Compendium of Sadhanas

Compendium of Sadhanas (Tib. སྒྲུབ་ཐབས་ཀུན་བཏུས་, drubtab kün tü, Wyl. sgrub thabs kun btus), also named The Collection of All Methods of Accomplishment — a collection of major sadhanas and instructions belonging to the four classes of tantra from various Tibetan Buddhist lineages compiled by Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo (1820-1892) and his disciple Jamyang Loter Wangpo (1847-1914). Today, the Compendium of Sadhanas is widely used. Most authorization rituals and practice liturgies given by Sakya lamas—except for the Lamdre and Vajrayogini cycles—are taken from this collection.

Texts

The Compendium of Sadhanas comprises 14 volumes in the Derge edition (Dehradun: G. T. K. Lodoy, N. Gyaltsen and N. Lungtok, 1970)

Volume 1

I. Three “White Deities” (Tsarpa)

• 1. A Sādhana of The Victorious White Amitāyus, Including Permission Blessing (Mitrayogi) (rgyal ba tshe dpag tu med pa dkar po'i sgrub pa'i thabs rjes gnang dang bcas pa)
• 2. A Compendium of the Dharma Cycle of White Tārā Wish-fulfilling Wheel (Tsarpa)(sgrol ma dkar po yid bzhin 'khor lo'i chos skor gyi yi ge rnams phyogs gcig tu bsgrigs pa)
• 3. A Sādhana of White Sarasvatī According to the Tradition of the Great Paṇḍita Samantaśrī, Including Permission Blessing (paN+Di ta chen po sa man+ta shrI nas brgyud pa'i dbyangs can ma dkar mo'i sgrub thabs rjes gnang dang bcas pa'i skor rnams)

