Tenzin Gyratso, The World of Tibetan Buddhism: An Overview of Its Philosophy and Practice, translated, edited, and annotated by Geshe Thupten Jinpa (Boston: Wisdom Publications 1995).
Longchenpa, Kindly Bent to Ease Us (Klong-chen rab-'byams-pa): Part One: Mind (Sems-nyid ngal-gso), from the Trilogy of Finding Comfort and Ease (Ngal-gso skor-gsum), translated from the Tibetan and annotated by Herbert V. Guenther (Oakland, CA: Dharma Publishing, 1975) ("It is not enough to be reminded of the preciousness of human existence, of its impermanence, of frustration and suffering, and of the significance our actions have in determining the life which we will have to live. Much more important is that we learn how to live a life that in retrospect may be deemed to have been worth living. There can, however, be no learning without there also being some teaching. Learning is not merely the memorizing of isolated facts but rather a perennial search for values relevant to the learner's existence. Similarly, teaching is not merely the presentation of bits and pieces of information and, when the person's concrete existence is at stake, the offering up of 'normative standards' to fixate on, but the explication of the human situation and of what his holds for him who is willing to learn. The common bond between teacher and disciple is the experience of an obligation which implies the recognition of a value relevant to the existence of both teacher and disciple. There are, as everybody knows, teachers and teachers and, if anything goes wrong in the precarious teacher-disciple relationship, it is customary --and often the impression is gained that there is a compulsive urge--to blame the teacher and to exonerate the student contrary to all evidence. Yet it is equally true that there are students and students, and that some are willing to learn while others inertly exist without thought." "Although the relationship between a teacher who is able to teach because he has gone through the arduous process of learning, and a student who is willing to learn because he feels the need to be taught, is of paramount importance, this relationship does not occur in a vacuum. Rather it is a complex phenomenon having a private and a public sector. The public sector is represented by 'friends' who determine the milieu in which the learning process takes place and who aid the process by setting an example." Id. at 72-73. "He who wants to cultivate contemplative attention must give up distractions and restlessness. / Delight in sensuous objects is like clouds in the autumn sky, / Unstable like lightening and very capricious. / Their enjoyment is evanescent, like a phantom palace. They never can be trusted; give them up / And quickly resort to quiet forest groves. // Have few desires and be content / Because desires produce dissatisfaction. / They cause frustration building them up, preserving them, and finding new ones; / They create discord by saturation, craving, avarice; / they lead to evil forms of life and block the way to happy ones. // Just as bodily wounds cause untold suffering, / So also much wealth creates even greater worries. / The fewer the necessities, the greater the happiness. / Persecutions are less, and there is no fear of enemies and thieves; / Praised by all, you stay on the noble path. / Since duties become fewer and preoccupations grow less, / Always train yourself in having few desires." Id at 143. From the backcover: "There is depth, breath, and magic in Nyingma thought and its charm grows the more one studies it. Klong-chen rab-'byams-pa's work is lit with a light that radiates into and transfigures every aspect of man's life...." "Speaking from the deep inner experience of Longchenpa, Kindly Bent to Ease Us is a basic guide through the traditional stages on the path to enlightenment. The title points to the thrust towards Being as both the source and fulfillment of man's ongoing quest for the meaning of his life. Since in the quest, Mind and, in particular, the understanding of its working, is of primary importance, the vast scope of Mind is the subject of this first part of "The Trilogy of Finding Comfort and Ease.'").
Longchenpa, Kindly Bent to Ease Us (Klong-chen rab-'byams-pa): Part Two: Meditation (bSams-gtan ngal-gso), from the Trilogy of Finding Comfort and Ease (Ngal-gso skor-gsum), translated from the Tibetan and annotated by Herbert V. Guenther (Oakland, CA: Dharma Publishing, 1976) (Given how much of one's day, one's week, one's life, etc., is spent in the workplace (and with Internet connections, smartphones, and other technologies, some of us are nearly always at work or on call), read the following passage, substituting 'workplaces' for 'places' or 'houses.' "In brief, there are places and houses which at first are quite pleasing, / But the more familiar you become with them, they turn out to be unpleasant with few rewards (for your spiritual efforts); / There are others that at first are frightening and vexatious, but become very pleasing the more familiar you become with them; / They offer supreme blessings; rewards (for your spiritual efforts) are quickly repeated, and there are no obstacles. / Apart from these two kinds, all other are neutral and do not offer any benefit or harm. // Since, depending on the place in which you reside, your mind undergoes a change, / And there is either growth or decline in your efforts in what is healthy and wholesome, / It has been said that it is of utmost importance to examine the place or the locality. // To sum up, there are also four (kinds of) places corresponding (in mood) to the four kinds of actions: / Places inspiring 'inner calm' automatically keep the mind steady; / Places conveying the feeling of 'expansion' have the mind rejoicing and resplendent in grandeur; / Places implying 'powefulness' have the mind captured and attached; / Places conveying the feeling of 'severity' make the mind dizzy and induce dread and terror. / In their subdivision these places are countless and beyond measure...." Id. at 49-50. From the backcover: "Meditation... introduces a central practice of Dzogchen, the Teachings of the Great Perfection. The form of meditation presented here...is considered the pinnacle of all Buddhist meditative traditions, the 'king of al instructions.' Its purpose is to liberate us from mind's of awareness. The experience of this meditation is like the sun emerging from the clouds; it fills the mind with light and transforms the practitioner's understanding.").
