The Words of My Perfect Teacher

by Patrul Rinpoche, Dilgo Khyentse (Foreword), Dalai Lama XIV (Foreword)

A favorite of Tibetans—and of the Dalai Lama himself— The Words of My Perfect Teacher is a practical guide to the spiritual practices common to all Tibetan Buddhist traditions. It is the classic commentary on the preliminary practices of Longchen Nyingthig, a cycle of teachings of the Nyingmapa school. Patrul Rinpoche makes his subject accessible through a wealth of stories, quotations, and references to everyday life, giving the text all the life and atmosphere of a compelling oral teaching.

This second, revised edition (of the book originally published by HarperSanFrancisco in 1994) is the result of a detailed and painstaking comparison of the original Tibetan text with the English translation by the Padmakara Translation Group. The new edition also includes translations of a postface to the text written a century ago for the first printed Tibetan edition by the first Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche, and a new preface by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.

Genres: Buddhism, Spirituality, Religion, Philosophy, Nonfiction, Theology, Eastern Philosophy

457 pages, Paperback

Published October 27, 1998

About the author

Patrul Rinpoche (Dza Palge Tulku Rinpoche, Tib. རྫ་དཔལ་སྤྲུལ་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་ Wylie: rdza dpal sprul rin po che, 1808–1887) was a prominent teacher and author of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism.

Reviews

[Paul]

My favorite quote so far...

There is not a single being in samsara, this immense ocean of suffering, who in the course of time without beginning has never been our father or mother. When they were our parents, these beings' only thought was to raise us with the greatest possible kindness, protecting us with great love and giving us the very best of their own food and clothing... Tell yourself: "It is for their well-being that I am going to listen to the profound Dharma and put it into practice."

[Nate · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is what they call a potential "Game changer of life". If you take it seriously and read it carefully, then it is one that can change your life. It is non sectarian (drime), funny, sad, blunt, poetic, graceful, scholarly, sacred, poignant, direct, circumspect and always wise. How many books do you know that fit this category? It has already deeply changed my friend's life who is Islamic and changing the priorities of his life for the real, practical and to become a kinder, humbler, wiser more loving person. You will need eventually a lama or rinpoche and I suggest the Khyentse lineage but there are many authentic lineages in the Nyingma and Kagyu lineages. Dilgo Khyentse read this book many times over even in his 80's before he passed on. Yet there are many Geluk Stories about Geshes as well making it quite non sectarian. This is what Dzongsar Khyentse said about the book "This book alone should be like a guardian of Vajrayana
Buddhism. It exemplifies how to read a master, how to
judge a master and how to judge a practitioner. Of course,
every page is very important and, although you can’t
really leave anything out, in our minds we tend to divide
like that."

[Henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book that all Vajrayana Buddhists should have. Consider this, I just know a couple of English-speaking Vajrayana Buddhists in person, and two of them recommended this book to me. Although written as a beginner's guide of preliminary practice Longchen Nyingthik of Nyingma school, it includes many fundamental Dharma teachings that apply to all schools and traditions. The translation "preliminary" is misguiding, my root guru Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche said, because even some great achieved lamas had kept practicing Longchen Nyingthik all through their lives. If one is interested in learning Buddhism and Vajrayana, Words of My Perfect Teacher can be his first book for this purpose and continue serving as a reference guide.

Great Venerable Patrul Rinpoche was an eminent 19-century Tibetan monk, tulku, scholar and author, well known for being an ardent exponent of Rime Movement that promotes respect for all Buddhist schools and traditions and preservation of important teachings from them. It is very challenging to become a Rime teacher, because one has to learn persistently all through his life from teachers of all schools (Nyingma, Sakya, Kagyu, Gelug, etc.) and become an expert. That's why Rime lamas are highly respected in all schools. Patrul Rinpoche had lived a life of austerity, staying in caves and wilderness, and devoted his life for liberation of all sentient beings. He's inarguably a master and achiever, a realized pandita and emanation of buddhas and bodhisattvas. When I read this book, I did that with high veneration and inexpressible gratitude and I feel happy that this book has been well embraced in English speaking world and the West.

[Suzanne Arcand · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is 2/3 great and 1/3 interesting only for people who are fascinated by the minutes details of Tibetan Buddhism.

