- Publisher's Notevii
- About the Authorviii
- Part I:
- The Root Text-The Jewel Ladder1
- Part II
- Commentary/Introductory Teachings
- Preliminaries of Composing the Text51
- Qualities of an Author53
- Obeisance55
- Promise to Compose57
- Preliminaries of the Actual Text58
- Extensive motivation-generation of Mind of Enlightenment59
- Precepts of the Aspiring Mind of Enlightenment64
- Precepts of the venturing Mind of Enlightenment-the six perfections66
- Perfection of Generosity66
- Perfection of Morality67
- Perfection Patience68
- Perfection of Enthusiastic Perseverance68
- Perfection of Concentration69
- Perfection of Wisdom69
- Benefits of the Mind of Enlightenment70
- Extensive means-generating motivation according to secret mantrayana
tradition72 - Taking Faith as a Path72
- Taking Aspiration as a Path73
- Behaviour74
- How a Teacher must give a Discourse74
- Three Scopes of Person76
- The Four Common Points79
- The Difficulty of Finding a Precious Human Rebirth79
- Recognizing the Freedom and Endowments79
- Rarity of Finding a Precious Human Rebirth84
- Significance of Precious Human Rebirth87
- Contemplating Death and Impermanence of Human Rebirth89
- Death is Certain90
- The Time of Death is Uncertain93
- At Death only Dharma is of Benefit96
- Contemplating the Drawbacks of Cyclic Existence99
- The Sufferings of the Three Lower Realms100
- The Sufferings of the Hot Hells104
- The Sufferings of the Cold Hells109
- The suffering of the Neighbouring hells112
- The sufferings of Occasional hells116
- The Sufferings of the Hungry Ghosts119
- The Sufferings of the Animals123
- The Sufferings of the Higher Realms127
- The Nature of the three types of Sufferings138
- Contemplating the Law of Cause and Effect138
- The General Contemplation of Cause and Effect139
- The Specific Contemplation of Cause and Effect143
- Transforming the Unspecified Karmas into Virtues159
- A Summary of the Four Noble Truths163
- The Truth of Origin of Suffering166
- The Truth of Suffering170
- The Truth of Path173
- The Truth of Cessation178
- Concluding Remarks on the Four Noble Truths180
- Taking Refuge183
- Footnotes188
- Part III
- Guide to the Nyingma Lamrim (Kun-bzang bla-ma'i zhal-lung)197
- Part IV
- Guide to the Nyingma Lamrim - Tibetan text213