Synopsis A favorite of Tibetans and recommended by the Dalai Lama and other senior Buddhist teachers, this practical guide to inner transformation introduces the fundamental spiritual practices common to all Tibetan Buddhist traditions. The Words of My Perfect Teacher is the classical commentary on the preliminary practices of the Longchen Nyingtin--one of the best-known cycles of teachings and a spiritual treasure of the Nyingmapa school--the oldest Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Patrul Rinpoche makes the technicalities of his subject accessible through a wealth of stories, quotations, and references to everyday life. His style of mixing broad colloquialisms, stringent irony, and poetry has all the life and atmosphere of an oral teaching. Great care has been taken by the translators to render the precise meaning of the text in English while still reflecting the vigor and insight of the original Tibetan. A preface by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, insightful introductory essays, explanatory notes, and classic illustrations enhance this quintessential introduction to Tibetan Buddhist practice. This second, revised edition is the result of a further detailed and painstaking comparison of the original Tibetan text with the English translation, carried out by the Padmakara Translation Group's lamas and translators. While no major changes in meaning have been found necessary, this has allowed some of the more subtle details to be brought eyen closer to the original Tibetan without any loss of readability. The new edition also includes translations of a postface to the text written a century ago (for the first printed edition in Tibetan) by the first Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche, and a new preface by the late Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. The notes, glossary and bibliography have been expanded and updated, Sanskrit names and terminology have been given their proper transliterated form, and the illustrations have been improved in quality and supplemented with new material.