Roberts, P.

 

PersonType	Category:Authors of English Works Category:Translators
FirstName / namefirst	Peter
LastName / namelast	Roberts
namemiddle	Alan
MainNamePhon	Peter Alan Roberts
SortName	Roberts, Peter Alan
bio	Peter Alan Roberts was born in Wales and lives in Hollywood, California. He earned a BA in Sanskrit and Pali and a DPhil in Tibetan Studies from Oxford University (Harris-Manchester College). For more than thirty years he has been working as an interpreter for lamas and as a translator of Tibetan texts. He specializes in the literature of the Kagyü and Nyingma traditions with a focus on tantric practices, and he is the author of The Biographies of Rechungpa and Mahāmudrā and Related Instructions. (Source: See the Tsadra Foundation Conferences and the Wisdom Publications Website)
languageprimary	English
languagetranslation	Tibetan
languagetarget	English
religiousaffiliation	Kagyu;Thrangu Rinpoche
IsInGyatsa	No
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Other Information

Peter Alan Roberts began learning Tibetan at Samye Ling in Scotland in 1976. Since then, he has translated for many lamas all over the world, and especially for his main teacher, Thrangu Rinpoche. He is renowned for the clarity of translation, and for his humility and rather eccentric sense of humour. He recently moved to Los Angeles, California, in order to combine translation with Hollywood screenplay writing. He has translated several books by Thrangu Rinpoche, including The Practice of Tranquility and Insight and Ocean of the Ultimate Meaning: Teachings on Mahamudra.

Lotsawa School Interview

Translation List

Translations:

• Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche. The Practice of Tranquility and Insight (Boston MA: Shambhala: 1993).
• Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche. Consciousness and Wisdom (Ithaca NY: Snow Lion: 1999).
• Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche. The Life of Rechungpa (Namo Buddha: 2002).
• Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche. The Life and Spiritual Songs of Milarepa (Namo Buddha: 2003).
• Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche. An Ocean of Ultimate Meaning (Boston MA: Shambhala: 2004)
• Khenpo Ngawang Pelzang, A Guide to "The Words of My Perfect Teacher"
• On Buddha Essence, chapter 4 & 5 (Boston MA: Shambhala 2006)
• Karma Chakme Rinpoche. The Quintessence of the Union of Mahamudra and Dzogchen (Woodstock NY: KTD Publications, 2007) Root verses only.
• Mahamudra and Related Instructions: Core Teachings of the Kagyu School (Somerville MA:Wisdom Publications: 2010)
• Hungkar Dorje Faith’s Own Light: Meditations & Refection from Vajrayana Practice in Golog, Tibet, 2014.
  

Forthcoming:

• Lamchen Gyalpo Rinpoche. The Good Path that Leads to the Wisdom of all the Buddhas. (Taiwan, forthcoming in 2014)
• Gangri Karma Rinpoche: a collection of sādhanas, teaching on the bardo and twelve phases of dependent origination, and a biography of the eleventh Gangri Karma Rinpoche and history of the Martsang Kagyu (forthcoming in Chinese translation)
  

Online:

• The Biography of Ra Lotsawa (online)
• The Karaṇḍavyūha sūtra (84000.co)
• The White Lotus of Compassion sūtra (forthcoming 84000.co)
• Aparamitāyurjñāna sūtra (forthcoming 84000.co)

Original works:

• "The History of the Kagyu School" in Portraits of the Masters (London: Serindia: 2003).
• The Biographies of Rechungpa (Abingdon, England: Routledge and Kegan Paul: 2007). Paperback edition 2010.
• "The Evolution of the biographies of Milarepa and Rechungpa" in Lives Lived, Lives Imagined. Somerville MA: Wisdom Publications, 2010.

Various unpublished translations for centers.

