The Vajrakīlaya Sections of the New Edited Collection of Pema Lingpa's Collected Works

Abstract

In the 1970s, the Bhutanese Royal family asked Dudjom Rinpoche to take charge of the editorial work on a new edition of Pema Lingpa's Collected Works. Here, the Vajrakīlaya volume of that collection is examined, and compared and contrasted with the other available versions of these texts. Three sample passages are chosen for detailed analysis. It would seem in these sections that the editorial team depended heavily on one of the transmitted lines, and in parts, incorporated errors which could not have been checked by more knowledgable editors. It may be that Dudjom Rinpoche's involvement in the editorial decision-making process was limited.