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The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment (Volume 2)
This much anticipated volume explains how to train in the six perfections in order to develop the heart of compassion, indispensable for any student who wants to put the Dharma into practice.
305 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 7, 2002
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158 people want to read
About the author
Tsongkhapa
61 books37 followersJe Tsognkhapa (Tib.: tsong kha pa, ཙོང་ཁ་པ། "The Man from Onion Valley") was a monk of the Sakya tradition of Tibetan Buddhism whose activities led to the formation of the Geluk school, though he never announced the establishment of a new monastic order himself. He is also known by his ordained name Lobsang Drakpa (blo bzang grags pa) or simply as Je Rinpoche (rje rin po che).
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 5, 2024
The Great Treatise as a Whole
Although Robert Thurman is disposed to ebullience, I wholeheartedly agree with his assessment that Tsong Khapa's Great Treatise is "one of the greatest religious or secular works in the library of our human heritage." It is a masterpiece of clarity, beauty, and utility, presenting the great scholar-yogi's overview of the stages of practice based on sutra and the Indian and Tibetan commentaries, from its initial stages to the its most profound contemplations on the final nature of reality.
Deriving from the Indian tradition of Prajnaparamita commentarial literature, the Great Treatise offers a comprehensive overview of Buddhist thought, organized into a graded series of contemplations and practices and presented in a progression ranging from the fundamental practices that can be understood and carried out by anyone, and proceeding in an ascending hierarchy to more demanding practices for beings of "higher capacity."
The practices are generally presented in the sequence in which any yogi would undertake them, beginning with refuge, moving on through contemplations of the inevitability of death, and on to the development of compassion and so on, though the principle organizational principle is how each practice is regarded with respect to the necessary capacity to undertake it, as well as the degree of resolution it affords into the nature of reality. For example, the practices of concentrating the mind in meditation are the second to last topic in the series, but it is one of the first practices any yogi would need to undertake, and serves as a foundation for most of the rest. Without meditative stability, a yogi cannot focus sufficiently to undertake the various contemplations laid out in this treatise.
Generally speaking, the Great Treatise, like the rest of the Prajnaparamita literature, is treated by Gelukpa monks more like a encyclopedic compendium of practices and positions than an actual series of practices to be programmatically followed - at least according to Georges Dreyfus's observations. Nonetheless, the Great Treatise certainly can be taken as a core guide to practice, and I daresay that approach is particularly useful for lay people.
It is also particularly relevant for people who wish to undertake practice based on sutra and Indo-Tibetan commentaries, rather than taking the tantic path. Following the example of the Bengali Kadampa reformer Jowo Atisha, Tsong Khapa scrupulously distinguishes between the practices based on sutra and the practices based on tantra, emphasizing that they should be kept separate. Despite ultimately being concordant, the way they talk about the same concepts is sufficiently different that blending them is a cause of deep confusion, in his view.
I have read a great deal of Tsong Khapa's writing, and this work in particular stands out to me for its beguiling clarity and profundity. I can get into hashing out the differences in the object of negation as posited by the Svatantrika-Sautrantika-Madhyamikas versus the Prasangika-Madhyikas as much as the next guy, but this work is of obvious and great immediate existential relevance to anyone. It is superbly translated by a team of terrific scholars, most of whom have produced other writings I have greatly enjoyed. It is a masterpiece, and a cornerstone of the Tibetan tradition.
Volume Two
This volume presents teachings for beings of "greater capacity," i.e., those capable of entering the Great Vehicle practices of universal liberation. The principle aim of these practices is to arouse the mind of enlightenment, which is a powerful determination that one will attain enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings, and remain engaged in cyclic existence for as long as one may be of service. It is perhaps best summarized in a classic verse of Shantideva from his "Engaging in the Bodhisattva Deeds":
As long as space endures,
As long as sentient beings remain,
May I remain
In order to help them.
The basis for developing this powerful motivation is the development of love and compassion, where love is understood as the desire for all beings to be happy, and compassion is understood as the desire for all beings to be free of suffering. According to the tradition explicated by this work, when those two feelings are extended without partiality to all sentient beings by one who is already grounded in the preliminary trainings of renunciation, comprehending the faults of cyclic existence, and so forth, then one has awakened the mind of enlightenment.
The actual path leading to awakening can then be undertaken in a series of practices that are epitomized by the Mahayana "Six Perfections," which are generosity, ethical discipline, patience or endurance, joyful perseverance or enthusiasm, meditative concentration, and wisdom - specifically the wisdom recognizing the final nature of all phenomena.
In this volume, Tsong Khapa presents an encyclopedic series of contemplations and meditative techniques that help practitioners arouse the mind of enlightenment, compassion, and love, and then cultivate the first four of the six perfections. It also includes an overview of concentration and wisdom, which are treated at far greater depth in the third and final volume. There is also a brief chapter on how to effectively gather disciples.
What I personally find most helpful in this volume are the chapters on the mind of enlightenment, love, and compassion - they are excellent. I didn't get as much from his analysis of the first of the four perfections, which draw very heavily from Shantideva's masterpiece, but present them in a rather more schematic and didactic format that doesn't particularly add much for me.
Although Robert Thurman is disposed to ebullience, I wholeheartedly agree with his assessment that Tsong Khapa's Great Treatise is "one of the greatest religious or secular works in the library of our human heritage." It is a masterpiece of clarity, beauty, and utility, presenting the great scholar-yogi's overview of the stages of practice based on sutra and the Indian and Tibetan commentaries, from its initial stages to the its most profound contemplations on the final nature of reality.
