The Vajra Essence (Dudjom Lingpa's Visions of the Great Per)

A systematic presentation of the path of Dzogchen, the Great Perfection, by one of its most renowned proponents and rendered by a master translator.

Düdjom Lingpa (1835–1904) was one of the foremost tantric masters of nineteenth-century Tibet, and his powerful voice resonates strongly among Buddhist practitioners today. The Vajra Essence is Düdjom Lingpa’s most extended meditation on the path of Great Perfection, in many senses a commentary on all his other Dzogchen works. Dzogchen, the pinnacle of practice in the Nyingma school, is a radical revelation of the pure nature of consciousness that is delivered from master to disciple and perfected in a meditation that permeates every moment of our experience.

Revealed to Düdjom Lingpa as a visionary “treasure” text in 1862, the Vajra Essence takes the reader through seven stages of progressively deeper practice, from “taking the impure mind as the path” up to the practice of “direct crossing over” (tögal). The longest of Düdjom Lingpa’s five visionary works on Dzogchen, readers will find this a rich and masterful evocation of the enlightened experience. This is the first translation of this seminal work in any Western language, and B. Alan Wallace, with his forty-five-plus years of extensive learning and deep meditative experience, is one of the most accomplished translators of Tibetan texts into English. 

• Buddhahood without Meditation (Dudjom Lingpa's Visions of the Great Per)
• Heart of the Great Perfection: Dudjom Lingpa's Visions of the Great Perfection
• Fathoming the Mind: Inquiry and Insight in Dudjom Lingpa's Vajra Essence
• Enlightened Vagabond: The Life and Teachings of Patrul Rinpoche
• Stilling the Mind: Shamatha Teachings from Dudjom Lingpa's Vajra Essence
• Finding Rest in the Nature of the Mind: Trilogy of Rest, Volume 1
• Everything Is Light: The Circle of Total Illumination
• The Life and Times of Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö: The Great Biography by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and Other Stories
• Mountain Dharma: Alchemy of Realization: Dudjom Rinpoche's Ritro
• Finding Rest in Meditation: Trilogy of Rest, Volume 2