• 1. A Brief Daily Practice of Making a Gift of One’s Body (12 pages)
• 2. Severance fulfillment offering (5 pages)
• 3. The Source of All Qualities: A Severance gaˆacakra (17 pages)
• 4. Inserts for the Severance practice (2 pages)
• 5. Necessary chants for Severance (12 pages)
• 6. Severance Concluding Rites (5 pages)
• 7. The Kusali’s Accumulation of Merit (7 pages)
• 8. Wisdom’s Own Clarity: Easily understood, clear brief instructions for the Gampopa Secret Path Guru Yoga (16 pages)
• 9. The Teaching of Lord Gampopa: The Secret Path Instructions for Guru Yoga (27 pages)
• 10. The Marvellous Appearance: the empowerment ritual foe the guru yoga entitled ‘The Vision of Mahāsiddha Karmapakśi. (19 pages)
• 11. The Bindu that Creates Great Bliss: Instrictions on the devotional practice of the Katma Pakßi Guru Yoga of the Vision of Yong-ge Mingyur Dorje (7 pages)
• 12. A Supplication to Lord Karma Pakßi (3 pages)
• 13. The Sadhana of the Vision of Lord Karma Pakśi (12 pages)
• 14. A Brief Ganachakra for the Karma Pakshi Guru Yoga (5 pages)
• 15. The Swift Accomplishment of the Desired Goal: A Prayer for the Supreme Tulku Kalzang Chokyi Wangchuk to live until the end of Samsara (7 pages)
• 16. Words of Truth that Accomplish Deathlessness: A Long Life Prayer for Panchen Ontrul Rinpoche (5 pages)
• 17. A Water Treasure of Blessings: A call to the distant guru conjoined with a supplication for his swift return (3 pages)
• 18. Long-Life Prayer for Khenpo Petse Rinpoche (1 page)
• 19. A Long Life Prayer for Ringu Tulku (1 page)
• 20. Opening the Profound Secret Door: the guru yoga of Master Marpa the Great Lotsawa with the outer, inner and secret ripenings (51 pages)
• 21. A prayer to the Sakya Lamas (5 pages)
• 22. A History of the Jinasgara Deities (2 deities)
• 23. The Great Path to Perfectly Clear Liberation: The Rite of Lokeßvara (85 pages)
• 24. Four Karma mantras in Jinasågara Practice (1 page)
• 25. The Black Instructions, from ‘The Complete Liberation of the Three Realms’ (2 pages)
• 26. A Supplication to Rigdzin Jatson Nyingpo (1 page)
• 27. The Clear Necessary Meaning: A brief instruction text for the intensive practice of the ultimately profound Könchok Chidu ‘The Essence of the Three Jewels’ (53 pages)
• 28. The Light Rays of Activity: A recitation text for a four-activity fire-offering of the profound Könchok Chindu (38 pages)
• 29. The Gift of Wish-fulfilling Treasure: A supplication to the Konchok Chindu lineage (3 pages)
• 30. The Blissful Path to Liberation: preliminary practices recitation for the Könchok Chindu, extracted from “The Adornment of the Guru’s Viewpoint’ (23 pages)
• 31. All Pervasive Activity: A clearly arranged sādhana text for the Könchok Chindu.(46 pages)
• 32. Padmākara prayer (2 pages)
• 33. The Oral Instructions of Padmākara: an instruction text for the intensive practice of Könchok Chindu (125 pages)
• 34. The Garland of Vajra Jewels: a practice of the activity of the Wisdom Protector and his consort, who are the guardians of the Precious Kagyu teachings (69 pages)
• 35. An Offering to the Dharma Protectors (3 pages)
• 36. The ‘Listen Great Mahākāla’ prayer (4 pages)
• 37. A Supplication and Offering to Mahopasaka Varuṇa (4 pages)
• 38. A verse text for the visualization practice of Någaråja Migön Karpo (4 pages)
• 39. The Sadhana of Apalala (2 pages)
• 40. Appropriate Nāga days and their benefits (5 pages)
• 41. An Offering of Aromatic Smoke to the Nāgas (6 pages)
• 42. Nāga torma offering (7 pages)
• 43. A cleansing vase ritual and sādhana of Nāgarājeśvara
• 44. A brief smoke offering for Gesar (2 pages)
• 45. A brief smoke-offering (1 page)
• 46. A Brief Daily Practice of Guru Dorje Drolo (2 pages)
• 47. A Short Ganachakra (1 page)
• 48. The Spontaneous Accomplishment of the Two Benefits: the meditation and mantra-repetition of Mahakarunika (2 pages)
• 49. The Swift Accomplishment of Activity: a brief supplicatory offering to the guardians (1 page)
• 50. A brief daily supplication to the guardians of the Taksham tradition (3 pages)
• 51. A Golden Beverage Offering (1 page)
• 52. A Brief Fulfillment-Offering (2 pages)
• 53. Torma Offering by Drimay Rabjam (2 pages)
• 54. The Destruction of the Enemies of the Teaching: a brief supplicatory offering to Nyen Tak Marpo, the drala and emissary of Gesar Norbu Drandul (2 pages)
• 55. The Swift Bestowal of siddhi: a brief torma offering to the three roots and the guardians (5 pages)
• 56. A Brief Meditation and Mantra repetition of Vajrasattva (3 pages)
• 57. The Chariot that Follows the Path of the Noble Ones: recitations for the stages of daily practice compiled from the stainless words of the lineage of realization, the Karma Kamtsang, the Precious Practice Lineage (21 pages)
• 58. The Precious Wish-fulfilling Vase that Accomplishes Wealth (54 pages)
• 59. The sādhana of the single-mudra Kumāra from ‘The Essence of the Secret Bindu’ (9 pages)
• 60. The Essential Bindu of Activity: a ganacakra offering to the single-mudra Vajrakumåra from ‘The Essence of the Secret Bindu’ (7 pages)
• 61. Thrangu House Prayer Text (11 pages)
