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A Feast of the Nectar of the Supreme Vehicle: An Explanation of the Ornament of the Mahayana Sutras
A full translation of an important Mahāyāna Buddhist treatise with a commentary by the famous Tibetan luminary Jamgön Mipham.
A monumental work and Indian Buddhist classic, the Ornament of the Mahāyāna Sūtras (Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra) is a precious resource for students wishing to study in-depth the philosophy and path of Mahāyāna Buddhism. This full translation and commentary outlines the importance of Mahāyāna, the centrality of bodhicitta or the mind of awakening, the path of becoming a bodhisattva, and how one can save beings from suffering through skillful means.
This definitive composition of Mahāyāna teachings was imparted in the fourth century by Maitreya to the famous adept Asaṅga, one of the most prolific writers of Buddhist treatises in history. Asaṅga’s work, which is among the famous Five Treatises of Maitreya, has been studied, commented upon, and taught by Buddhists throughout Asia ever since it was composed.
In the early twentieth century, one of Tibet’s greatest scholars and saints, Jamgön Mipham, wrote A Feast of the Nectar of the Supreme Vehicle, which is a detailed explanation of every verse. This commentary has since been used as the primary blueprint for Tibetan Buddhists to illuminate the depth and brilliance of Maitreya’s pith teachings. The Padmakara Translation Group has provided yet another accessible and eloquent translation, ensuring that English-speaking students of Mahāyāna will be able to study this foundational Buddhist text for generations to come.
A monumental work and Indian Buddhist classic, the Ornament of the Mahāyāna Sūtras (Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra) is a precious resource for students wishing to study in-depth the philosophy and path of Mahāyāna Buddhism. This full translation and commentary outlines the importance of Mahāyāna, the centrality of bodhicitta or the mind of awakening, the path of becoming a bodhisattva, and how one can save beings from suffering through skillful means.
This definitive composition of Mahāyāna teachings was imparted in the fourth century by Maitreya to the famous adept Asaṅga, one of the most prolific writers of Buddhist treatises in history. Asaṅga’s work, which is among the famous Five Treatises of Maitreya, has been studied, commented upon, and taught by Buddhists throughout Asia ever since it was composed.
In the early twentieth century, one of Tibet’s greatest scholars and saints, Jamgön Mipham, wrote A Feast of the Nectar of the Supreme Vehicle, which is a detailed explanation of every verse. This commentary has since been used as the primary blueprint for Tibetan Buddhists to illuminate the depth and brilliance of Maitreya’s pith teachings. The Padmakara Translation Group has provided yet another accessible and eloquent translation, ensuring that English-speaking students of Mahāyāna will be able to study this foundational Buddhist text for generations to come.
- GenresBuddhism
968 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 23, 2018
9 people are currently reading
30 people want to read
About the author
Jamgön Mipham
70 books18 followersJu Mipham Rinpoche (Tibetan ཇུ་མི་ཕམ་, Wylie 'ju mi pham) or Jamgön Mipham Gyatso (འཇམ་མགོན་མི་ཕམ་རྒྱ་མཚོ་, 'jam mgon mi pham rgya mtsho) was a great Nyingma master and writer of the 19th century, student of Jamgön Kongtrul, Jamyang Khyentsé Wangpo and Patrul Rinpoche.
Like all Tibetan authors, Mipham Rinpoche uses several names in the colophons to his works, which may then be rendered into English in several ways, including:
Dhih
Jampal Dorje
Jampal Gyepé Dorjé (Wyl. ‘jam dpal dgyes pa’i rdo rje)
Lodrö Drimé
Mipham Choklé Namgyal
Mipham Gyatso
Mipham Jampal Gyepa'i Dorje
Like all Tibetan authors, Mipham Rinpoche uses several names in the colophons to his works, which may then be rendered into English in several ways, including:
Dhih
Jampal Dorje
Jampal Gyepé Dorjé (Wyl. ‘jam dpal dgyes pa’i rdo rje)
Lodrö Drimé
Mipham Choklé Namgyal
Mipham Gyatso
Mipham Jampal Gyepa'i Dorje
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
September 8, 2022
This massive but superb book gives an authoritative overview of the entire path of Mahayana Buddhism.
There is no feature of this book that is not excellent, from the authority of its original source, the bodhisattva Maitreya, to the loving attention paid to the details of its physical layout and construction by the publisher, Shambhala Publications.
If you're a newcomer to Buddhism, then this book is probably far too deep and detailed to help you right now. But if you're a Mahayana practitioner and have some experience of the teachings, then there is no reason not to get this book and start making your way through it, slowly and attentively, for as long as it takes. It's taken me 11 months to read it, and I've been a Buddhist since 1987.
Speaking for myself, I don't think I really would have been ready for it before now. I would have been able to read it, and I would have got a lot out of it, but you will be best served as a reader if you have faith in these teachings. By that I mean you have overcome whatever skepticism you may have about any aspects of the teachings, such as the reality of karma and rebirth, or, in the first place, the reality of Maitreya himself and the reality of the engagement between him and the Indian master Asanga in the 4th century AD in the Tushita heaven where Maitreya resides. For my own part, full conviction of the truth of these things arrived only relatively recently, it helped me approach the text with a suitable level of enthusiasm and dedication.
Most of the world has no notion of this, but the content of this book lays out what really going on in the world, the universe, in all of its levels. There is such a thing as buddhahood, and there is a path to it. That path is described in detail in this book. 'Nuff said.
There is no feature of this book that is not excellent, from the authority of its original source, the bodhisattva Maitreya, to the loving attention paid to the details of its physical layout and construction by the publisher, Shambhala Publications.
If you're a newcomer to Buddhism, then this book is probably far too deep and detailed to help you right now. But if you're a Mahayana practitioner and have some experience of the teachings, then there is no reason not to get this book and start making your way through it, slowly and attentively, for as long as it takes. It's taken me 11 months to read it, and I've been a Buddhist since 1987.
Speaking for myself, I don't think I really would have been ready for it before now. I would have been able to read it, and I would have got a lot out of it, but you will be best served as a reader if you have faith in these teachings. By that I mean you have overcome whatever skepticism you may have about any aspects of the teachings, such as the reality of karma and rebirth, or, in the first place, the reality of Maitreya himself and the reality of the engagement between him and the Indian master Asanga in the 4th century AD in the Tushita heaven where Maitreya resides. For my own part, full conviction of the truth of these things arrived only relatively recently, it helped me approach the text with a suitable level of enthusiasm and dedication.
Most of the world has no notion of this, but the content of this book lays out what really going on in the world, the universe, in all of its levels. There is such a thing as buddhahood, and there is a path to it. That path is described in detail in this book. 'Nuff said.
Displaying 1 of 1 review