Report of the year 2022 and future plans

As 2022 comes to an end it is time to give a brief overview of our work this year. We have published 19 new translations in English, many of them never published before, three in German and one in Portugese (the latter were all based on our English translations).

Highlights of the year

At the start of the year we published the second most important commentary on the Yumka practice, the Guide to Yumka written by Jigme Tenpe Nyima. This is our longest publication to date. We translated three of the four existing commentaries on the Dukngal Rangdrol practice: by Jigme Lingpa, by Khyentse Wangpo and the long commentary by Khenpo Pema Vajra. With these commentaries we have paved the way for people to undertake closed recitation retreats on the Dukngal Rangdrol. We have also finished translating all the practice texts for this cycle. Six texts of the Takhyung Barwa cycle were translated this year, including the root text and two arrangements. In addition we translated the root sadhana of the Tikle Gyachen. Lastly we want to bring attention to the excellent introduction on how to practice the Longchen Nyingtik by Dola Jigme Kalzang (a complete overview and links to all the texts can be found below).

Additions to the website

This year we have started adding pages for each of the sadhanas of the Longchen Nyingtik that present a complete overview of each cycle. So far we have created pages for Rigdzin Düpa, Dukngal Rangdrol and Takhyung Barwa. We also wrote a few extensive articles on our blog about The History and Texts of The Sealed Quintessence (Tikle Gyachen), An Analysis of a Collection of Dukngal Rangdrol Rituals and The Passing of the Dodrupchen Rinpoche and Prayers for his Swift Rebirth.

Behind the scenes

Behind the scenes we have been working hard on a translation of the Ratik commentary on the Yumka Dechen Gyalmo sadhana with the support of the Khyentse Foundation Ashoka grant which was granted to us last year. The Ratik, whose full title is Illuminating the Meaning of Tantra, A Commentary on the Practice Text of the Ḍākinī Queen of Great Bliss, was written by Ratön Ngawang Tendzin Dorje (a direct disciple of Jigme Lingpa) making it the first commentary written on Yumka by an author other than Jigme Lingpa himself. It is also the longest commentary on Yumka, counting 220 pages in Tibetan. We have just finished the first draft of the entire text!

Handwritten manuscript of the *Ratik* commentary on the practice of Yumka (the highlighting is ours)

How we continue

It goes without saying that we will avidly continue to publish newly translated texts every month. In the near future you can look forward to texts of the Tikle Gyachen, Takhyung Barwa and Palchen Düpa cycles, and also texts related to the Longchen Nyingtik transference practice (phowa).

The coming year we will take the project to the next level by starting to create practice books for all the different sadhanas of the Longchen Nyingtik, beginning with the Dukngal Rangdrol practice. In addition to practice books for all the sadhanas, we have also got underway on a big project to compile an additional text booklet for the Longchen Nyingtik, entirely in English of course, which will include all the important texts and prayers needed for any practice of the Longchen Nyingtik. Stay tuned!

From January onwards some of our team will be traveling once again to Chorten Gompa, Dodrupchen monastery, in Sikkim to continue our study of the Longchen Nyingtik and attend the Palchen Düpa drupchen that will be held this year before Losar.

With thanks to

Of course first of all our thanks go out to all our supporters on Patreon and anyone else who supported the project! We would also like to extent our immense gratitude to Khenchen Pema Sherab for his teachings on the Dukngal Rangdrol cycle this year and his brilliant translator Khenpo Sonam Tsewang, who is always kindly helping out with our translations. Our thanks also goes to Tulku Dawa Rinpoche for his continuous willingness to answer all our questions, to Khenpo Tashi Tseten for all his insights into difficult passages, to Sean Price for his unfailing advice, and last but not least to Adam Pearcey from Lotsawa House for his continuous support and valuable editing.

We need your help!

Are you a practitioner of or aspire to practice the Longchen Nyingtik? We need your help to continue our translations and effort to publish the entire cycle of the Longchen Nyingtik into English, available for free online! Support us here. If everyone supports us with just a few euros a month, we’ll have enough funds to continue our work.

Best wishes for 2023 from the Longchen Nyingtik Project
Han Kop
Matthias Staber
Josh Capitanio
Stefan Mang