Nagarjuna's Letter

Nagarjuna's Letter PDF Author:
Publisher: Library of Tibetan Works and Archives
ISBN: 8185102015
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 146

Get Book

Book Description
For centuries, Dharma students have traditionally studied Nāgārjuna's Letter to a Friend, for it provides a concise and thorough introduction to the entire Buddhist path practice. By examining the Four Noble Truths and the Six Perfections, Nāgārjuna describes logically and poetically the internal patterns of experience which leads a person to buddhahood. Nāgārjuna wrote this letter to his friend King Satavahana, in order to alert him to the worldly impurities, especially in discharging his royal activities, and to integrate spiritual values into his daily life. In this respect, his advice is still of special interest to those who wish to cultivate a religious practice while continuing to live and work in society. The commentary accompanying Nāgārjuna's epistle was composed by Venerable Rendawa, Zhön-nu Lo-drö. This famous scholar hailed from the great "Sa-sKya'' monastery in north central Tibet. During the initial period of their relationship, he served as a teacher to the renowned Tsong Khapa, later, they instructed each other. Rendawa's commentary is quite clear and simple, and suitable for all levels of students. This book teaches the basics of Buddhist religious practice for beginners and advanced students, both laymen and monks.

Nagarjuna's Letter

Nagarjuna's Letter PDF Author:
Publisher: Library of Tibetan Works and Archives
ISBN: 8185102015
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 146

Get Book

Book Description
For centuries, Dharma students have traditionally studied Nāgārjuna's Letter to a Friend, for it provides a concise and thorough introduction to the entire Buddhist path practice. By examining the Four Noble Truths and the Six Perfections, Nāgārjuna describes logically and poetically the internal patterns of experience which leads a person to buddhahood. Nāgārjuna wrote this letter to his friend King Satavahana, in order to alert him to the worldly impurities, especially in discharging his royal activities, and to integrate spiritual values into his daily life. In this respect, his advice is still of special interest to those who wish to cultivate a religious practice while continuing to live and work in society. The commentary accompanying Nāgārjuna's epistle was composed by Venerable Rendawa, Zhön-nu Lo-drö. This famous scholar hailed from the great "Sa-sKya'' monastery in north central Tibet. During the initial period of their relationship, he served as a teacher to the renowned Tsong Khapa, later, they instructed each other. Rendawa's commentary is quite clear and simple, and suitable for all levels of students. This book teaches the basics of Buddhist religious practice for beginners and advanced students, both laymen and monks.

Nagarjuna's Letter to a Friend

Nagarjuna's Letter to a Friend PDF Author: Nagarjuna
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
ISBN: 1559394153
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 209

Get Book

Book Description
An exposition of the entire Buddhist path in only 123 verses. A Buddhist classic. Nagarjuna's poetic presentation of the fundamental teachings of the Great Vehicle, or Mahayana, is remarkable for its concise style and memorable imagery, making it one of the most widely quoted sources in other commentaries on the Mahayana path. The great Indian Buddhist master Nagarjuna (first-second century C.E.) wrote his celebrated poem "Letter to a Friend" as a gift of advice to a South Indian king, and it has since become a monument in the Indian shastra tradition. Despite its short length (only 123 verses), Nagarjuna's "Letter to a Friend" covers the entire Mahayana path, combining a practical approach to daily conduct with a theoretical exposition of the different stages leading to enlightenment. It has thus been an ideal source for many of Tibet's great scholars seeking a scriptural authority to enhance their own descriptions of the Buddhist path. Any difficulties in understanding the poem are overcome here by Kangyur Rinpoche's commentary, which turns Nagarjuna's sometimes cryptic poem into straightforward prose, expanding on each topic and ordering the different subjects in such a way that on returning to the original poem, the reader can easily make sense of the advice it contains. It includes headings to explain Nagarjuna's frequent changes in subject and full explanations of the ideas introduced in each verse. In addition to the commentary, this book presents the original poem in the Tibetan and in a new English translation that attempts to emulate Nagarjuna's lines of metric verse. Also included are Kangyur Rinpoche's structural outline (sa bchad), a Tibetan line index to enable students to locate quotations used in other Tibetan works, full notes, and a glossary.

