Visionary Journey
- The Story of the Wildwood Delights
- The Story of the Mount Potala Delights
— by Longchenpa
Translated and annotated by Herbert V. Guenther
These are two poems - Longchenpa calls them stories, or narratives - that well illustrate his poetic vision and skill.
Wildwood Delights is written in the form of a self-addressed letter that is both an exhortation and a farewell message. The poem itself is based on the antithesis o f the sordidness of worldly existence, with its restlessness, greed, and widespread depravity, and the beauty of the wildwood, with its quietude instilling a feeling of contentedness and inner calm.
Mount Potala Delights is a literary work of art whose meticulous composition in prose alternating with verse loses nothing of the spontaneity of its original conception. Its theme is the quintessence of Buddhism, the visionary experience of Being's dynamic nothingness/openness reaching into our existence as superlative compassion. Compassion is neither directed against nor contradicts Being's nothingness/openness, but is its highest expression.
— From the book's introduction
