Product Description

Padampa Sangye's influence on the Buddhism of Tibet and China is profound. This translation of his biography introduces us to a transcendent, irascible, and iconoclastic figure. Padampa Sangye encouraged his disciplines to disregard social conventions, disdain social contact, and break through their cultural conditioning. Although able to deliver lengthy sermons, Padampa Sangye taught just as often entirely without words, or with cryptic messages similar to Zen koans. His outlandish style and miraculous deeds will captivate readers. The comprehensive presentation of his spiritual career, teachings, and deeds will make it an indispensable reference work for students of Eastern spirituality.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #293899 in Books
• Published on: 2008-07-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 362 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781559392990
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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Review
"A rare portrait of an elusive yet important religious figure in Tibetan Buddhism...offer[s] an entertaining glimpse." -- Buddhadharma

"Two venerable texts...skillfully translated into English for the first time...invaluable reference...highly recommended." -- Library Bookwatch

"...a valuable resource, skillfully translated...It contains an engrossing biography of this unique teacher as well as his eccentric teachings...This is a richly rewarding read." --Mandala

"...will captivate readers...an indispensable reference work for students of Eastern spirituality." --Eastern Horizon

"...wonderful...It is a great read, and explodes with the sense and sensibility of the enlightenment dynamic." -- Glenn H. Mullin, author

Review
"..a valuable resource, skillfully translated...This is a richly rewarding read."

From the Back Cover
Best known as Machig Labdron's teacher, the Indian mahasiddha Padampa Sangye is counted as a lineage guru by all schools of Tibetan Buddhism. He brought the lineage of Chöd to Tibet, carried the Buddha's teachings to China, and is even asserted, in the Tibetan tradition, to have been the legendary Bodhidharma.

Padampa Sangye's teaching methods were unorthodox and sometimes extreme. This transcendent and irascible teacher encouraged his disciples to disregard social conventions, disdain social contacts, and go beyond their cultural conditioning. He inspired innumerable highly realized disciples, many of whom were women.

Lion of Siddhas presents two extraordinary texts: a biography of Padampa Sangye and a rare collection of his verbal and nonverbal teachings, called Mahamudra in Symbols, recorded by his chief Tibetan disciple almost a thousand years ago. Both are previously untranslated.

"The illustrious master Padampa Sangye, who taught in Tibet during the eleventh century, created a legacy that spread through all sects and schools of Tibetan Buddhism. His teachings can be found today in monasteries and retreat hermitages throughout central Asia, from Mongolia on the north to Bhutan, Sikkim and Ladakh on the south, and continue to be practiced with undiminished enthusiasm. My old friend David Molk, working with Lama Tsering Wangdu, has performed a wonderful service.... It is a great read, and explodes with the sense and sensibility of the enlightenment dynamic."--Glenn H. Mullin, author, The Dalai Lamas on Tantra

Lama Tsering Wangdu Rinpoche was born in Dingri Langkor, Tibet, where Padampa Sangye established his monastery, and is a lineage holder in the Pacification of Suffering tradition.

David Molk became a Buddhist in 1981 and has translated for many Tibetan masters.

Customer Reviews

A remarkable study of one of Tibetan Buddhism's greatest teachers
A remarkable study of one of Tibetan Buddhism's greatest teachers

Lama Tsering Wangdu Rinpoche and David Molk have made a ground-breaking contribution to the West's comprehension of Tibetan Buddhism in their 337-page work "Lion of Siddhas". The life and teachings of the great Buddhist siddha (accomplished meditator) Padampa Sangye has been vividly presented in this profound yet readable book.

A millennium ago, the Indian yogi Padampa Sangye visited Tibet, finally settling near Mount Everest and establishing a Dharma village of committed lay Tibetan male and female practitioners. In this seemingly informal setting, Padampa Sangye dispensed both personal advice and advanced meditation teachings. Many of the question-and-answer sessions were recorded by his disciple Bodhisattva Kunga, and are beautifully rendered here, for the first time in English, in their full vibrancy and intimacy. Of particular note is the way in which these teachings reach out to the present, addressed as they are to householders, merchants, wives and husbands, as well as to solitary meditators.