Nāgārjuna's Letter to King Gautamīputra

Nāgārjuna's Letter to King Gautamīputra PDF Author: Nāgārjuna
Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass Publishe
ISBN: 9788120813755
Category : Buddhism
Languages : en
Pages : 160

Get Book

Book Description
Nagarjuna's Letter to King Gautamiputra is a concise and comprehensive explanation of the fundamentals of the Buddha's teaching and of the Buddhist path to liberation. Written by the renowned sage Nagarjuna for his friend and patron Gautamiputra the then King of Andhra in the South of India, the work which contains one hundred and twenty three verses achieved great popularity first in India and then in Tibet. Though the Sanskrit original of the work is lost, the present English translation has been made from the Tibetan collection. Explanatory notes based on three authoritative Tibetan commentaries have been added to the text. The Tibetan text of the verses of Nagarjuna's letter is also included to assist students and scholars who wish to consult the Tibetan version.

Advice from a Spiritual Friend

Advice from a Spiritual Friend PDF Author: Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781733541114
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 328

Get Book

Book Description
Letter to a Friend by the great master Nagarjuna contains very practical advice and detailed instructions for all generations. It has been kept close to the heart and actualized by many practitioners across the centuries in India and Tibet. The main topic is how to be a good, decent, and responsible person in samsara. These principles are important and valuable for anyone, no matter where they live or what they believe. Dharma is based on cultivating a good character and ethical conduct combined with a deep understanding of interdependence. There is a profound relationship between one's mind, motivation, and how they interact with natural systems and human societies. Nagarjuna is inviting us to take a deeper look at this relationship, and the renowned master Mipham Rinpoche expands these points even further. Nagarjuna wrote this letter directly to his friend, but his advice applies to everyone. It explains how to be strong and conduct ourselves with courage and confidence in the world. It offers clear instructions on how to expand our human kindness and the precious qualities of morality, concentration, wisdom, and an open heart. We can work through difficult experiences and learn to meet all the challenges in samsara without a lot of hardship and struggle. Instead of collapsing and giving up, we can continue moving forward with good energy toward a bright future.

Nagarjuna's Advice for Buddhists

Nagarjuna's Advice for Buddhists PDF Author: Lhundub Sopa
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1614298092
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 427

Get Book

Book Description
A modern commentary by a beloved Tibetan teacher on a classical Indian Buddhist text and an introduction to Buddhism by one of the tradition’s most famous authors. A teaching on how to live a Buddhist life in contemporary society. Letter to A Friend, by the great Indian philosopher Nagarjuna, is one of the best-known introductions to Buddhism in classical Indian Buddhist literature. In this warm and generous commentary, one of the twentieth century’s most beloved teachers, Geshe Lhundup Sopa, shows how Nagarjuna’s advice on how to follow Buddhist ethics while living fully in the world speaks just as clearly to us today as it did to the Indian king for whom it was composed. Nagarjuna maintained that all Buddhists can embody the full teachings of the Buddha. Therefore, this book covers topics from simple virtues to the most profound truths of emptiness. Expertly compiled by his student, scholar Beth Newman, from talks given over a number of years, the commentary brings this ancient Buddhist teaching to a modern audience.

The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way

The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way PDF Author: Nagarjuna
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019997859X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 393

