Luhipa lived in the Eighth century of our era and was a contemporary of both Padmasambhava and the Tibetan translator Vairochana. Luhipa had the unique situation of being the personal secretary of King Dharmapala, one of India's greatest Kings. In his position he was fully aware of domestic and international concerns as well as the specialties of many fields. He was renowned for inserting short verses into the correspondence of the King, so as to clarify its true meaning. He had a comprehensive understanding of the workings of an empire and the people that make it all work. Being found worthy of receiving the instructions on Chakrasamvara, a twelve-armed deity with a mandala of sixty-two gods, he quit his job under the King and devoted himself to the practice of these teachings, becoming a Great Siddha with the ability to paralyze an entire army. He prevailed upon the King to quit his job with the government and become a full-time practitioner of Chakrasamvara. He then wrote the Sadhana for Chakrasamvara for this King. It was this Sadhana that was used by such luminaries as Tilopa and Naropa for their personal practices. The students of Naropa brought these mysteries to Tibet, where they are practiced to this day in an unbroken chain of transmission.

Luhipa's Sadhana identifies thirty-seven nations in the world, and correlates them with specific parts of the human anatomy. He uses the vowels and consonants of the alphabet as transformative agents, introducing us to a world that is a mandala of sixty-two gods. Luhipa's Sadhana is a text on meditation, self-identification as a deity, the practice of mantras, a careful path to enlightenment, a geo-political survey of the known world, and a manual on physical wellbeing, all brought together into the realization of Supreme Bliss. It is inconceivable.

I present you first with the History written by Jetsun Dragpa Gyaltsan (1147-1216) to show you the background and kind of people who were reading this book and doing this practice. Second, I offer you the original Sadhana by Luhipa in full. Third, there is the extensive commentary by Jetsun Dragpa Gyaltsan. Fourth, there is the Difficult Points by Sakya Pandita (1182-1251) in which we find a large amount of information on the gurus of the lineage and their stories as well as the greater mythology that surrounds the Chakrasamvara mandala, along with a discussion of some problematic features of the Sadhana. Fifth and sixth I offer you the full and brief Sadhanas that were composed by Chogyal Phagpa (1235-1280) at the request of the Mongolian Khan Jibig Temur (1265-1307), who was Kubla Khan's grandson and heir. We see here that even after almost three hundred years, Luhipa's vision was still considered important by the ruling classes, as well as by networks of practitioners throughout the world. Seventh, there is the River of Confessions, a short prayer connected with this practice. Eighth, there is a prayer by Chogyal Phagpa to all the deities in the Mandala. Ninth, there is a special prayer for the women who guard the Mandala. These prayers show us that Phagpa was so well acquainted with this Mandala that he was able to write beautiful Tibetan poetry about it.

These translations document a secretive contemplative tradition that was highly influential among leaders of states for centuries. Students of religion or the contemplative sciences will find a trove of valuable insight here. The Sadhana is primarily intended for people interested in the practice and realization of the Wheel of Supreme Bliss.

Chakrasamvara: Luhipa's Transmission of the Wheel of Supreme Bliss , Christopher Wilkinson, Paperback, 472 pages, $50.00

Christopher Wilkinson began his career in Buddhist literature in 1972 at the age of fifteen, taking refuge vows from his guru Dezhung Rinpoche. In that same year he began formal study of Tibetan language at the University of Washington under Geshe Ngawang Nornang and Turrell Wylie. He then received many instructions from Kalu Rinpoche, completing the traditional practice of five hundred thousand Mahamudra preliminaries. He became a Buddhist monk at the age of eighteen, living in the home of Dezhung Rinpoche while he continued his studies at the University of Washington. He graduated in 1980 with a B.A. degree in Asian Languages and Literature and another B.A. degree in Comparative Religion (College Honors, Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa). After a two year tour of Buddhist pilgrimage sites throughout Asia he worked for five years in refugee resettlement in Seattle, Washington, then proceeded to the University of Calgary for an M.A. in Buddhist Studies where he wrote a groundbreaking thesis on the Yangti transmission of the Great Perfection tradition titled "Clear Meaning: Studies on a Thirteenth Century rDzog chen Tantra." He proceeded to work on a critical edition of the Sanskrit text of the 20,000 line Perfection of Wisdom in Berkeley, California, followed by an intensive study of Burmese language in Hawaii. In 1990 he began three years' service as a visiting professor in English Literature in Sulawesi, Indonesia, exploring the remnants of the ancient Sri Vijaya Empire there. He worked as a research fellow for the Shelly and Donald Rubin Foundation for several years, playing a part in the early development of the famous Rubin Museum of Art. In the years that followed he became a Research Fellow at the Centre de Recherches sur les Civilisations de l'Asie Orientale, Collge de France, and taught at the University of Calgary as an Adjunct Professor for five years. He is currently completing his doctoral dissertation, a study of the Yoginitantra first translated into Tibetan during the Eighth century of our era, at the University of Leiden's Institute for Area Studies.