The first work is a translation of an ancient Sanskrit prayer, no longer extant in that language, composed in the Ist century A. D. by one of the most renowned Mahayana Indian poet, Aryashura. It is supplemented by a rare commentary by the second Dalai Lama, Gendun Gyatso. The second section by His Holiness the present Dalai Lama includes a reprint of "The Inseparability of the Spiritual Master and Avalokiteshvara" and a translation of an inspiring discourse on the generation of compassion and bodhicitta-the essential practices of Mahayana Buddhism.
This has been edited and translated by Brian Beresford of the Translation Bureau of the Library of Tibetan Works & Archives while working in close collaboration with the Tibetan translators L. T. Doboom Tulku, Sherpa Tulku and Gonsar Tulku. They are to be commended for making this edition available to those with genuine interest in Mahayana Buddhism as transmitted through Tibetan language and culture.
