Report June 2020

After the successful launch of the Longchen Nyingtik Project on Saga Dawa Düchen, the day that marks both the enlightenment and passing into nirvana of the Buddha in the Tibetan tradition (the 5th of June 2020) we have been working hard to translate, edit and finalize several texts for publication.

Yet before presenting our new translations of this month, first of all we want to thank all our initial donors who have supported the project through a one-time or monthly donation and all others who have supported the project in various ways. In particular we would like to thank Rabjam Rinpoche, Neten Chokling Rinpoche and Tulku Dawa for their kind letters of endorsement, our advisors Adam Pearcey and Sean Price for their constant guidance, and Jeremy Tattersall for his editorial work. All the support we have received has been very encouraging and more than we could have imagined. The website has had 2500 unique visitors, we have reached more than 7000 people through Facebook and we currently have 24 monthly donors on Patreon.

This month has been productive and we have been able to publish 6 new translations. The most important is undoubtedly a new translation of The Secret Practice of the Great Compassionate One, Natural Liberation of Suffering (Dukngal Rangdrol), the very first treasure revealed by Jigme Lingpa. It is a practice focused on Avalokiteśvara and is classed as the secret guru practice of the Longchen Nyingtik cycle. Jigme Lingpa says in the colophon:

The time for revelation came in the Earth Tiger year (1758), when I had a vision of the Great Compassionate One, and the ḍākinī of the space of wisdom entrusted me, in the vast expanse of the illusory net, with the scrolls of the symbolic script of the radiant expanse. I wrote it down without concealing anything of the signs and meaning.

The lineage prayer by Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo has also been translated, and the feast-offering (tsok) is scheduled to be published next month.

Then we have published two important texts for the Queen of Great Bliss (Yumka Dechen Gyalmo) cycle. The first is the Jigme Lingpa’s History of the Female Practice of the Queen of Great Bliss, where he describes how the cycle of Yumka Dechen Gyalmo was first revealed to him by a ḍākinī, while he was on pilgrimage in Drakyi Yangdzong in 1773. The second is The Main Recitation Manual for the Female Practice of the Queen of Great Bliss, a succinct guide to the ḍākinī practice of of the Queen of Great Bliss, including details concerning necessary preparations for retreat and details of the visualization, also written by Jigme Lingpa himself.

Finally we have published the Amṛta Offering for Rigdzin Düpa, and the Lineage Prayer for the Assembly of Awesome Ones (Palchen Düpa). The latter includes supplementary verses composed by the Third Dodrupchen, Jigme Tenpe Nyima. Palchen Düpa is the main yidam deity of the Longchen Nyingtik, yet probably because of its wrathful nature and also considerable length, a translation has not yet been publicly available. We are currently editing the main sādhana and also a shortened version for daily practice compiled by Khyentse Wangpo, which we hope to publish in the coming months.

Once again, we want to thank all our patrons who enable us to devote our time to fully translate this precious cycle of treasures.

Please help us by liking our Facebook page and sharing our website with Dharma friends and practitioners.

Han,

Director of the Longchen Nyingtik Project