Table Of ContentTranslated and Ed ired by Jeffrey Hopkins
Co-edired by Anne C. Klein
ALSO BY JEFFREY HOPKINS
Practice and Theory in Tibetan Buddhism
(with Geshe Lhundup Sopa)
The Buddhism of Tibet and The Key to the Middle Way
(with Lati Rinbocha:Y)
The Precious Garland and The Song of the Four Mindfulnesses
(with LAti Rinbocha:Y)
Tantra in Tibet
Compassion in Tibetan Buddhism
Yoga of Tibet
Meditative States in Tibetan Buddhism
(with LAti Rinbocha:Y, Locho Rinbocha:Y, and Leah Zahler)
The Kalachakra Tantra: Rite· of Initiation for the States of
Generation
(with Tem;in O,atso, H.H. the Dalai LAma XIV
Kindness, Clarity, and Insight
(with Tem;in O,atso, H.H. the Dalai LAma XIV
Health Through Balance
(with Dr. Yeshi Donden)
Emptiness Yoga
T antric Practice
in Nying-ma
Khetsun Sangpo Rinbochay
TRANSLATED AND EDITED BY
Jeffrey Hopkins
Co-edited by Anne Klein
Snow Lion Publications
Ithaca, New York, U.S.A.
Snow ·uon Publications
P .0. Box 6483
Ithaca, NY 14851
First Published 1982
by Rider and Company, London
© Jeffrey Hopkins
First Printing in USA 1982
Second Printing in USA 1986
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 86,3762
ISBN 0-937938-14-9
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be
reproduced by any means without prior written
permission from the publisher.
Printed in USA.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Khetsun Sangpo Rinbochay.
Tantric practice in Nying-ma.
Reprint. Originally published: Ithaca, N.Y. :
Gabriel/Snow Lion, 1982.
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
1. Rfiii\-ma-pa (Sect)-Doctrines. 2. Spiritual life
(Buddhism)-R~in-ma-pa authors. 3. Tantric Buddhism
China-Tibet. I. Hopkins, Jeffrey. II. Klein, Anne.
Ill. Title.
[BQ7662.4.K47 1986] 294.3'4448 86-3762
ISBN 0-937938-14-9 (pbk.)
Contents
Preface 7
Technical Note 9
Part One: COMMON EXTERNAL
PREPARATORY PRACTICES 11
1 Introduction 13
2 Motivation 20
3 Listening to Instructions 32
4 Opportunities and Conditions 45
5 Me~itation on Impermanence 57
6 Faults of Cyclic Existence 64
7 Suffering 73
8 Cause and Effect of Actions 86
9 Benefits of Liberation and Reliance on a
Spiritual Guide 101
Part Two: SPECIAL INTERNAL
PREPARATORY PRACTICES 111
10 Refuge 113
11 Mind of Enlightenment 125
12 Vajrasattva Meditation 141
13 Offering Mandala 154
14 Cutting Attachment 161
15 Guru Yoga 167
6 Contents
Part Three: THE GREAT PERFECTION 183
Part Four: DAILY RECITATION
AND MEDITATION 195
Translator's Glossary 216
Bibliography 228
Notes 230
Index 233
Preface
Khetsun Sangpo Rinbochay is a Nying-ma lama trained in
Tibet and capable of transmitting in complete form the
special precepts of Nying-ma (Old Translation Order).
Student of the Ge-luk, Sa-gya, 'Ga-gyu, and Nying-ma
orders while in Tibet, member of the lay clergy whose
many functions included the stopping of hail to protect
crops, teacher in Japan for ten years at the request of His
Holiness the Dalai Lama, and author of an eight-volume
series of biographies of Tibetan masters, Khetsun Sangpo
Rinbochay came' to the University ofVirginia in the spring
of 1974 to lecture on tantric Buddhism. In a series of
lectures, during which I acted as his translator, he set forth
the prerequisite practices for tantra, beginning with instruc
tions on how to listen to religious teaching and ending with
guru yoga.
During Rinbochay's visit to America in 1974 and my
visit to India in 1972, I was fortunate to receiv·e his teaching
on Long-chen-rap-jam's presentation of the nine vehicles in
his Treasury of the Supreme Vehicle (Theg mchog mdzod),1 the
same author's presentation of the sutra system in his
Treasury of Tenets (Grub mtha' mdzod), and Ba-drul Jik
may-chO-gi-wang-bo's Sacred Word of Lama Gun-sang (Kun
bzang bla ma'i zhal lung) - Rinbochay's condensation of
which forms the basis for this book. In the light of his
teaching and of a twentieth-century commentary on the
8 Tantric Practice in Nying-ma
Sacred Word of Lama Gun-sang by Nga-wang-bel-sang, I
collaborated with Anne Klein to edit Rinbochay's lectures
on the Sacred Word of Lama Gun-sang and other teachings on
the Great Perfection.
These provide the classical Nying-ma presentation of the
preparatory tantric paths as well as a glimpse into the higher
reaches of tantric realization. Khetsun Sangpo Rinbochay's
transmission of the oral tradition vividly reveals the
practicality that is at the root of all religious endeavour.
JEFFREY HOPKINS
Charlottesville, Virginia
Technical Note
The transliteration scheme for Sanskrit names and titles is
aimed at easy pronunciation, using sh, sh, and ch ratherthan
s,
s, and c. With the first occurrence of each Indian title, the
Sanskrit is given, if available. The full Sanskrit and Tibetan
titles are to be found in the bibliography, which is arranged
alphabetically according to the English titles of sutras and
according to authors of other works. The Tibetan originals
of key terms have been given in a glossary at the end.
Turrell Wylie's presentation of a transliteration scheme
for the Tibetan alphabet2 has been followed (except in that
root letters are capitalized in names). For an explanation of
the rendering ofTibetan names in a pronounceable form see
the technical note to Meditation on Emptiness. 3
