The literature of the Great Perfection is divided into three groups of texts or sections. These are the Mind Section, the Space Section, and the Upadesa Instruction section. In this volume I offer you translations of three visionary Tantras of the Mind Section. These three Tantras were translated into Tibetan during the Eighth Century of our era by the Indian preceptor Vimalamitra working with the Tibetan translator Yudra Nyingpo. Vimalamitra came to Tibet from India, and is famous for his prolific translation of Great Perfection Tantras. Yudra Nyingpo was a close friend and student of the Tibetan translator Vairochana, and is most famous for his composition of Vairochana's life story (Translated into English by Ani Jinba Palmo as The Great Image: The Life Story of Vairochana the Translator). These three Tantras that they worked on together are highly visionary works of literature, containing prophecy and amazing poetry. These works will be of greatest interest to those who love the artistic representation of profound spiritual insights and the astounding visions of the Great Perfection.

Crystal Visions: Three Great Tantras of the Great Perfection, Christopher Wilkinson (Translator), Paperback, 257 pages, $28.00

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.