Summary of Previous Sessions We have started our study of this Letter of Practical Advice on Sutra and Tantra which the great Tibetan master Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Gelug tradition, wrote to his friend and meditator (with whom he had exchanged teachings already, so a...

Review of Previous Sessions We have been studying this text, which is a letter that the great Tibetan master Tsongkhapa — who lived the end of the 14th and beginning of the 15th centuries in Tibet (he was the founder of the Gelug tradition) — this letter that he wrote to a...

Review of Previous Sessions We have been going through this letter that the great Tibetan master Tsongkhapa wrote (he lived at the end of the 14th and beginning of the 15th centuries), and he wrote this letter to his friend the meditator Konchog-tsultrim. In this letter,...

Review of Previous Sessions We’re going through this text by Tsongkhapa, A Letter of Practical Advice on Sutra and Tantra, which he wrote to his friend the meditator Konchog-tsultrim. In it, Tsongkhapa starts with his humility, and then how we have… if he is forced to give...

Verse 4 We have been going through the fourth verse of the Letter to a Friend, where Nagarjuna says: [4] The Triumphant has proclaimed six (objects) for continual mindfulness: The Buddhas, the Dharma, the Sangha, generous giving, ethical discipline, and the gods. Be...

End of Verse 4, Verse 5 We have been going through the early verses of Letter to a Friend by Nagarjuna. We’ve been spending quite a bit of time with verse four: [4] The Triumphant has proclaimed six (objects) for continual mindfulness: The Buddhas, the Dharma, the Sangha,...

Verse 5 We have been discussing this text of Nagarjuna’s, Letter to a Friend, which he wrote for his friend King Udayibhadra. We have been going through it slowly, filling in a lot of details about what he has been saying to the king. We’re up to verse five: [5] Always entrust...

Verse 5 We have been discussing the text, Letter to a Friend, which the great Indian master of Madhyamaka, Nagarjuna, wrote to his patron, King Udayibhadra, in South India. In this letter, Nagarjuna outlines the basic principles of the Mahayana path. We have been going through...

Verse 5 We have been going through Nagarjuna’s Letter to a Friend, and we are on verse five, which says: [5] Always entrust yourself, with body, speech, and mind to the ten pathways of constructive karma. Turn away from intoxicants, and likewise delight as well in livelihoods...

Verse 5 In our discussion of Nagarjuna’s Letter to a Friend, we are up to verse five: [5] Always entrust yourself, with body, speech, and mind to the ten pathways of constructive karma. Turn away from intoxicants, and likewise delight as well in livelihoods that are...