A Chat About Yamantaka

EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION In the spring of 1997, I was doing retreat in one of the Vajrapani Institute's lovely cabins when I heard that Zopa Rinpoche was arriving to attend an FPMT board meeting. That spring, His Holiness the Dalai Lama had given Yamantaka initiation and commentary, and I had several questions regarding the protection wheel practice. Almost miraculously, Rinpoche had the time to see me and I posed my questions. He responded briefly, and concluded by saying that others would want to learn about this too, so he would teach it to the practitioners in the area. I marveled at the good fortune of being able to hear the more extensive teachings that a group setting would provide. In Rinpoche's typical style, before he taught the protection wheel section of the sadhana, he covered the preceding meditations and thus gave in-depth teachings on the four immeasurables, emptiness, and taking death as the path to dharmakaya. I later transcribed and edited those teachings to create this book. CONTENTS Editor's Introduction 1 Motivation 2 Introduction 3 The Four Immeasurables 4 Meditation on the Four Immeasurables 5 Dissolving into Emptiness 6 The Ultimate Guru, The Deity, and You 7 Meditation on Yamantaka 8 Emptiness 9 The Protection Wheel 10 Dedication Notes