I need to come clean and say up front that for years I belonged to a Tibetan Buddhist church. I still consider myself Buddhist but reading Words of my Perfect Teacher helped me understand my discomfort with Tibetan Buddhism and Buddhism in general.

The first three chapters are very useful for any practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism. They are not however to be recommended as an introduction. One needs to be somewhat familiar with Tibetan Buddhism, before reading this book.

I did underline a lot in the chapter called “The Freedoms and Advantages”. I could read this chapter over and over again and learn something every time. I want to share a quote that could be meaningful in many circumstances:

“Pride, lack of faith and lack of effort,
Outward distraction, inward tension and discouragement;
These are the six stains.”

Things did go wrong with chapter three when the author describes the eighteen hells, still this chapter ended on a high note with beautiful advices from Padampa Sangye and lead to a couple of great chapters Cause and Effects, Taking Refuge and Arousing Bodhichitta.

But from page 263 on I pushed and pushed and pushed through this book until, I finally came to my senses, realize that it wasn’t for me and gave it up. The practices described in the last sections of the book are far too esoteric for me. They are very useful, even beautiful, for people who are interested in Guru Yoga but they are definitely not for everyone. These practices are useful means for getting closer to Buddhahood. I have not met a single person yet, who didn’t strike me as wise and more compassionate for having done them. But they are just too foreign from my way of thinking which is much more secular.

And this is how “Words of my Perfect Teacher” helped me realize that Tibetan Buddhism wasn’t for me. However I still consider myself Buddhist and I will keep searching and reading until I can answer this question: Can someone who doesn’t believe in reincarnation be a Buddhist?

[Erica Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

I believe this text is best understood with its historical context and intended audience in mind, i.e., written by a Tibetan guru born in 1808, died in 1887, so rather don't skip over the several introductions to the text, which includes a historical overview of the development of Tibetan Buddhism. I very much enjoyed the vernacular language and ordinary expressions and speech used in this translation, coming to feel a close familiarity with the occasionally ornery-sounding Rinpoche, with his endless (and amusing) excoriation of sloppy and lazy practitioners and lamas alike.

Being skeptical of the guru tradition and yet intuitively drawn to Vajrayana Buddhism, The Words of My Perfect Teacher provided a great introduction of what to look for - and beware of - in a teacher or "spiritual friend," as one might look upon him or her. The endnotes can add much valuable explanation to the main text and I would recommend not skipping them for the most part. (This admittedly becomes rather annoying towards the end where they are so numerous.)

Let us note one of the major pitfalls of spiritual practice, in observance of Rinpoche's sage words in the Conclusion of the book:

"On separate occasions, my teacher also used to give numerous special instructions for exposing hidden faults, and I have added whatever I have been able to remember of these in the most appropriate places. Do not take them as a window through which to observe others' faults, but rather as a mirror for examining your own. Look carefully within yourself to see whether or not you have those hidden faults. If you do, recognize them and banish them. Correct your mind and set it at ease on the right path." (p.369)

Analyzing everyone else may prove quite alluring and even provide a false sense of control (and a certain, toxic spiritual pride) but such an orientation in the end bears no fruit, a massive waste of this precious life with all its freedoms and advantages.

"To see what you have done before, look at what you are now.
To see where you are going to be born next, look at what you do now." (p. 113)

[Vanessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

still reading. it is beautifully written.

okay...finished, well sort of. some of this is not appropriate for where i am on my path, very dense information and descriptions of very formal procedures on taking refuge, vows, following a teacher, guru yoga, etc. some of this text was incredibly humbling and inspiring and some felt quite rigid and strict, written for monks in a different cultural context. this would be a good book to have on hand to refer to and return to as one journeys on the Buddhist path and i expect i will come back to it later. there were some pointers for obstacles and antidotes to meditation that were good to read. or more so ways of turning the mind from habitual patterns such as jealousy and comparison, greed and selfishness, etc.

the first part of the book was most helpful to me--the 8 hells were very graphically described and aroused a sense of compassion for those of us living in hell realms through our mental projections. also, after reading Shantideva's Way of the Bodhisattva, it was useful to read the practical aspects of taking the Bodhisattva vow, which i have in my heart but not yet formally, but will be in Januaray. it was good to read more about the process and tradition.

