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Tsadra Foundation
Digital Research Library
A Repository of Buddhist Literature in Western Languages
Featured Books
Books · Translations
Chod - The Sacred Teachings on Severance
Harding, Sarah, trans. Chöd: The Sacred Teachings on Severance. Vol. 14 of The Treasury of Precious Instructions: Essential Teachings of the Eight Practice Lineages of Tibet (gdams ngag rin po che'i mdzod), compiled by Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Taye ('jam mgon kong sprul blo gros mtha' yas). Tsadra Foundation Series. Boulder, CO: Snow Lion, 2016.
Books · Translations
Finding Rest in the Nature of the Mind
Fletcher, Wulstan, and Helena Blankleder (Padmakara Translation Group), trans. Finding Rest in the Nature of the Mind. Volume 1 of The Trilogy of Rest. By Longchenpa (klong chen rab 'byams pa dri med 'od zer). Boulder, CO: Shambhala Publications, 2017.
Books · Translations
The Complete Nyingma Tradition from Sutra to Tantra, Book 13
Dorje, Gyurme, trans. The Complete Nyingma Tradition from Sutra to Tantra, Book 13: Philosophical Systems and Lines of Transmission. By Choying Tobden Dorje (chos dbying stobs ldan rdo rje). Tsadra Foundation Series. Boulder, CO: Snow Lion, 2017.
Books · Translations
The Complete Nyingma Tradition from Sutra to Tantra, Book 14
Zangpo, Ngawang (Hugh Leslie Thompson) trans. The Complete Nyingma Tradition from Sutra to Tantra, Book 14: An Overview of Buddhist Tantra. By Choying Tobden Dorje (chos dbying stobs ldan rdo rje). Tsadra Foundation Series. Boulder, CO: Snow Lion, 2017.
Staff Picks
- A Revolutionary Artist of Tibet
- Another beautifully printed art book from the Rubin Museum including the excellent scholarship of David Jackson. "Published in conjunction with an exhibition organized and presented by the Rubin Museum of Art, New York, September 5, 2014 through February 2, 2015....David Jackson focuses on the Khyenri style, the least known among the three major painting styles of Tibet, dating from the mid-fifteenth through the seventeenth century. The painting of Khyentse Chenmo, the founder of the Khyenri style who flourished from the 1450s to the 1490s, was significant for his radical rejection of the prevailing, classic Indic (especially Nepalese-inspired) styles with formal red backgrounds, enthusiastically replacing them with the intense greens and blues of Chinese landscapes. Jackson also brings to light several of Khyentse's paintings in museums outside Tibet, including some that have been unrecognized for over a century." (Source)
- The Six Lamps
- The Instructions on the Six Lamps is a profound and important work from the Bön Dzogchen tradition and is one of the root texts of the Zhangzhung Nyengyü (Oral Transmission of Zhangzhung) series of orally transmitted teachings. Considered to be the central work of the inner cycle of these teachings, it expertly details the principles of the natural state and its visionary marvels. The root text describes highly secret precepts of Dzogchen (Great Perfection) practice—the teachings of Trekchö and Thögel—as revealed by Tapihritsa to Gyerpung Nangzher Löpo. The teachings in this text represent oral instructions transmitted by a single master to a single disciple in the mode known as “single transmission.” It is through such a practice that one can see the clear light of one’s own mind before achieving complete buddhahood. In this respect, the text contains a complete teaching of Dzogchen, from beginning to end. (Source: Wisdom Publications)
- Grains of Gold
- In 1941, philosopher and poet Gendun Chopel (1903–51) sent a large manuscript by ship, train, and yak across mountains and deserts to his homeland in the northeastern corner of Tibet. He would follow it five years later, returning to his native land after twelve years in India and Sri Lanka. But he did not receive the welcome he imagined: he was arrested by the government of the regent of the young Dalai Lama on trumped-up charges of treason. He emerged from prison three years later a broken man and died soon after. Gendun Chopel was a prolific writer during his short life. Yet he considered that manuscript, which he titled Grains of Gold, to be his life’s work, one to delight his compatriots with tales of an ancient Indian and Tibetan past, while alerting them to the wonders and dangers of the strikingly modern land abutting Tibet’s southern border, the British colony of India. Now available for the first time in English, Grains of Gold is a unique compendium of South Asian and Tibetan culture that combines travelogue, drawings, history, and ethnography. Gendun Chopel describes the world he discovered in South Asia, from the ruins of the sacred sites of Buddhism to the Sanskrit classics he learned to read in the original. He is also sharply, often humorously critical of the Tibetan love of the fantastic, bursting one myth after another and finding fault with the accounts of earlier Tibetan pilgrims. Exploring a wide range of cultures and religions central to the history of the region, Gendun Chopel is eager to describe all the new knowledge he gathered in his travels to his Buddhist audience in Tibet. At once the account of the experiences of a tragic figure in Tibetan history and the work of an extraordinary scholar, Grains of Gold is an accessible, compelling work animated by a sense of discovery of both a distant past and a strange present. (Source: University of Chicago Press)
