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The Flowing River of Dharma

Instructions on Parting from the Four Attachments Featuring Sakya, Kagyu, Nyingma, Kadam of Old, and Gelug Teachings

By Anyen Rinpoche
Foreword by His Holiness the Gongma Trichen
By Allison Choying Zangmo

$21.95
SKU
9781645473626
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Shambhala Publications
11/18/2025
Pages: 168
Size: 5.5 x 8.5
ISBN: 9781645473626
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How do we break free from the habits and compulsions that bring us suffering? In the twelfth century, Sakya Drakpa Gyeltsen penned four short but significant lines, known as Parting from the Four Attachments, offering a concise guide to becoming a genuine dharma practitioner and charting a path to enlightenment.

In The Flowing River of Dharma, Anyen Rinpoche and Allison Choying Zangmo offer a fresh, contemporary exploration of this foundational text, drawing on insights from Anyen Rinpoche’s teacher Khenchen Tsara Dharmakirti Rinpoche and a cave-dwelling hermit known as Lama Tsepel. Introducing the rime movement, which promotes cross-tradition learning to uncover core teachings, the authors use this approach to offer a comprehensive review of the text, referring to teachings from a variety of traditions, in particular The Four Dharmas of Gampopa, as well as texts wisdom from the Sakya, Kagyu, Nyingma, Kadam of old, and Gelug traditions of Tibet.

With clear language and a candid look at the challenges of dharma practice, the authors delve into the power of renunciation, understanding samsara’s true nature, and cultivating bodhicitta—the altruistic intent to relieve others’ suffering—as pathways to a meaningful life. Buddhists of all backgrounds will discover how these lojong (mind training) teachings can anchor us firmly on the path and ensure that we don’t stray from it until we reach complete liberation.

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Author Bio
Anyen Rinpoche
Anyen Rinpoche is a recognized tulku of the Longchen Nyingthig lineage within the Nyingma tradition. Born and raised in Amdo, Tibet, he trained extensively in Dzogchen meditation and Buddhist scholarship under his root teacher Kyabje Tsara Dharmakirti Rinpoche. Founder of the Orgyen Khamdroling Dharma Center in Denver, Colorado, Anyen Rinpoche is known for his deep spiritual insight and accessible teaching style. He is the author of many books, often in collaboration with his wife and translator, Allison Choying Zangmo, including Union of Dzogchen and Bodhichitta, Stop Biting the Tail You’re Chasing, and The Tibetan Yoga of Breath. He is also founder of the Phowa Foundation, which focuses on helping people prepare for a peaceful and conscious death.
Allison Choying Zangmo
Allison Choying Zangmo is Anyen Rinpoche’s longtime student, personal translator, and collaborator. She has received extensive Buddhist training, including empowerments and teachings from various prominent Tibetan masters such as Khenchen Tsara Dharmakirti Rinpoche and Lama Damphel. With Anyen Rinpoche’s encouragement, she began teaching through the Orgyen Khamdroling Dharma Center in Denver, Colorado, in 2017, and now plays a vital role in bringing the Dharma to a Western audience. She is coauthor, with Anyen Rinpoche, of Stop Biting the Tail You’re Chasing, and The Tibetan Yoga of Breath, and has assisted him with many other titles.
Praise

"We aspire to be Dharma practitioners, but are we really? Just as we instinctively check our appearance before we go out the door, we need to regularly check our practice. What clearer mirror for this than Parting from the Four Attachments and the Four Dharmas of Gampopa—mirrors that reveal unforgivingly our conceits and inspire us forward on the path. Anyen Rinpoche takes us into the cave where he received the pithiest of instructions from an old yogi and helps us make sense of these instructions in the modern world." —Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche

"When Jamgon Kongtrul’s great compendium the Treasury of Precious Instructions (Damngak Rinpoche Dzö) is transmitted, the Sakya text Parting from the Four Attachments is traditionally the first teaching, highlighting its status as one of the most profound, essential, and well-accepted teachings in all schools of Tibetan Buddhism." —Ringu Tulku Rinpoche

"This book’s main topics are the holder of this sacred teaching, the Great Sakya Lama, and the unblemished, unified tradition of lojong from India and Tibet. It includes a translation of the teachings as well as the meaning of the uninterrupted lineage of teaching and practice, explanation and listening, and blessings originating in Jetsun Rinpoche Drakpa Gyaltsen. This ornament—the vast casket [of lojong teachings] that has become part of the Tibetan people’s very flesh and blood—has been unequivocally written for a modern audience, using words and explanations they can understand." —His Holiness the Gongma Trichen

Selected Reader Reviews