A complete translation of two of the eleventh-century Seventeen Tantras—texts that are among the most important in all of Tibetan Buddhism. 

“If one knows the Self-Arisen Vidya Tantra, the Self-Liberated Vidya Tantra, and the Tantra Without Syllables, one will have command over the general meaning of the tantras, like a king who has command over his subjects.”—Treasury of the Supreme Vehicle

The eleventh-century Seventeen Tantras are among the most important texts in the tradition of the Great Perfection—and in all of Tibetan Buddhism. This edition of the first of the two volumes presented here, the Self-Arisen Vidya Tantra, is the first-ever complete English translation of that text. This vast text is said to be so powerful that it’s not necessary to read it; simply possessing it is enough. The second text, the Self-Liberated Vidya Tantra, is a crucial aid to understanding the first tantra, as well as a profound text in its own right.

This set provides these two luminous texts in crystal-clear translation, along with Malcolm Smith’s comprehensive introduction and two vital appendixes: a brief historical account and survey of the Seventeen Tantras; and an examination of the themes of the Seventeen Tantras, translated from the String of Pearls Tantra.

This is vital reading for any student of Dzogchen.

Malcolm Smith is a graduate of the Shang Shung Institute’s School of Tibetan Medicine (2009) and has been a student of Chogyal Namkhai Norbu since 1992. He is a veteran of a traditional three-year solitary Tibetan Buddhist retreat, a published translator of Tibetan Buddhist texts (in Treasures of the Sakya Lineage, Shambhala, 2008), and was awarded the acarya degree by the Sakya Institute for Buddhist Studies in 2004. He has worked on translations for renowned lamas since 1992, including His Holiness Sakya Trizin, Kunzang Dechen Lingpa, Lama Migmar Tseten, Khenpo Konchog Gyaltsen and many other lamas.

He’s the translator of Buddhahood in This Life.