Advice from a Spiritual Friend
by Geshe Rabten & Geshe Dhargyey
translated and edited by Brian Beresford
Down-to-earth advice for cultivating happiness
LIKE WISE OLD FRIENDS, two Tibetan masters explain to us how we can fill our lives with loving kindness, compassion, and wisdom. By learning to respond to everyday difficulties with patience and joy, gradually changing our attitudes about ourselves and others, we can enjoy peace of mind in every situation.
Based on practical Buddhist verses of "thought transformation" composed centuries ago, this profound wisdom reaches out from every page to all types of people from all walks of life.
No matter what your spiritual orientation, you will appreciate and benefit, as will those around you, from this sage advice on how to develop the inner skills that lead to contentment and happiness.
~~ Based on Chekawa's Seven Points of Thought Transformation, these commentaries originated in 1973 and were among the first ever given to a small group of westerners in Dharamsala, India. Two Tibetan masters explain how to effect the process of transformation so that we learn to respond to everyday difficulties with patience and joy. Also contains Atisha's Jewel Rosary of an Awakening Warrior, Thought Transformation in Eight Stanzas by Langri Thangpa Dorje Senge and Chekawa's Seven Point Lojong with Tibetan Text. - THS
Advice from the Lotus-Born
A Collection of Padmasambhava's Advice to the Dakini Yeshe Tsogyal and other close disciples
translated by Erik Pema Kunsang, Marcia B. Schmidt & Kerry Moran, editors
"Don't mistake mere words to be the meaning of the teachings. Mingle the practice with your own being and attain liberation from samsara right now."
-Padmasambhava
Padmasambhava is the primary master of Vajrayana, the teachings for our time. Out of his great compassion and wisdom, he instructed his main disciple Yeshe Tsogyal to conceal terma treasures to be revealed at the destined time for future practitioners. The profundity of this advice is meant to be personally applied by all individuals in all circumstances. It is a classic work which contains valid truth for anyone who sincerely wants to follow a spiritual path.
"The chief compiler of Padmasambhava's teachings was Yeshe Tsogyal, an emanation of a female Buddha. There may be some people who believe that only men can attain enlightenment, but her life is proof to the opposite. The awakened state of mind is neither male or female."
-Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, from Introductory Teachings
~~ As Wisdom Dakini Yeshe Tsogyal said, "These teachings are the central advice of Padmasambhava, the great nirmanakaya master. They are words from his heart, meant to be personally practiced. Please keep this in mind!" Essential teachings from the Second Buddha, collected from various traditional sources. -THS
Ambedkar and Buddhism
by Sangharakshita
~ On the morning of 14 October 1956, at a mass rally in the Indian town of Nagpur, four hundred thousand men and women turned their backs on a millennium of degradation and slavery. Finally renouncing Hinduism, with its cruel system of 'graded inequality', they turned instead to Buddhism, in search of dignity, hope , and a path to self improvement. Over the coming months, Hindu India shook as hundreds of thousands more followed their example, and as the Buddha Dhamma came back to life in the land of its birth.
The man solely responsible for this historic revival was Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar; lawyer, politician, and educationalist; India's first Law Minister, chief architect of her Constitution - and lifelong champion of her downtrodden millions.
Born an 'Untouchable' in village India, where he was deemed unfit to drink water from public wells, or to sit with children from 'higher caste' families in the classroom, Ambedkar's entire career was to become nothing less than an outright challenge to the beliefs and conventions of his society.
Now, as that career neared its end, he was embarking on the most controversial and potentially revolutionary step of all, leading his people away from Hinduism to the 'promised land' of Buddhism...
Writer, teacher, and founder of a worldwide Buddhist movement, Sangharakshita is a leading figure in the modern Buddhist world. He knew Ambedkar personally, and has himself played an important part in the 'Mass Conversion Movement' that Ambedkar set in motion. In this book he explores the historical, religious, and social background to that movement, and assesses the considerable contribution made by Ambedkar to the spiritual tradition in which he placed his trust.
