Secret Sky: The Ancient Tantras on Vajrasattva's Magnificent Sky

460 halaman BAHASA INGGRIS PRINT ON DEMAND (NON ORIGINAL) BOOKPAPER + SOFTCOVER The Tantras of Vajrasattva’s Magnificent Sky, also known as the Unfailing Royal Insignia, come to us in manuscript traditions, books copied through the centuries, from Tibet and Bhutan. The texts are translations attributed to Vairochana, a famous translator of the eighth century, a Tibetan who went to India in search of the literature on instantaneous enlightenment, found it, and brought it back to Tibet. The original Indian texts have been lost in time. Vairochana’s translations fill many volumes, but he is most famous for translating the Ngagyur Nga (snga ‘gyur lnga): The Five Early Translations. These are The Cuckoo of Awareness, Shaking off the Grand Search, The Soaring of the Magnificent Garuda, Meditating on the Bodhicitta, and the Unfailing Royal Insignia: The Magnificent Sky. I have already translated and published Vairochana’s own teachings on these five Tantras. The teachings on the Magnificent Sky are said to be oceanic in proportion. What we have, in terms of surviving manuscript traditions, is fifteen individual titles. Basically, there are three Root Tantras, five Embellished Tantras, two Tantras associated with the Heart of Secrets, the Guhyagarbha, and a set of fifty-five verses that are found under various titles, and which constitute chapter 30 of the Kun byed rGyal po. I have already published a translation of one Root Tantra in this set: The Unborn. There remain two Root Tantras: Effulgent Vajra Light and Vajrasattva’s Magnificent Sky. Both are translated here. The Embellished Tantras are: The Unwritten, For the King, For the Brahmins, For the Yogins, and for the Yoginis. The first three of these are translated in the book you now hold. The two Tantras connected to the Guhyagarbha will be published in an upcoming volume.