Books/Stages of the Buddha’s Teachings

Stages of the Buddha’s Teachings

Book

Book

 Search online

The "Stages of the Teachings," or tenrim, genre of Tibetan spiritual writing expounds the Mahayana Buddhist teachings as a systematic progression, from the practices required at the start of the bodhisattva's career to the final perfect awakening of buddhahood. The texts in the present volume each exerted seminal influence in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. The first text, The Blue Compendium, presents the instructions of the Kadam teacher Potowa (1027/31-1105) as recorded by his student Dölpa (1059-1131). This verse work is followed by Gampopa's (1079-1153) revered Ornament of Precious Liberation, which, with its extensive quotations from the Indian scriptures, remains the most authoritative text on the path to enlightenment within the Kagyü school. The final selection is Clarifying the Sage's Intent, a masterwork by the preeminent sage of the Sakya tradition, Sakya Pandita (1182-1251). (Source: Wisdom Publications)

Another version of Holmes's translation of Gampopa's Ornament of Precious Liberation is found in Ornament of Precious Liberation (Holmes).

Citation	Roesler, Ulrike, Ken Holmes, and David P. Jackson, trans. Stages of the Buddha's Teachings: Three Key Texts. By Dölpa (Dol pa shes rab rgya mtsho), Gampopa (Sgam po pa), and Sakya Paṇḍita (Sa skya paN+Di ta). Library of Tibetan Classics 10. Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications, 2015.

Table of Contents About the Book Texts Translated Quotes

• General Editor’s Prefacexiii
• Translators’ Introductioni
• Acknowledgments29
• Technical Note31
• Abbreviations35

• PART I: THE BLUE COMPENDIUM
• Dölpa Sherap Gyatso (1059–1131)
• Translated by Ulrike Roesler
  • 1. Preliminaries39
  • 2. The Training for Individuals at the Initial Level51
  • 3. The Training for Individuals at the Middle Level63
  • 4. The Training for Excellent Individuals67
  • 5. The Practice of the Perfections73
  • 6. Wisdom85
  • 7. Enhancing the Conditions for Practice97

• PART II: ORNAMENT OF PRECIOUS LIBERATION
• Gampopa (1079–1153)
• Translated by Ken Holmes and edited by Thupten Jinpa
• Author’s Preface121
• I. The Prime Cause
  • 1. Buddha Nature123
• II. The Basis
  • 2. A Precious Human Existence131
• III. The Condition
  • 3. Relying on the Spiritual Teacher141
• IV. The Means: The Dharma Master’s Instruction
  • 4. The Impermanence of Conditioned Existence149
  • 5. The Suffering of Samsara161
  • 6. Karma and Its Effects177
  • 7. Loving Kindness and Compassion189
  • 8. Taking Refuge199
  • 9. The Proper Adoption of Bodhicitta211
  • 10. Precepts for Generating Aspiring Bodhicitta243
  • 11. Presentation of the Six Perfections249
  • 12. The Perfection of Generosity253
  • 13. The Perfection of Moral Discipline265
  • 14. The Perfection of Patience277
  • 15. The Perfection of Diligence 285
  • 16. The Perfection of Meditative Concentration293
  • 17. The Perfection of Wisdom309
  • 18. The Presentation of the (Five) Paths339
  • 19. The Presentation of the Levels 343
• V. The Result
  • 20. The Bodies of Perfect Buddhahood 363
• VI. Buddha Activity
  • 21. Enlightened Activities of the Buddhas 377

• PART III: CLARIFYING THE SAGE'S INTENT
• Sakya Paṇḍita Kunga Gyaltsen (1182–1251)
• Translated by David P. Jackson
  • 1. Spiritual Potential385
  • 2. Taking Refuge389
  • 3. Generating the Resolve to Attain Awakening401
  • 4. The Perfection of Generosity415
  • 5. The Perfection of Moral Discipline427
  • 6. The Perfection of Patience437
  • 7. The Perfection of Diligence447
  • 8. The Perfection of Meditative Concentration457
  • 9. The Perfection of Wisdom485
  • 10. The Four Means of Attraction529
  • 11. The Paths and Levels537
  • 12. The Ultimate Fruit 571
• The Conclusion of the Treatise601

• Appendix 1. Table of Tibetan Transliteration603
• Appendix 2. Outline of Clarifying the Sage’s Intent613
• Notes631
• Glossary717
• Bibliography729
• Index752
• About the Contributors793

1. dol pa shes rab rgya mtsho, sgam po pa, and sa skya paN+Di ta. bstan pa la 'jug pa'i rim pa ston pa'i gzhung gces btus. Edited by Geshe Thupten Jinpa. Delhi: bod kyi gtsug lag zhib 'jug khang, 2009.
   1. dol pa shes rab rgya mtsho. be’u bum sngon po.
   2. sgam po pa. dam chos yin bzhin gyi nor bu thar pa rin po che’i rgyan.
   3. sa skya paN+Di ta. thub pa’i dgongs pa rab tu gsal ba.

Bodhisattva - A person who seeks enlightenment for the sake of others. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, a Bodhisattva is a compassionate being who is training on the path to Buddhahood and aspires to eliminate the suffering of all beings and take all sentient beings to the state of enlightenment. The Mahāyāna sūtras including those on buddha-nature generally have Bodhisattvas as the main audience or interlocutors for the Buddha's discourses. Skt. बोधिसत्त्व Tib. བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ། Ch. 菩薩

Kadam - The Kadam tradition, which traces its origin to the teachings of Atiśa, was the first of the so-called New Schools of Tibetan Buddhism, traditions which arose during or after the Second Propagation of Buddhism (phyi dar) in the tenth century. Tib. བཀའ་གདམས་

Kagyu - The Kagyu school traces its origin to the eleventh-century translator Marpa, who studied in India with Nāropa. Marpa's student Milarepa trained Gampopa, who founded the first monastery of the Kagyu order. As many as twelve subtraditions grew out from there, the best known being the Karma Kagyu, the Drikung, and the Drukpa. Tib. བཀའ་བརྒྱུད་

Sakya - The Sakya tradition developed in the eleventh century in the Khön family of Tsang, which maintained an imperial-era lineage of Vajrakīla and which adopted a new teaching from India known as Lamdre. Tib. ས་སྐྱ་