The Torch of Certainty

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant
Review: The must have manual for anyone setting out to do the Ngondro practices. Clear and concise, with a very nice question/answer section.

Rating:
Summary: Indispensible
Review: The torch of certainty is an essential text for any serious Buddhist practitioner of the Kagyu lineage. The text, written by Jamgon Kongtrul and translated by Judith Hanson, describes the four ordinary foundation practices and the four special foundation practices. These are commonly known as the ngondro practice.

The text covers specifics on each practice and should be used alongside the Ngondro text, with instruction from your lama.

The introduction includes a section on the Kagyu lineage known as the golden rosary.

Rating:
Summary: Developing "fearlessness, joy and penetrating insight"
Review: What I like to add to the two earlier reviews is the following quotation from the foreword by Ven. Chögyam Trungpa, whose root-guru was the second Jamgön Kongtrul of Zhe-chen:

"The pattern of the practitioner's progress through the three yanas is as follows:
"First, one develops extreme exertion in uncovering one's own neurosis. This one-pointed mindfulness brings the sense of one's actual human quality.
"The second stage is marked by gentleness, allowing one's energies to expand and be shared with the rest of sentient beings.
"Finally, one develops fearlessness and a sense of joy and penetrating insight, filled with immense devotion to the lineage and one's root-guru.
"This text, dealing with the preliminary practices of the Vajrayana discipline, belongs to the third category."

This is a classic, and a must-read.