H.H. the Fourteenth Dalai Lama

A new edition of a Buddhist classic, an accessible introduction to the stages of the path (lamrim)--including 14 hours of downloadable audio meditations. The Stages of the Path, or lamrim, presentation of Buddhist teachings (a step-by-step method to tame the mind) is a core topic of Buddhist study. The lamrim meditations remind us that the process of transforming the mind, unlike so much of our frantic modern society, is a slow and thoughtful one. Best-selling author and Buddhist teacher Thubten Chodron here provides clear explanations of the stages of the path, as well as an accompanying downloadable audio program containing over fourteen hours of guided meditations on each of the topics covered in the text. Chodron discusses how to establish a daily practice and presents the meditations in detail, followed by advice for newcomers, instructions for working with distractions, antidotes to mental afflictions, and suggestions on how to deepen Dharma practice. Each practitioner will find meaning and insight according to their own skill level.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama illuminates the highly practical and compassionate use of Tantra for spiritual development in this important classic work. Deity Yoga is the second volume in The Great Exposition of Secret Mantra series in which the Dalai Lama offers illuminating commentary on Tsongkhapa's seminal text on Buddhist tantra. It is preceded by Volume 1: Tantra in Tibet and followed by Volume 3: Yoga Tantra. This revised work describes the profound process of meditation in Action (kriyā) and Performance (caryā) Tantras. Invaluable for anyone who is practicing or is interested in Buddhist tantra, this volume includes a lucid exposition of the meditative techniques of deity yoga from H.H. the Dalai Lama; the second and third chapters of the classic Great Exposition of Secret Mantra text; and a supplement by Jeffrey Hopkins outlining the structure of Action Tantra practices as well as the need for the development of special yogic powers.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama illuminates the highly practical and compassionate use of Tantra for spiritual development in this important classic work. Yoga Tantra is the third volume in The Great Exposition of Secret Mantra series in which the Dalai Lama offers illuminating commentary on Tsongkhapa's seminal text on Buddhist tantra. It is preceded by Volume I: Tantra in Tibet and Volume II: Deity Yoga. This work opens with His Holiness the Dalai Lama presenting the key features of Yoga Tantra then continues with Tsongkhapa's section of the main text focusing on this class of tantra. This is followed by an overview of the central practices of the five manifest enlightenments and the four seals written by Khaydrub Je (Khaydrub Geleg Palsang), one of Tsongkhapa's main students and the first in the line of Panchen Lamas. Jeffrey Hopkins concludes the volume with an outline of the steps of Yoga Tantra practice, which is drawn from the Dalai Lama's, Tsongkhapa's, and Khaydrub Je's explanations.

A complete translation of Asanga's classic work on the distinguishing qualities of bodhisattvas that describes how to awaken, develop, and perfect the mind of enlightenment in the Great Vehicle, or Mahayana, Buddhist tradition. Arya Asanga, famous for having been the conduit through which the teachings contained in the Five Texts of Maitreya were received and recorded, is also considered to be the author in his own right of several other foundational works of Yogācāra philosophy. One of these, considered the definitive text of the Yogācāra school of Buddhism, is the encyclopedic synthesis of Mahayana Buddhist doctrines and practices known as the Yogācārabhūmi, or "Stages of Spiritual Practice." The Bodhisattvabhūmi, or "Stages of the Bodhisattva Path," is one portion of that massive work, though it is considered a stand-alone text in the Tibetan traditions--for example, it is counted among the six core texts of the Kadampas. However, despite the text's centrality to the Yogācāra school and its seminal importance in the Tibetan traditions, it has remained unavailable in English except in piecemeal translations; Engle's translation will therefore be especially welcomed by scholars and students alike.

This book is a translation of the first part of Jigme Lingpa's Treasury of Precious Qualities, which in a slender volume of elegant verses sets out briefly but comprehensively the Buddhist path according to the Nyingma school. The concision of the root text and its use of elaborate poetic language, rich in metaphor, require extensive explanation, amply supplied here by the commentary of Kangyur Rinpoche. The present volume lays out the teachings of the sutras in gradual stages according to the traditional three levels, or scopes, of spiritual endeavor. It begins with essential teachings on impermanence, karma, and ethics. Then, from the Hinayana standpoint, it describes the essential Buddhist teachings of the four noble truths and the twelve links of dependent arising. Moving on, finally, to the Mahayana perspective, it expounds fully the teachings on bodhichitta and the path of the six paramitas, and gives an unusually detailed exposition of Buddhist vows. The paperback edition includes Jigme Lingpa's root text in verse, which was not included in the hardcover edition.

Mahamudra and Dzogchen are perhaps the most profound teachings within all of Tibetan Buddhism. The experience of Mahamudra, or "great symbol," is an overwhelming sense of extraordinary clarity, totally open and nondualistic. Dzogchen, or "great perfection," is the ultimate teaching according to the Nyingma tradition and also represents the pinnacle of spiritual development. These are the two paths that provide practitioners with the most skillful means to experience the fully awakened state and directly taste the reality of our mind and environment. And yet these concepts are notoriously difficult to grasp and challenging to explain. In Wild Awakening, Tibetan Buddhist master Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche presents these esoteric teachings in a style that reveals their surprising simplicity and great practical value, emphasizing that we can all experience our world more directly, with responsibility, freedom, and confidence. With a straightforward approach and informal style, he presents these essential teachings in a way that even those very new to Tibetan Buddhism can understand.

The Dalai Lama discusses Buddhist doctrine covering such topics as reincarnation, psychology, meditation, compassion, and Buddhism in the West.