[Keith · Rating 5 out of 5]

A clear, though not concise, guide to the preliminary practices ("ngöndrö") of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Vajrayana (tantric Buddhism). While specifically focusing on the Longchen Nyingtig ("Heart Essence of Longchen Rabjampa") terma tradition in the lineage of Jigme Lingpa, the exposition is equally applicable to virtually any Dzogchen ngöndrö system (though the few details given regarding specific visualizations may need to be modified to fit the practitioner's sadhana subject to the instruction of one's own lama). The teachings on the Outer Preliminaries, which account for more than half of the book, are likewise equally applicable to the foundations of Mahayana practice in any of the Tibetan traditions. Of all the many books I collected regarding ngöndrö, this is the one I found myself turning to most often; even more so than to the commentaries on the specific sadhana I was given.

[Mary Overton]

"In ancient times, when Sakyamuni [The Buddha of our time] in a previous life was a king called Padma, a serious epidemic broke out amongst his subjects and many of them died. The king called the doctors and asked how the disease should be treated.

"'This sickness can be cured with the flesh of the rohita fish,' they said. 'But the disease has so obscured our minds that we can think of no other remedy.'

"On the morning of an auspicious day the king bathed, donned new clothing and performed a ceremony of confession and purification. He made great offerings to the Three Jewels and prayed fervently, saying, 'As soon as I die, may I immediately be reborn as a rohita fish in the Nivritta river!'

"He then cast himself down from the heights of his palace - one thousand cubits - and was immediately reborn as a fish, crying out in human speech, 'I am a rohita fish, take my flesh and eat it!'

"Everyone came to eat it. As soon as one side was eaten, the fish turned over and offered them the other side. While they were cutting off the flesh, the first side became whole again. In this way, by eating each side alternately, everybody who was ill could be cured. Then the fish spoke to them all.

"'I am Padma, your king. I gave up my life and took birth as a rohita fish to save you from the epidemic. As an expression of your gratitude, give up doing evil and do all the good you can.'

"They all obeyed him and thenceforth never again fell into evil rebirths.

"Another time Sakyamuni had been reborn as a giant turtle, when a boat transporting five hundred merchants was wrecked at sea.

"They were all about to drown, but the turtle called out to them in human speech: 'Get up on my back! I will carry you all to safety!'

"The turtle carried all the merchants to dry land, and then collapsed exhausted by the water's edge, and fell asleep. But as it slept, a cloud of eighty thousand ketaka flies began to suck its blood. Waking up, it saw how many they were and realized that to go back into the water or roll on the ground would kill all the insects. So it just lay where it was, giving them its life.

"Later, when the turtle became the Buddha, the flies were the eighty thousand gods who listened to his teachings and perceived the truth." pp. 230-231

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very fundamentalist take on Vajrayana Buddhism. Prepare for lots of elaborate descriptions of hell realms. Not your typical feel-good, yuppie Buddhism.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are enough pearls in this book to make it a classic but it is very dense and very detailed which make it a difficult read.

[Aelia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a seminar work. I have read by now few works on Buddhism (especially Mahayana path) but this book is profound.
Unlike the simplicity of word of many teachers (which I undeniably appreciate) this book is rich in references, quotes from other original text, but also incredibly vivid explanations.

I just finished reading the section on rising Boddhichitta, especially meditation on compassion and am so under impression...

This is truly Dharmic work.


AD - I will be coming back to this book for six years :)

<3

[Isaac Spencer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Patrul's words are like pouring the juiciest, sweetest balm onto a dry, desicated heart. The result being that one knows what is important in life and all the ways one fools oneself.

Patrul doesn't mince words. There are no fluffy bunnies to be found here.

Patrul's words are a blast in the ear of those (including myself) asleep with selfishness.

[Tashi Pem · Rating 5 out of 5]

"what makes an action positive or negative?,Not how it looks, not whether it is big or small, but it is the positive or negative motivation that is behind it.
No matter how many teachings that you have heard, to be motivated by ordinary concerns, such as a desire for greatness, fame or whatever, is not the way of the true Dharma.”-Patrul Rinpoche

[Arnaud Versluys · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the seminal primer to understand and practice the ngondro or preliminaries in the Nyingma Nyingthig tradition. I first read it 15 years ago and i find myself coming back to it over and over and discovering fresh instructions each time! 🙏🏻

[julián m.h]

rating dharma books has always felt strange to me since this stuff goes beyond the linking or disliking of the text. i've wanted to read this one for some years now since most dharma teachers mention it as an essential introduction to tibetan buddhism, but strangely enough words of my perfect teacher might feel both as an intro or a deep dive, depending on where you are on your path. for someone who has no familiarity with tibetan buddhist practices, half of what's written here will feel really strange and pretty out there. the first part, however, which beautifully explains the four turning minds, is a crystal clear explanation of the whys and hows of taking a spiritual practice.

regardless of where you are, if you're here, you've probably been here before so just go ahead and take patrul rinpoche's instructions, even if you don't get it. you'll surely come back in another life.

