Illumination of the Hidden Meaning ─ Chapters 25?1: Yogic Vows, Conduct, and Ritual Praxis

This is the second volume in a two-volume annotated translation of Tsong Khapa's Illumination of the Hidden Meaning (sbas don kun sel), a magnificent and massive commentary on the Cakrasamvara Tantra. This is the first English translation of this important work that marks a milestone in the history of the Tibetan assimilation of the Indian Buddhist Tantras. This second volume, which includes Tsong Khapa's detailed introduction to chapters 25--51 of the Root Tantra, is the conclusion of this major Tibetan commentary on an important Indian Buddhist Tantra. It covers the vows, observances, and conduct of the intiated yogi, particularly in relation to the yoginis, whose favor he must cultivate. It also describes in great detail the ritual practices of the tradition, including homa fire sacrifice and the ritual uses of the mantras of the mandala's main deities. The author situates the work in context, and explores in depth the sources used by Tsong Khapa in composing this commentary. He also provides detailed notes, and a trilingual English-Tibetan-Sanskrit glossary. Together with the present author's translations of the Root Tantra, the first half of this master Tibetan commentary (chapters 1--24), and the critically edited texts in Sanskrit and Tibetan of the Root Tantra, all previously published in this series, the reader of this volume will have the most complete study of this important Tantra yet available in English. This volume will be followed in this series by a critical edition of the entire Tibetan text of this commentary.

DAVID B. GRAY is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Santa Clara University. He is the author of several books and articles on the subject of the Cakrasamvara Tantra.

RELATED BOOKS IN THIS SERIES include: The Cakrasamvara Tantra (The Discourse of Sri Heruka): A Study and Annotated Translation (AIBS, 2007); The Cakrasamvara Tantra (The Discourse of Sri Heruka): Editions of the Sanskrit and Tibetan Texts (AIBS, 2012); Tsong Khapa's Illumination of the Hidden Meaning: Mandala, Mantra, and the Cult of the Yoginis, A Study and Annotated Translation of Chapters 1--24 of the sbas don kun sel (AIBS, 2012).