World-renowned Buddhist scholar Herbert V. Guenther here offers the first comprehensive study of the rDzogs-chen or Ati tradition of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. Matrix of Mystery explores man's ability to preserve as well as transmit essential insights into the structure of reality.

Utilizing a key root Buddhist scripture, the Guhyagarbha ("Matrix of Mystery"), along with dozens of commentarial Tibetan textual sources, Guenther presents the most profound teachings of the Buddhist tradition, which represent the culmination of religious thought and practice in Tibet. In relating these teachings in modern scientific and humanistic perspectives, he demonstrates how, in many cases, the traditional religious and modern secular perspectives on the nature of reality interface.

Professor Guenther discusses the mandala and the deities that reside therein; the organizing principles of body, speech, mind, quality, and action, the three bodies of the buddha (trikaya); the inseparability of prajna and skillful means; and the complex field of Buddhist iconography. Throughout, quotations from numerous Tibetan sources are used to illustrate various teachings. His book will appeal to any serious student of Tibetan Buddhism.

Matrix of Mystery, Herbert V. Guenther, Shambhala Publications, Paperback, 1984/2001, 316 Pages, $30.00

Herbert V. Guenther is Professor Emeritus of Far Eastern Studies at the University of Saskatchewan. Among his many published works are his translation of The Life and Teaching of Naropa and The Dawn of Tantra.

Preface	vii
Introduction to the Scope of Being	1
The Problem Situation	15
The Recognition of the Problem Situation as the Evolutionary Zero Point	32
Interlude	64
In-Depth Appraisals and Configurational Processes	74
The Aesthetics of the Virtual Patterns	121
Fury of Being	139
Optimum Attainment Standards as Preprograms	173
In Praise of Wholeness	197
Notes	209
Bibliography	291
Indexes
Tibetan Technical Terms	299
Subject Index	307
Names: Sanskrit & Tibetan	315