IN THIS VOLUME, the reader will find translations of two commentaries on the practice of the enlightened teacher, Padmasambhava. This great master, also known as Guru Rinpoche, is accredited with establishing the Buddhist tantric teaching in Tibet during the golden age in the ninth century, a time when Buddhism benefited from a strong royal patronage. According to traditional accounts, during his Tibetan sojourn, Padmasambhava concealed numerous spiritual treasures, destined for revelation at later times. These concealed teachings would subsequently be discovered by a great number of extraordinary masters, or treasure revealers as they were called, who upheld Padmasambhava’s legacy and propagated his teachings to practitioners in all the regions of Tibet. Both of the texts presented in this volume are rooted in, and draw their inspiration from, the revelations of the treasure revealer Chokgyur Lingpa (1829–1870), in particular his most influential revelation, the scriptural collection known as Accomplishing the Guru’s Mind: Dispeller of All Obstacles (Bla ma’i thugs sgrub bar chad kun sel).

The first of the two commentaries, Divine Flower (Thugs sgrub bar chad kun sel gyi rim pa dang po’i khrid kyi zin bris lha rdzas me tog), was composed by Shechen Gyaltsap Gyurme Pema Namgyal (1871–1926) and provides a detailed commentary on Accomplishing the Guru’s Mind as a whole, treating both the preliminaries and the main part of practice. In contrast, the second text, Brilliant Light (Bla ma smra ba’i seng ge’i phrin las blo gros dpal ster gyi rnam bshad rab gsal snang ba), composed by Karma Rinchen Dargye (b. 1835), focuses on just one emanation of Padmasambhava, namely, Guru Vādisiṃha (or Lama Mawey Senge, as he is known in Tibet). Although this text is concerned with a particular aspect of Padmasambhava, most of its explanations and instructions are equally applicable to other practice manuals from Accomplishing the Guru’s Mind and also the practice of the development stage as a whole.