching itself, but also in the translation that strikes the flint of idiom to create sparks of wisdom that reveal the whole hologram.

Longchenpa's Treasury of the Dharmadhatu

Spaciousness: the Radical Dzogchen of the Vajra-Heart

Klong-chen-pa Dri-med-ʼod-zer

Translation of Longchenpa's Gṅas lugs mdźod (Treasury of natural perfection) with commentary.

Longchen Rabjampa's Treasury of Natural Perfection

Old Man Basking in the Sun

Provides excellent insight into both ancient and modern Tibet.

The Sacred Life of Tibet

Guru Pema is Padmasambhava, the wandering tantric yogin from Orgyen who became Tibet's Great Guru. To his disciples he was the Lotus Born and, later, to his followers, he became Guru Rimpoche, the precious guru-buddha who resides in our heart center. Identical to the nature of mind, he emanates tulkus to demonstrate Dzogchen, the Great Perfection. In this ground-breaking work Keith Dowman brings the guru-myths and the means of invoking Guru Pema together with an analysis provides immediate contemporary meaning. Some readers will consider the mythic truths revealed in the lives of Guru Rimpoche described in the Zanglingma, a treasure-text of Nyangrel Nyima Wozer, as the core of the book. Others will look at The Seven Line Prayer as the essence because Mipham Namgyel's commentary provides the secret means to personal attainment of union with Guru Rimpoche. In a similar way that Mipham elucidates the hidden meanings of The Seven Line Prayer, exposing the treasures that have lain hidden in a common prayer that everyone knows and hitherto has taken at face value, so the extensive introduction written in Keith Dowman's inimitable style and perspective, brings Padmasambhava into the twenty-first century and actually verbalizes what we have hitherto only surmized. The guru-myths are presented as code describing the manner in which Guru Pema's enlightenment works for us and how his activity works for the sake of others. The stories of the Guru's life are thus paradigmatic, exemplary models, to be emulated by his yogin-followers and a source of inspiration and faith for his devotees. At the same time the narrative of the Zanglingma describes the events in Padmasambhava's life that comprise the early history of Buddhist Tibet but this is secondary to the main theme - an exposition of Dzogchen vision, meditation and action. The book is illustrated by reproductions of the Eighth Khamtrul Rinpoche's exceptional blockprints of the 'Eight Names of the Guru', extensive appendixes provide historical background, and glossaries and an annotated index serves instead of notes. Keith Dowman is now dedicated to the teaching and translation of Dzogchen. In the 'sixties, however, as a genyen practitioner training under his principle teachers, Dudjom Rimpoche and Kanjur Rinpoche. In that sadhana the mythology of Guru Pema provided the inspiration and The Seven Line Prayer a skilful means to attainment of union with the Guru. This work is an acknowledgement of the importance of that early training. The original texts are unchanging; the interpretation changes according to the needs of the times and individuals. Keith Dowman's translations are true to the Tibetan while his commentary seems to fit the moment. Bhakha Tulku Pema Rigdzin. The Precious Guru, the Lotus Born, rests at the vital heart of Tibetan Buddhism. Renowned translator Keith Dowman, in his uniquely fluid style, has gathered here a superb collection of key texts presenting the legends and inner significance of the Great Guru. For beginners, an exceptional introduction, and for the old hands who realize that they are still and will always be beginners, a volume to savor. Matthew Kapstein, Directeur d'etudes, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes; Numata Visiting Professor of Buddhist Studies, The University of Chicago. "Keith Dowman, one of our treasured lotsawas, has prepared for us another feast of wisdom and delight with this beautiful version of the wondrous story of Guru Rinpoche, the buddha-emanation always ready to help us in our present age of degeneracy. I love this work, and heartily recommend it for everyone who loves life, loves Tibet, wants to share its culture to benefit all sensitive beings, and persists in the undying hope that things must work out well for all of us on this little planet lost in space among the stars. Bob Thurman, author, activist President of Tibet House US."

The Mythology of the Lotus Born

Guru Pema Here and Now

Stag-śam Nus-ldan-rdo-rje

One of the few texts dealing with the spiritual evolution of a female aspirant.

The Secret Life and Songs of Lady Yeshe Tsogyel

This tantra, The Circle of Total Illumination, is a definitive expression of the apex view of Dzogchen. It presents a view that translates existentially into the Great Perfection. It is a root tantra, an explanatory tantra, a text that is the key to all other Nyingma Dzogchen tantras. It is definitive also in that it presents the nondual nature of mind just as it is, in our hearts, without any prevarication. Keith Dowman has again brought an exceptional vital text to the attention of lovers of Dzogchen, a text that in its very secrecy teaches the essence of the Nyingma tantras. Dzogchen is the very essence of the lamas' dharma; and the core of Dzogchen is to be found in the Nyingma atiyoga tantras. It can provide initiatory ambrosia, relaxing into a circle of total illumination. Cradled in the Vajrayana, this Dzogchen tantra is like the Garuda that flies immediately it hatches - we are immediately initiated into the spaciousness of Dzogchen. Everything Is Light, with The Circle of Total Illumination at its core, is an essential guide to experiential understanding of the apex Dzogchen tantras. It is the open sesame to the jewels in the teasure cave of Dzogchen atiyoga. It is the thread that brings the mind out of the labyrinth of tantric dialectic and recursive mind games. It is a tantra for our time, that can be approached not as an alien literary artefact excavated from a time bubble, but with our own cultural and personal existential reference points. In Keith Dowman's brilliant translation, an essential Dzogchen tantra is presented through a revitalized and poetic language, which is accessible to the layman while maintaining the visionary integrity of the precepts. He has replaced the tired jargon of academic Buddhism with a vital vocabulary that we can all appreciate. Further, the Tibetan-English, English-Tibetan and Numeral Glossaries are invaluable tools for anyone reading the Dzogchen tantras with the original language in mind. These equivalencies should become standard for translators of the tantras. Publication of this text will surely raise the hackles of timorous critics who would maintain the principle of traditional secrecy, keeping the text to themselves and their conventional institutions, regardless of the crying need for its meaning and value within a larger social context. To a more generous audience, the principle of self-secrecy allows revelation of self-evident meaning to anyone who is karmically prepared. As the tantra portrays itself, 'This reality-text was spoken to to carry us over the ocean of samsara; to untie the knot of conflicting emotion; to dispel intellectual doubt; and to give us meaning and purpose. It severs the vicious circle of rebirth, establishes us in sublime vision, leads us onto the supreme path of freedom, bestows authority through vision, conveys the meaning of all secret precepts, and establishes the value of the eight lower approaches.' 'We are now going to expound the key to all the tantras: The Circle of Total Illumination, which is an elucidation of the terminology of the Great Perfection, providing pith instruction on all approaches to enlightenment, the crux of all lineal transmissions, and the key points of all secret pith precept.' 'It is a verbal lamp, a circle of total illumination, shedding its golden light of ultimate significance upon all tantra. As the ultimate key, may it unlock their hidden meaning, so that the retinue and future followers can read them and understand them.' This is a great garuda of a tantra that glides effortlessly and compassionately across the vast vault of mind's nature. Bhaka Tulku Pema Rikdzin. My wish is that this work brings great benefit to all Dzogchen Practitioners. CG Namkhai Norbu

Keith Dowman

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