The Self-arisen Vidya Tantra / the Self-liberated Vidya Tantra

A complete translation of two of the eleventh-century Seventeen Tantras—texts that are among the most important in all of Tibetan Buddhism. 

“If one knows the Self-Arisen Vidya Tantra, the Self-Liberated Vidya Tantra, and the Tantra Without Syllables, one will have command over the general meaning of the tantras, like a king who has command over his subjects.”—Treasury of the Supreme Vehicle

The eleventh-century Seventeen Tantras are the most important texts in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition of the Great Perfection. This boxed set provides two luminous translations. The first is the only complete English translation of the Self-Arisen Vidya Tantra, which is the major commentary tantra on all aspects of the doctrine of the Great Perfection. The second, the Self-Liberated Vidya Tantra, outlines the structure of Dzogchen tantras in general and also provides a detailed outline of the Self-Arisen Vidya Tantra.
 
Malcolm Smith also offers a comprehensive introduction and two vital appendices: (1) a brief historical account and survey of the Seventeen Tantras and (2) an examination of the themes of the Seventeen Tantras, translated from the commentary to the String of Pearls Tantra. This is vital reading for any student of Dzogchen.

 

Malcolm Smith is a graduate of the Shang Shung Institute’s School of Tibetan Medicine (2009) and has been a student of Chogyal Namkhai Norbu since 1992. He is a veteran of a traditional three-year solitary Tibetan Buddhist retreat, a published translator of Tibetan Buddhist texts (in Treasures of the Sakya Lineage, Shambhala, 2008), and was awarded the acarya degree by the Sakya Institute for Buddhist Studies in 2004. He has worked on translations for renowned lamas since 1992, including His Holiness Sakya Trizin, Kunzang Dechen Lingpa, Lama Migmar Tseten, Khenpo Konchog Gyaltsen and many other lamas.

He’s the translator of Buddhahood in This Life.