Mind at Ease: Self-Liberation through Mahamudra Meditation

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MIND AT EASE

MI-ND AT EASE SELF- LIBERATI 0 N T H R 0 U·G H

MAHAMUDRA MEDITATION

TRALEG

KYABGON

Foreword by Khenchen Thrangu

*

SHAMBHALA Boston & London 2004

Shambhala Publications, Inc. Horticultural Hall 300 Massachusetts Avenue Boston, Massachusetts 02U5 www.shambhala.com ©2003 by Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche Published by a"angement with Lothian Books, Australia. Excerpts from The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa by Carma C. C. Chang, © 1962 by the Oriental Studies Foundation. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission of Citadel Press/!<ensington Publishing Corp. www.kensingtonbooks.com. Excerpts from Cloudless Sky: The Mahamudra Path of the Tibetan Buddhist Kagyu School by the Third ]amgon Kongtrul, © 1992· by Rigpe Dorje Foundation, and from The Rain of Wisdom, translated by the Nalanda Translation Committee,© 1980 by Chiigyam Trungpa, reprinted by amangement with Shambhala Publications, Inc., Boston, www.shambhala.com. Quotations from Mahamudra:The Quintessence of Mind and Meditation (Shambhala, 1986), second edition, Mahamudra:The Moonlight, The Quintessence of Mind and Meditation, Manjushri Publications, Santa Fe, 2004, ISBN: -9725613-o-7, are used with the pernussion of the translator, Lobsang P. Lhalungpa, and Manjushri Publications, P.O. Box 32403, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87594-~403, e-mail: info @ manjushripublications.org.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,·without permission in writing.from the publisher.

9 8 7 65 43

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First Shambhala Edition Printed in the United States of America Designed by Ruth Kolbert

@ This edition is printed on acid-free paper that meets the American National Standards Institute Z39.48 Standard. Distributed in the United States by Random House, Inc., and in Canada by Random House of Canada Ltd Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kyabgon, Traleg, 1955Mind at ease: self-liberation through Mahamudra meditation/ Traleg Kyabgon.-ut Shambhala Ed. p. em. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1-590]0-156-o (Pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Mahiimudrii (Tantric rite) 2. Spirituallife-Bka'-rgyud-pa· (Sect) I. Title BQ7699.M34 K93 2004 294.3'4435-dcz2 200]026572

I would like to dedicate this book to the continuity and the propagation of the great Dagpo Kagyu lineage.

C 0 NT E ·NT S

FOREWORD

by Khenchen Thrangu

xi xiii

PREFACE INTRODUCTION

XV

PART

ONE

FUNDAMENTALS

1

What Is MahamudTA?

2

The Importance of Correct View

22

3

The Spiritual Path

32

3

4 Deluded Mind, Enlightened Mind

51

5 The Four Preliminaries

6o

6 The Four Immeasurables

92

PART

TWO

GROUND MAHAMUDRA

7 Buddha-Nature

121

viii

CONTBNTS

PART

THREE

PATH MAHAMUDRA

8 Tranquillity Meditation

143

9 Insight Meditation

168 PART

FOUR

FRUITION· MAHAMUDRA

10 The Four Yogas of Mahamudra

209

11 On the Spiritual journey

225

APPENDIX: "PRECIOUS SUN"

229

NOTES

236

GLOSSARY

239

RECOMMENDED READING

247

TRALEG KYABGON'S CENTERS

250

INDEX

251

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ONI'l8QHO IHSVJ. nONVUHJ.

FOREWORD

In this book the author explains. spiritual cultivation from the Vajrayana perspective on the common preliminaries, the four immeasurables, tranquillity meditation, and insight me