The Seven Instruction Lineages

Download or read book The Seven Instruction Lineages written by Jo Nang Taranatha and published by Library of Tibetan Works and Archives. This book was released on 2007-01-01 with total page 181 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the present work, Taranatha paints a miraculous picture of the great Siddhas of India their lives and the lineages which sprang from their teachings. In all, the lives of some 59 Siddhas are related some well known, others more obscure, but all linked by their various lineages and by the instructions handed down from Siddha to disciple. Taranatha’s account of these remarkable lives is especially valuable as he had as his gurus, and as the sources of these accounts, three Indians from the very traditions about which he wrote with such conviction. The lineage accounts are very important for a clear understanding of the Tantric upadesas themselves. In several places Taranatha makes quite sure that his own lineage is irrefutably established so that there is no doubt that he is a participator in the upadesas themselves, not merely a hander down of legends. The accounts were evidently passed on and, due to the special factors involved in the tantric oral tradition, we cannot but understand them as being accurate and reliable.