Atisha S Lamp For The Path To Enlightenment

The famous source of the graduated teachings on the path to enlightenment found in all schools of Tibetan Buddhism

Atisha Dimpamkara’s Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment (བྱང་ཆུབ་ལམ་སྒྲོན་གྱི་འགྲེལ་པ་སྣང་བ་རབ་གསལ།) is a foundational text of the Kadampa school and a classic of Tibetan Buddhism revered by all the lineages. It presents a brief overview of the entire Buddhist path of both sutra and tantra practice. Here it is presented in a new translation along with a commentary by Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Thaye that explains its main points clearly, concisely, and completely.

About one thousand years ago, the great Indian pandit and yogi, Dipamkara Shrijnana (Atisha), was invited to Tibet to re-establish the Buddhadharma, which had been suppressed and corrupted for almost two centuries. One of Atisha's main accomplishments in Tibet was his writing of the seminal text, A Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment, in which he extracted the essence of all 84,000 teachings of the Buddha and organized them into a clear, step-like arrangement that makes it easy for any individual practitioner to understand and practice the Dharma. This genre of teachings is known as lam-rim, or steps of the path, and forms an essential part of every school of Tibetan Buddhism. In this book, His Holiness the Dalai Lama gives a commentary to not only Atisha's revolutionary work but also to Lines of Experience, a short text written by Lama Tsongkhapa, who was perhaps the greatest of all Tibetan lam-rim authors. In bringing together Atisha, Lama Tsongkhapa and His Holiness the Dalai Lama, this book offers readers one of the clearest and most authoritative expositions of the Tibetan Buddhist path ever published, and it is recommended for those at the beginning of the path, the middle and the end. This book is made possible by kind supporters of the Archive who, like you, appreciate how we make these teachings freely available in so many ways, including in our website for instant reading, listening or downloading, and as printed and electronic books. Our website offers immediate access to thousands of pages of teachings and hundreds of audio recordings by some of the greatest lamas of our time. Our photo gallery and our ever-popular books are also freely accessible there. Please help us increase our efforts to spread the Dharma for the happiness and benefit of all beings. You can find out more about becoming a supporter of the Archive and see all we have to offer by visiting our website. Thank you so much, and please enjoy this book.

The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment (Tib. Lam rim chen mo) is one of the brightest jewels in the world’s treasury of sacred literature. The author, Tsong-kha-pa, completed it in 1402, and it soon became one of the most renowned works of spiritual practice and philosophy in the world of Tibetan Buddhism. Because it condenses all the exoteric sūtra scriptures into a meditation manual that is easy to understand, scholars and practitioners rely on its authoritative presentation as a gateway that leads to a full understanding of the Buddha’s teachings. Tsong-kha-pa took great pains to base his insights on classical Indian Buddhist literature, illustrating his points with classical citations as well as with sayings of the masters of the earlier Kadampa tradition. In this way the text demonstrates clearly how Tibetan Buddhism carefully preserved and developed the Indian Buddhist traditions. This first of three volumes covers all the practices that are prerequisite for developing the spirit of enlightenment (bodhicitta).

These translations of the 11th century Tibetan texts of Atisa open important charismatic documents for the general reader of Buddhism.Although these texts have been acknowledged for centuries as the source and inspiration of the Dge- lugs-pa and Bka?-gdams-pa monastic orders? in Tibet and Central Asia,the writings of Atisa have only recently found more interest among Western scholars. The Lamp for the Path and its Commentary were translated and published in 1983 by Richard Sherburne,and are included in this book,but newly added are his translations of the Twenty-five Key Texts authored by Atisa himself.The Key Texts are found in the Tibetan Tengyur in a collection called the The Hundred Root Texts (rtsa brgya )which were preserved by Atisa s followers as fundamental for a proper study of Buddhist theory and practice.

How do we free ourselves from the demon of self-concern? These instructions are found in Eight Verses for Training the Mind, one of the most important texts from a genre of Tibetan spiritual writings known as lojong (literally "mind training"). The root text was written by the eleventh-century meditator Langritangpa. His Holiness the Dalai Lama refers to this work as one of the main sources of his own inspiration and includes it in his daily meditations.

Introduction and Encouragement This eBook Modern Buddhism – The Path of Compassion and Wisdom, in three volumes, is being distributed freely at the request of the author Geshe Kelsang Gyatso. The author says: “Through reading and practicing the instructions given in this book, people can solve their daily problems and maintain a happy mind all the time.” So that these benefits can pervade the whole world, Geshe Kelsang wishes to give this eBook freely to everyone. We would like to request you to please respect this precious Dharma book, which functions to free living beings from suffering permanently. If you continually read and practice the advice in this book, eventually your problems caused by anger, attachment and ignorance will cease. Volume 2 Tantra explains how to practise Buddha’s profound Tantric teachings – the quick path to enlightenment. Covering topics such as The Preciousness of Tantra, The Tantra of Generation Stage and Completion Stage, and How to Meditate on the Central Channel, Indestructible Drop and Indestructible Wind and Mind, this volume shows how, through sincere practice, we can fulfil our compassionate wish and attain full enlightenment in this life. Please enjoy this special gift from Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, who dedicates: “May everyone who reads this book experience deep peace of mind, and accomplish the real meaning of human life.” With best wishes, Manuel Rivero-De Martine Tharpa Publications, UK Tharpa Director [email protected]

A former abbot of one of the largest Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in the world, Khensur Jampa Tegchok has been teaching Westerners about Buddhism since the 1970s. With a deep respect for the intellectual capacity of his Western students, Khensur Tegchok here unpacks with great erudition Buddhism's animating philosophical principle--the emptiness of all appearances. Instead of commenting on a text or relying on a traditional framework, Insight into Emptiness uses accessible language specifically tailored to the Western mind. Engagingly edited by bestselling author Thubten Chodron, emptiness is here approached from a host of angles far beyond most treatments of the subject, while never sacrificing its conversational approach.