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The Three Vehicles of Buddhist Practice
Thrangu Rinpoche is the author of 40 books on Buddhism in English aimed at helping the Buddhist practitioner understand the breath and depth of Buddhist practice. He is known for taking complex ideas and making them understandable for the Eastern or Western student and is well-recognized as also being high practitioner himself.
The Three Vehicles of Buddhist Practice is an excellent survey of the whole path of Buddhism given in three main vehicles especially for beginning students.
The first path, the Foundation or Theravada Path begins with the Four Noble Truths and the Eight Fold Path. Thrangu Rinpoche present the Five Paths and discusses the meditation at this level including why understanding selflessness is important and how this relates to reincarnation.
The second major step or vehicle is the Mahayana in which Thrangu Rinpoche discusses the bodhisattva ideal and the four immeasurables. Then he discusses the concept of emptiness of self and phenomena and how this affects our practice. To understand this we need to understand the interdependence of phenomena. Finally, the Mahayana vehicle only makes sense if we understand relative and ultimate truth, the mind's luminous clarity, and Buddha-nature.
The third vehicle of the Vajrayana is the most difficult to understand and Rinpoche gives an excellent explanation of how this vehicle is based mainly understanding the mind and developing techniques to look directly into it. The meditation at this level is described clearly and is a valuable addition to developing one's meditation.
The Three Vehicles of Buddhist Practice is an excellent survey of the whole path of Buddhism given in three main vehicles especially for beginning students.
The first path, the Foundation or Theravada Path begins with the Four Noble Truths and the Eight Fold Path. Thrangu Rinpoche present the Five Paths and discusses the meditation at this level including why understanding selflessness is important and how this relates to reincarnation.
The second major step or vehicle is the Mahayana in which Thrangu Rinpoche discusses the bodhisattva ideal and the four immeasurables. Then he discusses the concept of emptiness of self and phenomena and how this affects our practice. To understand this we need to understand the interdependence of phenomena. Finally, the Mahayana vehicle only makes sense if we understand relative and ultimate truth, the mind's luminous clarity, and Buddha-nature.
The third vehicle of the Vajrayana is the most difficult to understand and Rinpoche gives an excellent explanation of how this vehicle is based mainly understanding the mind and developing techniques to look directly into it. The meditation at this level is described clearly and is a valuable addition to developing one's meditation.
- GenresBuddhism
100 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1995
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About the author
Khenchen Thrangu
80 books43 followersVery 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.
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.
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December 3, 2020Venerable Thrangu Rinpoche is such a clear and engaging teacher. Reading this is like being in the room with him.
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