• 62. The Liquid Quintessence of Amrita: the practice seesions of the profound six Dharma of Nāropa (51 pages)
• 63. Calling the Guru from Afar, by Jampal Zangpo (15 pages)
• 64. Short Supplication of the Six Dharmas (1 page)
• 65. The Illusory Music of Great Bliss: a ganacakara song (2 pages)
• 66. The yoga of daily Activities (4 pages)
• 67. The seal of pure dedication and wishing prayer (7 pages)
• 68. Colophon to ‘The Thirteen Yogas’ (2 pages)
• 69. The Route to Liberation: a rite and ancillaries of the nine-deity Akßobhya (9 pages)
• 70. The Guide that Illuminates the Swift Path of the Supreme Great Secret: the maṇḍala-puja sadhana of Śrī Sahajā Vajrayoginī
• 71. Amitayus sādhana by Tsongkhapa (10 pages)
• 72. Amitayus Sutra (4 pages)
• 73. Amrita for the Hearts of All: The mantra-bestowal rite for the sadhana of the supplication of the six syllables of Mahakarunika (9 pages)
• 74. The Retreat Gates Rite (8 pages)
• 75. The Heart of Bhagavati Prajnaparamita (9 pages)
• 76. Invincible Wealth (8 pages)
• 77. The Dharani named ‘The Mother of the Planets’ (6 pages)
• 78. A meditation and mantra recitation of Vajrasamaya (5 pages)
• 79. An Offering of the Ganges Water; A purification of samaya violation (6 pages)
• 80. A Rainfall of Everything that is Wished for: a cleansing aroma-offering to the wealth-deities (5 pages)
• 81. Relic-box prayers (8 pages)
• 82. A Singhanada sādhana (1 page)
• 83. The Dharani named ‘Mother of the Stars’ (4 pages)
• 84. Drawing in Good Fortune (6 pages)
• 85. A Casket of Amrita: Instructions for the long life pratice of Cintacakra in the tradition of Atiśa Dīpaṃkara (33 pages)
• 86. A supplication to the lineage of the daily practice of White Tara (8 pages)
• 87. The Feast of Yogins: a commentary on the five-deity Cakrasaṃvara (2 pages)
• 88. Brief Practice of Bhurkuṃkṛṭa (2 pages)
• 89. Prayer for the environment by Thrangu Rinpoche (1 page)
• 90. A Message to the affectionate Lama Tsewang Tashi (1 page)
• 91. The Deities of the ‘Liberating All Through Knowing One’ empowerment and their mantras (4 pages)
• 92. The ‘Water-wheel’ song (3 pages)
• 93. The Snow-lion: a treatiseom the Himalayan Mountains by Gendun Chopel (8 pages)
• 94. The Excellent Path of Benefit and Happiness: the entrance to taking refuge, by Rangjung Rigpay Dorje (10 pages)
• 95. Hevajra sadhana
• 96. Mahākala sādhana
• 97. Vajravarahi sādhana
• 98. Vajravarahi commentary
• 99. Twenty-one Praises to Tara with commentary
• 100. The Death and Return of Lingsa Tsokyi.
• 101. The Eight Doha Treasures (62 pages)
• 102. The Preliminaries for the Atri Instructions (35 pages)
• 103. The Prince Parables from the Precious Atri Instructions (3 pages)
• 104. Supplementary Instructions for the Sublime Direct Introduction to the Mind (90 pages)
• 105. Unimpeded Wisdom: the Atri transference of consciousness (5 pages)
• 106. Inferno of Wisdom: the practice of canḍālī (67 pages)
• 107. Oral supplement on the essentials of nāḍī-vāyu (21 pages)
• 108. The Nutrition of Liberation: the three kāya rasāyana (19 pages)
• 109. The Golden Spoon: a summary of yantra exercises (3 pages)
• 110. The Karṇa-tantra (Oral Tantra) nāḍī-vāyu -yantra (16 pages)
• 111. The Play of Illusion (7 pages)
• 112. The Final Instruction (14 pages)
• 113. The Instruction of the ḍākinīs (5 pages)
• 114. The Instructions for the Six Dharmas (4 pages)
• 115. The Non-Buddhist’s caṇḍalī (1 page)
• 116. The Spontaneous Blazing of Bliss and Heat: the seven day caṇḍalī (4 pages)
• 117. Caṇḍālī section of ‘The Treasury of Knowledge’ (21 pages)
• 118. The Doha-Song of the Karma-caṇḍalī (2 pages)
• 119. The Key that Illuminated the Meaning of the Text (2 pages)
• 120. The Quintessence of Amrita (12 pages)
• 121. The Eight Auspicious Symbols (2 pages)
• 122. A Praise to the Caityas of the Eight Great Places (2 pages)
• 123. A Praise that pays Homage to the Caityas of the Eight Great Places (4 pages)
• 124. The sådhana for Maintaining the Commitment of all the Tathāgatas (3 pages)
• 125. The Ritual for the Vimaloṣṇīṣa Dhāraṇī (2 pages)
• 126. A Variety of Inset Jewels that Beautifully Adorn the Dharmakāya Caitya: a presentation of the caityas of the Sugata (36 pages)
• 127. The Dhāraṇī named ‘The Noble Illumination from Perfectly Pure Stainless Light-rays’ (13 pages)
• 128. The Recitation of the Dhāraṇī named ‘The all-pervading stainless lightrays that are the illumination from the Uṣṇīṣa’ (10 pages)
• 129. The Ritual for Making Five Sacchas (2 pages)
• 130. Rituals for the Vimaloṣṇīṣa Dhāraṇī (2 pages)
• 131. The Dhāraṇī named ‘The Noble Illumination from the Uṣṇīṣa, a vision of the essence and commitment of all the Tathāgatas (19 pages)
• 132. Stūpa Consecration Texts (15 pages)
• 133. The Mirror of Brahma; the proportions of the sacred Dharmakāya caitya (4 pages)
• 134. The Classification of the Sections of the Caitya (4 pages)
• 135. A Sample comparison of variant descriptions of the structure and nomenclature of the caitya. (6 pages)
• 136. Classification of the part of the Caitya (3 pages)
• 137. Collected Works of Tilopa (109 pages)
• 138. Hungkar Dorje 18 prayers. (80 pages)
• 139. Khyungdrak Dorje termas
• 140. Three roots empowerment.

