Longchen Nyingtik Catalogue

An Illuminating Ornament of Brilliant Sunlight

A Catalogue of the Heart Essence of the Vast Expanse

by Jigme Losal Özer

Holder of the life force of the teachings and practice of the wondrous Vajra Essence,
Omniscient one, with the glory of your attainment in full bloom,
Vidyādhara, most sublime adornment of existence and peace,
Sole visionary of the world, Jigme Lingpa—I pay homage to you!

The dharmakāya—where concepts of arising and ceasing have primordially subsided, endowed with twofold purity;
The saṃbhogakāya—where basic space and appearance manifest as spontaneously present maṇḍalas, endowed with the seven aspects of union;
The nirmāṇakāya—appearing in myriad forms to tame beings throughout the realms of existence according to their needs, endowed with the eight masteries—
I pay homage to the guru, perfected in all qualities, omnipresent sovereign of the boundless pure realms of the three kāyas!

Your vajra mind of the self-arising wisdom of great purity is the actual perfect Buddha.[1]
Your vajra speech of the wind element, snow-clouds of syllables, is the treasury of the sacred Dharma.
Your vajra body of the spontaneously perfect maṇḍala of the three seats is the Saṅgha, possessing knowledge and liberation.
Vajra guru, embodying all Three Jewels, you are the lord of infinite maṇḍalas.

Essence of the infinite wisdom of the victorious ones' twofold knowledge;[2]
A wish-fulfilling jewel embodying love for all beings;
Free from attachment and aversion, you shine with light rays of benefit and happiness—
You are the great wellspring of the ocean of sūtra and tantra.

Beginning with Garab Dorje, teacher of the Supreme Vehicle,
You took birth as a paṇḍita, siddha, Dharma King, arhat, a vidyādhara,
Eighteen times and more,[3] indeed counts eighteen incarnations. ]
Serving as protector of both the teachings and beings.

The seven-horse chariot[4] of the merit of the people of Tibet
Rose clearly in the sky amidst the mountain ranges,
Clearing away the darkness of wrong and biased views,
And shining forth as the morning sun of non-sectarian teachings.

At that time, your teachings and students who uphold the lineage
Spread and flourished in all directions and in a multitude of languages,
Reaching even the farthest corners of India and China,
And so your kindness equals that of the victorious ones.

When the faithful pray with devotion,
Even the smallest remains of your vajra body
Manifest as tangible relics—how wondrous!
Try as one might to grasp these qualities, they defy description.

Your wisdom of hearing, contemplation, and meditation burst forth,
And your throat became a treasury of vajra words.
Having mastered the great secret treasury of the ḍākinīs,
You revealed all phenomena, both absolute and relative, without obstruction.

Especially, the essence of the Vast Expanse of all the buddhas' wisdom,
The Heart-blood of the wisdom ḍākinīs, the Essence of the vital elixir,[5]
The resultant teachings of the Supreme Vehicle, Atiyoga—
These you have granted as a feast for fortunate beings—how amazing!

Although from the mantra clouds of the Buddha, lamp of the world,
The rain of profound and vast Dharma falls, causing the sprouts of supreme liberation
To germinate in all beings to be guided,
Still, for a time we must, in the fertile ground of faith, cultivate the accumulations and purifications.

Then, everything we encounter becomes the natural state of the dharmakāya,
We perfect and exhaust the four visions and liberate the physical elements into their pure essence.
This path that manifests Buddhahood without abandoning the body
Is the supreme Dharma without precedent, a wish-fulfilling jewel.

As the karmic share of meritorious fortunate ones,
Spontaneously manifesting as dharmakāya relics,
Here I have arranged the catalogue called
An Illuminating Ornament of Brilliant Sunlight.

Here I shall leave aside the general history and elaborate explanations, and concentrate on the mere essentials. There are three parts: 1) how the teachings of the Great Perfection spread, 2) how the Great Perfection came to Tibet, and 3) the actual catalogue.

1. How the Teachings of the Great Perfection Spread

First, according to the tradition of the Supreme Vehicle, our Teacher attained supreme enlightenment inconceivable aeons ago. At the time of the dharmakāya, he is Samantabhadra; at the time of the sambhogakāya, he manifests as the buddhas of the five families; and at the time of the nirmāṇakāya, he appears according to the needs of those to be tamed—in the pure realms[6] as the great Vajradhara, and in the realms of the six classes of beings as countless manifestations—including the six wise sages such as Śākyamuni— continuously turning the Wheel of Dharma in accordance with students' capacities.

