Buddhist Philosophy Guides
Asanga Learn More A Reader's Guide to the great 4th century Indian master Asanga and Yogacara: A Guide for Readers See Also: Profiles of early Indian Mahayana figures | Tibetan Masters of the 8th Century | Tibetan Masters of the 10th-11th Centuries Nagarjuna | Aryadeva | Asanga | Shantideva | Xuanzang | The Seventeen Pandits [...]
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A Reader's Guide to Madhyamaka A Reader's Guide to Madhyamaka (The Middle Way) Madhyamaka (Sanskrit) or Uma (Tibetan) is a system of Buddhist thought first articulated by the 2nd century Indian Buddhist master Nāgārjuna and elucidated further by subsequent Indian and Tibetan masters such as Chandrakirti, Shantideva, Aryadeva, Longchenpa, and Tsongkhapa, to name a few. The premise [...]
Continue Reading >> Fostering Spiritual Kinship Reflections from Pamela Ayo Yetunde, author of Casting Indra’s Net For all the wonderful things people think Buddhism is about, I believe Buddhist practitioners remain under-resourced when it comes to interfaith (and by this I also mean interreligious) leadership and dialogue. Many things are said about Buddhism: it’s a world religion, it’s [...]
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Thinley Norbu Rinpoche: A Guide for Readers
The Small Golden Key: To the Treasure of the Various Essential Necessities of General and Extraordinary Buddhist Dharma On this short book, Rinpoche wrote, “The Small Golden Key , which I wrote in Honolulu, is predominantly very compact. In it, I hastily synthesized the essence of different Dharma ideas according to the three yanas.” Here Rinpoche […]
The Treasury of Knowledge Learn More A guide to ten volumes of the Sheja Kun La Khyabpé Dzö, or Treasury of Knowledge, one of Jamgon Kongtrul's masterpieces covering the entire path of Vajrayana. Image: Tsadra Rinchen Drak, where Kongtrul spent many years in retreat Explore the Treasury of Knowledge > Home Page of the Work [...]
Continue Reading >> Relationships as a Spiritual Practice A Q&A with David Richo, author of How to Be an Adult in Relationships What does it mean to be an “adult” in relationships? Firstly, what does it mean to be an “adult?” To be an adult is to learn to play for ourselves the roles the functional family was [...]
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Tibetan Buddhism in 2021 Read More We published many books of interest from the Vajrayana traditions of Tibet, Bhutan, and the Indian Himalayas See our other Year in Review Guides: Theravada/Pali/Insight | Chan, Zen, Mahayana | Tibetan Buddhism Receive a 30% discount on these titles through January 2nd using code 2021YE at checkout We are [...]
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Straight from the Heart: Buddhist Piith Instructions Translated and introduced by Karl Brunnholzl Three other praises of Nagarjuna’s are included in the collection Straight from the Heart, also translated and introduced by Karl Brunnhölzl</a>. Interestingly, in these praises, Nagarjuna often refers to buddhahood in positive terms, in contrast to much of his other work, which […]
Preserving Tibetan Culture and Cultivating a Good Heart An excerpt from Voices from Larung Gar. Introduction by Holly Gayley In his seminal work of advice, Heart Advice to Tibetans for the Twenty-First Century (composed in 1995), the renowned Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok articulates a path forward for Tibetans as a nationality. His vision of progress entails [...]
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Taoist Influences on Ch’an Meditation An Excerpt from China Root Ch’an practice was not simply about cultivating an abstract understanding of Taoist ontology/cosmology and the nature of consciousness; it was about actually living that understanding as a matter of immediate experience. And at the center of Ch’an practice was meditation. Indeed, Ch’an (禪), a transliteration [...]
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Free Downloads from The Core Teachings of the Dalai Lama Series
Sign up for a week of essential teachings from His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama ENTER YOUR EMAIL TO RECEIVE A WEEK OF DAILY READINGS FROM THE CORE TEACHINGS OF THE DALAI LAMA SERIES. From proper posture in sitting meditation to discussion of past lives to the importance of the Three Jewels, these readings cover [...]
Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche & Pema Chödrön in Conversation | Free Video Offering
Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche and Pema Chödrön Discuss the Innate Tenderness of Our Hearts ENTER YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS TO ACCESS THE COMPLETE VIDEO INTERVIEW. In this interview, Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche sits down with Pema Chödrön to discuss his book, Training in Tenderness, cultivating compassion, and the innate tenderness of our hearts known as tsewa. After entering [...]
Harmonies with Enlightenment An excerpt from Our Human Potential Thirty-Seven Harmonies with Enlightenment Four establishments in mindfulness The thirty-seven harmonies with enlightenment are essential ingredients of the path. They are divided into seven sets, the first of which is comprised of the four establishments in mindfulness. These are the establishments in mindfulness of body, feeling, [...]
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Teaching the Dharma | An Excerpt from A Feast of the Nectar of the Supreme Vehicle
Investigating the Dharma 1. Showing Why It Is Worth Teaching Others the Dharma Unstintingly When bodhisattvas thoroughly investigating the Dharma have received the teachings and gained unmistaken realization of them, they explain them unstintingly to sentient beings and thereby complete their own transcendent perfections and bring other sentient beings to maturity. There is no better [...]
The Fruit of Tenderness | An Excerpt from Training in Tenderness
Benefiting Others When we carefully and diligently water our seed of tsewa, applying all the wisdom and skillful means we can gather, that seed will eventually grow into a magnificent tree bearing abundant fruit. This is the third metaphor in Chandrakirti’s homage to the tender heart. The fruit manifests as an ever-increasing desire and ability [...]
