The first volume in an historic and noteworthy 6-volume
series containing many of the first English translations of the classic
mahamudra literature compiled by the Seventh Karmapa. Translated and Introduced by Karl Brunnholzl.
This first volume in publication contains the majority of songs of realization, consisting of dohas (couplets), vajragitis (vajra songs), and caryagitis
(conduct songs), all lucidly expressing the inexpressible. These songs
offer readers a feast of profound and powerful pith instructions uttered
by numerous male and female mahasiddhas, yogis, and dakinis, often in
the context of ritual ganacakras and initially kept in their
secret treasury. Displaying a vast range of themes, styles, and
metaphors, they all point to the single true nature of the
mind—mahamudra—in inspiring ways and from different angles, using a
dazzling array of skillful means to penetrate the sole vital point of
buddhahood being found nowhere but within our own mind. Reading and
singing these songs of mystical wonder, bliss, and ecstatic freedom, and
contemplating their meaning in meditation, will open doors to spiritual
experience for us today just as it has for countless practitioners in
the past.
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