The Mahamudra Aspiration Prayer is one of the most brilliant and popular compositions on mahamudra. Written in easygoing nine-meter verse, this heartfelt prayer by Rangjung Dorje lends itself to chanting and ritualized group prayer and is at the same time intricately organized into the most profound and thorough exposition of mahamudra, the pinnacle of practice in the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. The commentary on the prayer by Mendong Tsampa Rinpoche brilliantly illuminates its subtleties, making it even more accessible for the reader, and students and teachers alike will appreciate the inclusion of the Tibetan script on facing pages of the prayer and commentary.

This is a text for encouraging study, for inspiring practice, and for the awakening of the world.

Ornament of Dakpo Kagyu Thought: Short Commentary on the Mahamudra Aspiration Prayer, Rangjung Dorje, Tsampa Mendong Rinpoche, Sarah Harding (Translator), Wisdom Publications, Paperback, 2022, 144 pp, $16.95

The third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje (1284-1339), composed on a variety of topics and is considered a preeminent figure not only in the Kagyu lineages but also those of Severance, or Cho (gcod), and Nyingma. He composed treatises that became the foundation for studies by generations of meditators and scholars in the Karma Kagyu tradition and beyond, ranging from the massive commentary on the highest yoga tantras, The Profound Inner Principles (Zab mo nang don), to condensed profound supplications such as the Aspiration Prayer of Mahamudra, which stands on its own as a deep contemplative practice.

After taking the levels of monastic ordination and studying sutras, tantras, and classical texts with many experts, Mendong Tsampa Rinpoche (1867 - 1921?) received all the empowerments and instructions on the great secret mantra from Chowang Tulku Rinpoche, and through mastery of the paths could control his own wind-mind, achieving liberation from the stains of worldly concerns. He passed the time in retreat and also spoke spontaneously, becoming a great orator. He gave empowerments, guidance, and wrote commentaries on the treatises and oral instructions, creating a vast and profound body of work, now available in the 3-volume Collected Works of Mendong Tsampa Rinpoche, Karma Ngedon Tengye, reproduced from tracings from the collected woodblock prints impressed from the xylographs preserved at Mendong Monastery in western Tibet.

Sarah Harding (translator) has been studying and practicing Buddhism since 1974, and has been teaching and translating since completing a three-year retreat in 1980 under the guidance of Kyabje Kalu Rinpoche. She was associate professor at Naropa University for twenty-five years in Boulder, Colorado, where she currently resides, and has been a fellow of the Tsadra Foundation since 2000. She specializes in literature with a focus on tantric practice. Her publications include Creation and Completion; The Treasury of Knowledge: Esoteric Instructions; Niguma, Lady of Illusion; and two volumes on Cho and Shije from The Treasury of Precious Instructions.

CONTENTS: Ornament of Dakpo Kagyu Thought
Preface	vi
Introduction	1
Aspiration Prayer of Definitive Mahamudra by Karmapa Rangjung Dorje	15
Short Commentary on the Mahamudra Aspiration Prayer by Mendong Tsampa Rinpoche	21
Notes	103
Bibliography	111
Index	121
About the Translator	131