TRANSLATE DAVID B. GRAY
This is the second of two volumes presenting Dr. David Gray’s study and translation of the Illumination of the Hidden Meaning (sbas don kun gsal) by the Tibetan Buddhist scholar-yogi Tsong Khapa Losang Drakpa (1357–1419). The Illumination contains Tsong Khapa’s magnificent commentary on the Indian Buddhist Cakrasamvara Tantra, one of the earliest and most influential of the yoginī tantras, a genre of tantric Buddhist scripture that emphasizes female deities, particularly the often fiercely depicted yoginīs and ḍākinīs. Together with the first volume, this contains the first English translation of this important work that marks a milestone in the history of the Tibetan assimilation of the Indian Buddhist tantras.
This second volume, which includes Tsong Khapa’s detailed introduction to chapters 25–51 of the 51-chapter Cakrasamvara root tantra, covers the vows, observances, and conduct of the initiated yogī, particularly in relation to the yoginīs, whose favor he must cultivate. It describes in great detail the rites of the tradition, including homa fire sacrifice and the uses of the mantras of the maṇḍala’s main deities. The author provides a trilingual English–Tibetan–Sanskrit glossary.
Together with the author’s related publications in this series—including translations of the root Cakrasamvara Tantra (2007, 2010, 2019); the critically edited Sanskrit and Tibetan texts of the root tantra (2012); and the first volume of this master Tibetan commentary (chapters 1–24), subtitled Maṇḍala, Mantra, and the Cult of the Yoginīs (2017)—the reader will have the first full study of this important tantra available in English.
Tsongkhapa Losang Dragpa (1357–1419) was one of the finest scholar-practitioners in Tibetan Buddhism. Renowned for both his written works and his meditative accomplishments, he founded the Gelug school, which produced the lineage of the Dalai Lamas.
Other books by Tsongkhapa:
Great Treatise on the Stages of Mantra (Sngags rim chen mo)
The Middle-Length Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment
Illuminating the Intent
Brilliantly Illuminating Lamp of the Five Stages
Illumination of the Hidden Meaning, Vol. 1
The Splendor of an Autumn Moon
Tantric Ethics
A Lamp to Illuminate the Five Stages
Tsongkhapa’s Praise for Dependent Relativity
David B. Gray is Bernard J. Hanley Professor of Religious Studies at Santa Clara University. He is the author of The Cakrasamvara Tantra (The Discourse of Sri Heruka): A Study and Annotated Translation (AIBS 2007); The Cakrasamvara Tantra (The Discourse of Sri Heruka): Editions of the Sanskrit and Tibetan Texts (AIBS 2009); Tsong Khapa’s Illumination of the Hidden Meaning: Mandala, Mantra, and the Cult of the Yoginis (Chapters 1–24) (AIBS 2015); Tsong Khapa’s Illumination of the Hidden Meaning: Yogic Vows, Conduct, and Ritual Praxis (Chapters 25–51) (AIBS/WP 2019).
Other books by David B. Gray:
Illumination of the Hidden Meaning, Vol. 1
The Cakrasamvara Tantra (The Discourse of Sri Heruka)
- Hardcover
- 402 pages pages, 6 x 9 inches
