The Bliss of Inner Fire by Thubten Yeshe

The Bliss of Inner Fire by Thubten Yeshe

In the classic best seller, Introduction to Tantra, Lama Yeshe offered a profound and wonderfully clear glimpse into the sophisticated practices of Tibetan Buddhist tantra. This present book, the last major teachings of this great lama, opens up the world of advanced practices for Highest Yoga Tantra initiates in much the same way his earlier work opened up the world of tantra in general.

Following Je Tsongkhapa's (1357-1419 C.E.) text Having the Three Convictions, Lama Yeshe introduces the renowned Six Yogas of Naropa, focusing mainly on the first of these six, the practice of inner fire (tummo). Mastery of inner fire quickly brings the mind to its most refined and penetrating state - the experience of clear light, an extra-ordinarily powerful state of mind that is unequaled in its ability to directly realize ultimate reality.

Lama Yeshe felt that 20th-century Westerners could easily grasp the often misunderstood ideas of this esoteric tradition: We really need tantra these days because there is a tremendous explosion of delusion and distraction - and we need the atomic energy of inner fire to blast us out of our delusion.

Lama Yeshe's aim was for his students to actually taste the experience of inner fire rather than merely gain an intellectual understanding. Lama's own realization of the transformative power of these practices comes through, inspiring his students to discover for themselves their own capacity for inexhaustible bliss.

Lama Thubten Yeshe (1935-1984) was born in Tibet and received his education at the prestigious Sera Monastic University. He left Chinese tyranny in 1959 and began teaching Buddhism to Westerners at their Kopan Monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal, in the late 1960s with his principal disciple, Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche. They formed the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) in 1975, an international Buddhist organization with over 160 centers, programs, and services around the world.