[Shashi Martynova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Великолепные подробные и очень живые указания по лонгчег нинтиг, на редкость человеческий чуткий перевод.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Dec 4, 2020)

I have read this book before but just recently picked it up again. It was the first book of Vajrayana that I read and seriously contemplated upon. This book also made me explore the first ancient Buddhist master that really inspired me, Patrul Rinpoche. Never did I know that it was a commentary on the root text for ngondro of the Longchen Nyingthig lineage until recently when I received the oral transmission and started doing ngondro. It is very inspiring, especially the guru yoga. That is the part that you would never understand unless you have a guru in person to follow. However, I think people can still greatly benefit from the knowledge presented in this book, especially the Four Thoughts to develop Renunciation. It is a classic and timeless book!

(July 29, 2020)
This is the first tantric book I read and I feel greatly inspired by Patrul Rinpoche who lived more than 2 centuries before I was born. I was reading this in parallel with his autobiography Enlightened Vagabond by Matthieu Ricard. It creates a firm convictional faith in his teaching. It has everything, in condensed form, from the graduated path, the practice of boddhisattvas (such as the Six Perfections) as well as tantric path such as guru yoga all the way to different tantric yoga in the generation and completion stage.
In all, I love the most his teaching of different sufferings of sentient beings in the 6 realms and the practice of a bodhisattva. The Buddhist path, especially tantric path is filled with difficulties and requires a strong mind with determination and firm conviction in its values. Without a strong wish to benefit others, it is easy to be led astray, quit completely or downfall to nonvirtuous behaviors.

Therefore, don't assume you become a tantric practitioners and can practice by following the guidelines in this book. It requires strong foundation in lamrim and any advanced tantric practice has to be under guidance of a vajra master as its interpretation is open to be misunderstood by people without solid foundation in the Buddhadharma.

[Alonzo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this out of curiosity more than out of a desire to live this way. Tibetan Buddhism is the most ritualistic and "religious" of the forms of Buddhism that I have looked at so far. And, a lot of the information in this book is meant to be used in conjunction with the oral transmission of a qualified teacher. Much of it seems to require the learner/practitioner/student to live monastically, but apart from that, the teaching on equalizing and exchanging, and on bodhicitta are worth the time to read, not only for Buddhists but for anyone interested in living better in this violent world.
Those chapters, which reinforced what I have learned on these subjects from other books, were very helpful in overcoming difficult emotions and thought processes. Those teachings have helped me look at the world and at other people differently.
I am far from a Bodhisattva, and quite honestly, don't know whether that is a state that I could ever attain, but just attempting to cultivate a heart and mind of love and compassion will help make (at least my part of) the world a better place.

[Raffaello Palandri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book of the Day – The Words of My Perfect Teacher


Today’s Book of the Day is The Words of My Perfect Teacher, written by Patrul Rimpoche in 1991 and published by Shambala.

Patrul Rinpoche (1808–1887) was one of the most revered and influential figures of the 19th-century Tibetan Buddhist renaissance. A wandering hermit, prolific teacher, and eminent scholar of the Nyingma school, he rejected monastic privilege and material comfort in favor of simplicity, humility, and boundless compassion. Though born into a noble family in the Dzachuka region of eastern Tibet, he chose to live without possessions, renouncing worldly attachments to embody the principles he taught.

I have chosen this book because The Words of My Perfect Teacher is a living transmission of spiritual wisdom encoded in the elegant clarity and compassionate urgency of a realized master.

The book belongs to a class of texts known as lamrim (stages of the path), specifically within the ngöndro (preliminary practices) tradition of the Nyingma school, and serves both as a practical manual for serious practitioners and a deeply illuminating exposition of core Buddhist teachings. To engage with it means to enter into an intricate conversation between the timeless truths of Dharma and the contemporary seeker’s need for spiritual guidance.

