This classic Buddhist work, written in the sixteenth century, comprehensively presents the entire scope of the Tibetan Kagyu Mahamudra tradition. These profound yet accessible instructions focus on becoming familiar with the nature of one's mind as the primary means to realize ultimate reality and thus attain buddhahood. Dakpo Tashi Namgyal's manual for the view and practice of Mahamudra is widely considered the single most important work on the subject, systematically introducing the view and associated meditation techniques in a progressive manner.

Moonbeams of Mahamudra, along with the Ninth Karmapa Wangchuk Dorje's Dispelling the Darkness of Ignorance, are to this day some of the most studied texts on Mahamudra in the Kagyu monasteries throughout Tibet and the Himalayas. Elizabeth M. Callahan, a renowned translator of classical Kagyu literature, has provided new translations of these two texts along with ancillary materials and annotations, making this a genuine resource for both scholars and students of Tibetan Buddhism. This historic contribution therefore offers the necessary tools to properly study and apply the Mahamudra teachings in a modern context.
Moonbeams of Mahamudra, Dakpo Tashi Namgyal, Elizabeth M. Callahan (translator), Snow Lion Publications, Hardcover, 856 pp, $59.95

Dakpo Tashi Namgyal (1513-1587) was the first recognized reincarnation of Gampopa and an important master of the Dakpo Kagyu tradition. He wrote two highly acclaimed texts on Mahamudra practice: Moonbeams of Mahamudra and larifying the Natural State.

Elizabeth M. Callahan is a Tibetan translator of the Kagyu tradition. She completed two three-year retreats in the Karma Kagyu tradition under the guidance of Kalu Rinpoche, is a student of Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, and has been a Tsadra Foundation Fellow since 2002. Her previous translations include The Treasury of Knowledge: Frameworks of Buddhist Philosophy by Jamgon Kongtrul and The Profound Inner Principles by the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje

CONTENTS: Moonbeams of Mahamudra
Outlines of Texts				ix
Foreword by His Holiness the Seventeenth Karmapa				xxiii
Foreword by Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche				xxv
Translator's Introduction				xxix
An Abbreviated Biography of Dakpo Tashi Namgyal				lxv
Moonbeams of Mahamudra
Introduction				3
Part One: Common Samadhis				13
	1.	Samatha and Vipasyana		15
	2.	Samatha		47
	3.	Vipasyana		63
	4.	Removing Doubts		87
Part Two: Uncommon Mahamudra				111
	5.	Generating Confidence		113
	6.	Preliminaries		149
	7.	Mahamudra Approaches		175
	8.	Samatha		179
	9.	Vipasyana		215
	10.	Pointing-out Instructions		259
	11.	Sustaining Mahamudra		305
	12.	Eliminating Deviations and Strayings		355
	13.	Enhancement		381
	14.	Realization and the Four Yogas		421
	15.	The Four Yogas in Detail		447
Colophon				485
Mahamudra: Dispelling the Darkness of Ignorance
Introduction				491
	1.	Preliminaries		493
	2.	Main Practices		501
		Samatha		502
		Vipasyana		508
	3.	Conclusion		523
Abbreviations				537
Notes				539
Glossary				635
Glossary of Enumerations				643
Translation Equivalents				657
Tibetan Transliterations				683
Bibliography				693
Index				729