Synopses & Reviews
This lucid overview of the Buddhist path takes the perspective of the three vehicles of Tibetan Buddhism: the Hinayana, Mahayana, and Vajrayana. While these vehicles are usually presented as a historical development, they are here equated with the attitudes that individuals bring to their Buddhist practice. Basic to them all, however, is the need to understand our own immediate condition. The primary tool for achieving this is meditation, and The Essence of Buddhism serves as a handbook for the various meditative approaches of Buddhist practice. Beginning with the Four Noble Truths, Traleg Rinpoche incorporates the expansive vision of the bodhisattva path and the transformative vision of Tantra. The final chapters present the transcendent view of Mahamudra. This view dispenses with all dualistic fixations and directly realizes the natural freedom of the mind itself. Along the way, the author provides vivid definitions of fundamental concepts such as compassion, emptiness, and Buddha-nature, and answers common questions: Why does Buddhism teach that there is no self? Are Buddhist teachings pessimistic? Does Buddhism encourage social passivity? What is the role of sex in Buddhist Tantra? Why is it said that samsara is nirvana? Does it take countless lifetimes to attain enlightenment, or can it be achieved in a moment?
Synopsis
One of the clearest introductions to the teachings and philosophies of the three main schools of Buddhism: Theravada, Mahayana, and Tibetan. This comprehensive guide to the Buddhist path is as accessible as it is complete. Traleg Kyabgon breaks the teachings down conveniently into the three traditional "vehicles," while never letting us forget that the point of all the Dharma is nothing other than insight into the mind and heart. Along the way he provides vivid definitions of fundamental Buddhist concepts such as compassion, emptiness, and Buddha-nature and answers
common questions such as:
- Why does Buddhism teach that there is "no self"?
- Are Buddhist teachings pessimistic?
- Does Buddhism encourage social passivity?
- What is the role of sex in Buddhist tantra?
- Why is it said that samsara is nirvana?
- Does it take countless lifetimes to attain enlightenment, or can it be achieved in a moment?
Synopsis
A clear and concise introduction to the teachings and philosophies of the three main vehicles of Buddhism
--Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana
--through a Tibetan lensThis comprehensive guide to the Buddhist path from the Tibetan point of view is as accessible as it is complete. Traleg Kyabgon breaks the teachings down conveniently into the three traditional "vehicles," while never letting us forget that the point of all the Dharma is nothing other than insight into the mind and heart. Along the way he provides vivid definitions of fundamental Buddhist concepts such as compassion, emptiness, and Buddha-nature and answers common questions such as:
- Why does Buddhism teach that there is "no self"?
- Are Buddhist teachings pessimistic?
- Does Buddhism encourage social passivity?
- What is the role of sex in Buddhist tantra?
- Why is it said that samsara is nirvana?
- Does it take countless lifetimes to attain enlightenment, or can it be achieved in a moment?
Synopsis
This lucid overview—which has come to be regarded by many as the best introductory book on Tibetan Buddhism—looks at its subject from the perspective of the three traditional “vehicles”: the Hinayana, the Mahayana, and the Vajrayana. These divisions are often presented as a historical development, but here Traleg Kyabgon equates them with the attitudes that we bring to our Buddhist practice. Basic to them all is the need to understand our own immediate condition. The primary tool for achieving this is meditation, and
The Essence of Buddhism serves as a handbook for the various meditative approaches of Buddhist practice.
Beginning with the most basic teaching of the Four Noble Truths, Traleg Rinpoche goes on to incorporate the expansive vision of the bodhisattva path and the transformative vision of Tantra. The final chapters present the transcendent view of Mahamudra. Along the way, the author provides vivid definitions of fundamental concepts such as compassion, emptiness, and Buddha-nature.
Includes a foreword from Sogyal Rinpoche.
Synopsis
TRALEG KYABGON (1955–2012) was born in eastern Tibet and educated by many great masters of all four major lineages of Tibetan Buddhism. He is the founder of the Kagyu E-Vam Buddhist Institute, which is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, with a major practice center in New York City. Rinpoche was well known for his erudition and understanding of Western psychology and culture, and comparative religion. He taught extensively at universities and Buddhist centers in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia, and he is the author of Mind at Ease and The Practice of Lojong.
About the Author
Foreword by H.H. the Seventeenth Karmapa
Foreword by Sogyal Rinpoche
Preface
Acknowledgments
1. Fundamentals: The Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Noble Path
2. Ethical Conduct: Doing What Is Truly Beneficial
3. Meditation: Changing Our Mental Outlook
4. Karma and Rebirth: Everything Is in Relationship
5. Mahayana Buddhism: Helping Others Is Helping Onself
6. The Way of the Bodhisattva: Meditation and Action Go Together
7. Realizing Wisdom and Compassion: Bodhichitta and the Paramitas
8. The Link between Wisdom and Compassion: The Paramita of Meditation and the Nine Stages of Shamatha
9. Insight Meditation: The Paramita of Wisdom and the Madhyamaka School
10. The Role of the Mind: The Yogachara School and Buddha-Nature
11. Spiritual Progress: The Five Paths and the Ten Stages of the Bodhisattva
12. Buddhahood: The Three Kayas
13. Sutra and Tantra: The Tantric Levels of Attainment
14. Supreme Yoga Tantra: Becoming a Total Person
15. The Six Yogas of Naropa: Dealing with Conflicting Emotions
16. Mahamudra and the Nature of Mind: Going beyond Duality
17. Mahamudra Meditation: Allowing the Mind to Rest in Its Natural State
Index
Table of Contents
One of the clearest introductions to the teachings and philosophies of the three main schools of Buddhism: Theravada, Mahayana, and Tibetan.
The Essence of Buddhism is a comprehensive overview of the Buddhist path from the perspective of the three vehicles of Tibetan Buddhism: the Hinayana, Mahayana, and Vajrayana. Although these vehicles are associated with different attitudes toward Buddhist practice, basic to them all is the need to understand our own immediate condition. The primary tool for achieving this is meditation, and The Essence of Buddhism serves as a handbook for the various meditative approaches of Buddhist practice. Along the way, it provides vivid definitions of fundamental Buddhist concepts, such as compassion, emptiness, and Buddha-nature, and answers common questions, such as:
• Why does Buddhism teach that there is "no self"?
• Are Buddhist teachings pessimistic?
• Does Buddhism encourage social passivity?
• What is the role of sex in Buddhist tantra?
• Why is it said that samsara is nirvana?
• Does it take countless lifetimes to attain enlightenment, or can it be achieved in a moment?
Includes a foreword from Sogyal Rinpoche.