A Garland of Jewels: The Eight Great Bodhisattvas (བྱང་སེམས་ཉེ་སྲས་བརྒྱད་ཀྱི་རྟོགས་བརྗོད་ནོར་བུའི་ཕྲེང་བ།) is a collection of stories about the eight great bodhisattvas. These stories are all taken from sutras and tantras taught by the Buddha, such as the Avatamsaka and the Lotus Sutras. They were collected and edited by the great Buddhist teacher Mipham Namgyal (1846-1912). Mipham was one of the greatest teachers in Tibet of his time, and his writings remain the basis for much of the study conducted by his own tradition, the Nyingma school of Buddhism, and by other traditions such as the Karma Kagyu.

This account of the Buddha’s great regents, the eight bodhisattvas, the eight great heart-sons, was composed by Jamgon Mipham Rinpoche. He was Manjushri appearing in our decadent age as a human spiritual friend. Lama Yeshe has translated it into English and others have worked together to publish it. I rejoice in this from the depths of my heart. May all who read this book achieve liberation and omniscience. – WRITTEN WITH RESPECT BY KARTHAR, WHO IS CALLED “KHENPO.”

Calligraphy by Chojor Radha
Illustrations by Wendy Harding