- Strange Tales of an Oriental Idol
- We tend to think that the Buddha has always been seen as the compassionate sage admired around the world today, but until the nineteenth century, Europeans often regarded him as a nefarious figure, an idol worshipped by the pagans of the Orient. Donald S. Lopez Jr. offers here a rich sourcebook of European fantasies about the Buddha drawn from the works of dozens of authors over fifteen hundred years, including Clement of Alexandria, Marco Polo, St. Francis Xavier, Voltaire, and Sir William Jones. Featuring writings by soldiers, adventurers, merchants, missionaries, theologians, and colonial officers, this volume contains a wide range of portraits of the Buddha. The descriptions are rarely flattering, as all manner of reports—some accurate, some inaccurate, and some garbled—came to circulate among European savants and eccentrics, many of whom were famous in their day but are long forgotten in ours. Taken together, these accounts present a fascinating picture, not only of the Buddha as he was understood and misunderstood for centuries, but also of his portrayers. (Source: University of Chicago Press)
Translations from 2020
Books · Translations
Jonang: The One Hundred and Eight Teaching Manuals
Dorje, Gyurme, trans. Jonang: The One Hundred and Eight Teaching Manuals. Vol. 18 of The Treasury of Precious Instructions: Essential Teachings of the Eight Practice Lineages of Tibet (gdams ngag rin po che'i mdzod), compiled by Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Taye ('jam mgon kong sprul blo gros mtha' yas). Tsadra Foundation Series. Boulder, CO: Snow Lion, 2020.
Books · Translations
Les Systèmes Philosophiques Bouddhistes (Charrier 2020)
Charrier, Christian, trans. Trésor de connaissances: Les systèmes philosophiques bouddhistes - Volume 1. By Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Tayé ('jam mgon kong sprul blo gros mtha' yas). Collection Tsadra. Le Plantou, France: Éditions Padmakara, 2020.
Translations from 2019
Books · Translations
A Commentary on Shantideva's Engaging in the Conduct of the Bodhisattvas
Gyaltsen, Lama Kalsang, and Ani Kunga Chodron, trans. A Commentary on Shantideva's Engaging in the Conduct of the Bodhisattvas Written by Sazang Mati Panchen: Known as An Extremely Clear Illumination of the Meaning of the Text. Walden, NY: Tsechen Kunchab Ling, 2019. First edition published by The Yeshe Dorje Foundation in 2006.
Books · Translations
Brilliantly Illuminating Lamp of the Five Stages (2019)
Thurman, Robert A. F., trans. Brilliantly Illuminating Lamp of the Five Stages (rim lnga rab tu gsal ba'i sgron me): Practical Instruction in the King of Tantras, The Glorious Esoteric Community. By Tsong Khapa Losang Drakpa. Edited by Thomas F. Yarnall. Treasury of the Buddhist Sciences Series, Tengyur Translation Initiative, and Complete Works of Jey Tsong Khapa and Sons Collection. 2nd ed. New York: American Institute of Buddhist Studies; Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications, 2019.
Books · Translations
Buddha Mind - Christ Mind
Schmidt-Leukel, Perry. Buddha Mind - Christ Mind: A Christian Commentary on the Bodhicaryāvatāra. With a new translation by Ernst Steinkellner and Cynthia Peck-Kubaczek. Christian Commentaries on Non-Christian Sacred Texts 9. Leuven, Belgium: Peeters Publishers, 2019. https://scholarblogs.emory.edu/buddhistwomen2020/files/2020/03/BCA_Translation.pdf.
Books · Translations, Academic Publications, Scholarly Editions
Buddha Nature Reconsidered - Vol 2
Higgins, David, and Martina Draszczyk. Buddha Nature Reconsidered: The Eighth Karma pa's Middle Path. Vol. 2, An Anthology of His Writings: Critical Texts and Annotated Translations. Vienna: Arbeitskreis für Tibetische und Buddhistische Studien Universität Wien, 2019.
Books · Translations
Illumination of the Hidden Meaning Part 2
Gray, David B., trans. Illumination of the Hidden Meaning: Yogic Vows, Conduct, and Ritual Praxis (sbas don kun gsal); Part II: Chapters 25–51. By Tsong Khapa Losang Drakpa. Treasury of the Buddhist Sciences Series, Tengyur Translation Initiative, and Complete Works of Jey Tsong Khapa and Sons Collection. New York: American Institute of Buddhist Studies and Wisdom Publications, 2019.
Newly Added: Books
Books · Translations
The Blazing Inner Fire of Bliss and Emptiness (Gonsalez 2024)
Gonsalez, David, trans. The Blazing Inner Fire of Bliss and Emptiness: An Experiential Commentary on the Practice of the Six Yogas of Naropa. By Ngulchu Dharmabhadra. The Dechen Ling Practice Series. New York: Wisdom Publications, 2024.
