The definitive presentation of one of the most unique and compelling works of classical Tibetan literature.

This book presents an influential and extraordinary teaching of the Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism known as the Single Intention by the master Drigung Jikten Sumgon (1143-1217), along with its chief commentaries, principally the Light of the Sun by Rikzin Chokyi Drakpa (1595-1659).

Early in the history of the Kagyu school, the teachings of Jikten Sumgon were condensed into 150 core formulations of philosophical wisdom called vajra statements. These pithy, revelatory statements comprise the Single Intention (dgongs gcig), which presents the thought of the Buddha and the nature of the "ineffable" (brjod du med pa) in concise and direct expression. Ineffable mahamudra is the essence of all vajra statements and the stuff that holds them all together.

At the same time, the Single Intention also weaves the thread of mahamudra through the entire fabric of Buddhism. It presents mahamudra as pervading disciplined conduct, meditative concentration, and discriminative knowledge; ground, path, and result; view, practice, and conduct; and the "three vows" of pratimoksa, of the bodhisattvas, and of mantra. Jikten Sumgon teaches fundamental values and insights revealed by the Buddha are woven into reality and therefore accessible to all.
Buddha's Single Intention: Drigung Kyobpa Jikten Sumgon's Vajra Statements of the Early Kagyu Tradition, Jan-Ulrich Sobisch, Wisdom Publications, Hardcover, 864 pp, $95.00

Jan-Ulrich Sobisch is on the faculty of the Center for Religious Studies at Ruhr-Universitat Bochum. He studied Tibetology, Indology, and philosophy at Hamburg University from 1985 to 1992 with David Seyfort Ruegg, Lambert Schmithausen, and David Jackson, under whom he completed his dissertation on the three-vows literature. From 1994 to 1999, he was working under Albrecht Wezler for the Nepal-German Manuscript Preservation Project when he discovered and cataloged the complete thirty volumes of the writings of Ame Shab (1597-1659). From 2000 to 2016, he was a professor at the University of Copenhagen, during which time he published on the Hevajra Tantra and its associated Tibetan teachings in the Sakya school. For the past ten years, he has been focused on the unique Dgongs gcig tradition of the Drigung Kagyu school. In 2016 he received the prestigious Humboldt Research Award in recognition of his scholarly achievements.

CONTENTS: Buddha's Single Intention
Foreword		ix
Preface		xi
Introduction		1
Light of the Sun by Rikzin Chokyi Drakpa
Preliminaries		39
1.	The Vital Points of the Dharma Wheel	49
2.	The Vital Points of Dependent Origination	169
3.	The Vinaya-Pratimoksa	209
4.	The Training of the Bodhisattvas	291
5.	The Observance of Mantra Awareness Holders	395
6.	View, Practice, and Conduct	517
7.	The Resultant State of Buddhahood	629
8.	Supplements	677
Appendix: Commentaries of the Single Intention		733
Table of Tibetan Transliteration		737
Bibliography		747
Index		785
About the Author		843