Tsongkhapa Learn More A Reader's Guide to one of Tibet's most important figures Ganden Monastery, founded by Tsongkhapa Related Reader Guides: Profiles of early Indian Mahayana figures | Lives of the Masters Series | Atisha | Aryadeva The Kadam Tradition | The Gelug Tradition | Madhyamaka Milarepa | His Holiness the Dalai Lama The Life of Tsongkhapa [...]
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The Approach and Intent of Zen | An Excerpt from The Rinzai Zen Way
Understanding the Rinzai Zen Way Studying Zen, one rides all vehicles of Buddhism; practicing Zen, one attains awakening in a single lifetime. —Eisai [From a teisho given in February 2012] In speaking with many beginning Zen students, it seems apparent that although they may be familiar with some of the methods of Zen practice, [...]
Life and Reality People often say that they are looking for Reality and that they are trying to live. I wonder what that means? Some time ago a group of people were sitting in a restaurant, and one of them asked the others to say what they meant by Reality. There was much vague discussion, [...]
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Visitation-Land Dog Nature | An Excerpt from No-Gate Gateway
A Dog Too Has Buddha-Nature A monk asked Master Visitation-Land: “A dog too has Buddha-nature, no?” “Absence,” Land replied. No-Gate’s Comment To penetrate the depths of Ch’an, you must pass through the gateway of our ancestral patriarchs. And to fathom the mysteries of enlightenment, you must cut off the mind-road completely. If you don’t pass [...]
The Emphasis of the Gelug Tradition in Western Scholarship on Madhyamaka
While its no longer true in many universities, the presentation of Tibetan Buddhism in western academia—and the books that came out of it—was heavily skewed towards the Gelug philosophical view and its traditions. There are various reasons for this, but the following from the Translator's Introduction of the Padmakara Translation Group's The Wisdom Chapter: Jamgön [...]
Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Thaye A Guide for Readers Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Taye (1813–1900) was a versatile and prolific scholar and one of the most outstanding writers and teachers of his time in Tibet. He was a pivotal figure in eastern Tibet’s nonsectarian movement and made major contributions to education, politics, and medicine. Jump to: Books [...]
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We were very pleased to host a talk with Khenpo Jamyang of Larung Gar in Golok on Monday, April 18th, 2016 who discussed the Kagyu curriculum at the largest center of Buddhist study and practice in the world. Below is a list of the texts that Khenpo discussed and the available English translations. Most of [...]
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Image from http://www.rigpashedra.org/ His Holiness the Dalai Lama has often said that Tibetan Buddhism is none other than the Buddhism of India in the tradition of Nalanda, the great center of Buddhist learning that was located in present-day Bihar, India. Many of the greatest masters and scholars in Indian Buddhism resided-and often presided-at this [...]
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Aryadeva Learn More A Reader's Guide to Nagarjuna's disciple See Also: Profiles of early Indian Mahayana figures | Tibetan Masters of the 8th Century | Tibetan Masters of the 10th-11th Centuries Nagarjuna | Aryadeva | Asanga | Shantideva | Xuanzang | The Seventeen Pandits of Nalanda Mahayana Buddhist philosophy This article for the Great Masters [...]
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Translating the Maitreya Treatises: An Interview with Thomas Doctor
We recently interviewed Thomas Doctor, a translator on the Dharmachakra Translation Committee, about the importance of their recent translations of the Maitreya texts and commentaries. Shambhala Publications: The Dharmachakra Translation Committee has now published two of the five Maitreya texts, with a third on the way soon. Can you give a brief overview of why [...]
Mipham Rinpoche A Guide to His Works Related Topics Nyingma Lineages: Dudjom Tersar | Longchen Nyingtig | Namcho & Palyul Nyingma Masters: Rongzompa | Longchenpa | Jigme Lingpa | Patrul Rinpoche | Mipham Rinpoche Jamgön Mipham Rinpoche (1846-1912) Mipham Rinpoche is a celebrated Nyingma scholar and practitioner. He is revered for being a prolific writer and [...]
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by Karl Brunnhölzl The five works that the Tibetan tradition ascribes to Maitreya resemble zip files that contain all the profound and vast topics of the Buddhist teachings. In their traditional order: The Ornament of Clear Realization comments on the emptiness taught in the Prajnaparamita Sutras and on what happens in the minds of bodhisattvas [...]
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From Butön's History of Buddhism in India and Its Spread to Tibet Four hundred years after the Buddha passed away, in the southern country of Vidarbha, there lived a prosperous Brahmin who was childless. In a dream, gods foretold that if he invited one hundred Brahmins to a religious festival, a son would be born [...]
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The History of the Treasury of Precious Instructions The following excerpt on The Treasury of Precious Instructions is from Ringu Tulku’s The Ri-me Philosophy of Jamgön Kongtrul the Great. This excerpt is part of the Guide to The Treasury of Precious Instructions Use the navigation menu above to explore each page and discover this truly remarkable and [...]
Continue Reading >> Larung Gar’s Kagyu Curriculum: A Talk by Khenpo Karma Jamyang Gyaltsen
Shambhala Publications, the Tsadra Foundation, and the Tibet Himalaya Initiative at the University of Colorado were pleased to present this talk by Khenpo Karma Jamyang Gyaltsen on the Kagyu curriculum of Buddhist study and practice in Tibet’s largest center for monastic and lay study and practice. Khenpo Jamyang is a senior teacher at the Larung [...]
By Chensiyuan (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons About Larung Gar Larung Gar, or “The Encampment of the Larung Valley”, is a magical, incredible place. Located in the remote high-altitude grasslands in the region of Golok in the far east of Tibet, outside of the Chinese demarcated Tibetan Autonomous Region in the province [...]
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