The Supreme Vehicle of the Great Perfection is endowed with three transmissions, the first being the mind-direct transmission of the victorious ones. In the self-manifested Akaniṣṭha realm of the Dense Array, free from limitations and partiality, the primordial protector Samantabhadra teaches his retinue—the sambhogakāya buddhas of the five families who are indivisible from himself—not through words, but by transmitting the lineage through the blessings of his wisdom mind. This transference of his wisdom to the bodhisattva Vajrasattva and others is called the mind-direct transmission of the victorious ones. Within this, there are three subdivisions: Sūtra, Illusory Net, and Mind. The outer generation phase of Mahāyoga has two subdivisions: tantras and sādhanas. The tantras were expounded by the bodhisattva [Vajrasattva] to the three classes of beings, who in turn explained them to the devas, nāgas, and yakṣas, thereby establishing them and their respective retinues of hundreds of thousands in the state of liberation. Furthermore, the Lord of Secrets taught in various locations. When he delivered teachings on Mount Malaya to the vidyādharas—both human and non-human beings—Matyaupāyika transcribed them into a book made of precious materials and sealed it in space. These teachings later descended upon the palace of King Ja and spread from there. The sādhana section, in its turn, was taught by Samantabhadra Mahottara Heruka in Akaniṣṭha, through the natural sound of dharmatā. The vidyādhara Vajradharma summarized these teachings and transcribed them into several volumes, which he then entrusted to the dākinī Karmendrāṇī. The general and specific tantras were each placed in precious caskets and concealed as treasures within the Śaṅkarakūṭa stūpa. Later, when the appropriate time arrived, the specific caskets were entrusted to the eight vidyādharas, while the casket containing the general, all-embodying jewel tantra was entrusted to the great master Padmasambhava.

According to the inner scriptural tradition of Anuyoga, when the descendent of Ikṣvāku [i.e., Buddha Śākyamuni] entered his final rest upon his bed and the environment and beings were in decline, and when the naked ascetics[7] were expressing contempt, the Five Excellent Ones of Sublime Nobility emerged from their profound samādhi. On the meteoric iron peak of Mount Malaya, surrounded by lightning storms, they uttered their lament composed of twenty-three verses, after which the Atiyoga teachings—the heart essence of all the sugatas of the three times—were revealed. The teachings were disseminated in the god realm when Vajrasattva bestowed empowerment and expounded the pith instructions to Adhicitta, son of the god Bhadrapāla.

When Guru Śākyasiṃha had tamed disciples through his body and speech in the human realm, and the time had come to tame disciples through his mind, the daughter of King Dharmāshva[8] of Uḍḍiyāna was practicing near a lake with golden shores. During that time, she had a dream in which a crystal being of wondrous qualities bestowed empowerment upon her with a crystal vase inscribed with syllables. Subsequently, she gave birth to a son who was the emanation Garab Dorje. To him, the Lord of Secrets Vajrapāṇi granted the empowerment of the vase conferring majesty. Vajrapāṇi then entrusted Garab Dorje with the eighteen Mind Class teachings of the Great Perfection, including tantras such as the twenty thousand sections of the Vast Expanse, and empowered him as the master of all tantras, scriptural transmissions, and pith instructions. Garab Dorje devoted himself to meditation for twenty years on Mount Illuminating Sun. His body became like the rays of the sun, and he gained the ability to travel through the sky. When he recited from memory the six million four hundred thousand tantras of the Great Perfection that were primordially present in his mind, the ḍākinīs collected and transcribed them. Among Garab Dorje's spiritual heirs—whether counted as three, seven, or twenty-one in his lineage—the foremost was Mañjuśrīmitra, son of King Śrī Kumāra of Siṃhala. Although Mañjuśrīmitra achieved simultaneous realization and liberation merely through symbolic instruction, so that he could receive the teachings in their entirety, Garab Dorje bestowed upon him the complete empowerment and entrusted him with all the tantras and pith instructions. Later, at the source of the Danatīka River,[9] the master Garab Dorje dissolved into a mass of light. From its luminous centre, the text of his final testament descended from the sky,[10] and Mañjuśrīmitra's realization became equal to that of Garab Dorje. He then compiled the six million four hundred thousand tantras and organized them into the three sections of Mind, Space, and Pith Instructions.

Mañjuśrīmitra divided the most profound Heart-Essence cycle into an explanatory tradition and an oral tradition, providing annotations for the latter. He did not disseminate the former but concealed it as treasure at the vajrāsana in Bodhgaya. He remained at the charnel ground of Sosadvīpa for one hundred and twenty-nine years. His chief student was Śrī Siṃha, and among the twenty-five great scholar disciples, the foremost was the noble Nāgārjuna. It was the latter who transmitted the teachings to Āryadeva, who then attained the rainbow body. Mañjuśrīmitra taught the Dharma to the Chinese master Śrī Siṃha for twenty-five human years. Finally, when Mañjuśrīmitra dissolved into a mass of light, his final testament descended from the sky,[11] and Śrī Siṃha attained equal realization.

