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Finding Rest in the Nature of the Mind

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Longchenpa’s classic Buddhist manual for attaining liberation teaches us how to familiarize ourselves with our most basic nature—the clear, pristine, and aware mind. Written in the fourteenth century, this text is the first volume of Longchenpa’s Trilogy of Rest, a work of the Tibetan Dzogchen tradition. This profound and comprehensive presentation of the Buddhist view and path combines the scholastic expository method with direct pith instructions designed for yogi practitioners.

This first part of the Trilogy of Rest sets the foundation for the following two volumes: Finding Rest in Meditation, which focuses on Tibetan Buddhist meditation practice, and Finding Rest in Illusion, which focuses on post-meditation yogic conduct. The Padmakara Translation Group has provided us with a clear and fluid new translation to Finding Rest in the Nature of the Mind along with selections from its autocommentary, The Great Chariot, which will serve as a genuine aid to study and meditation.

Here, we find essential instructions on the need to turn away from materialism, how to find a qualified guide, how to develop boundless compassion for all beings, along with the view of tantra and associated meditation techniques. The work culminates with pointing out the result of practice as presented from the Dzogchen perspective, providing us with all the tools necessary to traverse the Tibetan Buddhist path of finding rest. Shambhala Publications

Citation	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.

Longchenpa on Buddha-Nature

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Table of Contents About the Book Texts Translated Quotes

• Foreword by Alak Zenkar Rinpochexiii
• Foreword by Jigme Khyentse Rinpochexv
• Translators' Introductionxix
  

• Part One: Finding Rest in the Nature of the Mind
• Prologue3

1. The Freedoms and Advantages of Human Birth So Hard to Find 5 2. Impermanence 11 3. The Sufferings of Samsara 17 4. The Karmic Law of Cause and Effect 35 5. The Spiritual Master 51 6. Refuge 67 7. The Four Unbounded Attitudes 75 8. Cultivating the Attitude ofMind Oriented toward Enlightenment 85 9. The Generation and Perfection Stages and Their Union 103 10. The View That Dwells in Neither ofthe Two Extremes, the Wisdom whereby the Nature ofthe Ground Is Realized 115

11. The Path: Stainless Meditative Concentration 127 12. The Three Aspects of Meditative Concentration 143 13. The Great, Spontaneously Present Result 151 Conclusion 163 Tart Two: Excerptsfrom. The Great Chariot The Mind Is the Root ofAll Phenomena 167 Mind, Intellect, and Consciousness 171 The Eight Consciousnesses as the Basis of Delusion 175 The Three Natures 179 The Universal Ground 191 The Universal Ground, the Eight Consciousnesses, and the State ofSleep 201 The Tathagatagarbha 205 Refuge 243 The Three Concentrations ofthe Generation Stage 253 The Simple Practice ofthe Generation and Perfection Stages 257 The Mind and the Objects That Appear to It 261 The Omniscient Longchenpa Speaks about His Realization 265 Notes 269 Texts Cited in The Great Chariot 301 Bibliography 305 The Padmakara Translation Group Translations into English 309

Index 311

1. Klong chen pa. Sems nyid ngal gso and Shing rta chen po. Root text and autocommentary. Gangtok: Dodrupchen, 1975? See
2. _____. Ngal gso skor gsum gyi spyi don legs bshad rgya mtsho. Gangtok: Dodrupchen, 1975? See