Get Book

Book Description
The Buddhist saint N=ag=arjuna, who lived in South India in approximately the second century CE, is undoubtedly the most important, influential, and widely studied Mah=ay=ana Buddhist philosopher. His many works include texts addressed to lay audiences, letters of advice to kings, and a set of penetrating metaphysical and epistemological treatises. His greatest philosophical work, the Mūlamadhyamikak=arik=a--read and studied by philosophers in all major Buddhist schools of Tibet, China, Japan, and Korea--is one of the most influential works in the history of Indian philosophy. Now, in The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way, Jay L. Garfield provides a clear and eminently readable translation of N=ag=arjuna's seminal work, offering those with little or no prior knowledge of Buddhist philosophy a view into the profound logic of the Mūlamadhyamikak=arik=a. Garfield presents a superb translation of the Tibetan text of Mūlamadhyamikak=arik=a in its entirety, and a commentary reflecting the Tibetan tradition through which N=ag=arjuna's philosophical influence has largely been transmitted. Illuminating the systematic character of N=ag=arjuna's reasoning, Garfield shows how N=ag=arjuna develops his doctrine that all phenomena are empty of inherent existence, that is, than nothing exists substantially or independently. Despite lacking any essence, he argues, phenomena nonetheless exist conventionally, and that indeed conventional existence and ultimate emptiness are in fact the same thing. This represents the radical understanding of the Buddhist doctrine of the two truths, or two levels of reality. He offers a verse-by-verse commentary that explains N=ag=arjuna's positions and arguments in the language of Western metaphysics and epistemology, and connects N=ag=arjuna's concerns to those of Western philosophers such as Sextus, Hume, and Wittgenstein. An accessible translation of the foundational text for all Mah=ay=ana Buddhism, The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way offers insight to all those interested in the nature of reality.

Nagarjuna's Precious Garland

Nagarjuna's Precious Garland PDF Author: Sara McClintock
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1614298688
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 345

Get Book

Book Description
Discover the eloquence and insight of the philosopher Nagarjuna, held by tradition to be a second Buddha, in this concise instruction for a king that is considered a masterpiece of Buddhist literature. In this profound work of five hundred verses, we encounter a presentation of Buddhism that integrates both the worldly and the transcendent. The clear and sagacious advice laid out on every page serves as a road map to one’s highest goal—whether that goal is a better life, here called the Dharma of ascendance, or the ultimate one of spiritual freedom, the Dharma of the highest good. The verses, written for an unnamed ruler, touch on questions of statecraft, but their broader themes speak to us today because they tackle the difficulty of integrating one’s spiritual journey with the social and political demands of daily life. Nagarjuna was an Indian Buddhist teacher, probably of the second century CE, who was renowned for his astute articulation of the philosophy of the Middle Way (Madhyamaka). His thoroughgoing critique of all forms of essentialism became a touchstone for Mahayana Buddhism in India, Tibet, and throughout East Asia, and his importance for the development of the Mahayana tradition can scarcely be exaggerated. The translators here first rendered Nagarjuna’s letter for the Dalai Lama’s teachings on the work in Los Angeles in 1997. While that commemorative edition was translated from the Tibetan, the present volume prioritizes the surviving Sanskrit verses along with the only known Indian commentary, by the eleventh-century scholar Ajitamitra. This is the first complete translation in English of the Precious Garland that takes the Indian text and commentary as its primary authorities. In addition, the translators provide rigorous working editions of the Sanskrit and Tibetan verses they translate. This elegant and precise rendering of Nagarjuna’s work is certain to become the touchstone translation of this celebrated Buddhist text.

A Chariot to Freedom

A Chariot to Freedom PDF Author: Shechen Gyaltsap IV
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
ISBN: 1611804582
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 761

Get Book

Book Description
A unique commentary on the preliminary practices of Vajrayāna Buddhism, from a beloved Nyingma master. A Chariot to Freedom is one of the most beloved presentations of the preliminary practices, or ngöndro, that form the foundation of the Vajrayāna Buddhist path. This set of practices, common to all schools of Himalayan Buddhism, is what nearly every practitioner begins with, yet it also constitutes a complete method in and of itself. Although ngöndro are considered a prerequisite for further teachings and initiations into other practices, many of even the most accomplished masters continue to engage in them every day. Most of the other excellent works on these foundational techniques are specific to a particular tradition, but this text is widely considered to be exemplary, in part, because it is applicable to all traditions of ngöndro. Drawing from the original words of the Buddha in the sūtras and from later treatises by such masters as Nāgārjuna, Shāntideva, and Guru Padmasambhava, Shechen Gyaltsap’s commentary is a wonderfully curated anthology of Buddhist teachings on the preliminary practices of Vajrayāna Buddhism. It covers the thoughts that turn one’s mind away from ordinary pursuits and toward enlightenment, taking refuge, arousing the mind set on enlightenment (bodhichitta), purification, maṇḍala offering, and Guru Yoga. Shechen Gyaltsap explains why each practice is beneficial and provides profound and eminently useful guidance for practitioners, while simultaneously transmitting the wisdom of generations of Buddhist masters.