One hundred and twenty-five years later, Mañjuśrīmitra himself appeared again in the western direction, miraculously born from a lotus stem, becoming known as the Later Mañjuśrīmitra. He relied upon great masters and received all the Secret Mantra teachings. He took his disciple Buddhajñānapāda under his compassionate care and taught him the Oral Instructions of Mañjuśrī, which became renowned in the tantric tradition of the New Translation School, though its meaning is no different from the teachings of the Great Perfection.

Śrī Siṃha brought forth[12] the pith instruction texts and divided the Heart Essence cycle into four categories: outer, inner, secret, and unsurpassed, concealing the first three as treasures and retaining the last in his heart while residing at the Śītavana charnel ground. Among his disciples, who included the likes of Padmasambhava and Vimalamitra, the foremost was Jñānasūtra, to whom he transmitted all the empowerments, tantras, and pith instructions. He also gave his final testament, known as The Seven Nails, along with the secret pith instructions, before passing into nirvāṇa.

Later, following the prophecies of the ḍākinīs, Vimalamitra went to meet Jñānasūtra and received the complete instructions. When Jñānasūtra's physical body dissolved into a body of light, his testament descended from the sky,[13] and Vimalamitra attained equal wisdom.

These masters dissolved without physical remainder and attained the supreme accomplishment. This became known as the sign transmission of the vidyādharas. There are infinite sources in the tantras that validate the lineages of the three yoga tantras, but for fear of being verbose, I shall leave it at this.

2. How the Great Perfection Came to Tibet

The divine king Tri Songdetsen invited the abbot Bodhisattva Śāntarakṣita and the great master Padmasambhava to Tibet. At Samye, he established the great and glorious Dharma wheel—both the temples and their contents—as a single object of veneration for all beings and performed the consecration and empowerment ceremonies. The three emissaries Ma [Rinchen Chok], Nyak [Jñānakumāra], and Chok [Lüi Gyaltsen] were sent to the court of the Indian King bearing golden letters and gifts of gold, with the request that the supreme master from among the five hundred venerable paṇḍitas come to Tibet. Vimalamitra, who was regarded as the crown jewel of all the scholars, came and extensively taught the general Dharma of sūtra and tantra. In particular, he spread the profound instructions of the Great Perfection Heart-Essence of the Vast Expanse to fortunate disciples, causing these teachings to flourish and spread. Most of the holders of this Dharma lineage dissolved their physical bodies into rainbow light, and these lineages have continued unbroken, through whispered transmission from one individual to another, up to the present day. This is known as the oral transmission of special individuals. This is the presentation according to the Heart-Essence Kama tradition.

According to the treasure tradition, Śrī Siṃha taught the great Master of Uḍḍiyāna, Padmasambhava, who saw four necessities: that the sacred Dharma not decline, that the instructions not be corrupted, that the blessings not fade, and that the transmission lineage be short. With these concerns in mind, he extracted from the tantras the sādhanas, from the sādhanas the pith instructions, arranged the pith instructions into practices, and then concealed them with aspirations, empowerments, entrustments, prophecies, and so forth, for those fortune disciples who would earnestly engage in practice in the future. The ultimate pith instructions (what is illustrated) contained in the casket of the naturally arisen three kāyas; the (illustrative) words of the tantric scriptures; and representations of enlightened body, speech, and mind that liberation upon contact—were hidden at various treasure sites and sealed with the five elements, so that when the time came to benefit beings, individuals blessed by aspirations and karmic connections would appear in succession to reveal and spread these treasures.

Among the eighteen types of treasures, the mind treasures are the most supreme and profound, and manifest in three ways: in reality, in experiences and in dreams, which are, respectively, supreme, middling and lesser. Invoked by the compassion of the mighty conqueror Padmasambhava, the supreme teacher Garab Dorje reincarnated as Rangjung Dorje Jigme Lingpa, also known as the Omniscient Khyentsé Özer ('Rays of Wisdom and Love'), who appeared as the glorious manifestation of the accumulated merit of both the teaching and beings in the snowy land of Tibet, and who was the one who revealed the treasure that we are concerned with here.

