PUBLISHER’S NOTE

THE TRANSLATOR of this volume, Gyurme Dorje, one of the giants of Tibetan translation and practice, passed away on February 5, 2020, the anniversary of the passing of his teacher Kangyur Rinpoche.

Gyurme spent many years in Asia, studying with many of the greatest masters of our day: Dudjom Rinpoche, Kangyur Rinpoche, Chatral Rinpoche, and Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. His translation work has been inestimably important to thousands of people. In the 1990s, there were far fewer books available for practitioners, and one of the essential volumes for many was The History of the Nyingma School, which he cotranslated with Matthew Kapstein. This is much more than a history, as it embodies the living tradition. He also is renowned for his three-volume dissertation on, and translation of, the Guhyagarbha Tantra, which runs over three thousand pages.

Gyurme’s Tibet Handbook and Bhutan Handbook have been the companions of thousands as they trekked, made pilgrimage, and visited the sacred places of those blessed lands. And he published a dictionary and a wide variety of other works on Tibetan culture including books on divination, art, sacred architecture, and more. His translation of The Tibetan Book of the Dead is considered one of the very best.

Most recently he published several immensely important works, including (1) Indo-Tibetan Classical Learning and Buddhist Phenomenology, book 6, parts 1 and 2, in Jamgön Kongtrul’s series The Treasury of Knowledge; (2) Philosophical Systems and Lines of Transmission, book 13, in Choying Tobden Dorje’s series The Complete Nyingma Tradition from Sutra to Tantra; and (3) the two-volume set The Essential Tantras of Mahayoga (based on the Guhyagarbha Tantra), books 15–17, also in the series The Complete Nyingma Tradition from Sutra to Tantra. All of us here at Shambhala Publications are extremely grateful to Gyurme’s immeasurable contribution to our understanding, experience, and appreciation of the Tibetan tradition.

I would also like to thank the translator and teacher Sarah Harding, Gyurme’s longtime friend, who made a significant effort to complete the final edits and notes on this volume.

Nikko Odiseos

August 2020

Boulder, CO