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Moonbeams of Mahāmudrā

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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. (Source: Shambhala Publications)

Citation	Callahan, Elizabeth M., trans. Moonbeams of Mahāmudrā. By Dakpo Tashi Namgyal (dwags po bkra shis rnam rgyal). With Dispelling the Darkness of Ignorance by Wangchuk Dorje (dbang phyug rdo rje), the Ninth Karmapa. Tsadra Foundation Series. Boulder, CO: Snow Lion Publications, 2019.

ContentsSources

• Outlines of Textsix
• Foreword by His Holiness the Seventeenth Karmapaxxiii
• Foreword by Khenchen Thrangu Rinpochexxv
• Translator’s Introductionxxix
• An Abbreviated Biography of Dakpo Tashi Namgyallxv

• Moonbeams of Mahāmudrā
  • Introduction3
  • Part One: Common Samādhis13
    • 1. Śamatha and Vipaśyanā15
    • 2. Śamatha47
    • 3. Vipaśyanā63
    • 4. Removing Doubts87
  • Part Two: Uncommon Mahāmudrā111
    • 5. Generating Confidence 113
    • 6. Preliminaries149
    • 7. Mahāmudrā Approaches175
    • 8. Śamatha179
    • 9. Vipaśyanā215
    • 10. Pointing-Out Instructions259
    • 11. Sustaining Mahāmudrā305
    • 12. Eliminating Deviations and Strayings355
    • 13. Enhancement381
    • 14. Realization and the Four Yogas421
    • 15. The Four Yogas in Detail447
  • Colophon485

• Mahāmudrā: Dispelling the Darkness of Ignorance
  • Introduction491
    • 1. Preliminaries493
    • 2. Main Practices501
      • Śamatha501
      • Vipaśyanā508
    • 3. Conclusion523

• Abbreviations537
• Notes539
• Glossary635
• Glossary of Enumerations643
• Translation Equivalents657
• Tibetan Transliterations683
• Bibliography693
• Index729

1. Dwags po bkra shis rnam rgyal. Phyag chen zla ba'i 'od zer, (Nges don phyag rgya chen po'i sgom rim gsal bar byed pa legs bshad zla ba'i 'od zer). Rigpe Dorje Study Series, Vol. 21. Darjeeling: Rigpe Dorje Publications, 2015. Download text at Timeless Treasuries
2. Karmapa, 9th, (Dbang phyug rdo rje). Phyag rgya chen po ma rig mun sel. Swayambhu: Karma Leksheyling, 2012. Electronic Edition.

Mahāmudrā - Mahāmudrā refers to an advanced meditation tradition in Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna forms of Into-Tibetan Buddhism that is focused on the realization of the empty and luminous nature of the mind. It also refers to the resultant state of buddhahood attained through such meditation practice. In Tibet, this tradition is particularly associated with the Kagyu school, although all other schools also profess this tradition. The term also appears as part of the four seals, alongside dharmamūdra, samayamudrā, and karmamudrā. Skt. महामुद्रा Tib. ཕྱག་རྒྱ་ཆེན་པོ།

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Kagyu - The Kagyu school traces its origin to the eleventh-century translator Marpa, who studied in India with Nāropa. Marpa's student Milarepa trained Gampopa, who founded the first monastery of the Kagyu order. As many as twelve subtraditions grew out from there, the best known being the Karma Kagyu, the Drikung, and the Drukpa. Tib. བཀའ་བརྒྱུད་

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