This book contains translations of two Tantras: Vajradakini's Tantra on the Demons and The Tantra on the Precious Vajra Heart in which We Are All One. Both of these Tantras are source works for women of wisdom. In them Vajradakini questions Vajrasattva and Vajradhara on topics including demonology, empowerment, cheating death, transfer, and magical rites of many kinds. The Tantra on the Precious Vajra Heart was received by Padmasambhava from his female teacher Gomadevi, who had received it from her own mother. In this Tantra we find a clear presentation of how we are all one. The names of the translators who put these two Tantras into Tibetan are lost. The tradition holds that these texts come from the time of Padmasambhava, which is the eighth century of our era. They are here translated into a modern language for the first time. Those who are empowered into the mysteries of the Vajrayana and those who are looking for original sources on woman's empowerment, the nature of demonic energy, and the implementation of the Great Perfection viewpoint will find this book to be an essential resource.

Vajradakini's Tantra on the Demons: A Sourcework for Women of Wisdom, Christopher Wilkinson (Translator), Paperback, 301 pages, $32.00

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.