The Heart Sutra is a condensation of the vast Pajnaparamita sutras on emptiness. This 5 minute sutra is recited in many Buddhist centers across the world. While being short, it is extremely profound and here Bokar Rinpoche explains its meaning and how it relates to understanding emptiness. In the Mahayana it is said that if one does not understand that a person and of outer phenomena are insubstantial (that is "empty") one can not completely grasp and reach enlightenment. This book is about 100 pages which covers not only the sutra, but what is behind it and is easy reading. 

"For several decades, masters from all four lineages of Tibetan Buddhism have been conferring the Kalachakra initiation in India, Mongolia, Southeast Asia and the West. Thousands of people from Buddhist and non-Buddhist cultures alike have either received the empowerment as active participants or attended as interested observers. Requests for future Kalachakra initiations from around the world are ever-increasing. The interest is great." The Kalachakra tantra is said to be the most advanced practices in Tibetan Buddhism. This text which is said to have come from the Kingdom of Shambhala in about 1000 AD is vast and covers not only an elaborate Buddhist practice, but also contains the making of a calendar, an elaborate astrological system, and a mandala of 720 deities. This introduction gives a summary of the Kalachakra for ordinary practitioners to understand.

Andy Rotman maintains that early Buddhist practice involved the practice of Visualization in additions to the Chanting and prayers. This very comprehensive books of 300 pages traces the whole practice of visualization in Buddhism up to the present.  

Palden Sherab and his brother Tsewang Dongyal are two Rinpoche's who have produced a wonderful set of teachings on many Buddhist topics. There books are extremely clear and directed to practitioners. "Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche is the author of works on Tibetan, grammar, poetry, philosophy, and history. Several of his books are used in courses at the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies. He has taught in Tibet, India, Nepal, England, France, Belgium, Australia, Canada, Russia, Puerto Rico, and throughout the United States. Khenchen Rinpoche is considered one of the greatest living scholars and meditation masters of Tibetan Nyingma Buddhism."

The 84 Mahasiddhas were accomplished practitioners who lived outside the monasteries in India and practiced Mahamudra without the constraints of vows and certain behaviors in the 8th to 12th century in India.  The stories are fascinating because the practitioners were ordinary men and women who had many different backgrounds and were kings, bakers, laborers, and ordinary persons in life, but each was able to reach enlightenment. Keith Dowman translated their songs of realization and related their experiences and teachings to the modern practice of Mahamudra. This book is especially interesting because Robert Beer, an extraordinary painter did painting of many of these mahasiddhas.

This book is an extensive explanation of the origins of the concept of Buddha Nature. Buddha nature begins with a short sutra of Mahayana Buddhism that revolutionized the understanding of Buddhism. The concept of buddha nature (which is not just confined to Buddhist so a translation of "essential nature" would be a better translation. Buddha nature is an essential nature that is possessed by all sentient beings and it is the innate ability to reach enlightenment. We don't usually realize this essential nature because it is covered up or obscured by our disturbing emotions and incorrect beliefs such as the belief that we are a real solid being. Zimmerman's books is massive of over 400 pages tracing this concept of buddha nature across several countries and several different Buddhist linages and several times.

Tibetan Medicine has preserved and unbroken traditions of medicine since its introduction from India in the seventh Century. Rechung Rinpoche (a reincarnation of Rechungpa) gives and English translation of Tibetan medicine.  This book has a biography of the Great Physician Yuthog the elder who spread medicine across Tibet. In addition there is a translation from the Second and Forth books of the four volume called the Gyuzhi, the bases of Tibetan and Mongolian medicine. This book 340 pages is a excellent resources for those interested in Tibetan Medicine and it includes diagrams, and extensive bibliographies.

Gerab Dorje is an important teacher in the Nyingma Lineage. This book has translations of Three Statement that Strike the Essential Points and Life of Garab Dorje . In addition it has a very readable and balanced section on where the Nyingma Practice of Dzogchen originated including in Indian Buddhism, in Chan Buddhism, and in the Bon religion of Tibet. It then discusses whether it is an authentic practice (as proposed by some Gelug scholars) and where it fits into Buddhism in general. The book is 385 pages long and one of the most readable reference book on this topic of Dzogchen.  

Thrangu Rinpoche dedicó sus últimos 40 años a enseñar meditación y otros temas budistas tanto a estudiantes occidentales como asiáticos. El proceso para desarrollar una buena meditación comienza con la meditación Shamatha, que consiste en calmar la mente y entrenarla gradualmente para que podamos descansar sin distraernos en exceso con pensamientos y emociones.   El segundo paso para desarrollar una buena meditación es Vipashyana, que implica aprender a observar directamente la mente y ver su verdadera naturaleza. Al lograr esto, podemos comenzar a reducir nuestras emociones perturbadoras, pensamientos y ansiedades.   Ambas meditaciones pueden practicarse en cualquier lugar, sin necesidad de crear situaciones especiales o de tener iniciaciones. Shamatha y Vipashyana pueden practicarse como meditación formal sentada pero también durante las actividades diarias como trabajar, desplazarse, comer o explicar cosas.Por todas estas razones, la meditación explicada por Rinpoche es muy útil para el practicante moderno, ocupado con la familia y el trabajo.   También menciona y explica otras formas importantes de meditación como el Dar y Tomar, la no meditación del Dzogchen, el Mahamudra y la meditación inversa.   En resumen, un libro en el que Rinpoche explica la meditación en un lenguaje simple y directo, basado en una tradición de más de 1,000 años de antigüedad que ha producido a muchas personas iluminadas.

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