"Lion of Siddhas" also contains the extensive spiritual biography (namthar) of Padampa Sangye by Chokyi Senge, also for the first time in English. It begins with his actions in previous lives; continues by describing his life and enlightened activity as the extraordinary teacher we know as Padampa Sengye; and concludes with the life-stories of those students (of both genders) who continued his life's work after his death.

Finally, the book concludes with a set of five appendices devoted to practice instructions. These cover topics from longevity practice to the purification of one's speech actions (transmutation of speech into mantra).

Padampa Sangye instituted a new spiritual lineage in Tibet, the Shijay or Pacifier tradition, which has been greatly influential in all the schools of Tibetan Buddhism. His most famous student, the female siddha Machig Labdron, popularized the Chod or cutting practice that survives as an active practice in those schools. Now, a thousand years later, Lama Tsering Wangdu Rinpoche is actively reinstituting the Shijay tradition as a whole. "Lion of Siddhas" offers us a vibrant newly recovered perspective on both Tibetan Buddhism and the practice of Chod. Any serious student of both should study this extraordinary book.

The only thing that has been omitted, to my mind, is an index. The book is well organized into chapters and subchapters, so fortunately the overall navigation of the material is straightforward. Nonetheless, I hope that the publishers ensure that an index is included in future editions so that we readers can get maximum benefit out of its contents.

A stunning synthesis of Buddhist thought and practice
Lion of Siddhas is a joyful and exciting text filled with the miraculous activities of enlightened beings. More importantly, David Molk's work is a clear pipeline to the words of the realized meditation master, Padampa Sangye. This will be no surprise for those familiar with David's translation efforts for some of the great living masters of Tibetan Buddhism.

Lion of Siddhas may rival the translations of the Songs of Milarepa in its importance and profundity. As one of the great Mahasiddhas of early Tibet, Padampa Sangye has been largely overlooked in the West despite being celebrated in the Songs of Milarepa as an equal and a fully realized being, and his profound influence on the First Panchen Lama.

Westerners may have a hard time accepting the claim that in the same lifetime Padampa Sangye was also Bodhidharma who brought Zen to China, as well as Kamalashila who firmly planted the gradual method of enlightenment in Tibet. Yet, within the writing one clearly encounters the gradual stages of Indo-Tibetan meditation thoroughly mixed with the iconoclasm and immediacy of Zen and Mahamudra. Finally, all is combined into one package with the precision of Tantric thought and practice. Based on the text, the extraordinary claim that one being is actually all three of these pivotal personalities seems somehow possible. Whether one accepts this and other miraculous claims, Padampa Sangye clearly represents a stunning synthesis of Buddhist thought and practice that is functional, non-sectarian and refreshingly non-monastic.

David Molk's lifetime of experience as a translator and Buddhist practitioner is evident in the translation, which portrays his deep personal acquaintance with the teachings.

This book is an important addition to any library, providing insight into extraordinary teachings. I offer a heartfelt thank you to Lama Tsering Wangdu Rinpoche for bringing these teachings to the West. I hope this is of value.

An invaluable reference for Buddhist studies shelves and reference collections
Lion of Siddhas: The Life and Teachings of Padampa Sangye collects two venerable texts in one volume, both skillfully translated into English for the first time by expert and practicing Buddhist David Molk with Lama Tsering Wangdu Rinpoche. The first text of Lion of Siddhas is a biography of East Indian Mahasiddha Padampa Sangye, well known as a lineage guru to all schools of Tibetan Buddhism. He brought the lineage of Chod to Tibet, spread the Buddha's teachings in China, and the Tibetan tradition names him to be the Bodhidharma. His teaching methods could be extreme; he was known to tell his disciples (many of whom were women) to ignore social conventions, eschew social contacts, and transcend their cultural conditioning. The second text within Lion of Siddhas compiles Padampa Sangye's verbal and nonverbal teachings, known as "Mahamudra in Symbols", as recorded by his primary Tibetan disciple nearly one thousand years in the past. An invaluable reference for Buddhist studies shelves and reference collections, highly recommended.