II. Sadhanas for the attainment of immortality

• 1. Commentary on longevity practices (by Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Tayé) (ring 'tsho'i cho ga sgrub pa'i rnam par bzhag pa 'chi bdag slu ba'i rtog pa'i don 'grel tshe dbang dga' ba 'khyil ba'i thig le)
• 2. Amitayus (Tsarpa, from Machik Druppai Gyalmo) (tshe dpag med grub rgyal lugs kyi lo rgyus dbang chog sgrub thabs dang bcas pa'i skor rnams)
• 3. Amitayus (Sakya, from Machik Druppai Gyalmo) (ma gcig grub pa'i rgyal mo'i lugs kyi tshe dpag med kyi dbang chog)
• 4. Nirmanakaya Amitayus (Sakya) (dpal ldan sa skya pa'i gser chos lugs kyi tshe dpag med sprul sku'i sgrub thabs bum chog rjes gnang dang bcas pa'i skor rnams)
• 5. Nirmanakaya Amitayus (Gyalwang Taklungpa) (rgyal dbang stag lung pa chen po'i zab chos las 'byung ba'i bcom ldan 'das tshe dpag tu med pa sprul sku'i dbang chog gsar bu dga' skyed)
• 6. White Amitayus (Rechungpa, from Machik Druppai Gyalmo) (ma gcig grub pa'i rgyal mo nas brgyud pa'i tshe dpag med dkar po'i sgrub thabs dbang chog man ngag dang bcas pa bdud rtsi'i bum bzang (ras chung lugs yang gsang dkar po phyag bzhi))
• 7. Amitayus (seven-day practice format) (Rongtön) (tshe sgrub zhag bdun ma'i nyams len gyi rim pa 'chi med bdud rtsi'i bcud len)
• 8. Nine deity mandala of Amitayus (Sakya) (tshe sgrub zab mo rje btsun sa skya pa'i gdams pa thun mong ma yin pa)
• 9. Kaurava longevity sadhana ('chi med rang gzungs su grags pa sgra mi snyan gyi tshe sgrub zab mo'i rjes gnang bya tshul (nye brgyud))
• 10. Kaurava protective mantra practice ( 'chi med rang gzungs zhes bya ba lus srung ba'i rig sngags kyi sgom bzlas)
• 11. Kaurava longevity sadhana (Drikung Kagyü pure vision transmission) (sgra mi snyan gyi tshe sgrub zab mo'i skor rnams (nye brgyud dag snang))
• 12. The New Glorious Bestower of Immortality, A Long-Life Practice and Empowerment that Unites the Oral, Treasure and Visionary Teachings (Amitayus-Hayagriva, Thangtong Gyalpo) (nye brgyud tshe rta zung 'brel 'chi med dpal ster gyi sgrub thabs dbang chog man ngag dang bcas pa (grub chen thang rgyal lugs))
  • English translation: The New Glorious Bestower of Immortality, A Long-Life Practice and Empowerment that Unites the Oral, Treasure and Visionary Teachings (bka' gter dag snang zung 'jug gi tshe sgrub tshe dbang dang bcas pa nye brgyud 'chi med dpal ster gsar pa), by Chöjé Lingpa. Translated by Stefan Mang with the kind assistance of Han Kop, 2020.
  • Colophon: As the sun-like compassion of Padmasambhava and the Iron Bridge Builder shines, The grove of white lotus flowers of wisdom and intelligence bloom, And this fresh nectar-like teaching on obtaining supreme and ordinary siddhis, Is naturally revealed! Without fabricating anything unrelated to the original practice, Chöjé Lingpa arranged this garland-like addendum, Which unites the oral and treasure lineages. Through the original revelation may the state of Samantabhadra be spontaneously accomplished! Sarvadā maṅgalaṃ!
• 13. The Sādhana and Empowerment for the Extremely Close Lineage of the Long-Life Practice that Unites the Oral, Treasure and Visionary Teachings (bka' gter dag snang zung du 'brel ba'i tshe sgrub shin tu nye brgyud kyi sgrub thabs dbang chog dang bcas pa)
  • English translation: The Sādhana and Empowerment for the Extremely Close Lineage of the Long-Life Practice that Unites the Oral, Treasure and Visionary Teachings, translated by Lhasey Lotsawa Translations (Stefan Mang and Peter Woods), 2020.
  • Colophon: I wrote these notes down as they were directly bestowed by the Mahāsiddha. After Samten Paljor made a lavish maṇḍala offering of precious substances, I thought that, although there are many long-life practices, this one possesses particularly potent blessings, and so gave it to him.
• 14. Nine deity mandala of Ushnishavijaya (gtsug tor rnam par rgyal ma'i rtog pa'i TI ka sgrub thabs stong mchod rjes gnang gi cho ga sogs chos skor tshang ba)
• 15. Mahamayuri longevity sadhana (rig pa rma bya chen mo'i sgo nas rdo rje'i tshe sgrub la sogs pa'i gdams zab 'chi med dU r.wa'i ljon bzang)
• 16. Amara Vajradevi (nges brjod bla ma'i rgyud las gsungs pa'i 'chi med rdo rje lha mo'i sgrub thabs rjes gnang 'khrul 'khor gyi man ngag dang bcas pa)
• 17. Ritual for burning hair and nails (skra dang sen mo la sogs pa sreg pa'i cho ga bde legs nyi ma)
• 18. Ritual for cheating death based on Bhadracharya-pranidhana-raja (bzang po spyod pa'i cho ga'i sgo nas 'chi ba bslu ba'i gdams ngag gsal byed dang bcas pa)
• 19. Ritual for consecrating images based on White Tara (rje btsun sgrol ma dkar mo yid bzhin 'khor lo'i cho ga la brten nas brtan bzhugs 'bul tshul dbang bcu grub pa'i dga' ston)
• 20. Ritual to “turn back the escort” (sun zlog gi cho ga mdor bsdus grub pa'i zhal lung)
• 21. Ritual to ransom spirit based on White Tara (rje btsun sgrol ma dkar mo la brten pa'i 'chi slu'i cho ga ring 'tsho'i dpal ster)
• (rje btsun sgrol ma dkar mo la brten pa'i bla slu'i cho ga ring 'tsho'i bcud len)
• 22. Praise to White Chintamanichakra Tara ( 'phags ma sgrol ma dkar mo yid bzhin 'khor lo la bstod pa tshe dang ye shes mchog sbyin)

Volume 2

• List of texts in the Compendium of Sadhanas on Rangjung Yeshe wiki

Tibetan Texts

• སྒྲུབ་ཐབས་ཀུན་བཏུས་, sgrub thabs kun btus
• Empowerment Cards for the Compendium of Sadhanas (sgrub thabs kun btus tsakli)
• sgrub thabs kun btus (Kathmandu: Sachen International, Guru Lama, 2002)

English Translations

• Texts belonging to (and related to) the Compendium of Sādhanas on Lotsawa House

Further Reading

• Jamgön Kongtrul, The Autobiography of Jamgön Kongtrul: A Gem of Many Colors, translated by Richard Barron (Snow Lion, 2003), pp.532-543

External Links

• Overview, History and Resources on Khyentse Vision Project website
• Sakya research Centre