A Gathering of Brilliant Moons

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A Gathering of Brilliant Moons
Book
Book

This collection focuses on an influential and inspiring generation of Buddhist teachers: the nineteenth-century ecumenical, or rimé, tradition of eastern Tibet. A Gathering of Brilliant Moons provides lively translations of nineteen pithy and profound works by these great masters, along with essays by their translators which explore the aesthetic qualities of their chosen works, highlight their ecumenical features, and comment on the journey of translation.

Includes works from Jamgon Kongtrul, Dza Patrul Rinpoché, Ju Mipham Rinpoché, Dudjom Lingpa, The Third Dodrupchen, Do Khyentsé, Tokden Sakya Sri, Jikmé Lingpa, Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen, Getsé Mahapandita, Shangton Tenpa Gyatso, and Bamda Thupten Gelek Gyatso.

This book arose from a unique conference on Tibetan translation, where the fourteen translators shared their process with each other and received feedback from their peers with a special focus on the literary aspects of the source texts. As a reflection of this genesis, the accompanying essays in this volume by the translators explore the aesthetic qualities of their chosen works, highlight ecumenical features in them, and comment on the journey of translation. This unique book will be welcomed by religious scholars, Buddhist practitioners, and meditators. (Source: Wisdom Experience)

On the topic of buddha-nature, see especially Tina Draszczyk's translation of Jamgön Kongtrul's Immaculate Vajra Moonrays: An Instruction for the View of Shentong, the Great Madhyamaka in chapter 12, Putting Buddha Nature into Practice.

Citation Gayley, Holly, and Joshua Schapiro, eds. A Gathering of Brilliant Moons: Practice Advice from the Rimé Masters of Tibet. Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications, 2017.


  • Foreword
  • Ringu Tulku ix
  • Preface xi
  • Introduction 1
    • Holly Gayley and Joshua Schapiro
  • Part I: Worldly Counsel 21
    • 1. Facing Your Mind 23

Jamgön Kongtrul and Dudjom Lingpa Translated by John Canti

    • 2. Playful Primers on the Path 47

Dza Patrul Rinpoché Translated by Joshua Schapiro

    • 3. Dictums for Developing Virtue 83

Shangtön Tenpa Gyatso Translated by Gedun Rabsal and Nicole Willock

    • 4. Bold Judgments on Eating Meat 97

Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen Translated by Geoffrey Barstow

    • 5. A Letter to the Queen 109

Jikmé Lingpa and Getsé Mahāpaṇḍita Translated by Jann Ronis

  • Part II: Meditation Advice 123
    • 6. Advice for Solitary Retreat 125

Do Khyentsé, Dza Patrul Rinpoché, and the Third Dodrupchen Translated by Holly Gayley

    • 7. Encouragement to Pursue the Path 171

Bamda Thupten Gelek Gyatso Translated by Michael Sheehy

    • 8. How to Practice When Ill 191

Jikmé Lingpa Translated by Wulstan Fletcher

    • 9. An Intimate Exhortation 201

Tokden Śākya Śrī Translated by Amy Holmes-Tagchungdarpa

    • 10. A Meditation Instructor’s Manual 211

Dza Patrul Rinpoché Translated by Sarah Harding

  • Part III: Esoteric Instructions 239
    • 11. Pointing to the Nature of Awareness 241

Ju Mipham Rinpoché Translated by Douglas Duckworth

    • 12. Putting Buddha Nature into Practice 251

Jamgön Kongtrul Translated by Tina Draszczyk

    • 13. Instructions on the Great Perfection 285

Jamgön Kongtrul Translated by Marc-Henri Deroche

  • Glossary 303
  • Tibetan Proper Names 317
  • Contributors 327

  1. Chapter 12 Putting Buddha Nature into Practice: Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye ('jam mgon kong sprul blo gros mtha' yas). འཇམ་མགོན་ཀོང་སྤྲུལ་བློ་གྲོས་མཐའ་ཡས. "gzhan stong dbu ma chen po'i lta khrid rdo rje zla ba dri med pa'i 'od zer." གཞན་སྟོང་དབུ་མ་ཆེན་པོའི་ལྟ་ཁྲིད་རྡོ་རྗེ་ཟླ་བ་དྲི་མེད་པའི་འོད་ཟེར In rgya chen bka' mdzod. TBRC W23723. 5: 747–777. New Delhi: Shechen, 2002. BDRC W23723. Also found in the gdams ngag rin po che'i mdzod གདམས་ངག་རིན་པོ་ཆེའི་མཛོད། Volume 4, པོད་ ༼ང་༽, 565-586. New Delhi: Shechen Publications, 1999. Enlarged reprint of the 1979 edition published by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche from prints from the dpal spungs xylographs. PDF available on Tsadra.org