The Kagyu school traces its origin to the eleventh-century translator Marpa, who studied in India with Nāropa. Marpa's student Milarepa trained Gampopa, who founded the first monastery of the Kagyu order. As many as twelve subtraditions grew out from there, the best known being the Karma Kagyu, the Drikung, and the Drukpa.

The Nyingma, which is often described as the oldest tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, traces its origin to Padmasambhava, who is said to have visited Tibet in the eighth century.

Mahāmudrā refers to an advanced meditation tradition in Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna forms of Into-Tibetan Buddhism that is focused on the realization of the empty and luminous nature of the mind. It also refers to the resultant state of buddhahood attained through such meditation practice. In Tibet, this tradition is particularly associated with the Kagyu school, although all other schools also profess this tradition. The term also appears as part of the four seals, alongside dharmamūdra, samayamudrā, and karmamudrā.

The Kagyu school traces its origin to the eleventh-century translator Marpa, who studied in India with Nāropa. Marpa's student Milarepa trained Gampopa, who founded the first monastery of the Kagyu order. As many as twelve subtraditions grew out from there, the best known being the Karma Kagyu, the Drikung, and the Drukpa.

The notion that all phenomena arise in dependence on causes and conditions.

The Sakya tradition developed in the eleventh century in the Khön family of Tsang, which maintained an imperial-era lineage of Vajrakīla and which adopted a new teaching from India known as Lamdre.

Sādhana refers to a method of practice through which one can actualise a specific spiritual result, and by extension to the texts and manuals which present such methods. A sādhana in the Vajrayāna Buddhist context generally involves the worship and visualisation of a tantric deity, chanting of mantras, and associated practices. The practice often begins with verses of taking refuge and cultivating altruistic thought, then carrying out meditation on emptiness and the mandala of deity, seven-part worship, chanting of mantras, and finally the dissolution of the deity which was visualised.

A class of Mahāyāna sūtras which represents some of the earliest known literature of this genre of Buddhism. There are around forty texts associated with this category, though the most widespread is the exceedingly brief Prajñāpāramitāhṛdayasūtra, popularly known as the Heart Sūtra. This class of literature is typically associated with the second turning of the dharma wheel and especially with the teachings on emptiness (śūnyatā). As such, these texts were the primary scriptural source for the philosophy of the Madhyamaka school.

Tantra, when juxtaposed with Sūtra, generally refers to the scriptures and texts which discuss esoteric topics. While the term is used to refer to texts on other topics, it is mostly used to refer to the genre of scriptures and texts on themes and topics associated with Vajrayāna Buddhism.