Longchenpa, Kindly Bent to Ease Us (Klong-chen rab-'byams-pa): Part Three: Wonderment (sGyu-ma ngal-gso), from the Trilogy of Finding Comfort and Ease (Ngal-gso skor-gsum), translated from the Tibetan and annotated by Herbert V. Guenther (Oakland, CA: Dharma Publishing, 1976) ("All that has happened up to yesterday's (events) / Is similar to last night's dream, a content of (subjective) mind. / Even what is present now is but your intellect's activity, nothing as such and yet being there. / Yesterday and today are like a dream and / Tomorrow and day after tomorrow are a dream not yet come. / Having firmly set up the idea that all that presents itself to you, for negation and affirmation and / As happiness and misery, is a dream, / Do not for a moment harbor the idea that there is a true mind." Id. at 43-44. "Again listen to my explication of the Victorious One's statement / That all that is is a phantom." Id. at 99.).
Khetsun Sangpo, Tantric Practice in Nying-ma, translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins, co-edited by Anne C. Klein (Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 1982, 1996) ("What are the causes of happiness? We can enumerate them as the ten virtues: Three physical virtues: abandoning killing and sustaining life; abandoning stealing and engaging in giving; abandoning sexual misconduct and maintaining pure ethics. Four verbal virtues: abandoning lying and speaking the truth; abandoning divisiveness and speaking harmoniously; abandoning harsh words and speaking lovingly; abandoning senseless talk and talking sensibly. Three mental virtues: abandoning covetousness and cultivating joy for others' prosperity; abandoning harmful thoughts and cultivating helpfulness; abandoning wrong ideas and learning correct views." Id. at 21. "In a sutra it is said, 'Seek the excellent doctrine until death, crossing through fire or on a razor's edge.' You should not worry about difficulties such as whether you will get hot or cold or have to listen for a long time. It will be to your great advantage to bear willingly whatever hardship is required." Id. at 35. "ANIMALS: The animal realm, the best of the three bad realms, refers to animals living in the sea and on land. Those in the watery depth are especially prone to the suffering of the larger eating the smaller and the smaller latching onto the bodies of the larger and eating holes in them. Those on land suffer particularly from being used by others." "The worst affliction of animals is stupidity, for they are so dull that even though they are being used or about to be eaten by other beings they cannot free themselves. Their minds are so obscured that they do not know what to do and what to avoid; they have no notion of how to engage in religious practice." "There are many examples of how animals are used by other people and deprived of all freedom. Sheep are kept for their wool; when sheared, they may be injured, but they have no choice. Others, such as tigers and bears, are killed for their skins, elephants for their tusks and musk deer for their musk. Their own bodies have led to their deaths." "Animals are so tortured with endless suffering that they seem to be drunk with it. Their distress is caused by former actions, motivated by ignorance confusion and obscuration. In meditation you should imagine that you yourself are undergoing all this, and you will wish to gain such understanding that you will never again have to suffer such pain." Id. at 75-76.).
B. Allan Wallace, Stilling the Mind: Shamatha Teachings from Dudjom Lingpa's Vajra Essence, edited by Brian Hodel (Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2011) ("What is 'earnest mindfulness of death,' and what is its value? This virtue is put into practice by living with death in the back of your mind, and sometimes in the front of your mind, and becoming very comfortable with it. This recognition puts things into sharp focus--gives us 'the conviction that all composite phenomena are impermanent, so that you have little attraction to mundane activities.' In light of our death, our mundane desires are seen for what they are. For example, I feel a desire for my favorite bread, and then I get some and eat it. In normal, conventional circumstances that may be meaningful. In the face of death, it is completely irrelevant. How much sourdough bread I have eaten in this lifetime won' be something I care about when I am dying. From that perspective all the mundane concerns are likewise valueless. If our desires for wealth, luxury, good food, praise, reputation, affection, acceptance by other people, and so forth are worth nothing in the face of death, then that is precisely their ultimate value. Furthermore, anything unwholesome we've done in the pursuit of mundane concerns is going to have a negative impact. Maintain that perspective." "There is, however, another side to that coin. Just as we can overindulge in the mundane concerns, we can also go to the other extreme by overindulging in austerity. If we set inordinately high ascetic goals for our practice we can create obstacles and even injure ourselves physically and mentally." Id. at 45-46. This book is a translation of, and commentary upon, the shamatha section from Dudjom Lingpa's Dzogchen tantra known in Tibetan as the Nelug Rangjung. The Vajra Essence's full title is The Vajra Essence: From the Matrix if Pure Appearances and Primordial Consciousness, a Tantra in the Self-Originating Nature of Existence.).