One time, while Rigdzin Jigme Lingpa was abiding in the state of luminous emptiness—clear yet free from conceptualization—the all-ground awakened as the dharmakāya. From this boundless expanse, the outward radiance stirred and the radiance of awareness manifested as a luminous vision. Near the Boudhanath stūpa in Nepal, the dharmakāya wisdom ḍākinī directly transmitted to him symbolic texts adorned with wisdom signs. By deciphering these, he revealed this mind treasure, which is a treasury of the sky, the Great Perfection Heart-Essence of the Vast Expanse. This treasure extracts the pith instructions from the Early Translation tradition's ocean of tantras endowed with the four rivers of empowerment, condensing their profound points into a single unified teaching and combining the kama and treasure teachings. Since even a single instruction can lead a person to enlightenment without depending on other rituals, this is an exceptionally profound teaching, as rare and precious in this world as a wish-fulfilling jewel.

3. The Actual Catalogue

The number of divisions corresponds to the number of the auspicious emblems. This includes all the main and subsidiary teachings, contained within two precious volumes.

The First of the Precious Volumes

1. The Teachings on History that Bring Certainty

1. The Great Secret Account of the Ḍākinīs[14]
2. Dancing Moon in the Water: An Account of My Realizations and Visionary Experiences
3. Casket of Enlightened Mind, the Prophetic Guide for the Heart-Essence of the Vast Expanse
4. Skull Fragments: The Root Tantra of the Vidyādharas

2. Framework of the Generic Empowerments that Mature the Immature

5. The Root Empowerment of the Vase Conferring Majesty
6. Clarifying the Essential Meaning: The General Meaning of Empowerment

3. Important Texts Which Assure that Blessings Infuse One's Being

7. The Wish-fulfilling Jewel: The Outer Practice of Guru Yoga
8. A teaching that reveals the actual meaning of this guru yoga: Ocean of Siddhis: A Practice for Making Offerings to the Gurus
9. Secret Path to the Mountain of Glory—A Prayer of Aspiration for the Copper-Coloured Mountain of Glory[15]
10. The Continuous Shower of Blessings: A Lineage Prayer

4. The Vase Empowerments and Their Supplementary Texts

These relate to the empowerments of each practice and take the generation phase as the path.

The Gathering of Vidyādharas (Rigdzin Düpa)

11. Gathering of Vidyādharas: The Inner Practice
12. A Glimpse of the Crucial Points: The Manual of Concealed Instructions (Gabjang)
13. The Casket of Siddhis, A Recitation Manual
14. The Vase of Immortal Life: The Long-Life Practice (Tsedrup)
15. The Crucial Points of the Visualization for 'The Long-Life Practice of the Vidyādharas'
16. An Explanation of the Empowerment of the Long-Life Practice

The Queen of Great Bliss (Yumka Dechen Gyalmo)

17. The History of the Female Practice of the Queen of Great Bliss
18. A Ritual of Blessing and Empowerment for the Female Practice
19. A Glorious Garland of Great Bliss—the Fundamental Practice
20. The Main Recitation Manual
21. Elucidating the Body Maṇḍala, which removes any doubts concerning the recitation manual
22. Illuminating the Meaning of Empowerment: A Self-initiation for the Female Practice
23. The Treasury of the Four Activities: A Fire Offering
24. Rejuvenation of the Nectar of Three Kāyas
25. The Treasure Vase Containing the Essence of Great Bliss, the enlightened activities 26. Adornment of Lord Nāgārjuna's Wisdom Mind: The Fourfold Maṇḍala Offering to Tārā
27. Turning Back the Summons of the Ḍākinīs: The Marvellous Appearance
28. Confession and Fulfilment Insert for Accumulating the Practice of Turning Back the Summons of the Ḍākinīs
29. Turning Back the Summons of the Heroes and Heroines
30. Supplementary Instructions for the Longevity Empowerment
31. The wealth rituals of 'A Supplementary Text for Consecrating a Treasure Vase' and 'A Method for Expelling the Seraks'
32. A Ritual for Travelling to Sukhāvatī: a sādhana for the Lord of the Families coupled with enlightened activities for the benefit of others
33. A Praise and Aspiration to Be Reborn in the Realm of Sukhāvatī
34. The Purifying Treasure Vase: An Arrangement of the Guiding Practice Ritual Which Purifies Obscurations
35. Additional texts for cleansing and removing poison
36. The Tree of the Life-Force Ocean: Additional Texts for Ransoming the Life-force Spirit

Lion-Faced Ḍākinī

There is the concealed cycle of the secret female practice (Yumka) of the extraordinarily profound Lion-Faced Ḍākinī.

