Treasures of the Sakya Lineage


Book Description

Treasures of the Sakya Lineage is a rich collection of teachings by both contemporary and ancient Sakya masters, showing a thousand years of lineage continuity. It provides an overview of the history, view, key lineage figures, and crucial teachings of the oldest continuously operating institution among the four lineages of Tibetan Buddhism. The Sakya School has long been known for its balanced approach to study and practice. The writings of Sakya scholars have been deeply influential in every school of Tibetan Buddhism and they continue to be now. A great resource for students and practitioners of all schools of Tibetan Buddhism, this volume contains teachings from great Sakya scholars and meditation masters, including: H. H. Sakya Trizin, Khenpo Appey, Sakya Pandita, Jetsun Dragpa Gyaltsen, Chogye Trinchen, Choegyal Phagpa, Migmar Tseten




Taking the Result as the Path


Book Description

The tradition known as the Path with the Result, or Lamdre, is the most important tantric system of meditation practice and theory in the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism. This volume contains an unprecedented compilation of eleven vital works from different periods in the history of the Path with the Result in India and Tibet, including the Vajra Lines of the great Indian adept Virupa (ca. seventh-eighth centuries), the basic text of the tradition. The collection also includes six writings by Jamyang Khyentse Wangchuk (1524-68) and an instruction manual composed by the Fifth Dalai Lama (1617-62). None of the works in this book have ever been published before in any European language, and most of these writings traditionally have been considered secret. The present translation, an important new volume of the Library of Tibetan Classics, has been made with the personal approval and encouragement of His Holiness Sakya Trizin, head of the Sakya tradition. Students of the Lamdre will rejoice at the availability and lucidity of this major translation of key Sakya texts.




Freeing the Heart and Mind


Book Description

"Freeing the Heart and Mind "perfect introduction to the basic teachings of Buddhism, wisdom, compassion, and liberation for all beings. Learning about Buddhism is a gradual process, a process that lasts a lifetime and is deeply rooted in tradition and personal experience. Sakya Trizin expertly presents the essential Buddhist teachings of the four noble truths, compassion, and the correct motivation for practice. This lovely book also includes a biography of the Indian saint and Sakya forefather Virupa as well as the classic Sakya teaching on "parting from the four attachments. His Holiness Sakya Trizin is the head of one of the four major traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. "Freeing the Heart and Mind "is his first book. This beautiful cloth volume will be a treasure for students of Buddhism both new and old.




The Sakya Jetsunmas


Book Description

An exploration of an extraordinary group of female meditation masters from the Buddhist tradition in Tibet whose determination and accomplishments can serve as a great example for meditators the world over. Among Tibetan spiritual biographies there are many life stories of exceptional male wisdom-holders or vidyādharas. But biographies of religious women are few. This book focuses on the hidden world of the great female spiritual adepts who were born into a prominent lineage of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism. For centuries, this family of wisdom holders has been committed to helping others alleviate their suffering and develop a strong dedication to spiritual practice.




Princess in the Land of Snows


Book Description

This is the story of a determined woman who overcame great obstacles in order to achieve religious freedom. Born in eastern Tibet, Jamyang Sakya married into the powerful Sakya family, spiritual advisers of Kublai Khan and for years rulers of much of Central Asia. Her engaging personal story evokes a rich vision of Tibet's traditional culture, customs, and religious practices. Jamyang Sakya tells of being the only girls in a monastic private school, of dreams and divinations interpreted by high lamas, of long pilgrimages to sacred Buddhist sites, and of her life as a high lady of Sakya. Her narrative reveals a multifaceted picture, from the intricacies of managing a palace household to the political takeover by the Chinese Communists, who destroyed much of Tibet's religious heritage. It climaxes with the Sakya family's harrowing walk through the Himalayas to freedom, during which they were hotly pursued by the Chinese. After a year in India, they immigrated to the United States, one of the first Tibetan families to do so.




A Guide to The Words of My Perfect Teacher


Book Description

The definitive companion guide to Patrul Rinpoche’s Words of My Perfect Teacher, the classic text on Tibetan Buddhist practices and teachings This guide provides readers with essential background information for studying and practicing with Patrul Rinpoche's Words of My Perfect Teacher—the text that has, for more than a century, served as the reliable sourcebook to the spiritual practices common to all the major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. By offering chapter-by-chapter commentary on this renowned work, Khenpo Pelzang provides a fresh perspective on the role of the teacher; the stages of the path; the view of the Three Jewels; Madhyamika, the basis of transcendent wisdom; and much more.




Wholesome Fear


Book Description

Our anxiety around sickness, old age, and death can be a ''wholesome fear'' - a fear with a positive quality that ultimately enriches and nourishes our lives. Lama Zopa Rinpoche shows us how we can use our anxiety as a high-octane fuel to really live what's most important, and Kathleen McDonald presents meditations that integrate these teachings and lead to peace, compassion, and joy for ourselves and others. Doing so will help us to live well and, when the time comes as it inevitably will, to die well too. It's never too early to start making this most important of efforts - and, fortunately, it is never too late




Three Visions


Book Description

Examines the state of those experiencing suffering, those engaged in the methods leading towards freedom from unhappiness and misery, and those fully enlightened ones who have attained the highest goal of omniscient awakening.




The Sakya Jetsunmas


Book Description

An exploration of an extraordinary group of female meditation masters from the Buddhist tradition in Tibet whose determination and accomplishments can serve as a great example for meditators the world over. Among Tibetan spiritual biographies there are many life stories of exceptional male wisdom-holders or vidyādharas. But biographies of religious women are few. This book focuses on the hidden world of the great female spiritual adepts who were born into a prominent lineage of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism. For centuries, this family of wisdom holders has been committed to helping others alleviate their suffering and develop a strong dedication to spiritual practice.




Approaching the Great Perfection


Book Description

Dzogchen, the Great Perfection, is the highest meditative practice of the Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism. Approaching the Great Perfection looks at a seminal figure of this lineage, Jigme Lingpa, an eighteenth-century scholar and meditation master whose cycle of teachings, the Longchen Nyingtig, has been handed down through generations as a complete path to enlightenment. Ten of Jigme Lingpa's texts are presented here, along with extensive analysis by van Schaik of a core tension within Buddhism: Does enlightenment develop gradually, or does it come all at once? Though these two positions are often portrayed by modern scholars as entrenched polemical views, van Schaik explains that both tendencies are present within each of the Tibetan Buddhist schools. He demonstrates how Jigme Lingpa is a great illustration of this balancing act, using the rhetoric of both sides to propel his students along the path of the Great Perfection.