The following is an extract from the catalogue written by Jigme Losal Özer in 1802 at the occasion of the printing of Jigme Lingpa’s works in Derge. The catalogue is preceded by a short history of the Great Perfection (Dzogchen) teachings and a description of how they flourished in Tibet. Then follows the actual catalogue of the Longchen Nyingtik treasures, which is the section found translated below.
Quite a few different editions have been produced, which can lead to some confusion. The catalogue was based on the Derge edition in two volumes, and so you will notice that the catalogue translated below is divided into two. However, the Shechen edition produced in the 1990’s divided the texts of those two volumes into three volumes (and added two extra volumes with texts from other authors, making five in total), but the contents are nearly identical. For more information on the texts and their translations of the Shechen edition please see the Rigpa Wiki page Longchen Nyingtik Root Volumes.
An Illuminating Ornament of Brilliant Sunlight
A Catalogue of the Heart Essence of the Vast Expanse
There are three parts: 1. How the Great Perfection Spread in this World, 2. How it Came to Tibet, 3. The Actual Catalogue.
3. The Actual Catalogue
The amount of divisions in the catalogue equals an auspicious number. In it are included all the main and subsidiary teachings. There are two volumes.
The first of the priceless volumes
1. The Teachings on History that Bring Certainty
1. The Great Secret Advice of the Ḍākinīs
2. Dancing Moon in the Water: An Account of My Realizations and Visionary Experiences
3. A manual of essential instructions ‘A Casket of Awakened Mind’
4. The Root Tantra of the Awareness-Holders: ‘Skull Fragments’
2. Framework of the Generic Empowerments that Mature the Immature
5. The Fundamental Empowerment ‘The Vase Conferring Majesty’
6. The General Meaning of Empowerment ‘Clarifying the Essential Meaning’
3. Texts that are Important in Order to Assure that Blessings Enter Your Being
7. The outer practice of guru yoga ‘The Wish-fulfilling Jewel’
8. A teaching that reveals the actual meaning of that guru yoga ‘Ocean of Accomplishments: A Practice for Making Offerings to the Gurus’
9. A Prayer of Aspiration for the Copper-Coloured Mountain of Glory ‘Secret Path to the Mountain of Glory’
10. A lineage prayer ‘The Continuous Shower of Blessings’
4. The Vase Empowerments and Their Supplementary Texts, which are connected with the particular empowerments of each practice and take the generation phase as the path.
[Awareness-Holders’ Assembly (Rigdzin Düpa)]
11. The Inner Practice ‘Awareness-Holders’ Assembly’
12. Concealed instructions ‘Dazzling Key Points’
13. The Recitation Manual ‘Casket of Siddhis’
14. The Long Life Practice ‘Vase of Immortal Life’
15. The crucial points of its Visualization
16. An Explanation of the Empowerment of the Long Life Practice
[The Queen of Great Bliss (Yumka Dechen Gyalmo)]
17. The History of the Female Practice of the Queen of Great Bliss
18. A Ritual for the Blessing Empowerment of the Female Practice
19. The Fundamental Practice ‘A Glorious Garland of Great Bliss’
20. Its fundamental recitation manual
21. ‘Elucidating the Body Maṇḍala’, which removes any doubts concerning the recitation manual
22. The self-initiation of the female practice ‘Illuminating the Meaning of Empowerment’
23. The Fire Offering ‘Treasury of the Four Activities’ 24. Rejuvenation of the Three Kāya Ambrosia
25. The enlightened activity of ‘A Treasure Vase Containing the Essence of Great Bliss’
26. Ritual for the Tārā practice of the four maṇḍalas ‘An Adornment for the Wisdom of the Lord of Nāgas’
27. Turning back the summons of the ḍākinīs ‘The Marvellous Appearance’
28. A concise practice for when the practice is accumulated, and the confession and fulfilment, which can be inserted
29. Turning Back the Summons of the Heroes and Heroines
30. The connection of the longevity empowerment
31. The wealth rituals of ‘A Supplementary Text for Consecrating a Treasure Vase’ and ‘A Method for Expelling the Seraks’
32. A sādhana of the lord of the family ‘A Ritual of the Realm of Great Bliss’ coupled with enlightened activities for the benefit of others
33. A Praise and Aspiration for the Realm of Great Bliss
34. The Guiding Practice Ritual Which Purifies Obscurations ‘The Purifying Treasure Vase’
35. Additional texts for cleansing and removing poison
36. Texts for ransoming the life-force spirit ‘The Tree of the Life Force Ocean’
In particular there is the concealed cycle of the secret female practice of the extraordinarily profound Lion-Faced ḍākinī.
