Advice from the Lotus-Born: A Collection of Padmasambhava¿s Advice to the Dakini Yeshe Tsogyal and Other Close Disciples

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Summary: This book is wonderful.
Review: "Don't mistake mere words to be the meaning of the teachings. Mingle the practice with your own being and attain liberation right now." It really is advice, in plain English. I keep this book on my bedside table.

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Summary: These are the essential dzogchen teachings.
Review: Before the reader begins these teachings, s/he must ask, "am I ready for this?" Padmasambhava's terma treasures are as exact, direct and profound as one might expect from the first teacher of dzogchen. There is nothing in these texts, nothing to be learned. I have never encountered anything more frighteningly wonderful in any other teaching. The translation is excellent as well, and the book includes a detailed glossary that any reader will find useful and informative.

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Summary: The father of Tibetan Buddhism
Review: Padmasambhava, also known as Guru Rinpoche, is credited as being the main person who brought Buddhism to Tibet, and is also understood by Tibetan Buddhists to have been a Buddha himself.

In some contexts, one approaches teachings directly at their source first, and then looks to commentaries, explanations, etc. For example, in Protestant Christianity, one is often encouraged to go straight to the New Testament and read that. Then one reads the works of theologians, biblical scholars, preachers, and so on.

However, in Buddhism the approach is often the opposite. First one goes to a teacher who is a contemporary of yours. Then, having gained some confidence from that teacher, and having put into practice some of the teachings and having seen their effectiveness and practicality, one then turns to some other writings of an introductory nature. After having gained some grounding in those, one may then turn to a commentary on a root text. Then, one may read the root texts oneself. Lastly, one may turn to the sutras and words of the Buddha himself. Trying to start there, however, would not be advised -- as anyone who has tried to read the Tripitaka (the three baskets of teachings of the Buddha) or the tantras can attest!

Similarly in the case of this text -- one should have a good grounding before attempting very difficult texts, and they should in all cases be read while one is studying with a lama. Otherwise, misunderstandings may occur, and these may be worse than not having encountered the text in the first place. But if one does have that grounding, what greater treasure is there than to read such wonderful texts?

I write this review, and give it five stars, in part because I saw that there are already three reviews and even though each one praised the book, for some reason one of the reviews shows up as having no stars (a bug in Amazon's system, I suppose), and so the general rating of this book was only three and a half. Yet, clearly, stars cannot estimate the value of such works...