In this book I offer you translations of eight seminal Tantras that are preserved in the Nyingma Gyubum. The first book herein, The Great Tantra that is Unwritten, is one of a set of seventeen famous Tantras known as the Upadesha Instruction Section (Man ngag sde). In addition, readers who are interested in feminine presentations of enlightenment will find many books of interest within this volume. The Vajra Yogini Tantra, the Tantra on the Undisturbed Arali, and the Tantra of the Goddess Light Rays (Marici) are specifically devoted to the concerns of dakinis and goddesses, while the Tantra on the One-Pointed Samadhi of Avalokiteshvara represents the questions of the dakini Sun Garland and the Tantra on the Self-Liberation of Samsara for the Unmoving One represents the questions of the dakini Lightening Garland. The Tantra on the Flawless Jewel and the Tantra on the Bodhicitta: Grabbing the Peacock by the Neck both represent profound and insightful instructions on the experience of enlightened awareness. I have included images of the Tibetan manuscript for your convenience and to help preserve this important literature.
About the Author: Christopher Wilkinson began his career in Buddhist literature at the age of fifteen, taking refuge vows from his guru Dezhung Rinpoche. In that same year he began formal study of Tibetan language at the University of Washington under Geshe Ngawang Nornang and Turrell Wylie. He became a Buddhist monk, for three years, at the age of eighteen, living in the home of Dezhung Rinpoche while he continued his studies at the University of Washington. He graduated in 1980 with a B.A. degree in Asian Languages and Literature and another B.A. degree in Comparative Religion (College Honors, Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa). After a two year tour of Buddhist pilgrimage sites throughout Asia he worked in refugee resettlement programs for five years in Seattle, Washington. He then proceeded to the University of Calgary for an M.A. in Buddhist Studies where he wrote a groundbreaking thesis on the Yangti transmission of the Great Perfection tradition titled "Clear Meaning: Studies on a Thirteenth Century rDzog chen Tantra." He proceeded to work on a critical edition of the Sanskrit text of the 20,000 line Perfection of Wisdom in Berkeley, California, followed by an intensive study of Burmese language in Hawaii. In 1990 he began three years' service as a visiting professor in English Literature in Sulawesi, Indonesia, exploring the remnants of the ancient Sri Vijaya Empire there. He worked as a research fellow for the Shelly and Donald Rubin Foundation for several years, playing a part in the early development of the Rubin Museum of Art. In the years that followed he became a Research Fellow at the Centre de Recherches sur les Civilisations de l'Asie Orientale, Collège de France, and taught at the University of Calgary as an Adjunct Professor for five years. He has currently published seventeen volumes of translations of Tibetan literature, and is currently engaged in further translations of classic Buddhist literature.