The Second Dalai Lama's mystical poems and lyrical visions (with a few here for fun) are permeated with the ecstasy of enlightenment and born of genuine selflessness.
SONGS OF THE SIXTH DALAI LAMA by the Dalai Lama 6th
The Sixth Dalai Lama Losang Rigzin Tsangyang Gyatsho (1683-1706), whose name means "The Ocean of Melodious Songs" was a special Dalai Lama.
Born in a renowned Nyingma family and brought up at a late age in the Gelugpa tradition, Tsangyang Gyatsho proved to be an uncomfortable blend of the two traditions. But leaving aside the unfortunate politics that surrounded his desoalte life, Tsangyang Gyatsho brought to holy Lhasa and Shol taverns some of the purest and most beautiful lyrics of all times.
SONGS OF LOVE, POEMS OF SADNESS: The Erotic Verse of the Sixth Dalai Lama by Paul Williams
The Sixth Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyatso (1683-1706), refused to take full monastic vows, returned the vows that he had already taken, and loved alcohol, archery, and women with a passion that perhaps suggests he had a premonition of his early death at the age of twenty-four.
DREAMING THE GREAT BRAHMIN: Tibetan Traditions of the Buddhist Poet-Saint Saraha by Kurtis R. Schaeffer
Dreaming the Great Brahmin explores the creation and recreation of Buddhist saints through narratives, poetry, art, ritual, and even dream visions. The first comprehensive cultural and literary history of the well-known Indian Buddhist poet saint Saraha, known as the Great Brahmin, this book argues that we should view Saraha not as the founder of a tradition, but rather as its product. Kurtis Schaeffer shows how images, tales, and teachings of Saraha were transmitted, transformed, and created by members of diverse Buddhist traditions in Tibet, India, Nepal, and Mongolia. The result is that there is not one Great Brahmin, but many. More broadly, Schaeffer argues that the immense importance of saints for Buddhism is best understood by looking at the creative adaptations of such figures that perpetuated their fame, for it is there that these saints come to life.
NOW THAT I COME TO DIE: Developing Equanimity, Love, Compassion and Joy by Longchenpa, introduction by Tarthang Tulku
Longchenpa (1308-1364), one of the most renowned Nyingma masters, here gives his parting injunctions and presents the essentials of Buddhism in a poetic teaching. The first work in this collection, "Now that I Come to Die," contains Longchenpa's heartfelt advice to his closest disciples on how to make the teachings a path of transformation. The two other works focus on the powerful practices of the Four Immeasurables: Love, Joy, Compassion, and Equanimity. The commentary, never before published in book form, shows how systematic practice of these "catalysts of being" can upend the usual routines of our daily existence and lead us beyond the limits we have learned to take for granted. Worldliness is done with; this life's show is over!
This new volume also includes the master's own commentary on chapter 7 of Kindly Bent to Ease Us Volume 1, which presents The Four Immeasurable Qualities of Equanimity, Love, Compassion, and Joy, the inner resources for strength, serenity, and well-being.
HERMIT OF GO CLIFFS: Timeless Instructions from a Tibetan Mystic. by Stearns / Godrakpa
The great Tibetan meditation master Gyalwa Godrakpa (1170-1249) practiced and taught a nonsectarian approach to realization. Hermit of Go Cliffs is the first English translation of The Collected Songs of Godrakpa, presented here with the original Tibetan text and with Cyrus Stearns' comprehensive introduction to Godrakpa's life, legacy, and poetry. Like the songs of Tibet's great saint Milarepa, Godrakpa's songs are uniquely beautiful and accessible: sometimes stern and sharp, sometimes lyrical and filled with allusions to the natural world.
FIRST THOUGHT BEST THOUGHT by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche
108 Poems Here is a unique contribution to the field of poetry: a new collection of works by America's foremost Buddhist meditation master, Chogyam Trungpa. These poems and songs--most of which were written since his arrival in the United States in 1970--combine a background in classical Tibetan poetry with Trungpa's intuitive insight into the spirit of America, a spirit that is powerfully evoked in his use of colloquial metaphor and contemporary imagery.
TIMELY RAIN: Selected Poetry of Chogyam Trungpa by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche
In the clear atmosphere, a dot occurred. Passion tinged that dot vermilion red, Shaded with depression pink. How beautiful to be in the realm of nonexistence! When you dissolve, the dot dissolves. When you open up, clear space opens. Let us dissolve in the realm of passion, Which is feared by the theologians and lawmakers. Pluck, pluck, pluck, pluck the wild flower. It is not so much of orgasm, But it is a simple gesture, To realize fresh mountain air that mcludes the innocence of a wild flower.
THE LIFE OF SHABKAR: The Autobiography of a Tibetan Yogin translated by Matthieu Ricard, foreword by H.H. the Dalai Lama
Shabkar Tsogdruk Rangdrol devoted himself to many years of meditation in solitary retreat after his inspired youth and early training in the province of Amdo under the guidance of several extraordinary Buddhist masters. With determination and courage, he mastered the highest and most esoteric practices of the Tibetan tradition of the Great Perfection. He then wandered far and wide over the Himalayan region expressing his realization.
Shabkar's autobiography vividly reflects the values and visionary imagery of Tibetan Buddhism as well as the social and cultural life of early nineteenth-century Tibet.
MUDRA: Early poems and Songs by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche
A Mudra is a symbolic gesture or action that gives physical expression to an inner state. The spirit of this collection of poems and songs of devotion, written by Chogyam Trungpa between 1959 and 1971, is spontaneous and celebratory. Also included are the ten traditional Zen oxherding pictures accompanied by a unique commentary that offers an unmistakably Tibetan flavor. Fan of this renowned Buddhist teacher will enjoy the heartfelt devotional quality of this early work.
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