The Heart Treasure of the Enlightened Ones: The Practice of View, Meditation, and Action: A Discourse Virtuous in the Beginning, Middle, and End

by Dilgo Khyentse, Patrul Rinpoche

In this book, two great Tibetan Buddhist masters of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries challenge us to critically examine our materialistic preoccupations and think carefully about how we want to spend the rest of our lives. At the same time, they provide practical guidance in following the Buddhist path, starting from the most basic motivation and culminating in the direct experience of reality beyond the reach of conceptual mind.

The root text is a teaching in verse written in the nineteenth century by Patrul Rinpoche, one of the outstanding teachers of his day. In the accompanying commentary, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche (1910–1991)—lineage holder of the Nyingma school and one of the great expounders of the Dharma in Europe and North America—expands upon the text with his characteristic compassion and uncompromising thoroughness. Patrul Rinpoche's fresh and piercing verses combined with Khyentse Rinpoche's down-to-earth comments offer a concise yet complete examination of the Buddhist path.

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

280 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

His Holiness Khyabjé Dilgo Khyentsé Rinpoché (Tib.: དིལ་མགོ་མཁྱེན་བརྩེ། Wylie: dil mgo mkhyen brtse), born Tashi Peljor (བཀྲ་ཤིས་དཔལ་འབྱོར། bkra shis dpal 'byor) and ordained a monk as Jigme Rabsel Dawa Kyenrab Tenpa Dargye (འཇིགས་མེད་ རབ་གསལ་ཟླ་བ་ མཁྱེན་རབ་ བསྟན་པ་དར་རྒྱས། 'jigs med rab gsal zla ba mkhyen rab bstan pa dar rgyas) and later Gyurme Labsum Gyeltsen (འགྱུར་མེད་ ལབ་ སུམ་ རྒྱལ་མཚན། 'gyur med lab sum rgyal mtshan), was a Vajrayana lama and 2nd Supreme Head of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism from 1987 until 1991. He was held to be the "mind emanation" of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo (1820–1892). Having escaped Tibet close behind the Dalai Lama, he settled in Bhutan in 1965, where he maintained his primary residence for the rest of his life.

Reviews

[Sonia Gomes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book! Superb explanation of patrul rinpoche book words of my perfect teacher

[Karmyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful. Very accessible and inspiring.

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative and readable

[Gaze Santos · Rating 4 out of 5]

I chanced upon this book while on vacation in Taiwan, touring the Sun Moon Lake area. The final temple we visited that day had books you could take for a donation. I decided to pick up this book, and I am glad to have read it. This book was a good antidote to the poison of consumerism and Jingoism I feel I am entrenched in at the moment. The book has two authors... The original was written in the 19th century by Patrul Rinpoche as a poem. This book adds commentary by a 20th century Lama Dilgo Khyentse that really helps to explain the original intent of the poem. Although both were written with gap of time between them, they do seem to complete each other and makes for an inspiring and practical manual on how to practice the Dharma. The book is also fairly annotated to explain some of the more lesser known Varjana Buddhist terms. Speaking as someone who has not studied Buddhism deeply, i found this book approachable, and even learned more about Buddhist philosophy. The main message of the book is given in three parts. The first part points out the problems of the modern lifestyle that we take for granted. The second part talks about the paths one can take to escape this empty lifestyle. And the third part gives practical advice on how to put the paths into practice. The original Tibetan text is also included for those who can and want to compare the English translation to the original. It has to be remembered that the root text is a poem. And the nuances of poems are often lost in translation....

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

The books unlike many books on the topic, is very clearly written, aimed to get the reader to understand and take action. The author’s compassion and wish for his readers and all beings to take up action and leave their sufferings is palpable.

The book is written by a Tibetan master for those who accept or are more open to Vajrayana Buddhism, or at least Mahayana Buddhism, making it a more sectarian read for me. Things like repeating the Mani mantra 100k times will bless all beings and leads to the smoke of this person when they die and get cremated to have powers is not as forthcoming for me.

Great for those with familiarity with Vajrayana. Considering skipping if not.

[Elton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wise treasures that provide good guides in this degenerate times

Often busy with everything else, this guide help our mind to pause and notice it.

Looking to refer as 'exercise' manual for our minds.

Very good!

[Dorothy Koch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dilgo Khyentse is a recent Kagyu Buddhist master, his writings are very accessible and inspiring. He provides a very helpful commentary on the versus of Patrul Rinpoche. The essense of Buddhism seems to be covered.

[Constantine Pantellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A powerful and fascinating book!

[Kitap · Rating 5 out of 5]

[Chris Lemig · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful commentary by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche of Patrul Rinpoche's pithy verses. Both the commentary and the original text outline, clearly and step-by step, how to practice the teachings of the Buddha. From cultivating renunciation to realizing the ultimate view, both masters inspire us to take the teachings to heart and put them to use in our daily lives.

[Stargazer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful book

[Andrew Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb, clear explanation and exposition by an outstanding teacher of Patrul Rinpoche's famous text.

[Jud · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfection

It would be silly to even consider rating this noble supreme text and its spotless commentary by these two spiritual giants.