Secret Wisdom: Three Root Tantras of the Great Perfection

We’re fortunate to live in a time when the great literature of Buddhism is being translated at an exponentially increasing speed. That includes works originally in Pali, Sanskrit, and Tibetan as well as Chinese and Japanese. Particularly noteworthy have been the multiple volume translations of the earliest Sutras (Suttas) translated by Maurice Walshe such as The Long Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Digha Nikaya found in the Theravada and Mahayana traditions. The translations by Red Pine of the Heart Sutra, the Diamond Sutra, the Platform Sutra and the Lankavatara Sutra are welcome additions of later Sutras. Now we can welcome Secret Wisdom: Three Root Tantras of the Great Perfection. Translated by Christopher Wilkinson over ten years and completed in 1990, these Tantras are basic to the Dzogchen tradition.The radical nature of the teaching is obvious within the first several pages: “Self-awareness has no object. It is obvious without concentration. There is, therefore, nothing but the Dharmadhatu.”(At page 4) In this brief passage and throughout the translations terms of art such as Dharmadhatu are used so the reader needs to be already knowledgeable or sitting at a computer search engine. The footnotes are of little help for this since most of the footnotes are just listing the original Tibetan words. This quote is part of the first short chapter of The Tantra of the Secret Wisdom Of the Great Perfection, the first of the three tantras translated without commentary. It ends, “ So he (The Lord of Secrets, apparently Vajrapani) spoke, and the audiences were terrified. Vajrasattva himself fainted.” (At page5) Now that’s powerful.It should be pointed out that two of the three translations are considered “secret”. Traditionally this meant they weren’t to be read or received except through a qualified teacher, usually after years of practice and then only through direct transmission and guidance from that teacher. However, there is a school of thought that says when it’s considered secret it’s self-secret, meaning you won’t be able to gain much from it if you aren’t ready for the teachings. The latter view seems a reasonable one. It’s your call. In any case, take advantage of the “Look Inside” feature and see what you think.In the way of full disclosure, I am now substantially into this translation but have not completed the book. That’s a good thing. It means this book is a gem. It’s the kind of reading that should not be rushed and needs to be reflected and meditated on along the way. Nevertheless, I feel it’s a good time to comment since I’ve read enough to have the flavor, and want to encourage others to join in the feast. This book will have courses and retreats built around it.If you decide to proceed you should nestle into a comfortable chair, strap on your seat belt, and enjoy the ride. It will provide many days, weeks and months of rewarding reading. You might even decide to center a Dzogchen practice on it.

The wondrous western translator Christopher Wilkinson has given us another rare and precious treasure. Beyond Secret allows us to sit alongside Yudra Nyingpo and read his in-class notes as he received oral teachings that would later become refined and condensed into the "five early translations". The rawness and direct presence of the teachings being given by Vairochana sparkle with realization and fresh awareness. In places, the text may seem to jump around, as would a freshman student's notes, jotting down key insights heard in the presence of a world-renowned professor. At times the text reads like a transcript of ear-whispered instructions on non-meditation and non-striving, making the clear distinction between the duality incipient in visualization yoga and the absolute unity of the great perfection vision. Even two decades ago, any little scrap of the great perfection literary corpus was difficult to find in English, much less understand and use as the basis to inspire realization. Now, the floodgates of translation from Tibetan have started to open, with many skilled translators bursting forth an incomprehensible mountain of jewels from the great perfection tradition, as it arrived and developed in the Tibetan kingdoms. Since they were revealed on earth, until recently these teachings have only been transmitted in secret, because of the long-held concern with keeping these teachings hidden, for fear they would be misunderstood, misapplied, or watered down. Yet all the masters have know that the time would come for public transmission, just as all tantric teachings, and even the mahayana were once secret. That is why Sri Simha gave the teachings and texts to Vairochana to translate: the time had come. We are blessed to live in a time when those ancient texts are being translated into English by such masters of both Tibetan and English as Chris Wilkinson. Read these texts in their prismatic purity. Imagine yourself sitting just behind Yudra Nyingpo, soaking up the brilliance of the new language Vairochana is creating, as he bends a primitive, nomadic language into a linguistic, spiritual masterpiece of expression, capable of expressing what words cannot touch, where the inbred dualism of thinking is transformed, its impacted energy released. The chapters of oral commentary appear to follow the early translations, formally available in Keith Dowman's marvelous translation Original Perfection and also as chapters 31, 27, 22, 26, & 30 of the famous Kunbyed Gyalpo (Supreme Source), already translated into English a few times. Yet, the text is not a true commentary. The instructions seem to refer to other texts as well. Or perhaps the idea of different "texts" had not yet congealed among the 6,400,000 verses of teachings Garab Dorje recorded. This essential text joins Wilkinson's other growing body of translations of the ancient tantras, very few of which were widely studied in Tibet, as the lineage traditions tended to focus on the Tibetan synthesizations into a few essential texts. Here, and in Wilkinson's other translations, we have access to a source text for the Ati tradition as it took off in Tibet, being able to sit at the feet of the master and absorb his grace waves. Great Perfection texts are renowned for their simplicity and directness, unburdened with complex visualizations and symbolic actions. All one needs to access these texts is the buddhamind that everyone already is. Having a connection to the tradition will, of course, impel. Highly recommended. Merrill Peterson, co-translator of You Are the Eyes of the World (Snow Lion/Shambhala, 2010)