Books · Translations, Academic Publications, Contemporary Buddhist Writings
The Cosmos, The Person, and The Sādhana (Bentor 2024)
Bentor, Yael. The Cosmos, The Person, and The Sādhana: A Treatise on Tibetan Tantric Meditation. Traditions and Transformations in Tibetan Buddhism. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press, 2024.
Books · Translations
Jewel Treasure of the Dharmadhatu (Light of Berotsana 2024)
Chonam, Lama and Sangye Khandro. (Light of Berotsana Translation Group.) Jewel Treasure of the Dharmadhatu: with the autocommentary A treasury of Citations. (chöying rinpochèi dzöd) Ashland, OR: Berotsana Publications, 2024.
Books · Academic Publications, Buddhist Topic Monographs
Saving the Dead (Lindsay 2024)
Lindsay, Rory. Saving the Dead: Tibetan Funerary Rituals in the Tradition of The Sarvadurgatipariśodhana Tantra. Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde No. 105. Vienna: Arbeitskreis für Tibetische und Buddhistische Studien Universität Wien, 2024.
Newly Added: Tibetan Publications
Tibetan Publications · Volume
Kun mkhyen go bo rab 'byams pa bsod nams seng ge'i gsung 'bum - Vol. 8 (rdzong sar khams bye'i slob gling)
Kun mkhyen go bo rab 'byams pa bsod nams seng ge'i gsung 'bum - Vol. 8. gSung ʼbum bsod nams seng ge. 15 vols. [dKar mdzes bod rigs rang skyong khul sde dge rdzong rdzong sar khams byeʼi slob gling]: rDzong sar khams byeʼi slob gling, 2004–2014.
Tibetan Publications · Volume
'gul skyod 'pho 'gyur gsar pa'i stangs 'dzin zhib 'jug dang rtsod gleng gnang phyogs skor (Benchen Publications 2023)
Skyabs rje sangs rgyas mnyan pa rin po che. Deng rabs kyi shes bya dang nang pa'i lta ba lto ba sbyar nas gzhan la phan thabs las 'gul skyod 'pho 'gyur gsar pa'i stangs 'dzin zhib 'jug dang rtsod gleng gnang phyogs skor. Benchen Shedra Publication Series 29. Kathmandu: Ban chen legs bshad rgyun skyong khang, Benchen Publications, 2023.
Tibetan Publications · Volume
Rdo rje'i gar gyi bshad pa dang mthong ba brgyud pa'i phyag bzhes skor (Benchen Publications 2023)
Skyabs rje sangs rgyas mnyan pa rin po che dang Skyabs rje bstan dga' rin po che. Rdo rje'i gar gyi bshad pa dang mthong ba brgyud pa'i phyag bzhes skor. Benchen Shedra Publication Series 30. Kathmandu: Ban chen legs bshad rgyun skyong khang, Benchen Publications, 2023.
Newly Added: Articles
Newly Added: Dissertations
Dissertations · PhD diss.
Sacred Illusion: On Purity and Creation in Je Tsongkhapa's Philosophy of Tantra (Natanya 2017)
Natanya, Eva. "Sacred Illusion: On Purity and Creation in Je Tsongkhapa's Philosophy of Tantra." PhD diss., University of Virginia, 2017. https://doi.org/10.18130/V3ZW5V
Dissertations · MA Thesis
The Carefree Dzogchen Yogi of Dolpo, Tadru Orgyan Tenzin (1657-1737): A Partial Translation and Study of The Condensed Life of the Old Beggar Orgyan Tenzin (sprang rgan o rgyan bstan 'dzin pa'i rnam thar bsdus pa) (Smith 2023)
Smith, Michael D. "The Carefree Dzogchen Yogi of Dolpo, Tadru Orgyan Tenzin (1657-1737): A Partial Translation and Study of The Condensed Life of the Old Beggar Orgyan Tenzin (sprang rgan o rgyan bstan 'dzin pa'i rnam thar bsdus pa). MA thesis, Kathmandu University, 2023.
Dissertations · MA Thesis
Who Is the Author? Mangtö Ludrup Gyatso's Essential Nectar in the Collected Works of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo (Fregiehn 2023)
Fregiehn, Claudia. "Who Is the Author? Mangtö Ludrup Gyatso's Essential Nectar in the Collected Works of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo: A Case Study of the Attribution of Authorship in Tibetan Buddhism." MA thesis, Kathmandu University, 2023.
Dissertations · PhD diss.
Contributions to the Development of Tibetan Buddhist Epistemology from the Eleventh to the Fifteenth Century (Kuijp 1979)
Kuijp, Leonard W. J. van der. "Contributions to the Development of Tibetan Buddhist Epistemology from the Eleventh to the Fifteenth Century." PhD diss., Universität Hamburg, 1979.
Dissertations · PhD diss., Academic Publications, Scholarly Editions
On the Bodhisattva Path in Gandhāra (Schlosser 2016)
Schlosser, Andrea. "On the Bodhisattva Path in Gandhāra: Edition of Fragment 4 and 11 from the Bajaur Collection of Kharoṣṭhī Manuscripts". PhD diss., Free University of Berlin, 2016.
Newly Added: Periodical Issues
