At the end of the previous kalpa, when the world was engulfed by flood, one thousand golden lotuses arose from the great ocean. Beings residing in the heavens, seeing this auspicious sign, understood it as a harbingher of the thousand Buddhas who would brighten the coming aeon. This kalps would be known as the Fortunate Aeon, a time when thousands of generations would have the opportunity to free themselves from all forms of suffering.

The Bhadrakalpa is our present aeon, and Sakyamuni, the Buddha of our present age, is the fourth of the one thousand Buddhas. Appearing in India twenty-five centuries ago, the Buddha taught the Dharma for nearly five decades. Through hjis teachings on stupas and images he presented the body of the Buddha; through the Sutras he communicated the sound of enlightened knowledge, the Buddha's speech; through his own awakened awareness he transmitted the receptacle of the inner light of Bodhicitta, the mind established in the enlightened view. Thus he revealed the path that purifies and transforms body, speech and mind.

Among the teachings given by Sakyamuni Buddha is the Bhadrakalpika Sutra, a celebration of the great procession of Buddhas who will appear in the world. In its teaching it reveals the inner heart of liberation and the path followed by all who aspire to become Buddhas. Focusing on the nature of the fully enlightened Buddha, The Bhadrakalpika Sutra sets forth teachings on the ten strengths, the samadhi that develops these strengths, anmd the perfections that are the gateway to this samadhi.

Reacing, reciting and listening to the Bhadrakalipika Sutra invokes the blessings of all the Buddhas whose coming it heralds; thus the Bhadrakalpika has always been counted among the most auspicious of texts. So important has this work been considered in Tibet, that the original compilers of the Tibetan Buddhist Canon placed the Bhadrakilpika first in the general Sutra section, immediately preceding the Lalitavistara Sutra, the detailed account of the life and teachings of the Buddha akyamuni.

In light of the special place occupied by the Bhadrakalpika Sutra in the Tibetan Buddhist Canon and the power and blessings of its teachings, we felt it would be auspicious to offer a translation of this work for Western readers. This is one of the first of the publications to come forth from the Yeshe De Buddhist Research and Translation Project, established in 1983.