Nagarjuna's Precious Garland

Nagarjuna's Precious Garland PDF Author: Sara L. McClintock
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1614298467
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 371

Get Book

Book Description
Discover the eloquence and insight of the philosopher Nagarjuna, held by tradition to be a second Buddha, in this concise instruction for a king that is considered a masterpiece of Buddhist literature. In this profound work of five hundred verses, we encounter a presentation of Buddhism that integrates both the worldly and the transcendent. The clear and sagacious advice laid out on every page serves as a road map to one’s highest goal—whether that goal is a better life, here called the Dharma of ascendance, or the ultimate one of spiritual freedom, the Dharma of the highest good. The verses, written for an unnamed ruler, touch on questions of statecraft, but their broader themes speak to us today because they tackle the difficulty of integrating one’s spiritual journey with the social and political demands of daily life. Nagarjuna was an Indian Buddhist teacher, probably of the second century CE, who was renowned for his astute articulation of the philosophy of the Middle Way (Madhyamaka). His thoroughgoing critique of all forms of essentialism became a touchstone for Mahayana Buddhism in India, Tibet, and throughout East Asia, and his importance for the development of the Mahayana tradition can scarcely be exaggerated. The translators here first rendered Nagarjuna’s letter for the Dalai Lama’s teachings on the work in Los Angeles in 1997. While that commemorative edition was translated from the Tibetan, the present volume prioritizes the surviving Sanskrit verses along with the only known Indian commentary, by the eleventh-century scholar Ajitamitra. This is the first complete translation in English of the Precious Garland that takes the Indian text and commentary as its primary authorities. In addition, the translators provide rigorous working editions of the Sanskrit and Tibetan verses they translate. This elegant and precise rendering of Nagarjuna’s work is certain to become the touchstone translation of this celebrated Buddhist text.

Radical Dharma

Radical Dharma PDF Author: Rev. angel Kyodo williams
Publisher: North Atlantic Books
ISBN: 1623170990
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 248

Get Book

Book Description
Igniting a long-overdue dialogue about how the legacy of racial injustice and white supremacy plays out in society at large and Buddhist communities in particular, this urgent call to action outlines a new dharma that takes into account the ways that racism and privilege prevent our collective awakening. The authors traveled around the country to spark an open conversation that brings together the Black prophetic tradition and the wisdom of the Dharma. Bridging the world of spirit and activism, they urge a compassionate response to the systemic, state-sanctioned violence and oppression that has persisted against black people since the slave era. With national attention focused on the recent killings of unarmed black citizens and the response of the Black-centered liberation groups such as Black Lives Matter, Radical Dharma demonstrates how social transformation and personal, spiritual liberation must be articulated and inextricably linked. Rev. angel Kyodo williams, Lama Rod Owens, and Jasmine Syedullah represent a new voice in American Buddhism. Offering their own histories and experiences as illustrations of the types of challenges facing dharma practitioners and teachers who are different from those of the past five decades, they ask how teachings that transcend color, class, and caste are hindered by discrimination and the dynamics of power, shame, and ignorance. Their illuminating argument goes beyond a demand for the equality and inclusion of diverse populations to advancing a new dharma that deconstructs rather than amplifies systems of suffering and prepares us to weigh the shortcomings not only of our own minds but also of our communities. They forge a path toward reconciliation and self-liberation that rests on radical honesty, a common ground where we can drop our need for perfection and propriety and speak as souls. In a society where profit rules, people's value is determined by the color of their skin, and many voices—including queer voices—are silenced, Radical Dharma recasts the concepts of engaged spirituality, social transformation, inclusiveness, and healing.