Deriving from the Indian tradition of Prajnaparamita commentarial literature, the Great Treatise offers a comprehensive overview of Buddhist thought, organized into a graded series of contemplations and practices and presented in a progression ranging from the fundamental practices that can be understood and carried out by anyone, and proceeding in an ascending hierarchy to more demanding practices for beings of "higher capacity."
The practices are generally presented in the sequence in which any yogi would undertake them, beginning with refuge, moving on through contemplations of the inevitability of death, and on to the development of compassion and so on, though the principle organizational principle is how each practice is regarded with respect to the necessary capacity to undertake it, as well as the degree of resolution it affords into the nature of reality. For example, the practices of concentrating the mind in meditation are the second to last topic in the series, but it is one of the first practices any yogi would need to undertake, and serves as a foundation for most of the rest. Without meditative stability, a yogi cannot focus sufficiently to undertake the various contemplations laid out in this treatise.
Generally speaking, the Great Treatise, like the rest of the Prajnaparamita literature, is treated by Gelukpa monks more like a encyclopedic compendium of practices and positions than an actual series of practices to be programmatically followed - at least according to Georges Dreyfus's observations. Nonetheless, the Great Treatise certainly can be taken as a core guide to practice, and I daresay that approach is particularly useful for lay people.
It is also particularly relevant for people who wish to undertake practice based on sutra and Indo-Tibetan commentaries, rather than taking the tantic path. Following the example of the Bengali Kadampa reformer Jowo Atisha, Tsong Khapa scrupulously distinguishes between the practices based on sutra and the practices based on tantra, emphasizing that they should be kept separate. Despite ultimately being concordant, the way they talk about the same concepts is sufficiently different that blending them is a cause of deep confusion, in his view.
I have read a great deal of Tsong Khapa's writing, and this work in particular stands out to me for its beguiling clarity and profundity. I can get into hashing out the differences in the object of negation as posited by the Svatantrika-Sautrantika-Madhyamikas versus the Prasangika-Madhyikas as much as the next guy, but this work is of obvious and great immediate existential relevance to anyone. It is superbly translated by a team of terrific scholars, most of whom have produced other writings I have greatly enjoyed. It is a masterpiece, and a cornerstone of the Tibetan tradition.
Volume Two
This volume presents teachings for beings of "greater capacity," i.e., those capable of entering the Great Vehicle practices of universal liberation. The principle aim of these practices is to arouse the mind of enlightenment, which is a powerful determination that one will attain enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings, and remain engaged in cyclic existence for as long as one may be of service. It is perhaps best summarized in a classic verse of Shantideva from his "Engaging in the Bodhisattva Deeds":
As long as space endures,
As long as sentient beings remain,
May I remain
In order to help them.
The basis for developing this powerful motivation is the development of love and compassion, where love is understood as the desire for all beings to be happy, and compassion is understood as the desire for all beings to be free of suffering. According to the tradition explicated by this work, when those two feelings are extended without partiality to all sentient beings by one who is already grounded in the preliminary trainings of renunciation, comprehending the faults of cyclic existence, and so forth, then one has awakened the mind of enlightenment.
The actual path leading to awakening can then be undertaken in a series of practices that are epitomized by the Mahayana "Six Perfections," which are generosity, ethical discipline, patience or endurance, joyful perseverance or enthusiasm, meditative concentration, and wisdom - specifically the wisdom recognizing the final nature of all phenomena.
In this volume, Tsong Khapa presents an encyclopedic series of contemplations and meditative techniques that help practitioners arouse the mind of enlightenment, compassion, and love, and then cultivate the first four of the six perfections. It also includes an overview of concentration and wisdom, which are treated at far greater depth in the third and final volume. There is also a brief chapter on how to effectively gather disciples.
What I personally find most helpful in this volume are the chapters on the mind of enlightenment, love, and compassion - they are excellent. I didn't get as much from his analysis of the first of the four perfections, which draw very heavily from Shantideva's masterpiece, but present them in a rather more schematic and didactic format that doesn't particularly add much for me.
June 11, 2020
Volume IIThis is one of the brightest jewels in any sacred literature of the world, this incredible insight into a world of Tibetan Buddhism. It was finished in 1402 by the master Tsong-kha-pa and is among Buddhist a classic masterpiece, taking the Buddhist deep philosophy of the human mind into simple practice. Because Buddhism is not complicated, is very simple but it is we who complicate it. Therefore this masterpiece takes it step by step. It’s an essential text for all Buddhism practice used by students to put the teachings of the Dharma into daily life. All the Indian classic text demonstrates clearly understandable in a modern world and is the gateway to the higher teaching of the Sutras and Tantras.
August 30, 2020
Volume 2 of 3. Difficult to review. If you are interested in Tibetan Buddhism, the 3 volume set is a key text to read. Tsong-kha-pa was the founder of the Gelug lineage of Tibetan Buddhism - His Holiness the Dalai Lama's lineage.
June 27, 2021
In the second volume of this masterpiece of fifteenth century Mahāyāna Buddhist literature, Je Tsong-kha-pa expands beyond the cultivation of bodhicitta by methodically outlining the training in the six pāramitās. With limpid prose and detailed commentaries drawn from some of the greatest practitioners, from Nāgārjuna to Atisha, the ‘Lamrim Chenmo’ is indisputably one of the most extensive and profound accounts of Tibetan Buddhist scriptures. Both pivotal and seminal for all Mahāyāna practitioners.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews