Synopses & Reviews
Practicing the Path is a complete commentary on Tibetan Buddhism's Lamrim Chenmo in a single volume. Yangsi Rinpoche, a thirty-something tulku who has spent the last several years in Madison, Wisconsin, gave these teachings to a group of Western students over a month-long period a few years ago in Dharamsala, India. While having the full training of a Tibetan scholar, Rinpoche uses Western metaphors and demonstrates an appreciation for the Western mind. The text is particularly well edited and is a pleasure to read, and will be an excellent resource for those studying and meditating on the lamrim, the steps on the path to enlightenment. The Lamrim Chenmo is a comprehensive overview of the entire path to enlightenment, superimposing the essential principles of renunciation, bodhicitta, and the pure view of emptiness. It is unique in combining scriptural authority and perfect logic in order to clarify all doubts on the path. The author's deep knowledge of the traditional teachings and his ability to elucidate them in contemporary language and form provide a unique opportunity for readers to refine their understanding and develop their practice.
Review
"The Lamrim Chenmo is one of the great classics of Tibetan literature. This contemporary commentary by an erudite, younger scholar of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition brings Tsong kha pa's work to life. Readable, accessible and to the point, Yangsi Rinpoche's book eloquently shows us the relevance of the lam rim to our day-to-day lives. To resort to a Tibetan image, it brings this great classical tradition 'into the very palms of our hands.'
Review
"Western students will welcome Geshe Sopa's Steps on the Path to Enlightenment and Yangsi Rinpoche's Practicing the Path They will serve their readers as indispensable companions to Tsongkhapa's elegant and elaborate Great Exposition on the Stages of the Path, without which the entry into a text of such rigorous thoroughness may seem overwhelming. Students newer to the endeavor will receive a wonderful education from reliable guides. All of us will find our attention focused upon matters of importance."
Synopsis
The Lamrim Chenmo is a vast Tibetan Buddhist teaching on the path to enlightenment. Yangsi Rinpoche's commentary serves as the best available introduction to the text. The author has the advantage of deep knowledge of the traditional teachings combined with long experience of communicating these teachings to Westerners, and the result is a book that will be the standard on its subject for years to come.
Synopsis
Sales Handles: The author has the advantage of deep knowledge of the traditional teachings combined with long experience of communicating these teachings to Westerners, and the result is a book that will be the standard on its subject for years to come. Audience: Beginning to advanced practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism. Students and academics in the fields of Eastern religion and Eastern philosophy.
Synopsis
The Lamrim Chenmo, or Great Treatise on the Steps of the Path, by Je Tsongkhapa is a comprehensive overview of the process of individual enlightenment. Meditation on these steps has been a core practice of Tibetan Buddhists for centuries. The Lamrim Chenmo presents the Buddha's teachings along a continuum of three spiritual attitudes: the person who worries about rebirth, the person who wants to escape rebirth, and finally the person who strives for buddhahood in order to relieve the suffering of all beings--this is the supreme aspiration of the bodhisattva. Given over two months to a group of Western Students in Dharamsala, India, Yangsi Rinpoche's commentary revitalizes our understanding of Tsongkhapa's work, giving readers renewed inspiration.
About the Author
Yangsi Rinpoche was born in Kathmandu, Nepal in 1968 and recognized as a reincarnate tulku at age six. At the age of ten, he entered Sera Je Monastery in South India, and in 1995 graduated with the highest degree of Geshe Lharampa. In 1998, Rinpoche came to America, where he lived and taught for several years at Deer Park Buddhist Center near Madison, Wisconsin. He now lives in Portland, Oregon, where he is president and professor of Buddhist Studies at Maitripa College, a Buddhist institute of higher education.Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche is the Spiritual Director of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), a worldwide network of Buddhist centers, monasteries, and affiliated projects, including Wisdom Publications. Rinpoche was born in 1946 in the village of Thami in the Solo Khumbu region of Nepal near Mount Everest. His books include Transforming Problems into Happiness, How to Be Happy, and Ultimate Healing. He lives in Aptos, California.Venerable Tsen-la is a nun in the Gelug tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. Born in Lhasa, she grew up in Kathmandu, Nepal, and was ordained there in 1979 by Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. She has acted as translator for many Buddhist lamas, led meditation courses around the world, and was instrumental in the founding of Khachoe Ghakyil Nunnery in Kathmandu.Namdrol Miranda Adams holds an MA in Education with a focus on Educational Leadership and Policy from Portland State University, and a BA in English Literature from New York University. Since 1998 she has dedicated her life to the study and practice of the Tibetan language and the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, seven of those as a Buddhist nun. She studied the traditional texts and their commentaries at Deer Park Monastery in Wisconsin from 1998-2003 and her editing and translation work includes Practicing the Path, the Rubin Foundation's Treasury of Lives, Karmapa 900, and the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive's Kopan Lam Rim Courses. She has been the assistant of Yangsi Rinpoche since 1999 and is one of the founders of Maitripa College, where she is Dean of Education.