A Complete Guide to the Buddhist Path

by Konchog Gyaltshen, Khenmo Trinlay Chodron (Editor)

Buddhist teachings provide numerous methods for bringing greater meaning and happiness into our lives and into our relationships with others. In A Complete Guide to the Buddhist Path, Khenchen Konchog Gyaltshen Rinpoche reveals these methods in direct, vibrant, down-to-earth language. At the core of this work lies The Jewel Treasury of Advice, a text composed by Drikung Bhande Dharmaradza (1704–1754), the reincarnation of Drikung Dharmakirti. Khenchen Rinpoche interprets these ancient teachings with compassion, humor, and a keen awareness for their relevance in contemporary Western life. Those who sincerely want to study and practice the Buddha's teachings will find this an indispensable guide.

Genres: Buddhism, Nonfiction

497 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

The Most Venerable Drikung Khenchen Konchog Gyaltshen Rinpoche (Wylie: 'bri gung mkhan chen dkon mchog rgyal mtshan) is a "great scholar" (Tib. khenchen from khenpo 'scholar, abbot' + chen 'great') of the Drikung Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, and a founder of the Tibetan Meditation Center in Washington, D.C., which moved to Frederick, Maryland, in November 1991.

Reviews

[보미 · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are reborn as a human in samsara and are able to practice the Dharma--to potentially become the Buddha--such a person is more than blessed. I can't say how blessed I am to read such a book. To become Enlightened one must be reborn as a human first! This is why the Dharma always says, "oh, how blessed is it to be a human!" You can't be free from samsara when one isn't a human! So we must use our precious human life to find our True self, to enter Nirvana, because life is so short and fragile!

What we are, what our circumstances are, is a result of our past karmas, whether from our past lives, or the past of this life, or both. If you are spiritually unconscious, your destiny will always be suffering; you will be reborn again and again on the wheel of samsara; but if such a person is awakened, he has the opportunity to change his or her's destiny. By living and religiously applying the Dharma, doing good deeds, accumulating merits and widsom, one is able to alter his or her's destiny. You may potentially become Enlightened. It may take many lifetimes to enter nirvana, but if such a person accumulates many merits, he or she may be reborn as an ordained monk or nun; thus, such a person would have a high chance to become Enlightenment.

Such is the beauty of this book. It elucidates to newcomers to Buddhism about the Holy Dharma, which is the only way to be free from suffering, samsara, and to eradicate the ego. It shows how to be and act like a Bodhisattva, or become an Arhat. Finally, it shows the path to Liberation.

When I see a Buddhist monk or nun, I can't just help but feel overwhelmed by their attractor fields. They are in the position they are in because they accumulated great merit and wisdom in their past lives. They are bodhisattvas and arhats that show us our potential--Buddha-nature.

[M. Todd Webster · Rating 5 out of 5]

A surprisingly accessible and engaging commentary on the Drikung Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism as represented by the "root text" The Jewel Treasury of Advice. Khenchen (the title means "great abbot", approximately), a highly regarded lama who happens to reside in my area, takes the reader from the basics of refuge and ethical behavior to the pinnacles of Mahamudra. The book includes a devotional biography of Bhande Dharmaradza, the author of the root text, a glossary, and a helpful "list of enumerations", e.g., the four noble truths, the two obscurations, the three vehicles, the major and minor marks of a buddha. Not an introductory text for the inquirer, but a good text to support the committed practitioner from the first steps to the last.

[Salvatore Familia]

Buddhist teachings provide numerous methods for bringing greater meaning and happiness into our lives and into our relationships with others. In A Complete Guide to the Buddhist Path, Khenchen Konchog Gyaltshen Rinpoche reveals these methods in direct, vibrant, down-to-earth language. At the core of this work lies The Jewel Treasury of Advice, a text composed by Drikung Bhande Dharmaradza (1704–1754), the reincarnation of Drikung Dharmakirti. Khenchen Rinpoche interprets these ancient teachings with compassion, humor, and a keen awareness for their relevance in contemporary Western life. Those who sincerely want to study and practice the Buddha's teachings will find this an indispensable guide.