Description
The text is short but has become one of the core texts used in Tibet to teach Thorough Cut. Because it is so popular within the Tibetan tradition and because it was specifically written for the urban yogi, The Padma Karpo Translation Committee felt that it was a worthy addition to their selection of texts on the subject of Thorough Cut. Therefore, they have translated it and made a book out of it. The text is a favorite of tantrikas, or, in Tibetan, ngagpas. It is a favorite for them because it is specifically for practitioners who do not live in a monastery or other dharma institution and who do not spend their lives developing a vast scholastic knowledge of Buddhism. In modern, Western terms, it is a text written specifically for the urban yogi. As the text says, “Without need of vast training in hearing and contemplating The village tantrikas in general who preserve the essence of mind Using the way of foremost instruction will go with little hardship To the level of the vidyadharas; it has the power of a profound path.†As with each of the texts on Thorough Cut, this one has its own flavour and does emphasize certain aspects of the path. As it lays out the approach of the urban yogi, it has to present the introduction (often called pointing out) to the nature of mind. It does this in using what are called “differentiationsâ€. This is unusual because differentiations are usually transmitted orally from the teacher to the student and mostly are not written down. There are many differentiations; in this case Mipham sets out the differentiation between alaya and dharmakaya. The presence of this teaching is another reason for adding this to a library of teachings on Thorough Cut.