The Practice of Tranquillity and Insight: A Guide to Tibetan Buddhist Meditation

by Khenchen Thrangu, Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye

The two types of meditation that form the core of Buddhist spiritual practice are: tranquillity (samatha) meditation aims at stilling the mind, while insight (vipasyana) meditation produces clear vision or insight into the nature of all phenomena. With masterful scholarship, Rinpoche explains this unified system of meditation—what to do, what to avoid, and the stages of deepening meditation—so the practitioner can gauge progress. His teaching is a commentary on the eighth chapter of the Treasury of Knowledge by Jamgon Kongtrul.

Genres: Buddhism, Meditation, Spirituality, Nonfiction

170 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Very Venerable Ninth Khenchen Thrangu Tulku, Karma Lodrö Lungrik Maway Senge (Tibetan: ཁྲ་འགུ་, Wylie: khra 'gu) is a prominent tulku (reincarnate lama) in the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism.

At the age of four he was formally recognized by His Holiness the Sixteenth Karmapa and Eleventh Tai Situpa as the ninth incarnation of the great Thrangu tulku, the abbot of Thrangu Monastery, whose root incarnation was Shüpu Palgyi Sengé, one of the twenty-five disciples of Guru Rinpoche. Forced to flee to India in 1959, he went to Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim, where the Karmapa had his seat in exile. Thrangu Rinpoche then served as the main teacher of the four principal Karma Kagyü tulkus of that time—the four regents of the Karmapa (Shamar Rinpoche, Tai Situ Rinpoche, Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche, and Gyaltsab Rinpoche). In 1976 he began to teach in the West and became the abbot of Gampo Abbey—a Buddhist monastery in Nova Scotia, Canada—as well as to take charge of the three-year retreat centre at Samyé Ling in Scotland.

He is also the author of the widely studied The Practice of Tranquility and Insight, a commentary on the eighth chapter of Jamgön Kongtrul's Treasury of Knowledge, on shamatha and vipashyana.

Reviews

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mostly a scholarly-like look at shamatha and vipashyana meditations. Lots of lists. Found it overwhelming at times. But there are some more practical instructions scattered through the text.