Moonbeams of Mahamudra, Hardcover

A new translation of Tibet's most important manual for Mahāmudrā view and meditation

This classic Buddhist work, written in the sixteenth century, comprehensively presents the entire scope of the Tibetan Kagyu Mahāmudrā tradition. These profound yet accessible instructions focus on becoming familiar with the nature of one's mind as the primary means to realize ultimate reality and thus attain buddhahood. Dakpo Tashi Namgyal's manual for the view and practice of Mahāmudrā is widely considered the single most important work on the subject, systematically introducing the view and associated meditation techniques in a progressive manner.

Moonbeams of Mahāmudrā, along with the Ninth Karmapa Wangchuk Dorje's Dispelling the Darkness of Ignorance, are to this day some of the most studied texts on Mahāmudrā in the Kagyu monasteries throughout Tibet and the Himalayas. Elizabeth M. Callahan, a renowned translator of classical Kagyu literature, has provided new translations of these two texts along with ancillary materials and annotations, making this a genuine resource for both scholars and students of Tibetan Buddhism. This historic contribution therefore offers the necessary tools to properly study and apply the Mahāmudrā teachings in a modern context.

Dakpo Tashi Namgyal (1513-1587) was the first recognized reincarnation of Gampopa and an important master of the Dakpo Kagyu tradition. He wrote two highly acclaimed texts on Mahāmudrā practice: Moonbeams of Mahāmudrā and Clarifying the Natural State.

Elizabeth M. Callahan is a Tibetan translator of the Kagyu tradition. She completed two three-year retreats at Kagyu Thubten Chöling in New York, is a student of Khenpo Tsültrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, and has been a Tsadra Foundation Fellow since 2002. Her previous translations include The Treasury of Knowledge: Frameworks of Buddhist Philosophy by Jamgön Kongtrul and The Profound Inner Reality by the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje.