Skillful Grace: Tara Practice for Our Times
Padmasambhava,
Chokgyur Lingpa, Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, Jamgön Kongtrül,
Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche and Trulshik Adeu Rinpoche
Tara is an inspirational figure embodying the most
compelling and vital qualities of the feminine: beauty, grace, and the
ability to nurture, care for and protect. Tara is a true warrior, vanquishing
fear and ignorance, both externally and internally; she is the earliest
known Buddhist feminist.
For instructions on how to do Tara practice, there is no book superior
to this, covering everything from beginning to end. Skillful Grace contains
teachings on general topics of Dharma practice as well as the innermost
view and meditation of Vajrayana, the unexcelled Tibetan Buddhist vehicle
that facilitates enlightenment in one lifetime. There are practices
of Tara and her retinue that dispel the various fears, consort practice
and all the details on development and completion stages both with and
without conceptual attributes. Nothing is left out. It is utterly complete
with treasure and pith instructions from Tulku Urgyen and Adeu Rinpoche,
adeptly arranged by the translation/author team of Erik Pema Kunsang
and Marcia Binder Schmidt.
The book is rounded out with a foreword by Tara Bennett Goleman, author
of the best selling book Emotional Alchemy, in depth introduction by
Marcia Schmidt, and appendixes.
About the Authors: Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche (1921-1996)
was among Tibetan Buddhism's greatest 20th-century masters. Adeu Rinpoche
lives at the Tsechu Monastery in Tibet. Erik Pema Kunsang is a highly
regarded translator. He and his wife Marcia Schmidt manage Rangjung
Yeshe Translations & Publications. Tara Bennett Goleman is the author
of the bestselling Emotional Alchemy and lives in MA.
Table of Contents
Foreword 10
Preface 14
Introduction 18
The Essential Instruction on the Threefold Excellence 28
An Overview of the Threefold Excellence by Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche 34
Skillful Grace by Trulshik Adeu Rinpoche 50
Introduction 50
Historical Background 59
Stepping Stones for the Path: Hinayana 62
Preliminaries for the Session 62
Preliminaries for the Teaching 64
Refuge 74
For Those of Medium Capacity 77
The Excellence of the Middle-Mahayana 84
Bodhichitta of Aspiration 89
Bodhichitta of Application 91
Prajña 105
The Excellence of the End-Vajrayana 114
Approach 114
Accomplishment 118
Sadhana Retreat 129
Anuttara Yoga 135
Special Preliminaries 135
The Main Part 138
The Subsequent Yoga 152
The Exquisite Yoga 154
The Great Yoga 155
Conclusion 155
Appendix 158
A description of Tara by the 15th Gyalwang Karmapa 158
The Twenty-One Taras described by Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo 159
Endnotes 163