37. A Bundle of Blessings: An Empowerment Ritual
38. The Shower of Blessings: A Prayer
39. The sādhana and activity manual of Siṃhamukhā, Lion-Faced Ḍākinī, The Secret Female Practice
40. Its recitation manual
41. Subduing Sorcery's Strength: Turning Back the Summons of the Ḍākinīs
42. The Wheel of Lightning that Liberates from Sorcery
43. Destroying the Hordes of Sorcerers and Demons: A torma offering and averting ritual
44. Notes on Essential Aspects of the Preparation
45. The Wheel of Activity Which Benefits Others

The Gathering of Awesome Ones (Palchen Düpa)

46. The Words of the Awesome Ones, A General Overview
47. Lineage prayer for the Awesome Ones
48. Gathering of Awesome Ones, the Wrathful Heart Practice
49. Its recitation manual
50. Yamāntaka: Overpowering the Lord of Death
51. Hayagrīva: Play of the Three Realms
52. Yangdak: Union of the Buddhas
53. Vajrakīlaya: Overpowering the Forces of Māra
54. The Elaborate Mudrā of the Awesome Ones
55. The Specific Empowerments for the Herukas of the Four Families
56. A Precious Casket: An Accomplishment Framework
57. Heart Instructions for the Specific Recitations of the Four Families
58. Empowerment's Ocean of Significance: The Self-Initiation
59. The Great Play: A Torma Offering and Averting Ritual
60. The Concealed 'Profound Nail'
61. Oral Instructions for the Wheel of Protecting and Averting
62. The Maṇḍala of Coiling Amṛta Mahottara Which Gathers All Qualities
63. Guide to the Practice of Accomplishment Medicine

64. Stairway to Akaniṣṭha: Instructions on the generation phase
65. Flames of Wisdom: A Fire Offering for the Peaceful and Wrathful Practices in General
66. A fire offering for pacifying, enriching, magnetizing, wrathfully subjugating, and the supreme activity.
67. The Spontaneous Vajra Song of Fulfilment and Confession

Natural Liberation of Suffering (Dukngal Rangdrol)

68. Natural Liberation of Suffering, The secret practice of Avalokiteśvara
69. The Loud Drum of Summer: A Commentary on the Difficult Points
70. Clarifying the Self-Initiation
71. The Visionary Instructions that Lay Bare the Pith Instructions
72. The Vision: A Prayer to Ārya Avalokiteśvara
73. Hayagrīva's Assembly, the wrathful practice of Avalokiteśvara

The Second Volume

Here we find the following texts.

The Sealed Quintessence (Tikle Gyachen)

74. The Sealed Quintessence: the innermost secret guru practice[16]

Blazing Fierce Guru, Hayagrīva and Garuda (Takhyung Barwa)

75. Blazing Fierce Guru, Hayagrīva and Garuda
76. Key Points for the Empowerment and Approach Practice of Takhyung Barwa
77. Liberating Evil Nāgas: Eliminating Negativity from the Netherworld

78. The Prayer of the Ground, Path & Fruition
79. Training in the Pure Realms of the Three Kāyas, an aspiration and prayer
80. The Single Oceanic Wisdom, An Aspiration to Recognise the Bardos
81. Entering the City of Omniscience—An Aspiration Prayer for Actualizing Words of Truth
82. A Glorious Bangle: A Life-force Cakra of the Vidyādharas

The Peaceful and Wrathful Deities

83. An Ornament Illuminating the Gathering: A Liturgy for the Peaceful and Wrathful Deities Which Empties the Lower Realms 84. A Supplementary Investigation
85. Removing the Seal of Difficult Points, further clarifications
86. A Manual for the Empowerment of the Deities and Pith Instruction for Repairing Impairments and Breakages.

87. The Lute of the Gandharvas: A Garland of Offerings of the Sixteen Vajra Goddesses
88. A Compassionate Net Bringing Immense Benefit to Others: A Ritual Benefiting the Deceased
89. Complete Liberation from the Two Obscurations, a method for burning and purifying

5. The Cycle on the Dharma- and Treasure-Protectors

90. The Principal Protectors of the Sacred Commands and their Vajra Brothers and Sisters (Ma Gön Chamdral)
91. Life-force Entrustment of the Three Vajra Brothers and Sisters
92. Essential Instructions on the Principal Protectors
93. Existence Arising as the Ground: A Thread-Cross Ritual and Fulfilment Offering
94. Fulfilment Practice for Pacifying the Turmoil of the Mamos and Ḍākinīs
95. Overpowering the Armies of Māra: A War Thread-Cross Ritual
96. Notations on the above
97. Wild Rāhula 'Razor of the Life-force' and the invocation manual 'Storm of Poisonous Vapour'
98. Life-force Empowerment of the Sisters of Longevity (Tseringma)
99. A Wish-fulfilling Tree, the activity manual
100. The Meaningful Lasso, concealed instructions
101. A Manual with Further Instructions for the Single Person Transmission
102. An Abbreviated Practice to Summon the Spirit of Abundance
103. Talkarma's livestock practice
104. A Fulfilment for Lekden, Protector of the Tantras and Master of the Feast (This text does not belong to the Heart-Essence of the Vast Expanse, yet in the royal palace[17] it was necessary for this to be recited regularly, and it has therefore been inserted here.)
105. A Daily Fulfilment Practice for Gönpo Lekden

