Sign up for a week of essential teachings from His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama ENTER YOUR EMAIL TO RECEIVE A WEEK OF DAILY READINGS FROM THE CORE TEACHINGS OF THE DALAI LAMA SERIES. From proper posture in sitting meditation to discussion of past lives to the importance of the Three Jewels, these readings cover

Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche and Pema Chödrön Discuss the Innate Tenderness of Our Hearts ENTER YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS TO ACCESS THE COMPLETE VIDEO INTERVIEW. In this interview, Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche sits down with Pema Chödrön to discuss his book, Training in Tenderness, cultivating compassion, and the innate tenderness of our hearts known as tsewa. After entering

Practicing Patience During Times of Difficulty An Excerpt from The World Could Be Otherwise THE PERFECTION OF PATIENCE is kshanti paramita in Sanskrit. Kshanti can be translated as “patience,” “forbearance,” or “tolerance,” but these words don’t capture the fullness of what kshanti connotes because they all imply a kind of quietism or passivity. To be patient

Shabkar Elucidates the Essentials of Spiritual Practice The Emanated Scripture of Manjushri includes twenty-three pieces of advice from Shabkar (1781–1851), teacher both of the Mind-Training and the Dzogchen traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. In this work, Shabkar shares what he believes to be the essentials of spiritual practice. In this particular section, Shabkar illuminates the importance of retreat

On the Path of Self-Betterment Generally speaking, all the major religions of the world emphasize the importance of the practice of love, compassion, and tolerance. This is particularly the case in all the traditions of Buddhism, including the Theravada, Mahayana, and Tantrayana (the esoteric tradition of Buddhism). They all state that compassion and love are

Investigating the Dharma 1. Showing Why It Is Worth Teaching Others the Dharma Unstintingly When bodhisattvas thoroughly investigating the Dharma have received the teachings and gained unmistaken realization of them, they explain them unstintingly to sentient beings and thereby complete their own transcendent perfections and bring other sentient beings to maturity. There is no better

One of the Five Maitreya Treatises—the five texts imparted to Asanga by the bodhisattva Maitreya—the Ornament of the Mahayana Sutras (in Sankrit the Mahayanasutralamkara, often shortened to Sutralamkara) presents explanations of bodhisattva motivation, meditation, conduct, and fruition as expounded in the Mahayana sutras as well as demonstrating the superiority of the Mahayana.  In English, the

Benefiting Others When we carefully and diligently water our seed of tsewa, applying all the wisdom and skillful means we can gather, that seed will eventually grow into a magnificent tree bearing abundant fruit. This is the third metaphor in Chandrakirti’s homage to the tender heart. The fruit manifests as an ever-increasing desire and ability

Tsongkhapa A Guide to His Works Related Topics Profiles of early Indian Mahayana figures | Lives of the Masters Series | Atisha | Aryadeva The Kadam Tradition | The Gelug Tradition | Madhyamaka  Milarepa | His Holiness the Dalai Lama Tsongkhapa Lobsang Drakpa (1357-1419) Tsongkhapa., from the cover of The Great Exposition of Secret Mantra (Essen Collection)

From Artemus Engle's introduction to his translation of Asang'a Bodhisattvabhumi A Manual for the Entire Bodhisattva Collection of Discourses I believe it is also reasonable to describe The Stage of a Bodhisattva as a work that represents a new development in the history of the Buddhist Abhidharma tradition and one that focuses exclusively and in