Gateway to Knowledge #04: Gateway to Knowledge, Volume IV: The Treatise Entitled the Gate for Entering the Way of a Pandita

The Gateway to Knowledge is a condensation of the Tripitaka (the traditional term used to describe Buddhist canons of scriptures) and its accompanying commentaries by the Tibetan Buddhist master Jamgön Mipham Rinpoche.

Consolidating the intent of the historical Buddha Shakyamuni's teachings into a unified body of textbooks, Jamgön Mipham Rinpoche elucidates the philosophical backbone of the living tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. This rich source book embodies the basics of Prajnaparamita and Madhyamika as well as the Abhidharma from both Mahayana ("greater vehicle") and Hinayana ("lesser vehicle") perspectives.

Every volume in this series includes the Tibetan text and the English translation on facing pages, permitting side-by-side textual study. Volume 4 elucidates "The Four Seals of the Dharma" (all conditioned things are impermanent, everything defiling is suffering, nirvana is peace, and all phenomena are empty and devoid of self-entity). It also includes the four right discriminations (meaning, Dharma, definitive words, and ready speech) as well as the four reasonings that have been taught in the sutras (the principle of efficacy, the principle of dependence, the principle of reality, and the principle of valid proof) and the four reliances (do not rely on the individual, but on the Dharma; do not rely on the words, but on the meaning; do not rely on the provisional meaning, but on the definitive meaning; and do not rely on the ordinary mind, but rely on wisdom).

Jamgön Mipham Rinpoche (1846-1912) was a student of Jamgön Kongtrul, Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, and Paltrul Rinpoche; he was blessed by Manjushri, the full accomplished Buddha of wisdom. His work is an exceptional treasure of wisdom, compassion, and scholarship. Mipham Rinpoche became one of the greatest scholars of his time and his collected works fill more than thirty volumes. His chief disciple was Shechen Gyaltsab Pema Namgyal.