What sets this work apart is the fusion of immediacy and profundity.

Patrul Rinpoche does not merely instruct; he transforms ideas, practices, and people. Though rooted in the high Himalayas of 19th-century Tibet, his voice still penetrates the density of modern ego structures with disarming directness. He speaks not from a place of monastic detachment but from the intimate perspective of a guide who has walked every step of the path he describes. The text brims with urgency, not in the sense of dogma or coercion, but in the way a physician might speak to a dying patient—out of love, with clarity, and for the sake of liberation.

The structure of the work, modeled after the Longchen Nyingthig ngöndro, offers both outer and inner instructions. At its core, it is a commentary on the root verses composed by Jigme Lingpa, yet Patrul Rinpoche breathes life into these aphorisms with an astonishing range of anecdotes, scriptural references, poetic invocations, and ferocious spiritual exhortations.

He seamlessly brings together the theoretical and the practical, anchoring the loftiest metaphysical concepts in the blood and bone of lived experience. The result is a complex tissue in which each thread—the nature of impermanence, the inevitability of death, the illusion of ego, the boundless scope of bodhicitta—shimmers with radical relevance.

Perhaps the most striking quality of the book is its relentless honesty.

Patrul Rinpoche does not flatter the reader with false consolation. He exposes the self-deceptions that sabotage our spiritual lives: procrastination, spiritual materialism, intellectual arrogance, and attachment to appearances. Yet his deconstruction of these veils is never punitive—it is a mirror polished by compassion. He does not simply point out our faults; he reveals the truth beneath them.

In a single paragraph, he can dismantle decades of delusion while simultaneously invoking the vast sky of our original nature.

The prose, even in translation, retains the incisiveness and vitality of oral transmission. The English version of this book renders the Tibetan with exceptional care and literary elegance, preserving the cadences and rhetorical flourishes that make the author’s voice so compelling. Patrul Rinpoche is at once a fierce critic of spiritual laziness and a warm-hearted friend to the aspirant soul.

What elevates this text beyond a mere manual is its ontological vision.

Underneath the detailed instructions for preliminary practices lies a luminous view of reality, one in which the world is neither denied nor clung to but seen for what it is: a field of illusion shimmering with the potential for awakening. The practices outlined, refuge, bodhicitta, Vajrasattva purification, mandala offering, and guru yoga, are not mechanical rituals but gateways to experiential insight into emptiness and interdependence. They are alchemical processes through which the practitioner is invited to burn away karmic residue, dissolve egoic structures, and enter into the luminous awareness of rigpa, the inherent nature of the mind.

Reading this book is, therefore, not a passive affair.

One does not simply read The Words of My Perfect Teacher; rather, one is read by it, scanned by it, and changed by it. The book interrogates the reader’s sincerity, penetrates the performativity of spiritual aspiration, and continually reorients the mind toward the essential: the cessation of suffering through the realization of our Buddha-nature. The text is stripped of all pretense and ornamentation and shines with the raw and unyielding compassion of a master who knows both samsara’s seductions and the limitless freedom that lies beyond them.

And yet, despite its uncompromising tone, the book is suffused with warmth.

Patrul Rinpoche is never an aloof philosopher pontificating from the clouds. He is still the barefoot traveler of the inner worlds, the spiritual friend who laughs, admonishes, implores, and cheers us on. His stories, often humorous, sometimes shocking, always instructive, bring the theory of the teachings into a full-bodied life. They evoke a world where wisdom is not abstract but intimate and embodied.

Ultimately, The Words of My Perfect Teacher is not just a book about Buddhism; it is Buddhism, expressed in its most luminous and practical form. I absolutely recommend it to everyone, even if they are not interested in Buddhism.

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who has spent a lot of time reading and being involved in Tibeten Buddhism, I rate this book. It's a solid translation of the original text and has a foreward by HH as well as Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. For non Buddhists, I am not sure how much the book would appeal but it still provides an excellent summation of the Tibetan perspective. I am currently holidaying overseas with foreign language bookstores everywhere so it is a companion I am really glad that I brought for those longer nights stuck in the hotel.

[tammy · Rating 5 out of 5]

If one feels drawn to Buddhism, Words of My Perfect Teacher provides a clarity and depth of understanding that is unmatched.

