“The Treasury of the Buddhist Sciences series stands out as one of the most important translation projects of the immense heritage of Indic religions and philosophies. This volume, with the English translation from Sanskrit and Tibetan of the fundamental Guhyasamajatantra and its pivotal commentary, the Pradipoddyottana, offers the reader another precious contribution of the series to the knowledge of Buddhist wisdom.”

– Giacomella Orofino, University of Naples

“The field of tantric studies is still in its infancy, with the large number of important works that remain unedited, untranslated, and unstudied. With this translation of the first twelve chapters of the Guhyasamaja Tantra with Chandrakirti’s commentary, Campbell and Thurman are casting a bright light on one of the most influential Buddhist tantras, as elucidated by Chandrakirti, one of the great Indian exegetes on this work. Campbell’s introduction nicely explicates the Buddhist hermeneutical project, while Thurman unveils a critique of Western misunderstandings of tantra and shows how Chandrakirti’s explanations can be a corrective. The translation is eloquent and seems very sound; the fruit of decades of intensive textual labor. I strongly recommend this volume for anyone interested in understanding the Buddhist tantras and their interpretation, and I look forward to the publication of the second volume.”

– David B. Gray, Santa Clara University

“This translation will be of great benefit to everyone intent on delving into the theory and practice of this tantric cycle as well as into the principles of the ground and path of the Vajrayana in general. The extensive introductions by Campbell and Thurman contextualize the Guhyasamaja and Candrakirti’s commentary from broader historical and doctrinal perspectives and challenge some of the persisting, bias-based, interpretative approaches to the Vajrayana.”

– Vesna Wallace, University of California, Santa Barbara