Low, James Being Guru Rinpoche

<p>The book<em> Being Guru Rinpoche</em> shows how to understand and engage with a traditional <strong>Tibetan</strong> tantric <strong>meditation</strong> practice (<strong>sadhana</strong>) and relate it to the lived complexity of our daily life. The ritual focuses on living within the mandala of <strong>Padmasambhava</strong>, also known as <strong>Guru Rinpoche</strong>, and becoming inseparable from the Guru in his <strong>Eight Manifestations</strong>. The root text is from the terma tradition of <strong>Chhimed Rigdzin Lama</strong> (<strong>C. R. Lama</strong>), one of the great <strong>Nyingma</strong> <strong>lamas</strong> of the modern period. The text is given in Tibetan, with pronunciation (for reciting) and each verse is translated, with commentary. It can be used as a meditation practice text for those wishing to do so.</p><p><br></p><p>James Low's overall commentary is based on an edited transcript of various talks and is offered as a way for <strong>western people</strong> to engage with <strong>tantric</strong> practice. The text itself is from the <strong>Nyingmapa</strong> tradition of Tibetan <strong>Buddhism</strong> and is a treasure text (or <strong>terma</strong>) revealed by <strong>Nuden Dorje</strong>, a 19^th century <strong>terton</strong> of whom C. R. Lama was a recognised incarnation. James Low first translated it with C. R. Lama in the 1970's and it became the most frequently practised larger text amongst his students.</p><p><br></p><p>This ritual text is very important and powerful because of the depth of its content and the shortness of its <strong>lineage</strong>, in other words, its closeness to Padmasambhava, the root of all the Nyingma lineages.</p><p><br></p><p>For those in any tradition of <strong>Tibetan Buddhism</strong> the commentary illuminates how symbolism is used as a method of <strong>transforming samsara into nirvana</strong>. Transformation is the distinctive method of <strong>tantra</strong>. For the general reader the text provides a way of revisioning personal identity and purpose.</p>