"The Ocean of Definitive Meaning by the Ninth Karmapa (1556-1603) is a profound and famous text on Mahamudra and offers a detailed, uniquely comprehensive presentation of instruction on both the view and the practice. In the teachings contained in this book, Thrangu Rinpoche has distilled the essence of the Ninth Karmapa's massive text into manageable proportions and has given pointed guidance on the implementation of its instruction.

The Ninth Karmapa's text has traditionally been available only to advanced students. However, Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche has kindly consented to the publication of these core teachings on the text, which he gave in a retreat he led in 2001 in Canada. His compelling presentation provides teachers and students with a systematic approach to some of the highest practices in the Kagyu tradition.

According to Thrangu Rinpoche, Mahamudra practice is especially appropriate for Westerners and contemporary practitioners because it can be realized in the context of virtually any lifestyle. Mahamudra dissolves the artificial separation between phenomena and emptiness, revealing the radiant display of mind.

This teaching was translated by Lama Yeshe Gyamtso. It should be noted that a commentary on the same topic entitled An Ocean of Ultimate Meaning is also available from Namo Buddha Publications but was based on two teachings Rinpoche gave in Maine and was translated by Peter Roberts.

In this book, Rinpoche discusses the four common foundations, which are the four thoughts to contemplate before beginning a spiritual practice.

The first foundation, precious human birth, explains in detail why practice is important. The second foundation, impermanence, teaches us to find something meaningful in life.

The most difficult to understand foundation, karma, is lucidly explained by Thrangu Rinpoche. Because of karma, we can determine if we will have a fortunate or unfortunate future. Then, after we have practiced, we must return to conventional reality (samsara) and so the fourth reminder is a review of the characteristics of samsara.

This book also includes Khenpo Karpo's excellent survey of the points of meditation and practice to round out the four foundations.

This e-book is in the Kindle format (mobi) and can be read on many ebook readers.

The paperback book is available on the Book section of this website.