Personal memoirs are not uncommon in Tibetan Buddhism, but A Clear Mirror offers an unusual variation: three levels of spiritual teachings, conveying outer, inner, and subtle aspects of wisdom, that give readers full access to the rich life of one of Vajrayana Buddhisms most respected figures. Dudjom Lingpa (1835-1904) was a Tibetan visionary and Great Perfection master, or tertn, a revealer of spiritual treasures called terma hidden in the Earth and in the minds of disciples. Dujdom Lingpa is renowned for his revelations on refining perception or Nang Jang, and, through dream yoga, trance, and visions, for transmitting the mindstream of a number of enlightened spiritual beings, such as Sri Singha, Saraha, Vajradhara, and Manjushri, whose wisdom he received and shares in this book.

A Clear Mirror reveals what high lamas regard as most sacred and intimate: spiritual evolution via the lens of an innermost visionary life. Lingpa recounts each step of his own enlightenment processfrom learning how to meditate to the highest tantric practicesas he experienced them. A Clear Mirror is a spiritual adventure that also incorporates everyday meditation advice, designed for the lay reader as well as the more seasoned practitioner, in this evocative original translation.

Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche passed away on the 13th of February at his hermitage Nagi Gompa on the southern slope of the Shivapuri mountain. He was born in eastern Tibet on the tenth day of the fourth Tibetan month in 1920. He was recognized by H.H. Khakyab Dorje, the 15th Gyalwang Karmapa, as the reincarnation of the Chowang Tulku, as well as the emanation of Nubchen Sangye Yeshe, one of the chief disciples of Padmasambhava. Guru Chowang the First (1212-70 AD) was one of the five Terton Kings, the major revealers of secret texts hidden by Guru Padmasambhava.

Tulku Urgyen's main monastery was Lachab Gompa in Nangchen, Eastern Tibet. He studied and practiced the teachings of both the Kagyu and Nyingma schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Among the four greater Kagyu Schools, his family line was the main holder of the Barom Kagyu Lineage.

In the Nyingma tradition, Tulku Urgyen held the complete teachings of the last century's three great masters: Terchen Chokgyur Lingpa, Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo and Kongtrul Lodro Thaye. He had an especially close transmission for the New Treasures, a compilation of all the empowerments, reading transmissions and instructions of Padmasambhava's teachings, which were rediscovered by Terchen Chokgyur Lingpa, his great-grandfather. Rinpoche passed on this tradition to the major regents of the Karma Kagyu lineage as well as to many other lamas and tulkus.

The close relationship between the lineage of the Karmapas and Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche came about since the 14th Gyalwang Karmapa was one of the main recipients of Chokgyur Lingpa's termas, receiving the empowerments from the terton himself. Tulku Samten Gyatso, the grandson of Chokgyur Lingpa and the root guru of Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, offered the same transmission to the 15th Gyalwang Karmapa Khakyab Dorje. The Gyalwang 16th Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpey Dorje, was offered the major transmissions of the Chokling Tersar by Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche. In addition, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche also felt fortunate to pass on the transmission for the important Dzogchen Desum, the Three Sections of the Great Perfection, to both His Holiness Karmapa and Dudjom Rinpoche, as well as numerous Tulkus and lamas of the Kagyu and Nyingma lineages.

Tulku Urgyen established six monasteries and retreat centers in the Kathmandu region. The most important of these are at Boudhanath, the site of the Great Stupa, and another at the Asura Cave, where Padmasambhava manifested the Mahamudra Vidyadhara level. He lived at Nagi Gompa Hermitage above the Kathmandu Valley. Under his guidance were more than 300 monks and nuns. He stayed in retreat for more than 20 years, including four three-year retreats.

In 1980 Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, accompanied by his oldest son Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, went on a world tour through Europe, the United States and South East Asia, giving teachings on Dzogchen and Mahamudra to many people. Every year since then a seminar on Buddhist study and practice has been held at Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery in essential meditation practice, combining the view and meditation of Dzogchen, Mahamudra and the Middle Way. Less concerned with the systematic categories of topics of knowledge or with the logical steps of philosophy, Tulku Urgyen directly addressed the listener's present state of mind.

The over-all background of the teachings of Dzogchen and Mahamudra, which are tremendously vast and profound, can be condensed into simple statements of immediate relevance to our present state of mind. Tulku Urgyen was famed for his profound meditative realization and for the concise, lucid and humorous style with which he imparts the essence of the 84,000 sections of the Buddhist teachings. His method of teaching is 'instruction through one's own experience.' Using few words, this way of teaching points out the nature of mind, revealing a natural simplicity of wakefulness that enables the student to actually touch the heart of the Buddha's Wisdom Mind.
Ñwritten by Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche and Erik Pema Kunsang, New York, 1981

	Contents: Blazing Splendor
	List of Illustrations	vii
	Foreword by Sogyal Rinpoche	ix
	Introduction by Daniel Goleman	xiii
	Preface	xviii
	Prologue
	Part One Spiritual Roots
	Grandmother's Mission	3
	Tibet, a Buddhist Land	6
	Gampopa and the Early Barom Masters	10
	The Treasure of the Lotus-Born	25
	My Great-Grandfather, the Treasure Revealer	27
	Two Sublime Masters	41
	Khyentse	41
	Kongtrul	49
	Lord of Activity, the Fifteenth Karmapa	53
	Spiritual Sons	62
	Karmey Khenpo	62
	Wangchok Dorje	66
	Tsewang Norbu	70
	My Precious Grandmother	79
	My Guru, Samten Gyatso	86
	My Father, the Performer of Miracles	103
	Two Special Uncles and Their Teachers	122
	Uncle Sang-Ngak	122
	Tersey Tulku	124
	Shakya Shri, the Lord of Siddhas	129
	The Master-Scholar Katok Situ	135
	Part Two Early Years
	My Childhood	141
	The Nunnery of Yoginis	157
	Receiving My First Teachings	163
	An Extraordinary Speech	166
	My Previous Life	170
	My Monastery and Enthronement	176
	The Young Karmapa	186
	Grandmother's Death	193
	The Colorful Chokling of Tsikey	204
	Transmission at Surmang	215
	The Master in the Hollow Tree	219
	An Eccentric King	226
	My Last Days with Samten Gyatso	231
	My Guru's Passing	234
	Meetings with a Remarkable Teacher	247
	Part Three Central Tibet
	At Tsurphu with the Karmapa	263
	Brilliant Moon	280
	My Last Visit to Central Tibet	290
	Amazing Masters in Lhasa	297
	Dzongsar Khyentse	297
	Dudjom Rinpoche	303
	Shechen Kongtrul	307
	Part Four In Exile
	Leaving Tibet	319
	Sikkim	325
	Nepal	337
	The Chokling of Neten	340
	The Hearing Lineage from Bomta Khenpo	347
	Conclusion	354
	Afterword	359
	Acknowledgements	364
	Art Credits	367
	Appendix: The Lineage of the New Treasures	368
	Endnotes	372
	Glossary	398
	Activities and information connected to the lineage of Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche	433