The Copper-Colored Mountain

While Pure Land Buddhism is generally thought of as an East Asian tradition with an Indian origin, the Copper-Coloured Mountain is in fact the first and only pure land with scriptural origins entirely in the Tibetan tradition. It represents Tibetan culture's fascinating intersection of traditional history with liturgical tantric practice. The Copper-Colored Mountain is understood to be the current abode of Padmasambhava, the Indian master credited with first bringing Buddhism to Tibet and founding Tibet's first monastery, Samye. After leaving Tibet, it is said that Padmasambhava set up residen ce on Cåamara, one of the two islands on either side of the continent of Jambudvipa, our world according to Buddhist cosmology. After taming the resident ogres of Cåamara and converting them to Buddhism, he then built an octagonal palace where Buddhist practitioners may be transported in visions and dreams or reborn through aspiration prayers. This work is a translation and analysis of one...