In this twelfth volume of The Treasury of Precious Instructions,
Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Taye presents a second collection of compiled
teachings and practices of the Shangpa Kagyu tradition of Tibetan
Buddhism, focusing on the teachings of the lineages of two Indian female
celestial beings, Niguma and Sukkhasiddhi.
The Treasury of Precious Instructions by Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Taye, one
of Tibet's greatest Buddhist masters, presents essential teachings from
a broad spectrum of practice lineages that existed in Tibet. Volumes in
this series may be engaged as practice manuals while also preserving
ancient teachings significant to the literature and history of world
religions.
Volume 12 of the series is the second of two volumes that present
teachings and practices from the Shangpa Kagyu practice lineage of
Tibetan Buddhism. This tradition derives from the female celestial
beings, or ḍākinīs, Niguma and Sukhasiddhi and their disciple, the
eleventh-century Tibetan yogi Khyungpo Naljor Tsultrim Gönpo of the
Shang region of Tibet.
There are forty texts in this volume, beginning with Jonang Tāranātha's
classic commentary and its supplement expounding the Six Dharmas of
Niguma. It includes the definitive collection of the tantric basis of
the Shangpa Kagyu--the five principal deities of the new translation
(sarma) traditions and the Five-Deity Cakrasamvara practice. The source
scriptures, liturgies, supplications, empowerment texts, instructions,
and practice manuals were composed by Tangtong Gyalpo, Tāranātha, Jamgön
Kongtrul, and others.
