The Mirror of the Heart of Vajrasattva: Two Upadesha Tantras of the Great Perfection

Description The Great Perfection, also known as the Atiyoga or Dzogchen (rDzogs chen), is a tradition of esoteric Buddhism that propounds instantaneous enlightenment and was first brought to Tibet in the Eighth Century of the Common Era. The Indian manuscripts of this tradition have been lost in time. Only the Tibetan translations remain. The original teachings of this tradition are contained in Tantras, which are generally divided into three categories: The Mind Section, the Space Section, and the Upadesha Instruction Section. The Upadesha Instruction section is devoted to the pointing out instructions or practical advice in the understanding and application of the Great Perfection. It is generally described as having seventeen root scriptures. The two Tantras that are here translated are among these seventeen works. The Mirror of the Heart of Vajrasattva records a conversation between the wrathful ones, the dakinis, and a Buddha named Mighty Young Hero which was held in a charnel ground called Blazing Fire Mountain. The Self-Liberation of Awareness records a conversation between the Bodhisattva Manjusri and this same Mighty Young Hero, also at the Blazing Fire Mountain’s charnel ground. This Tantra comments on the largest of the Seventeen Tantras, The Dawn of the Awareness (Rig pa rang shar), while standing as a Tantra in its own right. I have included images of the Tibetan manuscript for your convenience and to help preserve this ancient literature. About the Author Christopher Wilkinson began his career in Buddhist literature at the age of fifteen, taking refuge vows from his guru Dezhung Rinpoche. In that same year he began formal study of Tibetan language at the University of Washington under Geshe Ngawang Nornang and Turrell Wylie. He became a Buddhist monk, for three years, at the age of eighteen, living in the home of Dezhung Rinpoche while he continued his studies at the University of Washington. He graduated in 1980 with a B.A. degree in Asian Languages and Literature and another B.A. degree in Comparative Religion (College Honors, Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa). After a two year tour of Buddhist pilgrimage sites throughout Asia he worked in refugee resettlement programs for five years in Seattle, Washington. He then proceeded to the University of Calgary for an M.A. in Buddhist Studies where he wrote a groundbreaking thesis on the Yangti transmission of the Great Perfection tradition titled "Clear Meaning: Studies on a Thirteenth Century rDzog chen Tantra." He proceeded to work on a critical edition of the Sanskrit text of the 20,000 line Perfection of Wisdom in Berkeley, California, followed by an intensive study of Burmese language in Hawaii. In 1990 he began three years' service as a visiting professor in English Literature in Sulawesi, Indonesia, exploring the remnants of the ancient Sri Vijaya Empire there. He worked as a research fellow for the Shelly and Donald Rubin Foundation for several years, playing a part in the early development of the Rubin Museum of Art. In the years that followed he became a Research Fellow at the Centre de Recherches sur les Civilisations de l'Asie Orientale, Collège de France, and taught at the University of Calgary as an Adjunct Professor for five years. He has currently published twenty-one volumes of translations of Tibetan literature, and is currently engaged in further translations of these great classics.