These Tibetan Buddhist teachings provide instructions for gathering and harnessing basic life energy. According to the tradition, a very effective way to do this is to arouse sexual energy and to direct the essence of that energy toward spiritual realization. According to the philosophy, sexual energy brings one naturally and effortlessly into flow with creativity and awareness in both mind and body when used skillfully by committed practitioners with appropriate training.

These ancient texts, attributed to the great Tibetan meditation master Padmasambhava (who practiced sexual union with the famous Tibetan queen Yeshe Tsogyal), offer traditional Buddhist teachings on the nature of the elements that all beings and our world are made of. They show us a practical view of how to use life-energy for personal development. The teachings are for experienced Buddhist practitioners.

Secret Teachings of Padmasambhava: Essential Instructions on Mastering the Energies of Life, Padmasambhava (Author), Kennard Lipman (Translator), Shambhala Publications, Paperback, 160 pp, $ 18.95

Kennard Lipman, PhD, studied for more than twenty years with teachers from all four schools of Tibetan Buddhism. He received his PhD under Dr. Herbert Guenther in Far Eastern Studies in 1979. In 1988, he graduated from the American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine in San Francisco. Dr. Lipman has written about Tibetan yoga for Yoga Journal and the mind-body connection in Advances: The Journal of Mind-Body Health. His previous books, Primordial Experience and You Are the Eyes of the World, were translated together with Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche.