People/Fletcher, W.

Wulstan Fletcher

Wulstan Fletcher holds degrees in Modern Languages and Theology (Oxford and Rome) and is a teacher of modern languages. He completed a three-year retreat at Chanteloube France from 1986–1989. He is a member of the Padmakara Translation Group and has been a Tsadra Foundation Fellow since 2001.

Current Projects as a Tsadra Foundation Fellow:

• Various texts by Jamgön Mipham Rinpoche, including The Precious Casket, a collection of various essays dealing with certain difficult points in the general texts of Madhyamaka (dbu ma sogs gzhung sphyi’i dka’ gnad skor gyi gsung sgros sna tshogs phyogs gcig tu bsdus pa rin po che’i za ma tog ches bya ba), 765-975 in vol 17 of Mipham’s collected works.

Completed Projects as a Tsadra Foundation Fellow (with Helena Blankleder):

• The Precious Treasury of the Dharmadhatu, by Longchenpa with a commentary by Khangsar Tenpa'i Wangchuk. (Shambhala, 2025)
• Nyingma: Mahāyoga, Anuyoga, and Atiyoga: Part Two. The Treasury of Precious Instructions Volume 2. (Shambhala, 2024)
• The Precious Treasury of the Fundamental Nature by Longchenpa with a commentary by Khangsar Tenpa'i Wangchuk. (Shambhala, 2022)
• A Chariot to Freedom: Guidance From the Great Masters on the Vajrayāna Preliminary Practices. By Shechen Gyaltsap Gyurmé Pema Namgyal. (Shambhala, 2021)
• Lion Speech, The Life of Jamgön Mipham, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. (Shambhala, 2020)
• Treasury of Precious Qualities (Sutra Section), Jigme Lingpa, commentary by Longchen Yeshe Dorje, Kangyur Rinpoche
• Counsels from My Heart, Dudjom Rinpoche
• Introduction to the Middle Way, Chandrakirti, commentary by Jamgön Mipham
• The Adornment of the Middle Way, Shantarakshita, commentary by Jamgön Mipham
• Food of Bodhisattvas: Buddhist Teachings on Abstaining from Meat, Shabkar Tsokdruk Rangdrol
• The Way of the Bodhisattva, Shantideva (rev. ed.)
• The Nectar of Manjushri’s Speech: A Detailed Commentary on Shantideva’s "Way of the Bodhisattva," Kunzang Pelden
• The Root Stanzas on the Middle Way, Nagarjuna
• White Lotus: An Explanation of the Seven-line Prayer to Guru Padmasambhava, Jamgön Mipham
• Treasury of Precious Qualities (Tantra Section), Jigme Lingpa, commentary by Longchen Yeshe Dorje, Kangyur Rinpoche
• The Purifying Jewel and Light of the Day Star by Mipham Rinpoche
• Trilogy of Resting at Ease, Longchenpa

(Source: Tsadra.org)

Affiliations & relations

• Padmakara Translation Group · workplace affiliation
• Tsadra Foundation · workplace affiliation
• Songtsen · secondary affiliation
• Tsadra Advisory Board Member · secondary affiliation
• Chanteloube, France · religious affiliation
• Dalai Lama, 14th · religious affiliation
• Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche · teacher
• Tsetrul Pema Wangyal Rinpoche · teacher
• Jigme Khyentse Rinpoche · teacher

Madhyamaka - Along with Yogācāra, it is one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Nāgārjuna around the second century CE, it is rooted in the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras, though its initial exposition was presented in Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā. Skt. मध्यमक Tib. དབུ་མ་ Ch. 中觀見

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Nyingma - The Nyingma, which is often described as the oldest tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, traces its origin to Padmasambhava, who is said to have visited Tibet in the eighth century. Tib. རྙིང་མ་

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Mahāyoga - This is first one of the inner tantric schools according to the Nyingma tradition. Mahāyoga includes two sub-sections of the tantras which includes eighteen tantras and the sādhanās that includes the eight sādhanā practices. Mahāyoga focuses on the Development Stage and espouses the view of equality and purity in which equality refers to equal nature of phenomena in being empty and purity refers to all appearances being inherently enlightened energies. The Mahāyoga path leads to four stages of vidyadharas. Skt. महायोग Tib. མཧཱ་ཡོ་ག,རྣལ་འབྱོར་ཆེན་པོ།

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Anuyoga - The second set of the three inner tantras and the eighth of the nine vehicles according to the Nyingma tradition. Anuyoga includes many yogini tantras and focuses on the Completion Stage practices of sacred channels, energies and essential fluids and espouses the actualisation of empty bliss. Skt. अनुयोग Tib. ཨ་ནུ་ཡོ་ག

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Atiyoga - A system of esoteric thought and practice associated with the Nyingma tradition and equivalent to Great Perfection, it is considered as the pinnacle of the nine vehicles or paths one can follow to reach Buddhahood. The system focusses on the pure, luminous and empty nature of the mind as the ground reality which must be realised through the path of trekchö and thögal practice. Skt. अतियोग Tib. ཨ་ཏི་ཡོ་ག,ཤིན་ཏུ་རྣལ་འབྱོར།

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Vajrayāna - The esoteric Buddhist tradition which developed as a syncretic system involving deity worship, use of mantras, physical energy, and mystical practices. It is also known as the mantra tradition and the tantric school as a result of being based on texts known as tantras. Skt. वज्रयान Tib. རྡོ་རྗེ་ཐེག་པ། Ch. 金剛乘

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Madhyamaka - Along with Yogācāra, it is one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Nāgārjuna around the second century CE, it is rooted in the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras, though its initial exposition was presented in Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā. Skt. मध्यमक Tib. དབུ་མ་ Ch. 中觀見

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Bodhisattva - A person who seeks enlightenment for the sake of others. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, a Bodhisattva is a compassionate being who is training on the path to Buddhahood and aspires to eliminate the suffering of all beings and take all sentient beings to the state of enlightenment. The Mahāyāna sūtras including those on buddha-nature generally have Bodhisattvas as the main audience or interlocutors for the Buddha's discourses. Skt. बोधिसत्त्व Tib. བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ། Ch. 菩薩

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tantra - Tantra, when juxtaposed with Sūtra, generally refers to the scriptures and texts which discuss esoteric topics. While the term is used to refer to texts on other topics, it is mostly used to refer to the genre of scriptures and texts on themes and topics associated with Vajrayāna Buddhism. Skt. तन्त्र Tib. རྒྱུད། Ch. 密宗

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