37. The empowerment ritual ‘A Bundle of Blessings’
38. The lineage prayer ‘A Shower of Blessings’
39. The practice and activity manual of ‘The Secret Practice of the Lion-Faced Ḍākinī’
40. Its recitation manual
41. A practice to turn back the summons ‘Subduing Sorcery's Strength’
42. The Wheel of Lightning that Liberates from Sorcery
43. A torma offering and aversion ritual ‘Destroying the Hordes of Sorcerers and Demons’
44. Notes on Essential Aspects of the Preparation
45. The Wheel of Activity Which Benefits Others
[The Awesome Ones’ Assembly (Palchen Düpa)]
46. A general summary ‘Oral Transmission of the Awesome Ones’
47. Lineage prayer for the Awesome Ones
48. The heart practice of the fierce Awesome Ones’ Assembly
49. Its recitation manual
50. Yamāntaka ‘Outshining the Lord of Death’
51. Hayagrīva ‘Play of the Three Realms’
52. Yangdak ‘Union of the Buddhas’
53. Vajrakīlaya ‘Outshining the Armies of Demons’
54. The elaborate mudrā of the Awesome Ones
55. The Specific Empowerments for the Herukas of the Four Families
56. A framework for accomplishment practice ‘A Precious Casket’
57. Heart Instructions for the Specific Recitations of the Four Families
58. The self-initiation ‘Empowerment's Ocean of Significance’
59. A torma offering and avertion ritual ‘The Great Display’
60. The concealed ‘Profound Nail’ 61. The Key Points of the Wheel of Protection and Aversion.
62. The Maṇḍala of Coiling Amṛta Mahottara Which Gathers All Qualities
63. Notes on the Practice of Accomplishment Medicine
64. Instructions on the generation phase ‘Staircase to Akaniṣṭha’
65. A fire offering for the peaceful and fierce practices in general: ‘Wisdom Flames’
66. A fire offering for pacifying, enriching, magnetizing, wrathful, and the supreme activity.
67. The Spontaneous Vajra Song of Fulfilment and Confession
[Natural Liberation of Suffering (Dukngal Rangdrol)]
68. The secret practice of Avalokiteśvara ‘Natural Liberation of Suffering’
69. A commentary on its difficult points ‘The Loud Drum of Spring’
70. Clarifying the Self-Initiation
71. The 'Pratri' Commentary that Lays Bare the Pith Instructions
72. A prayer to the Noble One: ‘The Vision’
73. The wrathful practice of that deity: ‘A Sādhana of Hayagrīva’s Assembly’
The Second Volume
Here we find the following texts.
74. The innermost secret guru practice ‘The Sealed Quintessence’
75. Blazing Fierce Guru, Hayagrīva and Garuda
76. Its empowerment and essential instructions on its recitation
77. Liberating Evil Nāgas: Eliminating Negativity from the Netherworld
78. The Prayer of the Ground, Path & Fruition
79. An Aspiration and Prayer ‘Training in the Pure Realms of the Three Kāyas’
80. An aspiration prayer of the intermediate state ‘The Single Oceanic Vision’
81. An Aspiration Prayer for Actualizing Words of Truth: Entering the City of Omniscience
82. A Glorious Bangle: A Life-force Amulet of the Awareness-Holders
83. An Ornament Illuminating the Gathering: A Liturgy for the Peaceful and Wrathful Deities Which Empties the Lower Realms