6. Taking the Secret Empowerment on the Path

106. Transference: Enlightenment without Meditation
107. Transferring the Consciousness of the Deceased
108. The Prāṇa-Based Perfection Stage of Bliss and Emptiness, and oral instructions on this
109. Notations on the Blazing and Dripping of Fierce Inner Heat

7. Taking the Third Empowerment on the Path

110. The Path of Method Called Buddhahood Without Meditation, including the yogic exercises of trulkhor
111. Direct instructions on the yogic exercises of trulkhor
112. Vajra Verses: A Prayer of the Fierce Inner Heat
113. The Ḍākinī's Loud Laughter, a severance practice (chö)
114. Youthfulness of the Six Perfections, a commentary on the above

With these texts and supplements, all the paths up to and including the wisdom empowerment are shown completely and unmistakably.

8. The Extraordinary Pith Instructions

The extraordinary pith instructions in these texts reveal the meaning of the higher empowerments—including the empowerment into the radiance of awareness—and the path free from error or confusion. They contain the pith instructions and practical applications that place the wisdom elixir of the Blessed One, the glorious primordial protector, in the palm of your hand.

115. The Great Perfection Tantra of the Expanse of Samantabhadra's Primordial Wisdom (5th chapter)
116. The Subsequent Tantra of Pith Instructions, which explains the above
117. The āgama: Experiencing the Enlightened Mind of Samantabhadra
118. The pith instructions: Distinguishing the Three Essential Points of the Great Perfection
119. Stairway to Liberation, a commentary on mind training
120. Instructions on the Common Great Perfection Preliminaries
121. The Application of Mindfulness: Instructions on the Uncommon Great Perfection Preliminaries
122. Yeshe Lama, the extraordinary instruction manual which completely and unerringly reveals all secrets
123. The White Lotus, the cycle of supporting teachings which establish the meaning of empowerment and reveal the stages of practice
124. The Vajra Verses Root Text
125. Words of the Omniscient One, a commentary on the meaning of the above
126. The Lion's Roar That Vanquishes Deviations and Errors
127. Seeing Nakedly the Natural State of the Great Perfection
128. A Wondrous Ocean of Advice for the Practice of Those in Retreat in Solitude
129. Instructions on tormas

With this the cycles of the main Dharma teachings are completed. Now follows the cycle containing various other necessities.

130. The 'Boat' Protection from Fear, oral instructions of the great siddha Thangtong Gyalpo[18]
131. Setting Out on the Path of the Awakened Ones, integrating the sphere of activity that unifies sūtra and mantra
132. There are four texts: A Sādhana of the Great Master Vairotsana; A Guru Yoga of Rigdzin Jigme Lingpa; A Meditation and Recitation to Pacify the King-like Gyalpo Demons; and The Blissful Path of Action Tantra: A Ritual for Taking the One-Day Vows of a Lay Practitioner.
133. Then there are two texts: A Prayer Invoking the Festival of the Tenth Day and a prayer to the Guru.
134. A cycle containing liturgies for the common and uncommon preliminary practices, Concise Stacked-Pills Torma Offering, a text outlining how to make hundreds of offering tormas according to the tradition of the Omniscient One, including supplements; White Sur Offering That Permeates All Realms, Red Sur Offering for 'Ransoming' Oneself and Others from Death; The Sun's Light Rays: A Dedication Prayer for the Living and the Dead, and An Aspiration for the Final Age, which makes eight texts.[19]
135. Extracted from the Consecration Tantra are The Ever-present Offering Garland and the supplementary argha restoration ritual.[20]
136. The Auspicious Wish-fulfilling Tree, a consecration ritual

Altogether there are 136 Dharma teachings containing 157 subdivisions.

In the magnificent palace of infinite sūtra and tantra teachings,
You gracefully ride Airāvata of the fearless Supreme Vehicle,
Vanquishing the heretics' sanctuary with your vajra of unobstructed Dharma of realization and transmission—
You are the matchless Devendra of the Great Perfection.[21]

All the rivers of Dharma, naturally arisen
From the secret of the enlightened speech of the buddhas of the three times,
All complete within the vajra lake of the three sections and nine expanses,
Are mastered by you, vidyādhara King of the nāgas.[22]

Because you clearly illuminated the suchness of the primordial protector—the domain
Expressed by the Dharma of the Heart-Essence of the Vast Expanse—
All the victorious ones praised you with one voice,
Calling you the omniscient scion of the victorious ones.[23]

When, from the glorious knot of the secret of your enlightened mind,[24]
The nectar-like rain of the quintessential realization of Padmākara and Vimalamitra falls,
Soothing and cooling, the sprouts of liberating wisdom
Germinate within the minds of fortunate beings.

With the army of the four pursuits of human life,[25] the King rules over the beings of this great earth
From his palace Lhündrup Teng,[26] endowed with the laws of the ten virtues.
Within the excellent vase, the nectar of the Excellent Speech of the Buddha
Is published, and thus arises the inexhaustible treasure of the gift of Dharma.[27]

Furthermore, may the hundred-spoked parasol of the Buddha's teachings,
Well adorned with the silk of unstained explanation and practice
And placed upon the profound and ever-upraised shaft,
Remain forever stable and turn above the world!

When the right-coiling conch of the non-sectarian upholders of the Teaching,
With its right-coiling patterns of abandonment, realization, and wisdom,
Is blown by the wind of timely aspirations,
May the fame of twofold benefit pervade existence and peace!

In particular, may the jewel that contains the treasury of the wisdom and love of all the victorious ones,
Whose girdle blazes with a thousand light rays of the major and minor marks
And is perfectly placed upon the tip of the victory banner of merit, inscribed with prayers for Greater Tibet,
Grant us all that is excellent!

May the golden-eyed fish of the saṅgha, who see all the Teachings,
Never dwell in the aridity of dualistic existence,
But relying on the magical wings of both knowledge and liberation,
May they sport in the deep and profound ocean of the two accumulations!

May the tree of this world of endurance in the centre of the twenty-five petalled lotus
In the hands of Buddha Glacial Ocean,
With its excellent leaves of virtue swaying to and fro,
Always be bent low by the sheer weight of pure fruits!

Just as the long-living gods on the fearless throne of excellence
Rule with the supreme vajra as the Lords of men,
Just so, may you, a vidyādhara of both religion and politics,
Remain as the Dharma King who rules with his golden wheel over existence and peace![28]

Queen of Dharma, having correctly realised the meaning of the true nature of the vajra essence,
The natural state, and manifested complete awakening,
And having blossomed as the embodiment of the goddess who bestows power over life and happiness,
Excellently grant the supreme auspiciousness for the Teachings and beings![29]

As the display of merit and wisdom, you manifested in the guise of a woman.
Lady, with your unwavering wisdom that knows all the teachings,
You mastered all the various Dharma teachings—
May you live long as a lamp that illuminates the Buddha's teachings![30]

Represented by these verses, may the full moon of the merit of the three times
Be dedicated in the spontaneously present sky of the dharmadhātu.
Having forever dispelled the thick darkness of existence without end,
May the lotus of liberation and omniscience bloom in the night!

Seeing these virtuous activities to be meaningful,
May anyone connected with writing or carving these texts—
Those who have done this, caused it to be done, or rejoiced in its being done—
Discover the path of liberation!

May I too obtain the freedoms and advantages in future lives.
May I not stray onto wrong paths, but may the venerable Guru
Liberate me from saṃsāra and deliver me to peace.
May I then become a great pioneer of enlightened activity and bring benefit to others!

As long as the elements of the outer world flow in natural harmony,
And the inner contents, sentient beings, flourish through the force of merit,
May we be blessed with the four pursuits of human life and the Dharma of ten virtues,[31]
And may we enjoy the auspiciousness of a golden age!

The Casket of Enlightened Mind, the Prophetic Guide is found among the mind treasures of the lord of the entire Teaching, the omniscient Dharma King, whose names, such as the Sky-like Yogin of the Vast Expanse (Longchen Namkhé Naljor), and Pema Wangchen Rolpe Dorje, have spread throughout all directions, in this dharma cycle of the Heart-Essence of the Vast Expanse, which is like the essence of the ocean of the profound tantras. The text says:

The Lady Ngangtsul Gyalmo Tsün of Pho-gyong
And Dhātviśvarī, the ḍākinī Ekajaṭī,
Will increase goodness, both spiritual and secular.

As for the first of these, Lady Gyalmo Tsün, in the Chronicle of the King, from the section where it says:

The King Mutik Tsenpo
Took as his queen Palgi Ngangtsul...