[joe Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most important books ever to be translated from Tibetan to English. It is a must read for anyone interested in Buddhism or Tibet.

[Sonia Gomes · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book to study Buddhism!

[Lorilee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book to reference rather than read like a novel. It's inspiring, interesting, even intriguing. It pushed my thought to a deeper level.

[Geoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up this book after having finished reading The Practice of Lojong by Traleg Kyabgon. That book, which I highly recommend, referenced this one quite often as almost an inspiration for it and so I felt I needed to read it. I am glad I did.

Words of My Perfect Teacher is a book of guidance from one's beginning to one's end. The underlying message is that when one undertakes the path of Buddhism, a Teacher is your most valuable asset and it is most important to have the right teacher. This book outlines many facets of Buddhism and how to identify if someone you have put in that role is truly faithful to Buddhism or not.

In my near 40 years of an on again / off again relationship with Buddhism that has become more on in the last few years I have never found a teacher other than books on or about the subject matter of Buddhist thought and spirituality. The aforementioned The Practice of Lojong is perhaps the best book I have read on proceeding down the road of Buddhism. This book is a deeper dive in to where that book originated from, in my opinion. The Dhammapada, The Way of the Bodhisattva and the Tao Te Ching comprise a core of Buddhism for me and I can say this book has helped me deepen my understanding of these works so I will now list it as works I will continually review and keep with me.

Five plus stars all the way.

[Tatiana Friar McDermott · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 2012, I delved into The Words of My Perfect Teacher by Patrul Rinpoche, a text that profoundly deepened my Buddhist practice. This classic commentary on the preliminary practices of the Longchen Nyingtik—a revered cycle of teachings in the Nyingma tradition—offers invaluable guidance for practitioners. 

One teaching that resonated deeply with me is the contemplation of impermanence. Patrul Rinpoche emphasizes that recognizing the transient nature of life cultivates a sense of urgency in our practice, encouraging us to focus on what truly matters. 

Another impactful lesson is the reflection on the preciousness of human birth. Understanding the rarity and value of our human existence motivates a more diligent and sincere approach to the Dharma.

These teachings have not only deepened my understanding but have also inspired a more profound commitment to my practice. I am deeply grateful for Patrul Rinpoche’s wisdom and rejoice in the merits of his compassionate guidance.

[Dawa Zangmo · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The words of My perfect Teacher" by Patrul RInpoche is a classic text on the path of Tibetan Buddhism. It is like a guidebook for those seeking to deepen their understanding of the teachings of Buddha. The book is divided into three parts. The first part focuses on the preliminary practices that a student must undertake in order to prepare for the more advanced teachings. The second part focuses on the main practices, including the practices of deity yoga, mantra recitation, and meditation on emptiness. The final part focuses on the teachings of Tibetan buddhism. The teachings are considered to be the most advanced practices and are taught to those who have demonstrated a deep understanding of the path. The book is written in a straightforward style that is easy to understand even for those who are new to Tibetan Buddhism.

[Tej Kumar Nepal · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great piece of literature. Talks about Buddhism as a whole. The importance of Guru to attain enlightenment is written well.

It says that Buddhism is the only path towards Enlightenment. Any religion which says its path is the only path is not good. Paths are many, goal is one.

So many statement and hatred speeches for those following another religion and path.
Saw lots of similar stories directly copied form another major religion.

But will recommend to read once.

Meditation on Spiritual Knowledge is the only path towards Enlightenment.

[Eunsung · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started this book almost 2.5 years ago. It has been quite a journey both in reading this book and my own practice. Patrul Rinpoche’s teachings speak to my heart-mind, and I hope for anyone else who opens this treasure, may it speak directly to your heart.

“Whatever merit might accrue from this work
I dedicate to all beings, my others of the past,
That they may be sustained by a spiritual friend,
Put his perfects words into practice, a d obtain excellent fruit” (Words of My Perfect Teacher, 372).

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a generous book that takes you through the beginning-middle-dying phases of Tibetan practice. I read it 25 years ago, enjoyed listening to it again, and would recommend it to anyone interested in a traditional (19th C) overview of the entire Tibetan path. Yes, it might feel archaic in format (lots of lists!) but it’s telling you all you need to know to practice. Supplement with “Enlightened Vagabond” first, as it will give you a sense of the life and character of Patrul Rinpoche.

(audible)