NEWS

Sacred Voices of the Nyingma Masters: New Updated Edition Launched

By Craig Lewis

Buddhistdoor Global | 2020-10-14 |

Some 15 years after its original publication, a brand new, updated edition of the unique Buddhist volume Sacred Voices of the Nyingma Masters has been released. Sacred Voices, by Buddhist scholar and photographer Sandra Scales and Kathryn Alexandrei, collects the portraits of 22 revered lamas of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism, along with sacred teachings given by them especially for this book.

Sacred Voices, said the publisher, is “the result of the author’s 25-year study of Tibetan Buddhism and personal connection with these great teachers.” This latest edition of Sacred Voices includes the addition of a new chapter on Dungsey Thinley Norbu Rinpoche.

The 22 Nyingma masters featured in Sacred Voices

“The twenty-five years Sandra Scales has spent studying Tibetan Buddhism and living in cultures in which it has flourished has resulted in an unusual understanding and deep respect for this subject,” the publisher said in a statement. “By offering an intimate glimpse of the environments in which the teachings took place, her brief introductory essays take the reader on a wide ranging and delightful journey, from the Himalayas, to South America, and to Europe. The time devoted to photographing these lamas and compiling their teachings has culminated in a unique volume: a statement of beauty that evokes and preserves the illumined personal presence of these great masters for the benefit of current and future generations.”

The oldest of the four major schools of Vajrayana Buddhism, the Nyingma or “ancient school” has continued to thrive and grow from the time of Guru Padmasambhava to the present day. Sacred Voices shares the images and legacies of some of the greatest teachers of our generation and their spiritual heirs, many of whom have spent decades in study, meditative retreat, and as teachers, guiding future generations of Buddhists.

The new edition includes a chapter on Dungsey Thinley Norbu Rinpoche

Collectively, their teachings represent centuries of spiritual wisdom, founded in the realization of Shakyamuni Buddha, providing guidance to eliminate suffering and lead lives infused with love and compassion.

Royalties from the sale of the book will go toward saving the lives of animals slated to be slaughtered, as detailed in the included teaching from Chadral Sangye Dorje Rinpoche on the practice of life release as a simple, yet tangible and profound expression of Buddhist compassion.

Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche, one of the revered Nyingma
teachers included in Sacred Voices, with a copy of the new book