Essence of the Heart Sutra : The Dalai Lama's Heart of Wisdom Teachings

by Unknown

• ISBN13: 9780861712847
• ISBN10: 0861712846
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-07-07
• Publisher: INGRAM

Summary

In Essence of the Heart Sutra, the Dalai Lama masterfully unpacks the Heart Sutra so that any reader can benefit from its teachings-teachings meant to help us release ourselves from suffering and live with true compassion. Comprised of his "Heart of Wisdom" talks, originally delivered to thousands of listeners in 2001, the book offers the Dalai Lama's commentary as well as his easy-to-follow overview of Buddhist philosophy that places the sutra within its historical and philosophical context. With additional contributions by scholar and translator Thupten Jinpa, Essence of the Heart Sutra is the authoritative presentation of a text seminal to the world's religious heritage. Book jacket.

Author Biography

Tenzin Gyatso, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, is the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people. He frequently describes himself as a simple Buddhist monk. Born in northeastern Tibet in 1935, he was as a toddler recognized as the incarnation of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama and brought to Tibet's capital, Lhasa. In 1950, Mao Zedong's Communist forces made their first incursions into eastern Tibet, shortly after which the young Dalai Lama assumed the political leadership of his country. He passed his scholastic examinations with honors at the Great Prayer Festival in Lhasa in 1959, the same year Chinese forces occupied the city, forcing His Holiness to escape to India. There he set up the Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharamsala, working to secure the welfare of the more than 100,000 Tibetan exiles and prevent the destruction of Tibetan culture. In his capacity as a spiritual and political leader, he has traveled to more than sixty-two countries on six continents and met with presidents, popes, and leading scientists to foster dialogue and create a better world. In recognition of his tireless work for the nonviolent liberation of Tibet, the Dalai Lama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. In 2012, he relinquished political authority in his exile government and turned it over to democratically elected representatives.

His Holiness frequently states that his life is guided by three major commitments: the promotion of basic human values or secular ethics in the interest of human happiness, the fostering of interreligious harmony, and securing the welfare of the Tibetan people, focusing on the survival of their identity, culture, and religion. As a superior scholar trained in the classical texts of the Nalanda tradition of Indian Buddhism, he is able to distill the central tenets of Buddhist philosophy in clear and inspiring language, his gift for pedagogy imbued with his infectious joy. Connecting scientists with Buddhist scholars, he helps unite contemplative and modern modes of investigation, bringing ancient tools and insights to bear on the acute problems facing the contemporary world. His efforts to foster dialogue among leaders of the world's faiths envision a future where people of different beliefs can share the planet in harmony. Wisdom Publications is proud to be the premier publisher of the Dalai Lama's more serious and in-depth works.

Thupten Jinpa Langri was educated in the classical Tibetan monastic academia and received the highest academic degree of Geshe Lharam (equivalent to a doctorate in divinity). Jinpa also holds a BA in philosophy and a PhD in religious studies, both from the University of Cambridge, England. Since 1985, he has been the principal translator to the Dalai Lama, accompanying him to the United States, Canada, and Europe. He has translated and edited many books by the Dalai Lama, including The World of Tibetan Buddhism, Essence of the Heart Sutra, and the New York Times bestseller Ethics for the New Millennium.

Jinpa has published scholarly articles on various aspects of Tibetan culture, Buddhism, and philosophy, and books such as Songs of Spiritual Experience: Tibetan Poems of Awakening and Insight (co-authored) and Self, Reality and Reason in Tibetan Thought. He serves on the advisory board of numerous educational and cultural organizations in North America, Europe, and India. He is currently the president and the editor-in-chief of the Institute of Tibetan Classics, a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to translating key Tibetan classics into contemporary languages. He also currently chairs the Mind and Life Institute.
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Table of Contents

Editor's Preface	ix
I: Buddhism in Context
CHAPTER 1: The Quest for Inner Development	3	(6)
CHAPTER 2: Religion in Today's World	9	(12)
Many Teachings, Many Paths	9	(4)
Maintaining One's Own Tradition	13	(1)
Sharing Each Other's Traditions	14	(3)
Learning from Other Traditions	17	(4)
CHAPTER 3: The Foundations of Buddhism	21	(20)
Defining Features	21	(1)
The Buddha	22	(3)
The First Turning of the Wheel of Dharma	25	(4)
The Twelve Links of Dependent Origination	29	(2)
The Afflictions	31	(5)
Abandoning the Causes of Suffering	36	(5)
CHAPTER 4: The Great Vehicle	41	(8)
The Mahayana School	41	(1)
Nagarjuna and the Great Vehicle	42	(4)
Origins of the Great Vehicle	46	(3)
CHAPTER 5: Freedom from Suffering	49	(10)
Suffering and Compassion	49	(3)
Integrating All the Teachings	52	(7)
II: The Heart Sutra
The Text of the Heart Sutra	59	(4)
CHAPTER 6: The Opening	63	(14)
The Perfection of Wisdom Sutras	63	(2)
Giving the Title and Paying Homage	65	(3)
The Origin of the Teaching	68	(2)
Essence and Form	70	(7)
CHAPTER 7: Entering the Bodhisattva Path	77	(10)
The Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara	77	(2)
Noble Sons and Noble Daughters	79	(3)
Buddha Nature	82	(1)
The Way Things Are	83	(4)
CHAPTER 8: Selflessness in Context	87	(12)
Ultimate Bodhichitta	87	(1)
The Doctrine of No-self	88	(3)
The Four Seals	91	(8)
CHAPTER 9: Interpreting Emptiness	99	(14)
The Two Types of Selflessness	99	(2)
The Mind-only Interpretation	101	(3)
Definitive Versus Provisional Interpretations	104	(2)
The Middle Way Interpretation	106	(2)
The Two Middle Way Schools	108	(3)
Emptiness and Dependent Origination	111	(2)
CHAPTER 10: Developing an Unmistaken View of Reality	113	(12)
Correctly Refuting Intrinsic Existence	113	(1)
Understanding the Two Truths	114	(5)
Traditions of Interpretation	119	(2)
The Eight Aspects of Emptiness	121	(4)
CHAPTER 11: Attaining the Result	125	(14)
The Emptiness of All Phenomena	125	(2)
Nirvana	127	(2)
The Mantra of the Perfection of Wisdom	129	(2)
The Implicit Meaning of the Heart Sutra	131	(2)
All Rejoice	133	(6)
III. The Way of the Bodhisattva
CHAPTER 12: Generating Bodhichitta	139	(12)
A Gradual Approach	139	(1)
The Seven-Point Cause-and-Effect Method	140	(3)
Equalizing and Exchanging Oneself and Others	143	(1)
Self-Cherishing Versus Cherishing Others	144	(2)
The Practice of Giving and Taking	146	(1)
Generating Bodhichitta	146	(3)
Afterword	149	(2)
Appendix: Thorough Elucidation of the Meaning of the Words: An Exposition of the "Heart of Wisdom"	151	(14)
Jamyang Gawai Lodrö (1429-1503)
Notes	165	(8)
Bibliography	173	(2)
Index	175