The Ninth Karmapa, Wangchuk Dorje's Ocean of Certainty

by Traleg Kyabgon, Wangchuk Dorje

Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche's commentary on the sixteenth-century work Pith Instructions of Coemergent Wisdom, Entitled the Profound Essence of the Ocean of Certainty, by the Ninth Karmapa, Wangchuk Dorje, provides those who meditate with an overview of the path leading to the realization of Mahamudra, the self-liberated and all-encompassing nature of reality. Beginning with ngondro practice, Traleg Rinpoche guides students through the conditions needed to fully integrate the practice, along with instructions for shamata and vipashyana meditation, which includes visualizations and exercises. A section devoted to strengthening practice lays out common pitfalls and wrong views and how to avoid them. Finally, Rinpoche teaches the four yogas of Mahamudra one-pointedness nonconceptuality, one-flavoredness, and nonmeditation, and the ground, path, and fruition of Mahamudra in relation to the individual practitioner.

Genres: Buddhism

163 pages, Paperback

First published May 8, 2011

About the author

Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche (1955–2012) was the ninth incarnation of the Traleg tulku line, a line of high lamas in the Kagyu lineage of Vajrayana. He was a pioneer in bringing Tibetan Buddhism to Australia.

Traleg Rinpoche was born in 1955 in Kham (Eastern Tibet), and two years later was recognized by HH 16th Gyalwa Karmapa as the ninth incarnation of the Traleg Tulkus and enthroned as the Abbot of the Thrangu monastery. He was taken to safety in India during the 1959 Chinese Communists invasion of Tibet. There he was given a traditional tulku education, supplemented by five years of schooling at Sanskrit University in Varanasi, India. He lived and studied for several years at Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim, the main seat in exile of the Kagyu Lineage. He died on July 24, 2012 in Melbourne, Australia.

In 1980 Rinpoche transmitted the Dharma in Australia where he established Kagyu E-vam Buddhist Institute in Melbourne. He relinquished his monastic vows, became a lay teacher and married. He earned a Masters degree in Comparative Philosophy from La Trobe University. In 1989, he taught extensively at Karma Triyana Dharmachakra, visiting the North American affiliates of HH Gyalwa Karmapa. In 2004 he established the Evam Institute in New York in Chatham, NY. He also taught extensively in the Karma Thegsum Choling network of the Karmapa's centers and at Shambhala Buddhist centers. His wife, Felicity Lodro, is also an active dharma teacher.

Reviews

[Eugene Pustoshkin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Concise, straightforward, honest instruction into Mahamudra. No mythic underbelly, straight-to-business-kind of book, well-written with powerful elaborations of quintessential questions related to Enlightenment. And it’s short!

[Szabolcs Bökönyi · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was an amazing read. Recommended for anybody who would like to read about Mahamudra. Full of practical advises from great masters like Gampopa, Lama Shang...

[Bohdan Pechenyak · Rating 5 out of 5]

A concise summary by Traleg Kyabgon of the mahamudra teachings from “Pith Instructions of Coemergent Wisdom,or The Profound Essence of the Ocean of Certainty” by Wangchuk Dorje, 9th Karmapa. In three parts: the preliminaries, the practice, and the mahamudra path.

[Baxter Pharr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent!

This is an excellent Review of the 9th Karmapa's book. The author Texas through thee common preliminaries,
the uncommon preliminaries, and the practice of mahamudra in this very readable work.