Keith Dowman MAHAMUDRA: The Poetry of the Mahasiddhas

Mahamudra was the nondual buddhist realisation of Eastern India a thousand years ago. The mahasiddhas who walked that talk composed a poetic effusion of Mahamudra that revealed their understanding. The poetry of Mahamudra is represented here by the principal exponents of this the highest of buddhist traditions: Saraha, Nakpopa, Tilopa, Naropa, Virupa and Maitripa are their names. These buddhist sadhus created the literary roots of Mahamudra that became the inspiration of the Tibetans that embodied it: Marpa, Milarepa and Rechungpa. The commentary that illuminated the sometimes cryptic meaning of the Tibetan poetry was provided by the Eighth Khamtrul Rinpoche. Besides the doha poetry of the mahasiddhas, this volume contains a concise life-story of Tilopa, illuminating the nature of the immediate path of Mahamudra in its secret language. These translations from the Tibetan can provide the same impetus to an understanding of nondual reality to us in the West as the Mahamudra transmission did for the Tibetans a thousand years ago. This 85 page volume is a companion to Keith Dowman's new series of Dzogchen teaching books.