Mastering Meditation gives you the experience of studying with one of the greatest meditation masters of the modern age. His Eminence Chöden Rinpoché was not only a celebrated scholar, honored by selection as a debate partner to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, but he was also an accomplished yogi who spent nineteen years in solitary meditation retreat. In this thorough and thoroughly clear book, Rinpoché offers meticulous explanations and profound practical instructions on two essential practices in Tibetan Buddhism: calm abiding and mahāmudrā.
The first part of this book contains instructions for developing calm abiding, an unshakable single-pointedness of mind. The second part, Rinpoché’s direct commentary on the Fourth Paṇchen Lama’s foundational text, offers advanced instructions on using calm abiding as a platform to develop mahāmudrā. Rinpoché elucidates both sūtra-system mahāmudrā—meditation on the emptiness of the mind—as well as mantra-system mahāmudrā, a specialized meditation that uncovers subtle, hidden levels of mind to pierce into the ultimate nature of self and reality, leading finally to complete enlightenment.
Drawing from his vast learning and personal experience, Rinpoché provides readers with an open gateway to remarkable states of lucidity and peace.
Venerable Tenzin Gache has recorded his recitation of his translations of both the Highway of the Conquerors and the Mahamudra Lineage Prayer. You can listen to them both here.
Highway of the Conquerors
Mahamudra Lineage Prayer
"The simple impact of the language in verse is likely to leave an imprint on the mind at an unconscious level."
Praise for Mastering Meditation
“Kyabjé Chöden Rinpoché was more kind to me than all the three times’ buddhas. His teachings are not just words but come from a learned mind—and from experience.” —Lama Zopa Rinpoche
“Kyabjé Chöden Rinpoché was one of the great masters of the past century and the mentor to many of the senior teachers at Sera, including my own teacher Gen Thupten Rinchen. His broad and incisive understanding was supported by years of intensive practice, yielding the true fruits of the Buddhist path. For anybody interested in looking more deeply into the long-term goals of Buddhist practice, this book is an indispensable guide.” —Khen Rinpoché Geshé Tashi Tsering, abbot of Sera Mé Monastery and author of the Foundations of Buddhist Thought series
“This volume by one of the preeminent scholars and contemplatives of the Geluk tradition in recent times is bound to become a classic guide to unveiling the mystery of consciousness, which has thus far eluded modern science.” —B. Alan Wallace, president, Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies
“I am immensely grateful that this fine book makes Chöden Rinpoché utterly present to my mind, and his deep and inspiring teaching gives me consolation! These greatest teachings are simple and direct, yet they give a powerful sense that the teacher actually knows what they mean, is sharing actual experience, not just description.” —Robert A. F. Thurman, Jey Tsong Khapa Professor Emeritus, Columbia University
