Great Perfection- The Essence of Pure Spirituality

About the Book Some time ago, while living in the beautiful Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts, His Eminence Shyalpa Tenzin Rinpoche practiced retreat, and in between sessions of meditation he studied and contemplated The Precious Treasury of Phenomenal Space, by Kunkhyen Longchenpa. It was at this time that Rinpoche first had the pure aspiration to translate this precious text for the benefit of English-speaking students and for all those of good fortune who find profound meaning and true value in the golden lineage of Dzogchen, the Great Perfection.

It is said that Longchenpa's masterful works on the Great Perfection can bestow real blessings and realizations just by reading or hearing his visionary words. In terms of practicing the Great Perfection, Shyalpa Tenzin Rinpoche often says, "Longchenpa's teachings are all you need!"

Over twenty years later, after intensive collaborative work with his disciples, Rinpoche's aspiration is fulfilled with the release of this glorious text, The Precious Treasury of Phenomenal Space. The book is ornamented with a jewel at the beginning, Calling the Lama from Afar: The Excellent Path of Supreme Great Bliss by His Holiness Chatral Rinpoche, and another jewel at the end, From the Heart Essence of the Great Expanse: The Most Secret Guru Yoga Having the Seal of the Essence by Kunkhyen Jigme Lingpa.

May the wisdom, compassion, and powerful blessings embodied in these sacred teachings spread to the ends of the earth, and may all those who have a meaningful connection with these texts find ultimate realization in the state of Samantabhadra!

Foreword Great Perfection: The Essence of Pure Spirituality presents precious texts from three of the greatest masters of Dzogpa Chenpo, the Heart Essence of the Vast Expanse. For those who wish to study, contemplate, and recite these sacred verses in English, our Root Guru, His Eminence Shyalpa Tenzin Rinpoche, has orally translated each of them from the original Tibetan texts.

The first, Calling the Lama from Afar, The Excellent Path of Supreme Great Bliss is by His Holiness Chatral Rinpoche, Shyalpa Rinpoche's own Root Guru. It is a prayer that sets forth the quintessence of the path of the Great Perfection unwavering trust, genuine respect, and heartfelt devotion for one's root teacher.

The second text, constituting the core of this book, is perhaps the greatest work ever penned on the nature of mind and phenomena from the viewpoint of Dzogchen, the Great Perfection. Known as The Precious Treasury of Phenomenal Space, it was composed by the omniscient Longchen Rabjam. This is considered an expression of Longchenpa's realization and contains the profound essence of the 84,000 teachings of the Buddha. The first nine chapters present the view, the tenth presents the meditation, the eleventh the action, the twelfth the pro visional result of the path, and the thirteenth the ultimate result. Many of the greatest masters of past and present have made this "relic of dharmakaya" the heart of their daily practice. Regarding this work, the great Dzogchen master Patrul Rinpoche wrote in An Exhortation to Read The Seven Treasuries:

A fine work like this is a treasury of all the holy Dharma. Regarding the ultimate topic of all the teachings of Dharma, The primordial wisdom of dharmakaya revealed in nakedness, In comparing all other teachings, there would be nothing more than this.

Preface The ultimate refinement of the essence, the true realization of learned and accomplished masters, Is the supreme direct path of liberation into a luminous body in a single lifetime.

I bow to the Guru who has great skill in propagating such liberating teachings for those who are fortunate.

The omniscient lord of victorious ones, Immaculate Rays of Light,' was one of the three incarnate Manjushris' of the land of snow. The ultimate innermost essence of the 600,000 tantras of Dzogchen, the heart's blood of a hundred thou sand dakinis, the ocean of cream, the enlightened heart of omniscient Longchenpa, manifested in the forms of the extensive and great Seven Treasuries of the ways of the panditas, the profound tradition of the kusulu yogins' that is of the four texts of Nyingthig: the Trilogy of Comfort and Ease that teaches the true meaning of the points of both the profound nature and the extent of phenomena, complete and without error; the Trilogy of Self-liberation; the Trilogy of Clearing Away Darkness, and so on. These relics of dharmakaya that are not different from the words of Vajradhara were composed and bestowed as cherished wealth for those of us of later generations by the omniscient one.

In particular, the quintessence of the great Seven Treasuries, this Precious Treasury of Phenomenal Space, is a true replica of the omniscient Guru's realiza tion. As Dzogchen Patrul Rinpoche says, this excellent work bestows liberation in a single lifetime on karmically connected fortunate ones of the highest capabilities.

Nowadays, in this extensive realm of Jambuling, externally there are real manifestations of glory and abundant prosperity that spread and increase day by day like the waxing moon. However, internally one's mind is continually tor mented by extreme attachment, covetous desire, competitiveness, discord, jeal ousy, and so forth.

**Contents and Sample Pages**