Ancient Wisdom
~~ Nyingma Teachings on Dream Yoga, Meditation, and Transformation
Includes texts by Lochen Dharma Shri, HH Dudjom Rinpoche & Jigme Tenpe Nyima
selected by the Venerable Gyatrul Rinpoche // translated by B. Alan Wallace & Sangye Khandro
Releasing Oneself from Essential Delusion by Lochen Dharma Shri
The Illumination of Primordial Wisdom by H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche
Transforming Felicity and Adversity into the Spiritual Path by Jigme Tenpe Nyima
Commentaries by Ven. Gyatrul Rinpoche
Root text translations by B. Alan Wallace
Commentary translations by Sangye Khandro
These traditional Nyingma texts were selected by Ven. Gyatrul Rinpoche for their relevance to the modern-day spiritual aspirant who must combine and balance quality practice time, work time and rest time in the course of a busy day.
Guidelines for formal sitting are presented from the dzogchen perspective in the teachings on quiescence meditation. Practices for bringing the experiences of daily life into the spiritual path are presented in the section on transformation. Finallyk, the teachings on dream yoga guide the practitioner in the conscious control of the dream state as well as the bardo state at the end of life.
Complementing each section is a dynamic and practical commentary by Ven. Gyatrul Rinpoche specially tailored to the needs of Western students. The result is an indispensable handbook for practitioners at all levels of experience.~~ Traditional Nyingma texts presenting guidelines for meditation from the Dzogchen perspective, how to make use of daily life experience between sessions and a chapter on dream yoga with great commentaries and a moving autobiographical story by the Ven. Gyatrul Rinpoche. -THS
Apparitions of the Self
~~ The secret autobiographies of a Tibetan Visionary
A Translation and Study of Jigme Lingpa's Dancing Moon in the Water and Dakki's Secret-Talk
by Janet Gyatso
~~ The best work in English on the life of Kunkhyen Jigme Lingpa (1730-1798), focussing on two autobiographies, Gyatso considers the works from the perspective of western literary theory while exploring Jigme Lingpa's historical milieu, the terton tradition, his revelatory visions and meditative practices. The book concludes with a look at the unsettling role of the dakini in Jigme Lingpa's writings.
Apparitions of the Self is a groundbreaking investigation into what is known in Tibetan as 'secret autobiography," an exceptional, rarely studied literary genre that presents a personal exploration of intimate religious experiences. In this volume, Janet Gyatso focuses on the outstanding pair of secret autobiographies by the famed Tibetan Buddhist visionary, Jigme Lingpa (1730-1798), whose poetic and self-conscious writings are as much about the nature of his own identity, memory, and the undecidabilities of autobiographical truth as they are narration's of the actual content of his experiences.
As It Is Volume 1
Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche
The teachings presented in As It Is, Volume I, are primarily selected from talks given by Kyabje Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, the Tibetan meditation master, in 1994 and 1995, during the last two years of his life. The emphasis in Volume I is on the development stage and practices associated with it.
"Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche's direct oral instructions inspired admiration,delight in practice, and deep trust and confidence in the teachings among tthose who met him. His words always helped their minds, in the sense that applying even some of his advice reduced disturbing emotions and naturally allowed compassion, love and insight to blossom. This was proven by the actual experience of many, many people."
Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche
"What we need to know is that our nature is an unconfined empty cognizance. Knowing this to be as it is is the mandala of the victorious ones - just as the buddhas know it to be."
Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche
As It Is Volume 2
Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche
The collection of teachings presented in As It Is, Volume II, is selected from talks given by the Tibetan Dzogchen master Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche between 1994 and 1995. The emphasis in Volume I was on the development stage practice; Volume II focuses primarily on the completion stage.
Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche was someone with extraordinary experience and realization, a fact known throughout the world. It is evident to everyone that he was unlike anyone else when it came to pointing out the nature of mind, and making sure that people both recognized it and had some actual experience.
Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche
Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche was an incredible master, one who was both learned and accomplished. The great masters of this time - the 16th Karmapa, Dudjom Rinpoche and Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche - all venerated him as one of their root gurus and a jewel in their crown ornament. He was someone who achieved the final realization of the Great Perfection.
Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche
In essence the three poisons are the three wisdoms. One needs to know what is, as it is. To be able to transform poison into medicine, you definitely need pith instructions. Through the pith instructions, the suffering of a sentient being can be transformed into wisdom. The Ati Yoga path means to possess the panacea, the universal remedy that can cure all diseases.
Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche
