The Sun of Wisdom Teachings on the Noble Nagarjuna's Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way

by GYAMTSO, KHENPO TSULTRIM

• ISBN13: 9781570629990
• ISBN10: 1570629994
• eBook ISBN(s): 9780834825406
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-03-11
• Publisher: Shambhala

Summary

The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Waywas written in the second century and is one of the most important works of Nagarjuna, the pioneering commentator on the Buddha's teachings on the Madhyamika or Middle Way view. The subtle analyses presented in this treatise were closely studied and commented upon by many realized masters from the Indo-Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Using Nagarjuna's root text and the great modern master Ju Mipham's commentary as a framework, Khenpo Tsuuml;ltrim Gyamtso explains the most important verse from each chapter in the text in a style that illuminates for modern students both the meaning of these profound teachings and how to put them into practice in a way that benefits both oneself and others.

Author Biography

Khenpo Tsnltrim Gyamtso is a noted scholar and teacher who was born in Eastern Tibet in 1935. After completing this early training, he spent five years wandering throughout Eastern and Central Tibet undertaking extensive solitary retreats in caves. When he reached Tsurphu Monastery, he received instruction from the head of the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, the 16th Karmapa, who later named him a khenpo, which is a title of scholastic mastery. In 1977 he came to the West to teach Tibetan language and Buddhism. Know for his highly engaging teaching style, Khenpo Tsnltrim Gyamtso has been traveling and teaching in the West ever since, placing an emphasis on the careful training of Westerners.

Table of Contents

Translator's Preface	vii
Introduction	ix
Opening Homage	1	(2)
An Examination of Causal Conditions	3	(8)
An Examination of Coming and Going	11	(8)
An Examination of the Sources of Consciousness	19	(8)
An Examination of the Aggregates	27	(10)
An Examination of the Elements	37	(6)
An Examination of Desire and the Desirous One	43	(6)
An Examination of the Composite	49	(6)
An Examination of Actors and Actions	55	(4)
An Examination of What Comes First	59	(6)
An Examination of Fire and Firewood	65	(6)
An Examination of Samsara	71	(6)
An Examination of Suffering	77	(6)
An Examination of the Precise Nature of Reality	83	(4)
An Examination of Contact	87	(6)
An Examination of Things and the Absence of Things	93	(6)
An Examination of Bondage and Liberation	99	(10)
An Examination of Karmic Actions and Results	109	(4)
An Examination of Self and Phenomena	113	(10)
An Examination of Time	123	(6)
An Examination of Collections	129	(8)
An Examination of Emergence and Decay	137	(4)
An Examination of the Tathagata	141	(6)
An Examination of Mistakes	147	(8)
An Examination of the Four Noble Truths	155	(6)
An Examination of Nirvana	161	(10)
An Examination of the Twelve Links of Existence	171	(6)
An Examination of Views	177	(4)
Concluding Homage	181	(2)
Appendix 1. Root Verses from The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way	183	(10)
Appendix 2. The Heart of Wisdom Sutra	193	(4)
Appendix 3. The Twenty Emptinesses from Chandrakirti's Entering the Middle Way	197	(8)
Appendix 4. An Authentic Portrait of the Middle Way: A Vajra Song of Realization of the Lord of Yogis Milarepa	205	(2)
Glossary	207