King Doha Saraha's Advice to a King

While on the one hand, it is said that Mahamudra is a very advanced form of meditation, on the other, if one were already advanced one would not need any instructions. Mahamudra manuals often tend to explain everything step by step as if the reader does not know anything. Obviously then, they are meant for people like us. In the King Doha, Saraha gives a step by step account of the pitfalls a meditation practitioner can fall into and how to avoid them. With a background of practicing extensively in the tantric tradition, he gives his reasons for considering the Mahamudra approach an appropriate path. Based on a commentary by Karma Trinleypa, Traleg Rinpoche gives a straightforward and clear explanation of Saraha's message to us as practitioners of Mahamudra.

Traleg Kyabgon (1955–2012) was the founder of the Kagyu E-Vam Buddhist Institute, which is headquartered in Melbourne, with a major practice center in upstate New York and a practice community in New York City. He taught extensively at universities and Buddhist centers in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia, and is the author of such books as Essence of Buddhism and Karma: What It Is, What It Isn't, Why It Matters.