Gelug Mahamudra, Eloquent Speech of Manjushri, Zasep Rinpoche unpacks the profound subject of Mahamudra meditation - the "very heart of Buddha's teachings" - for the modern western Buddhist student.Drawing on many decades of teaching experience in the west, he distils volumes of knowledge on Mahamudra - the most advanced and significant teachings in Vajrayana - into a concise yet comprehensive 300 pages.He writes in the same style as he teaches, with a focus on making this vast and deep method easy to digest and comprehend. With the aid of color illustrations from Ben Christian - which include channels and chakras diagrams, beautiful thangkas, and postures for sitting - Rinpoche compresses centuries of practice commentary into fourteen short chapters. Covering everything from the preliminaries - Refuge, Bodhicitta, Mandala offerings, Vajrasattva, Guru Yoga - through to Samatha Mahamudra, Vipassana Mahamudra and finally on to Tantric Mahamudra, Rinpoche empowers the student to advance their practice with the "very heart of Buddha's teachings."There are extensive how-tos and commentaries in this ultimately very practical book, especially the chapters on Samataha and Vipassana meditation. Rinpoche is well-known for the clarity of his in-person teachings on these important methods, and he brings that practicality. Reading this book, has the "flavor" of receiving a personal teaching from a meditation master.
Gelug Mahamudra, Eloquent Speech of Manjushri, Zasep Rinpoche unpacks the profound subject of Mahamudra meditation - the "very heart of Buddha's teachings" - for the modern western Buddhist student.Drawing on many decades of teaching experience in the west, he distils volumes of knowledge on Mahamudra - the most advanced and significant teachings in Vajrayana - into a concise yet comprehensive 300 pages.He writes in the same style as he teaches, with a focus on making this vast and deep method easy to digest and comprehend. With the aid of color illustrations from Ben Christian - which include channels and chakras diagrams, beautiful thangkas, and postures for sitting - Rinpoche compresses centuries of practice commentary into fourteen short chapters. Covering everything from the preliminaries - Refuge, Bodhicitta, Mandala offerings, Vajrasattva, Guru Yoga - through to Samatha Mahamudra, Vipassana Mahamudra and finally on to Tantric Mahamudra, Rinpoche empowers the student to advance their practice with the "very heart of Buddha's teachings."There are extensive how-tos and commentaries in this ultimately very practical book, especially the chapters on Samataha and Vipassana meditation. Rinpoche is well-known for the clarity of his in-person teachings on these important methods, and he brings that practicality. Reading this book, has the "flavor" of receiving a personal teaching from a meditation master.