84. A supplementary analysis
85. Further Clarifications ‘Removing the Seal of Difficult Points’
86. A manual for the empowerment of the deities and pith instructions for amending impairments and breakages.
87. The Garland of Offerings of the Sixteen Vajra Goddesses: ‘The Lute of the Gandharvas’
88. A Compassionate Net Bringing Immense Benefit to Others: A Ritual Benefiting the Deceased
89. The application of burning ‘Complete Liberation from the Two Obscurations’
5. The Cycle on the Dharma- and Treasure-Protectors
90. The Principal Protectors of the Sacred Commands and their Vajra Brothers and Sisters
91. Life-force Entrustment of the Three Vajra Brothers and Sisters
92. Essential Instructions on the Principal Protectors
93. Existence Arising as the Ground: A Thread Cross Ritual and Fulfilment Offering,
94. Fulfilment Practice for Pacifying the Turmoil of the Mamos and Ḍākinīs
95. Outshining the Armies of Māra: A War Thread-Cross Ritual
96. Notations on those
97. Wild Rāhula 'Razor of the Life-force' and the invocation manual ‘Storm of Poisonous Vapour’
98. Life-force Empowerment of the Sisters of Longevity (Tseringma)
99. The activity manual ‘A Wish-fulfilling Tree’
100. Concealed Instructions ‘The Meaningful Lasso’
101. A Manual with Further Instructions for the Single Person Transmission
102. An Abbreviated Practice to Summon the Spirit of Abundance
103. Talkarma’s livestock practice (gta’)
104. A Fulfilment for Lekden, Protector of the Tantras and Master of the Feast (This text does not belong to the Heart Essence of the Vast Expanse, yet in the palace of the king it was necessary for this to be recited regularly, and therefore it has been inserted here.)
105. A Daily Practice for the Fulfilment of the Protector Gönpo Lekden
6. Taking the Secret Empowerment on the Path
106. Transference: Enlightenment without Meditation
107. A concise introduction for the person whose consciousness is going to be transferred
108. The bliss-emptiness and wind perfection phase, and oral instructions on that.
109. Notations on the Blazing and Dripping of Inner Fire
7. Taking the Third Empowerment on the Path
110. The Path of Method Called Buddhahood Without Meditation including the yogic exercises of trulkhor
111. Direct instructions on the yogic exercises of trulkhor
112. A prayer for inner fire: ‘The Vajra Verses’
113. The severance practice ‘The Ḍākinī's Loud Laughter’
114. A commentary on that: ‘Youthfulness of the Six Perfections'
With these texts and supplements, all the paths up to and including the insight-empowerment are shown completely and unmistakably.
8. The Pith Instructions and Supplementary Texts that spread the elixir of the wisdom of the Blessed One, the glorious primordial protector, in the palm of your hands, and which unerringly reveal the meaning that is expressed by these extraordinary pith instructions [presented above], including the superior empowerment of the dynamic power of awareness.
115. The Great Perfection Tantra of the Expanse of Samantabhadra's Primordial Wisdom (5th chapter)
116. The subsequent pith instruction tantra related to it.
117. The āgama ‘Experiencing the Wisdom Mind of Samantabhadra’
118. The pith instruction ‘Distinguishing the Three Essential Points of the Great Perfection’
119. A commentary on mind training ‘A Staircase to Liberation’
120. Instructions on the Common Great Perfection Preliminaries
121. Instructions on the Uncommon Great Perfection Preliminaries ‘The Application of Mindfulness’
122. The extraordinary instruction manual which completely and unerringly reveals all secrets: ‘Yeshe Lama’
123. The cycle of supporting teachings which reveal the insight of empowerment and the stages of the practice: ‘The White Lotus’
124. The root text ‘Vajra verses’
125. The commentary on its meaning ‘Words of the Omniscient One’
126. The Lion's Roar That Vanquishes Diversions and Errors
127. Seeing Nakedly the Natural State of the Great Perfection
128. Mountain Dharma Oral Instructions ‘A Wondrous Ocean’
129. Instructions on tormas
With this the cycles of the main Dharma teachings are completed. Now follows the cycle containing various other necessities.
130. Oral instructions of the great siddha Thangtong Gyalpo: ‘Protecting from the Fear of Dodgy Boats’
131. Taking on the path the experience of sūtra and tantra ‘Entering the Path of the Buddha
132. There are four texts: A Sādhana of the Great Master Vairotsana, A Guru Yoga of Rigdzin Jigme Lingpa, A Meditation and Recitation to Pacify the King-like Gyalpo Demons, and A ritual for taking the one-day vows of a layperson: ‘The Blissful Path of Action Tantra’. Then there are another two: the āgama ‘A Prayer Invoking the Festival of the Tenth Day’ and a prayer to the guru. A cycle containing liturgies for the common and uncommon preliminary practices:
133. A convenient text outlining how to make hundreds of offering tormas according to the tradition of the Omniscient One, including supplements. The White Sur Offering that Pervades All Buddhafields, A Red Sur Smoke Offering Ritual to Ransom Death for Oneself and Others, A dedication prayer for the living and the death ‘Light Rays of the Sun’, and An Aspiration Prayer to be Recited at the End of Time, in eight sections.
134. Extracted from the Consecration Tantra are ‘The Everpresent Offering Garland’ and the supplementary Arga ritual.
135. The consecration ritual ‘The Auspicious Wish-fulfilling Tree’