In response to the needs of his international Dharma students, the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje compiled this condensed practice text especially for those who wish to complete their preliminary practices in the context of busy work lives. His Holiness’s teachings bring life and feeling to the actual practice of the preliminaries.

In this succinct teaching presented in 2006 by His Holiness the Seventeenth Gyalwang Karmapa in Bodhgaya, India, students are guided through a shortened version of the preliminaries for mahamudra practice, which His Holiness composed with the aim of benefiting practitioners from developed countries who often lead busy lives. The complete practice, in the root text, is written in English, Tibetan, and Tibetan transliteration, and complete instructions for the Four Special Preliminaries are provided, with the exception of guru yoga. His Holiness guides students through the details of each practice, including the visualizations of Refuge, Vajrasattva purification, and Mandala offerings — often punctuated with his good humor. A summary of the practice sequences and a list of precepts of the refuge vow are also included in two appendices.

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