Shogam Publications – förlag

Whilst on the one hand, it is said that Mahamudra is a very advanced form of meditation, on the other, if one were already advanced one would not need any instructions. Mahamudra manuals often tend to explain everything step by step as if the reader does not know anything. Obviously then, they are meant for people like us. In the King Doha, Saraha gives a step by step account of the pitfalls a meditation practitioner can fall into and how to avoid them. With a background of practising extensively in the tantric tradition, he gives his reasons for considering the Mahamudra approach an appropriate path. Based on a commentary by Karma Trinleypa, Traleg Rinpoche gives a straightforward and clear explanation of Saraha's message to us as practitioners of Mahamudra.

Traleg Kyabgon skillfully illustrates how to incorporate the whole human experience onto the Buddhist path. With mastery of Western concepts, the author explains how to integrate traditional Buddhist philosophies, psychology, and Tibetan medicine in the service of reducing suffering and developing all aspects of ones personhood to overcome the confinement of a limited sense of self.

Rinpoche explains the profound meaning of Vajrayana, inclusive of the Six Yogas of Naropa, demystifying the practices and providing the necessary elucidations. One of the six Yogas, Dream Yoga, is explored in depth, providing remarkable insight into the human condition, mind, and spirituality. The clarifications illuminate the tantric path, dispelling confusion and uncertainty about how to approach Vajrayana practices. Some key explanations for practicing the Vajrayana path are elucidated including the role of clear light, and the role of the tantric teacher. This work includes generous, rarely discussed aspects of this profound path by one of the worlds foremost masters of Tibetan Buddhism.

Longchenpa's Three Cycles of Natural Freedom: Oral translation and commentary is a seminal Dzogchen text that is divided into three cycles: Mind, Ultimate Reality and Equality. The ninth Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche (1959-2012) of the Kagyu Nyingma tradition, one of the great meditation master and scholars to come out of the Tibetan diaspora, has provided a detailed oral commentary and spontaneous translation of Longchenpa's text to help reveal the essential meaning of these profound teachings. A glimpse at each cycle - in the Mind Cycle, Longchenpa is in part concerned with our ability to comprehend and experience the freedom within the authentic state; in the Ultimate Reality Cycle, all dualistic notions are challenged as the nature of self and phenomena are revealed as the same; in the Equality Cycle, our aboriginal state is described as that which transcends conditioned existence. Within each cycle, Lonchenpa also gives concise guidelines on approaching one's practice within a retreat situation. Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche's renowned fluency with the English language, coupled with his own profound levels of realization, makes this translation an exciting opportunity for these transformative teachings to not only be known, but also experienced in these modern times.

In this book Traleg Kyabgon discusses the notion of desire from Buddhist and other perspectives. He reviews commonly held beliefs of desire that are often misguided and can be diametrically opposed. On the one hand there is the belief that desire is an important human experience that is natural, which leads to happiness and pleasure. Then there is the juxtaposition that desire is a type of demon whose expression leads to diminishment and destruction. There has been a long standing belief in some Eastern and Western religious and philosophical traditions that all forms of desire are bad and that our ultimate goal is a state of complete desirelessness. The assumption of these traditions being, if we dont desire anything we will not have any concerns. If we dont have any concerns we will be completely content, and completely happy. That is not the view of Buddhism, particularly in relation to the distinction between the ultimate goal of attaining enlightenment and the relative, more immediate aim of wanting to improve and elevate oneself. There is a litany of human foibles, misdemeanors, and misconduct that comes from unmediated desire. When the desire is not controlled or managed effectively it can manifest as very destructive eruption. Nevertheless we should not then conclude that we have to extinguish desire altogether. To overcome destructive or demeaning desires requires one to harness a stronger desire to motivate oneself towards a more positive direction and goal. This requires insight and skill to overcome highly habitualized tendencies that can lead to a type of entrapment, to then produce a positively motivated approach that allows one to desire freely producing enriched meaning, outcomes and experiences. Traleg Kyabgon explores the Buddhist notion of desire within its positive and negative forms, seeking to explode some myths and clarify some misunderstandings. The book is also designed to inspire the passion of the readers to seek a fulfilling life without needing to demonise ones experience of desire.

If emotions simply happened to us and we have no choice in the matter, we could not speak about creating good or bad karma. If there is no choice, then how can we support the idea of change, transformation, or progress? From a Buddhist perspective, we are responsible for our actions or experiences, including how we manage our emotions. One cannot be made responsible for something when one has no choice in the matter. Our range of emotional experiences, as well as being fuelled by past experiences, the content and quality of our thoughts, and our ethics and beliefs, are also related to outcomes that we wish to achieve. Emotions are more-often-than-not used in a strategic manner. We use our emotions to elicit certain responses and gain certain results from others. They are used to gain specific results within our interactions. Rather than being seen as something that happens to us, emotions are seen as something that we create and invariably use in a strategic manner, even if somewhat unconsciously. -- Traleg Kyabgon

In THE CIRCLE OF THE SUN, Traleg Rinpoche asks: What is the starting point on the spiritual journey? It is possible that it is seeing oneself as inadequate. It is heartening that the Dzogchen and Mahamudra approach says that what one wants to attain is already present. There is no gap between what one is and what one wants to attain. In Dzogchen, the starting point, which is also the end point of the spiritual journey is having an understanding of the nature of mind. Tsele Natsok Rangdrol's exposition of the Dzogchen path elucidates that the path rests on the practices of trekchö, which means "cutting through", and thögal, which means "leaping over". Trekchö practice entails settling the mind in its own natural state without effort and without the rejection of thoughts and emotions. Thögal practice makes use of images and visions to realize the innate wakefulness. Rinpoche explains there are many perspectives designed to help us uncover our authentic state, the ground-of-being, as it is often referred to in the Dzogchen tradition. A single perspective can never provide an all-encompassing view of the ground-of -being, because it is something that cannot be understood from any one perspective, in completeness. -- Susan Howes, Editor.

This book presents comparative perspectives on the nature of mind, motivation, conflict, anxiety, and suffering, as well as the therapeutic management of these problems, in both the writings of Sigmund Freud and the discourses of the Buddha. The nature of the instinct of sexuality, ego instinct, and the death instinct in Freud are compared to parallel concepts in Buddhism. This fourth edition has been revised and updated, and looks at the emerging dialog between Buddhism and psychotherapy. It includes new chapters on the nature of the unconscious, the therapeutic basis of early Buddhist psychology, and the Freudian search for the ideal therapeutic model.