Up to the section where it says:

...Also, the Yarlung Tsentang Temple
Was built by the Queen Palgi Ngangtsul.

And in the Great Biography of Padmasambhava:[32]

Then the noble Queen Palgi Ngang[tsul Jangchub]
Invited the master, the second Buddha,
To the Turquoise Temple, which she had vowed to construct.[33]

As stated, the princess and glorious Queen Ngangtsul Jangchub was one of the three fortunate female companions,[34] and she had built temples such as the Tsentang Turquoise Temple. Devoted and with excellent motivation, she was indicated by the vajra prophecy as the supreme queen of the Dharma Teachings. With the intent of spreading and expanding the teachings of the Omniscient Guru for the benefit of beings, she reduced the printing costs, offering the value of two packs of tea[35] and offering two complete volumes from beginning to end, each containing more than four hundred pages of text. In a letter marked by her indelible seal, she promised to make this offering without fail for as long as this aeon remains.

From the time when the vidyādhara Vajradharma turned the wheel of Dharma of the ocean of secret tantras for the Five Excellent Ones of Sublime Nobility on Mount Malaya's stormy, meteoric iron peak, and the time when a rain of tantric texts descended upon the palace of King Indrabodhi of Zahor during the Iron Monkey year, 2,654 years have passed. From the Wood Ox year of Krodhana, [36] when the nirmāṇakāya Garab Dorje appeared—he who was empowered by the Lord of Secrets [Vajrapāṇi] to govern all the teachings of the Great Perfection tantras, scriptural transmissions, and pith instructions—2,337 years have passed. In the Water Dog year known as Dundubhi[37] (1802), when the Core Texts were printed in Dome, Derge—the great Brahma-like kingdom where the ten virtues are upheld—I, the lowly and ignorant Jigme Losal Özer, sustained by the kindness of both patron and guru and holding the lowest position among the subjects of the Dzogchenpa of Do-Kham,[38] composed this brief colophon at the glorious Lhundrup Teng Temple. May this serve as a cause for perfect virtue and goodness throughout the beginning, middle, and end! Let it be virtuous! Virtuous! Virtuous!

| Translated by Han Kop, reviewed by Matthias Staber and edited by Barry Cohen, 2025, for the Longchen Nyingtik Project. With gratitude to Khenpo Sonam Tsewang for his clarifications.

Bibliography

Primary Sources

'jigs med blo gsal 'od zer, "klong chen snying thig gi bzhugs byang rab gsal nyi 'od rnam par snang ba'i rgyan". In gsung 'bum/ 'jigs med gling pa (9 vols). (China, 20??). Volume 7, pp. 1–12.

klong chen snying thig rtsa pod (5 volumes), BDRC W1KG13585 (Shechen Publications, 1994).

kun mkhyen ʼjigs med gling pa. klong chen snying thig rtsa pod. 4 vols. (Shechen Publications, 1980s/90s). BDRC bdr:MW3CN505.

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Dudjom Rinpoche. The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism, Its Fundamentals and History. Trans. and ed. Gyurme Dorje and Matthew Kapstein. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 1991.

Goodman, Steven D. "Rig-'dzin 'Jigs-med gling-pa and the Klong-Chen sNyingThig", in Davidson, Ronald M. and Goodman, Steven D. (eds), Tibetan Buddhism: Reason and Revelation. New York: SUNY Press, 1992. pp.133–207.

Gyatso, Janet. A Literary Transmission of the Traditions of Thang-stong rgyal po: A Study of Visionary Buddhism in Tibet, Unpublished PhD thesis, University of California Berkeley, 1981.

______. Apparitions of the Self: The Secret Autobiographies of a Tibetan Visionary (A Translation and Study of Jigme Lingpa’s Dancing Moon in the Water and Dakki’s Grand Secret Talk) Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1999

Ronis, Jann. "Derge Queen Tsewang Lhamo," Treasury of Lives, accessed October 07, 2021, http://treasuryoflives.org/biographies/view/Tsewang-Lhamo/13187

Tulku Thondup. Masters of Meditation and Miracles: Lives of the Great Buddhist Masters of India and Tibet. Boston, MA.: Shambhala, 1996

van Schaik, Sam. "A Tibetan Catalogue of the Works of ’Jigs-med gling-pa", Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines, no. 29, Avril 2014, pp. 39-63.

______. Approaching the Great Perfection: Simultaneous and Gradual Methods of Dzogchen Practice in the Longchen Nyingtig. Boston, MA: Wisdom Publications, 2004

______. "Sun and Moon Earrings: The Teachings Received by 'Jigs med gling pa." Tibet Journal, vol. 25: 4, 2000, pp. 3-32.

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