dalai lama

Transcendent Wisdom

admin — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 01:00:00 +0000

By B. Alan Wallace, His Holiness the Dalai Lama

This recent translation of a teaching presented by His Holiness the Dalai Lama on a chapter of the same name written by Indian scholar Shantideva in A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life serves as a guide to more thoroughly understanding of this particular work. Initially spoken to thousands of Tibetans in 1979, the ideas and wisdom of this chapter continue to exist and are translated to illuminate those pondering a Buddhist Centrist view and how it relates to and exists in the contemporary world.

Utilizing his experience as a teacher and trainer, B. Alan Wallace selected this information for interpretation and clarification. With points numbered from the original work, Wallace presents questions and opposing concepts (some of which may fall into the realm of Western thought) to each idea; this leads to further developing the work, each point acting as a building block to develop a further understanding of the Madhyamaka view of Buddhism.

Devoting his life to teaching and Buddhism, Wallace trained as a Buddhist monk in several countries and serves as a major Tibetan translator, editor, and author for over thirty books. His studies in religion support his pursuits in communicating to readers as he combines his training in science and religion as it applies to our contemporary living. Divided into three parts, this singular text identifies major aspects of the Centrist view. Through detailed elaboration on each point, Wallace provides necessary commentary to help make the reading more achievable.

Even without a tremendous awareness of Buddhism, one can maneuver through Transcendent Wisdom carefully and deliberately. With a minor foray into understanding the philosophy of Buddhism, one can utilize the footnotes for a more elaborate experience into the active acceptance of this specific branch of the faith. As a tool, this text delivers a more ornate explanation and a bounty of substance to bring the reader to a better understanding of what this religion embraces. Dry but clear, this text requires sincere focus and time; however, as one adventures into the writing, one may adopt a more Buddhist way of being.

Written by: Carolyn Espe, December 15th 2009

Compassionate Action

admin — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 14:59:00 +0000

By Chatral Rinpoche

Snow Lion Publications

As a new Buddhist practitioner, though in the Nichiren tradition, not the Nyingma tradition of Chatral Rinpoche, I am in a process of reading the works of many revered Buddhist teachers and practitioners. Compassionate Action by Chatral Rinpoche, and edited by Zach Larson, provides wonderful insight into the diversity of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition through a series of essays, interviews, prayers and photographs. I read it cover to cover on a flight from New York to Chicago.

The highlight of Compassionate Action for me was his explanation of one of his most well known actions. He releases 70 truckloads of fish from the market in Calcutta annually, an action that allows the live caught fish to re-enter life with a greater possibility of being born into Dharma practice and ultimately attain liberation. In an interview, he details his reasoning behind the sign that hangs in his monastery: “In this Buddhist monastery the consumption of meat, alcoholic beverages, and tobacco as well as playing cards or gambling is strictly prohibited.” Citing the early teachings of the Buddha, and eventually basing his ideas on the laws of cause and effect, he simply notes the negative influence of both killing and not taking action to prevent the killing of other beings has on our own spiritual lives. Chatral Rinpoche is committed in his practices and beliefs around the preservation of all life — insect, animal and human.

In the West we most often hear of the Dalai Lama as the foremost representative of Tibetan Buddhism. Chatral Rinpoche has taken a different approach to his practice of the Dharma than the Dalai Lama. While the Dalai Lama makes great efforts to travel and teach as many as will listen all across the world, Chatral Rinpoche offers teachings to very few people, often only a few of those who have spent a minimum of six years at his monastery. He is a part of a complex system of lineage that has developed for centuries in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. In the end, I am still a bit confused about the exact meaning of it all, who is an "emanation” of whom, but appreciate the overall reverence for spiritual ancestry.

Written by: Aisha Domingue, July 21st 2007

The Complete Being: Finding and Living the Real You

admin — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 04:02:00 +0000

By Tami Brady

Loving Healing Press

The Dalai Lama once said, “Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.” In her book, The Complete Being, Tami Brady echoes this mantra. Approaching the subject from an anthropological perspective, Brady adeptly ties our present identity crisis to the gradual loss of a cultural identity. In her examination, she discusses four aspects required to become a “complete being”: mental, spiritual, emotional, and physical. Delving more deeply into these individual components of the human condition is, according to Brady, necessary because “the game of life has been modified to a point where the rules of the past can no longer adequately tell you how to play the game.”

Brady shares the simple wisdom of this text through a tightly focused, succinct examination of what it takes to become a fulfilled individual. A cursory glance at the table of contents reinforces this tight and unfortunately sometimes rigid organization. While such a structured approach allows for flexibility of reading—one can easily put the book down and pick it up again without worrying about losing one’s place—the repetition of main ideas sometimes feels forced. Much of each chapter is repeated from previous chapters even at the most basic sentence level. However, our tendency to repeat patterns within the framework of our own lives (whether positive or negative) may be seen as analogous to the structure within this text.

In the conclusion, Brady discusses the intention of this book as a means for the reader’s “personal and individualized introspective assessment” of his/her life. The question that spurned the author into changing her own life, why not?, is relevant to the reader as well. Why not give this book a chance to help you know yourself better and perhaps even assist you in changing your life?

Written by: Misty McCormick Chisum, February 21st 2007