The Self-Arisen Vidya Tantra (vol 1) and The Self-Liberated Vidya Tantra (vol 2): A Translation of the Rigpa Rang Shar (vol 1) and A Translation of ... (vol 2) (The Seventeen Dzogchen Tantras)

I highly recommend all translations by Malcolm Smith (Loppon Malcolm Smith [Kunga Namdrol]). Thusness and I think that Malcolm is a very serious and responsible translator. Some translations of Buddhist texts we have seen are pretty bad quality or the translators have been slack, but it is certainly not the case for any translations by Malcolm.

Here's a video of Malcolm introducing his new translation: https://www.facebook.com/zangthal/videos/248338462688456/

Just bought the new release:

https://www.amazon.com/Self-Arisen-Vidya-Tantra-vol-Self-Liberated/dp/1614294860/ref=zg_bsnr_15755351_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=HAJVGKH0YD75GWDMD1DD

 

A complete translation of two of the eleventh-century Seventeen Tantras—texts that are among the most important in all of Tibetan Buddhism.

“If one knows the Self-Arisen Vidya Tantra, the Self-Liberated Vidya Tantra, and the Tantra Without Syllables, one will have command over the general meaning of the tantras, like a king who has command over his subjects.”—Treasury of the Supreme Vehicle

The eleventh-century Seventeen Tantras are the most important texts in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition of the Great Perfection. This boxed set provides two luminous translations. The first is the only complete English translation of the Self-Arisen Vidya Tantra, which is the major commentary tantra on all aspects of the doctrine of the Great Perfection. The second, the Self-Liberated Vidya Tantra, outlines the structure of Dzogchen tantras in general and also provides a detailed outline of the Self-Arisen Vidya Tantra.

Malcolm Smith also offers a comprehensive introduction and two vital appendices: (1) a brief historical account and survey of the Seventeen Tantras and (2) an examination of the themes of the Seventeen Tantras, translated from the commentary to the String of Pearls Tantra. This is vital reading for any student of Dzogchen.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"I sincerely rejoice that Acarya Malcolm Smith, a translator conversant in two languages, has now translated these two volumes directly from Tibetan into English with altruism, skill, and great diligence, and that Wisdom Publications, renowned throughout the world, has chosen to publish them." (from the foreword by Tulku Dakpa Rinpoche)

"Malcolm Smith's rendition of the original tantras included in the present collection are particularly faithful to the flavor of the original texts, using a precise English lexicon, which really helps readers generate a pertinent picture of what the originals actually state." (from the foreword by Jean-Luc Achard, author of The Six Lamps)

Acarya Malcolm Smith has certainly given the world a rare gift by presenting to English-reading Dzogchen practitioners this skilled translation of the first two volumes of the Seventeen Tantras, the Self-Arisen Vidya Tantra and its accompanying commentarial tantra, the Self-Liberated Vidya Tantra.

The exceptional features of each of the seventeen tantras of Ati Yoga’s quintessential secret cycle of the upadesa class are described with metaphors. The Self-Arisen Vidya Tantra is described with the metaphor of the ocean. The eighty-four chapters of this oceanic treatise detail the pinnacle view, meditation, conduct, and result of all paths of Buddhadharma presented in this world. As the destined Dharma of this time, this translation is extremely timely. I wish to express deep gratitude to Malcolm and the wonderful Zangthal team for their noble aspiration and qualified capacity to finally bring these most precious teachings that exist in our world into the English language.    (Sangye Khandro, Translator and Teacher, Light of Berotsana Translation Group)

“Malcolm Smith’s translation of these two tantras has opened a door to fundamental, previously inaccessible Nyingma teachings. With a comprehensive knowledge and experience of the subject, Smith has created an erudite translation that is not only accurate but also clear in meaning and beautiful to read. This work is an important milestone in the translation of Tibetan Buddhist texts.” (Peter Alan Roberts, translator of The Mind of Mahamudra)

“In 1975, when the magnificent Buddhist master Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche visited the West for the first time, an event comparable to the Indian adept Vimalamitra bringing Dzogchen from India to Tibet, among the very first transmissions he gave was the reading of the Rigpa Rangshar Tantra (Self-Arisen Vidya Tantra). Now this preeminent tantra has finally arrived in the English language to be taught and studied, read and re-read, contemplated, savored, and practiced by all fortunate people. This crown jewel of human civilization covers all the big questions in life and brings certainty about the deepest topics to interrupt, transform, and free the mind from confusion and ignorance. Even merely hearing its title forms a connection to realizing the innermost nature of reality. I deeply rejoice in this.”

  (Erik Pema Kunsang)

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About the Author

Malcolm Smith is a graduate of the Shang Shung Institute’s School of Tibetan Medicine (2009) and has been a student of Chogyal Namkhai Norbu since 1992. He is a veteran of a traditional three-year solitary Tibetan Buddhist retreat, a published translator of Tibetan Buddhist texts (in Treasures of the Sakya Lineage, Shambhala, 2008), and was awarded the acarya degree by the Sakya Institute for Buddhist Studies in 2004. He has worked on translations for renowned lamas since 1992, including His Holiness Sakya Trizin, Kunzang Dechen Lingpa, Lama Migmar Tseten, Khenpo Konchog Gyaltsen and many other lamas.

He’s the translator of Buddhahood in This Life.

Arising in Dependence on Mind

Stian Gudmundsen Høiland

Arising in dependence on mind means it does not arise independent of mind. This qualifies phenomena with “mindness”, which is very different from how we usually take it. This leads me to saying that depending on mind means it does not arise in reality, since reality is held to be mind-independence.

But arising in dependence, sheerly that, means there is no source or ground, and there is no giving rise. When we hear the sound of a chirping bird, does it arise from the bird? No. Does it arise from the ear? No. Does it arise from awareness? No.

There is no singular, final source or ariser, nothing at all gives rise to it, not even “the collection of conditions”, since a collection of non-arisers do not together make an ariser. It is difficult to understand that this means that the sound arises dependently.