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Lion of Speech

Translation of Lion's Roar: Exposition of Buddha-Nature

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A traditional biography on the life of Mipham Rinpoche—one of the greatest 19th-century masters—from Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche—one of the greatest 20th–century masters.

Lion of Speech: The Life of Mipham Rinpoche offers a translation of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche’s biography of Mipham Rinpoche, left behind in Tibet when Khyentse Rinpoche went into exile in 1959 and lost for eighty years before its discovery by an extraordinary stroke of good fortune. The biography is written as a traditional namthar, an account of the “life and liberation” of a man who is widely considered to be among the greatest scholars and accomplished masters in the history of Tibetan Buddhism. One of the striking features of Khyentse Rinpoche’s account is that it downplays the “miraculous” aspects of Mipham’s life and activities—perhaps as a means of bringing into sharper focus the effect that Mipham had on his contemporaries as a spiritual master, scholar, and teacher.

The second half of the book offers selected translations of Mipham Rinpoche’s works that provide readers with a taste of his enormous and extremely varied output. The translations are from his works on Madhyamaka, buddha-nature, tantra, and the Great Perfection. Some are new translations and some are striking passages from works that have already been published, including passages from Guide to the Wheel of Analytical Meditation, The Adornment of the Middle Way, The Wisdom Chapter, The Lion’s Roar, and White Lotus. (Source: Shambhala Publications)

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Citation	Fletcher, Wulstan, and Helena Blankleder (Padmakara Translation Group), trans. Lion of Speech: The Life of Mipham Rinpoche. By Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. Boulder, CO: Shambhala Publications, 2020.

ContentsSources

• Foreword by Alak Zenkar Rinpoche xi
• Translators' Introduction xii

The Light of Wondrous Nectar: The Essential Biography of the Omniscient Mipham Jamyang Namgyal Gyatso

• • Prologue 3
  • 1. The Ground of Emanation 7
  • 2. The Birth of a Bodhisattva 21
  • 3. Entering the Dharma 27
  • 4. Study and Reflection 33
  • 5. Practice 61
  • 6. A Hidden Life 75
  • 7. Activities for the Doctrine and Beings 93
  • 8. The Final Deed 109

A Selection of Jamgön Mipham's Writings

• • 9. Selections on Madhyamaka 127
  • 10. The Lion’s Roar: A Comprehensive Discourse on the Buddha-Nature 145
  • 11. An Explanation of the Seven-Line Prayer to Guru Rinpoche 191
  • 12. A Lamp to Dispel the Dark 199
• Notes 205
• Bibliography 221
• Sources 225
• The Padmakara Translation Group Translations into English 227
• Index 229

1. Khyentse, Dilgo, (dil mgo mkhyen brtse bkra shis dpal 'byor). Gsang chen chos kyi shing rta 'jigs med smra ba'i seng+ge kun mkhyen bla ma mi pham 'jam dbyangs rnam rgyal rgya mtsho'i rnam thar snying po bsdus pa ngo mtshar bdud rtsi'i snang ba. In Mi pham 'jam dbyangs rnam rgyal rgya mtsho'i rnam thar snying po bsdus pa ngo mtshar bdud rtsi'i snang ba. New Delhi: Shechen Publicatons, 2013.
2. Mi pham rgya mtsho. Bde gshegs snying po'i stong thun chen mo seng+ge'i nga ro. In Mipham’s Collected Works, vol. 4 (pa), 441–85. Chengdu: Si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 1993. Also in Mi pham gsung 'bum las gzhung 'grel skor, Vol. 17: 131-164. Khreng tu'u: 'Jam dpal d+hI yig ser po'i dpe skrun tshogs pa, 2008.
3. Also includes partial translations from the following works by Mipham:
   1. ____. Brgal lan nyin byed snang ba. In Mipham’s Collected Works, vol. 19 (dza), 118–227. Chengdu: Si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 1993. Also in Mi pham gsung 'bum las gzhung 'grel skor, Vol. 22: 120-204. Khreng tu'u: 'Jam dpal d+hI yig ser po'i dpe skrun tshogs pa, 2008.
   2. ____. Dbu ma rgyan gyi rnam bshad 'jam dbyangs bla ma dgyes pa'i zhal lung. Mysore: Ngagyur Nyingma Institute, 1998. Also in Mi pham gsung 'bum las gzhung 'grel skor, Vol. 14: 2-311. Khreng tu'u: 'Jam dpal d+hI yig ser po'i dpe skrun tshogs pa, 2008.
   3. ____. Gu ru tshig bdun gsol 'debs kyi rnam bshad pad+ma dkar po. In Mipham’s Collected Works, vol. 25 (ra), 463–525. Chengdu: Si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 1993. Also in Mi pham gsung 'bum las gzhung 'grel skor, Vol. 32: 283-331. Khreng tu'u: 'Jam dpal d+hI yig ser po'i dpe skrun tshogs pa, 2008.
   4. ____. Rtogs ldan rgan po rnams kyi lugs sems ngo 'dzub tshugs kyi gdams pa mun sel sgron me. In Mipham’s Collected Works, vol. 33 (e), 68–73. Chengdu: Si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 1993. Also in Mi pham bka' 'bum, Vol 32: 363-368. Khreng tu'u: Gangs can rig gzhung dpe rnying myur skyobs lhan tshogs, 2007.
   5. ____. Shes rab kyi le'u'i tshig don go sla bar rnam par bshad pa nor bu ke ta ka. In Mipham’s Collected Works, vol. 19 (dza), 1–117. Chengdu: Si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 1993. Also in Mi pham gsung 'bum las gzhung 'grel skor, Vol. 22: 1-119. Khreng tu'u: 'Jam dpal d+hI yig ser po'i dpe skrun tshogs pa, 2008.

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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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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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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gotra - Disposition, lineage, or class; an individual's gotra determines the type of enlightenment one is destined to attain. Skt. गोत्र Tib. རིགས་ Ch. 鍾姓,種性

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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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