TRALEG KYABGON (1955–2012) was born in eastern Tibet and educated by many great masters of all four major lineages of Tibetan Buddhism. He is the founder of the Kagyu E-Vam Buddhist Institute, which is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, with a major practice center in New York City. Rinpoche was well known for his erudition and understanding of Western psychology and culture, and comparative religion. He taught extensively at universities and Buddhist centers in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia, and he is the author of Mind at Ease and The Practice of Lojong.
關鍵詞
Religious Life; Doctrines
摘要
This lucid overview of the Buddhist path takes the perspective of the three "vehicles" of Tibetan Buddhism: the Hinayana, Mahayana, and Vajrayana. While these vehicles are usually presented as a historical development, they are here equated with the attitudes that individuals bring to their Buddhist practice. Basic to them all, however, is the need to understand our own immediate condition. The primary tool for achieving this is meditation, and The Essence of Buddhism serves as a handbook for the various meditative approaches of Buddhist practice.
Beginning with the Four Noble Truths, Traleg Rinpoche incorporates the expansive vision of the bodhisattva path and the transformative vision of Tantra. The final chapters present the transcendent view of Mahamudra. This view dispenses with all dualistic fixations and directly realizes the natural freedom of the mind itself.
Along the way, the author provides vivid definitions of fundamental concepts such as compassion, emptiness, and Buddha-nature, and answers common questions: Why does Buddhism teach that there is "no self"? Are Buddhist teachings pessimistic? Does Buddhism encourage social passivity? What is the role of sex in Buddhist Tantra? Why is it said that "samsara is nirvana"? Does it take countless lifetimes to attain enlightenment, or can it be achieved in a moment?
目次
1. Fundamentals -- The Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Noble Path 2. Ethical Conduct -- Doing What is Truly Beneficial 3. Meditation -- Changing our Mental Outlook 4. Karma and Rebirth -- Everything is in Relationship 5. Mahayana Buddhism -- Helping Others is Helping Oneself 6. The Way of the Bodhisattva -- Meditation and Action go Together 7. Realizing Wisdom and Compassion -- Bodhichitta and the Paramitas 8. The Link between Wisdom and Compassion -- The Paramita of Meditation and the Nine Stages of Shamatha 9. Insight Meditation -- The Paramita of Wisdom and the Madhyamaka School 10. The Role of the Mind -- The Yogachara School and Buddha-Nature 11. Spiritual Progress -- The Five Paths and the Ten Stages of the Bodhisattva 12. Buddhahood -- The Three Kayas 13. Sutra and Tantra -- The Tantric Levels of Attainment 14. Supreme Yoga Tantra -- Becoming a Total Person 15. The Six Yogas of Naropa -- Dealing with Conflicting Emotions 16. Mahamudra and the Nature of Mind -- Going beyond Duality 17. Mahamudra Meditation -- Allowing the Mind to Rest in its Natural State
