Treasury of Precious Qualities Series

This second and concluding volume of Jigme Lingpa’s classic Treasury of Precious Qualities is presented together with a detailed commentary by Kangyur Rinpoche. Composed in the form of a lamrim, or presentation of the stages of the path, the first volume set out the teachings of the sutras. The present volume continues this same structure and is a general description of the tantra teachings followed by an exposition of the Great Perfection, which in the Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism is regarded as the summit of all vehicles and the final stage of the path of spiritual training. The section on the tantras is a compendious presentation of all important issues: lineage, empowerment, the generation and perfection stages, and samaya. The section on the Great Perfection is arranged according to the classification of Ground, Path, and Result and gives an extremely clear introduction to the doctrinal background that underpins the practice of this unique system.

This book is a translation of the first part of Jigme Lingpa’s Treasury of Precious Qualities, which in a slender volume of elegant verses sets out briefly but comprehensively the Buddhist path according to the Nyingma school. The concision of the root text and its use of elaborate poetic language, rich in metaphor, require extensive explanation, amply supplied here by the commentary of Kangyur Rinpoche.

The present volume lays out the teachings of the sutras in gradual stages according to the traditional three levels, or scopes, of spiritual endeavor. It begins with essential teachings on impermanence, karma, and ethics. Then, from the Hinayana standpoint, it describes the essential Buddhist teachings of the four noble truths and the twelve links of dependent arising. Moving on, finally, to the Mahayana perspective, it expounds fully the teachings on bodhichitta and the path of the six paramitas, and gives an unusually detailed exposition of Buddhist vows.

The paperback edition includes Jigme Lingpa’s root text in verse, which was not included in the hardcover edition.