Excellent! Thank you Christopher Wilkinson for translating these precious Tantras!

This is a superb translation of some very early Tibetan texts that allow one to wake up and realize their own enlightened nature from just the reading and pondering. I especially liked the simple down-to-earth translation style that makes all the difference. Whether a scholar or seeker of enlightenment, this translated group of texts will prove useful and benefial for all!Jackson PetersonAuthor of: The Natural Bliss of Being

This is not a content review. Don't purchase the Kindle edition; the formatting is a mess, making it unusable: table of contents is not linked, footnotes do not work, tables and lists break across lines in ways that make them unreadable.

. A great service to those who cannot read Tibetan. With heartfelt thanks from a grateful practitioner.

This book contains three real gems from the Dzogchen teachings. I haven't seen these Dzogchen Tantras translated before as well. But I must say, the simple and direct translation from the Tibetan to English as accomplished by the translator, is a real pleasure to read and savor! These particular teachings cut right to the heart of immediate realization... a real must read for all serious students of Dzogchen!

É um livro maravilhoso, mas eu ainda não li o terceiro tantra. O segundo desenvolve aspectos mais específicos e simbólicos do dzogchen, e portanto o seu interesse é mais restrito, mas o primeiro, o Secret Wisdom, foi um surpresa muito bem-vinda. O trabalho do Wilkinson, de trazer à tona esses tantras da Coleção de Tantras Antigos é da maior importância! Talvez seja a proximidade do budismo yogacara, que ainda estava muito ativo no época, que tenha enriquecido a linguagem desses tantras com uma dimensão poética inédita. Fiquei tão entusiasmedo que comprei outros dois livros do Wilkinson, que estou lendo simultaneamente. É uma pena que o dzogchen ainda seja tão pouco conhecido no Brasil. Diante do mundo contemporânea, mergulhado nas trevas da competição e do apego aos valores materiais, por um lado, e ao fundamentalismo estéril, por outro, a perspectiva espiritual do dzogchen é, a meu ver, exatamente aquilo de que o mundo precisa para se libertar desse lamentável estado de coisas, e reconhecer a urgente necessidade de incorporar a importância revolucionária do não dualismo em nossa visão do mundo, especialmente agora, no Brasil, onde temos um governo controlado por um louco.

c'est la 4è de couverture qui pour moi résume le mieux l'interet de ce livre:c'est la définition mm d'une religion naturelle au sens d'innée,quand l'inné est rendu manifeste.Sans quoi il est normal ,voire sain ,de ne pas savoir ce qu'on cherche!Dès que l'inné est rendu manifeste et auto-explicité,auto-capacitant,alors on sait ce qu'on cherchait derrière l'ensemble de ses recherches.D'où cette idée de religion naturelle et/ou manifeste,d'ailleurs déjà énoncée comme telle par Hegel.Tout le monde s'imite!