A Song for the King

Mahamudra is the basic meditation practice for many Tibetan Buddhists, particularly of the Kagyu tradition. It is particularly adaptable for modern people, since it involves no rituals and can be incorporated into all daily activities. Saraha's "Song for the King" is a short verse text from classical India that is a basis for the tradition and is widely known in Tibetan Buddhist circles. It is often the basis for teachings given in the West, but there is only one outdated translation of it in print, first published in 1969. Michele Martin has produced a stellar new translation, which is accompanied by a commentary from the well-known teacher Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, who is uniquely skilled and concerned with making this method of meditation available to Westerners.

While pithy and accessible, the book easily stands up to academic scrutiny, and includes the original Tibetan as well - making it ideal for the popular, scholarly, and Tibetan audiences all at once.

Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche is a senior scholar within the Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism and the author of many books and commentaries. He was born in Kham, Tibet, in 1933 and entered Thrangu Monastery at age seven. He serves as the main tutor to His Holiness the Seventeenth Karmapa and travels worldwide giving teachings and leading retreats. Based in Nepal and India, he is also abbot of Gampo Abbey in Nova Scotia and founder of Vajra Vidya Retreat Center in Crestone, Colorado.

Michele Martin has been a Buddhist practitioner for over thirty years. After receiving graduate degrees from Yale, she studied in Japan, India, and Nepal with numerous masters of meditation and Buddhist scholars. While in Asia, she also served as an oral translator and edited many volumes on Buddhism. Her publications include Music in the Sky: The Life, Art, and Teachings of the 17th Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje and numerous translations from Tibetan texts on philosophy and meditation. She lives in the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York.

Peter O'Hearn (Lama Yeshe Gyamtso) has completed two three-year retreats under the guidance of Kalu Rinpoche and is one of the most respected translators of the Kagyu Lineage. He is a translator at Karma Triyana Dharmachakra, the seat of the Gyalwang Karmapa in the West, and travels widely as a translator for the main Kagyu lamas. Among his published works are The Instructions of Gampopa and Precious Essence. He lives with his wife and daughter in the Hudson Valley.