The Vajrayana system of Tibetan Buddhism has many techniques and "skillful means" for clearing away the impurities that prevent us from fully realizing our essential enlightenment, our Buddha nature. One of the most powerful Vajrayana practices is drubchen, an intensive traditional form of meditation retreat that lasts for about 10 days, during which practitioners recite prayers and the drubchen mantra in shifts for twenty-four hours continuously throughout the period of the retreat. The tradition for practicing drubchen ceremonies has been continued in an unbroken lineage until the present day; the late master Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche revived this tradition at his seat in Nepal, the Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery, where the drubchen is performed every spring with hundreds of lamas, monks, and lay people in attendance.

In Great Accomplishment, modern masters such as Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche and Orgyen Topgyal Rinpoche offer perspectives on this rigorous practice. Tibetan teachers often draw an analogy between our enlightened essence and pure gold; if our natures were made of brass, we could spend lifetimes polishing and cleaning them but the base metal would never turn into gold. However, since we already have a divine nature, if we engage in Vajrayana practice, which acts like an alchemical polish, we can realize what we actually are and discover our higher possibilities. The effect of drubchen is multiplied when many people participate in a drubchen ceremony; then many enlightened essences are gathered together in one place, and spiritual practice in such conditions will be more effective than practicing alone. Circumstances will be perfect if we recognize and realize our enlightened essence, but even if we do not, just by taking part in the ceremony we can receive great benefit.

Great Accomplishment offers detailed explanations of these practices and the underlying theories that they are based upon. It gives hands-on advice on the meaning, the application, and the profound results of working together with other practitioners to accomplish the goal of taming our minds and benefiting others. From the most esoteric to the subtlest of practical details, masters Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, Orgyen Topgyal Rinpoche, and Lama Putse give a complete guide to this hidden treasure.

Great Accomplishment: Teachings on the Drubchen Ceremony, Padmasambhava, Rangjumg Yeshe Publications, Paperback, 258 pp, $21.95