Madhyamaka Guides

Indian Mahayana Masters of the 2nd-8th Centuries

Indian Mahayana Masters of the 2nd-8th Centuries

The Indian Masters Learn More Reader Guides to the Indian masters especially Important to Tibetan Buddhism See Also:  Profiles of early Indian Mahayana figures | Tibetan Masters of the 8th Century | Tibetan Masters of the 10th-11th Centuries Indian Mahayana Masters from the 2nd-8th Centuries The Tibetan traditions all look back to India as the [...]
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Khenpo Tsültrim Gyamtso: A Guide for Readers

Khenpo Tsültrim Gyamtso: A Guide for Readers

Khenpo Tsültrim Gyamtso: A Guide for Readers Khenpo Tsültrim Gyamtso Rinpoche is a Tibetan Buddhist teacher in the Kagyu tradition. Born to a nomad family in Ngangchen, Kham (the eastern region of Tibet), Khenpo Tsültrim began his training under Lama Zopa Tarchin at an early age. He later attended intensive retreats and continued his training [...]
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A Reader’s Guide to Madhyamaka

A Reader’s Guide to Madhyamaka

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 [...]
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Taranatha: A Guide for Readers

Taranatha: A Guide for Readers

Related Reader's Guides Related Tibetan Lineages: Jonang | Shangpa Kagyu | Kagyu Guides to Other Important Tibetan Buddhist Figures: Jamgon Kongtrul | Longchenpa | Tsongkhapa | Jigme Lingpa | Patrul Rinpoche Jetsün Taranatha, Kunga Nyingpo (1575-1634) Portrait of Taranatha, courtesy of the Jonang Foundation Jetsun Taranatha (1575-1634), also known as Kungpa Nyingpo, was a great [...]
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Nagarjuna: A Reader’s Guide

Nagarjuna: A Reader’s Guide

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 […]

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Free Downloads from The Core Teachings of the Dalai Lama Series

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 [...]
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Tsongkhapa: A Guide to His Life and Works

Tsongkhapa: A Guide to His Life and Works

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 Emphasis of the Gelug Tradition in Western Scholarship on Madhyamaka

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 [...]
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The Thirteen Core Indian Buddhist Texts: A Reader’s Guide

The Thirteen Core Indian Buddhist Texts: A Reader’s Guide

Khenpo Shenga (1871–1927) There are thirteen classics of Indian Mahayana philosophy, still used in Tibetan centers of education throughout Asia and beyond, particularly the Nyngma tradition, with overlap with the others.  They cover the subjects of vinaya, abhidharma, Yogacara, Madhyamika, and the path of the Bodhisattva.  They are some of the most frequently quoted texts [...]
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The Seventeen Panditas of Indian Buddhism

The Seventeen Panditas of Indian Buddhism

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: A Reader’s Guide

Aryadeva: A Reader’s Guide

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

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 [...]
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Jamgon Mipham Rinpoche: A Reader’s Guide

Jamgon Mipham Rinpoche: A Reader’s Guide

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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His Holiness the Dalai Lama: A Guide for Readers

His Holiness the Dalai Lama: A Guide for Readers

His Holiness the Dalai Lama Learn More We publish over two dozen books by His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama. See also: Tsongkhapa: A Guide to His Life and Works | Kalachakra Tantra Reader Guide | Works by the Dalai Lamas | Readers Guide to His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama Other Tibetan Buddhist Traditions: [...]
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The Five Maitreya Texts: The “Zip Files” of the Mahāyāna

The Five Maitreya Texts: The “Zip Files” of the Mahāyāna

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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Nagarjuna as Described by Buton

Nagarjuna as Described by Buton

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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