Volume Two examines the complete path of Mahamudra from initial experience to full realization. There is emphasis on how to conduct a proper retreat, including the use of geomancy in determining the appropriate site, the longevity practices of White Tara and Tseringma, chod practice, and how to use compassion as protection from fear and danger.
Karme Chakme’s Mountain Dharma, Volume Two
Taught by Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche, translated by Lama Yeshe Gyamtso and Chojor Radha
2006
ISBN: 0-9741092-1-5
paperback
6 x 9 in., 432 pages
$29.95
Karma Chakme’s Mountain Dharma was taught by Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche at KTD from 1999 to 2003 and is presented here in a four-volume set. (The fifth volume comprised of restricted chapters was taught seperately at Karme Ling Three-Year-Retreat Center and is only available to qualified students.)
Volume Two examines the complete path of Mahamudra from initial experience to full realization. There is emphasis on how to conduct a proper retreat, including the use of geomancy in determining the appropriate site, the longevity practices of White Tara and Tseringma, chod practice, and how to use compassion as protection from fear and danger. This volume introduces the tantras, and gives anuttara yoga tantra instructions for Vairochana purification practices both for oneself and for the deceased.
Karma Chakme’s Mountain Dharma is a complete text for those who want to practice Tibetan Buddhism. His Holiness the Sixteenth Karmapa (Rangjung Rikpe Dorje, 1923-1981) indicated that it was his wish that Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche present Karma Chakme’s Mountain Dharma to Western students. In accordance with this wish, Khenpo Rinpoche began teaching this text in the Year of the Earth Rabbit, February 1999, at Karma Triyana Dharmachakra, the North American seat of His Holiness, located in Woodstock, New York. The teachings took place on weekends over the subsequent four years concluding in the Year of the Water Sheep, April 2003.
The original text by Karma Chakme Rinpoche was written in the Year of the Horse, 1659. The text from which Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche taught was printed and published at Tashi Jong, Himachal Pradesh, India, and consists of fifty-four chapters and 595 pages. Karma Chakme requested that the text always be copied and presented in its completeness to ensure that nothing be lost. Because Mountain Dharma is a complete work of the complete path, Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche follows Karma Chakme’s instructions, maintaining the integrity of the original text. We also respectfully follow their wishes and instructions; however, due to the length of the text and commentary, we will publish Khenpo Rinpoche’s commentary on Mountain Dharma in five volumes, with a separate volume for the Tibetan text. Rinpoche followed the same order as the original Tibetan text with two exceptions: he began with the namthar (spiritual biography) of Karma Chakme, which in the Tibetan text is at the end; Rinpoche also omitted the chapters that he considered restricted. These restricted or secret parts will be taught and published separately at Karma Ling Retreat Center for use by qualified students. The result of these efforts is that the entire contents of Karma Chakme’s Mountain Dharma will be available in English for the first time.
Featured in Bodhi magazine 2007: Karma Chakme’s Mountain Dharma as Taught by Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche, Volume Two, Excerpt from the chapter on Mahamudra titled: “A Song of the Path for Travelers Who Are Going a Long Distance: The Practice of Meditation and the Manner in Which Realization Arises”