Introduction to the White Lotus

In 2020, Gomde California’s translators-in-residence embarked on a grand project: rendering The White Lotus: the Background Teachings on the Treasury of Blessings by Jamgon Mipham Rinpoche (1846–1912) into the English language for the first time. This marks a fresh phase in the work of Gomde California, which for years has been home to advanced studies in Tibetan translation in close collaboration with the Dharmachakra Translation Committee and 84000 Project.

White Lotus provides invaluable context to A Treasury of Blessings, the Shakyamuni Buddha sadhana our sangha worldwide has taken as a heart practice under the guidance of Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche. We are happy to share that Rinpoche has provided his full blessing and encouragement to the Gomde California translation team to undertake this project, which will unfold over a number of years.

Making this work available in English will serve as a vital support for the practice not only of this sadhana, but of the full path laid out by Lord Buddha. It was composed by Jamgon Mipham Rinpoche, the non-sectarian scholar-practitioner renowned for shaping the unique philosophical unification of Sutra and Tantra found in the Nyingma school. His writings, including the “A Treasury of Blessings,” are considered to be treasures in themselves: direct transmissions from Manjushri, embodiment of enlightened wisdom.

Please join us in rejoicing in this thousand-page translation project. May it be a cause for all of us to truly appreciate the depth of kindness of the precious Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha!