Traleg Kyabgon - The Essence of Buddhism: An Introduction to Its Philosophy and Practice

ABOUT THE BOOK

This lucid overviewwhich has come to be regarded by many as the best introductory book on Tibetan Buddhismlooks at its subject from the perspective of the three traditional vehicles: the Hinayana, the Mahayana, and the Vajrayana. These divisions are often presented as a historical development, but here Traleg Kyabgon equates them with the attitudes that we bring to our Buddhist practice. Basic to them all is the need to understand our own immediate condition. The primary tool for achieving this is meditation, and The Essence of Buddhism serves as a handbook for the various meditative approaches of Buddhist practice.

Beginning with the most basic teaching of the Four Noble Truths, Traleg Rinpoche goes on to incorporate the expansive vision of the bodhisattva path and the transformative vision of Tantra. The final chapters present the transcendent view of Mahamudra. Along the way, the author provides vivid definitions of fundamental concepts such as compassion, emptiness, and Buddha-nature.

Includes a foreword from Sogyal Rinpoche.

TRALEG KYABGON (19552012) was born in Eastern Tibet and educated by many great masters of all four major lineages of Tibetan Buddhism. He is the founder of the Kagyu E-Vam Buddhist Institute, which is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, with a major practice center in upstate New York and a practice community in New York City. He taught extensively at universities and Buddhist centers in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia beginning in 1980, and is the author of numerous books that present Buddhist teachings to Western readers, including Mind at Ease .

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THE E SSENCE of B UDDHISM

An Introduction to Its Philosophy and Practice

TRALEG KYABGON

S HAMBHALA

Boston & London

2013

S HAMBHALA P UBLICATIONS , I NC .

H ORTICULTURAL H ALL

300 M ASSACHUSETTS A VENUE

B OSTON , M ASSACHUSETTS 02115

www.shambhala.com

2001 by Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche

Cover art: Buddha Shakyamuni ; eighteenth century, eastern Tibet. Shelley and Donald Rubin

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Kyabgon, Traleg, 1955

The essence of Buddhism: an introduction to its philosophy and practice/by Traleg Kyabgon.

p. cm.(Shambhala dragon editions)

eISBN 978-0-8348-2212-2

ISBN 978-1-57062-468-1 (pbk.)

1. Religious lifeBuddhism. 2. BuddhismDoctrines.

I. Title.

BQ4302 K93 2000

294.34dc21

99-089434

This book is dedicated to
His Holiness the Dalai Lama,
His Holiness the sixteenth Karmapa,
and His Eminence Drugpa Thugsey Rinpoche.

CONTENTS

I T MIGHT SEEM that there is no need for another introductory book on Buddhism, since today there is a plethora of quality books available on the market, which was not the case a decade ago. However, after some thought, I was persuaded that there may be room for another book, one that introduces the general public to the Tibetan form of Buddhism approached from the perspective of the Kagy school, which is the second oldest lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. It seems to me that some introductory books are either too elementary or too scholarly to be immediately accessible to newcomers to Buddhism. Moreover, I have not yet seen an accessible introductory book that makes the teachings on the three yanas of Tibetan Buddhism easily understandable to a student who is totally new to Buddhism or even to more experienced students. As a writer, one has a dilemma over how much detail to present. I have tried to maintain this difficult balance so that the text will be neither too shallow nor too dense and inaccessible.

The textbased upon teachings I have given in Australia, Europe, and the United Statesis divided into three parts, each devoted to one of the three yanas. Chapters 1 through 4 introduce the student to the basic principles of early Buddhist teachings. Here the teachings on the Four Noble Truths and Buddhist training on moral precepts, concentration, and wisdom are discussed in some detail. The fourth chapter is devoted to karma and rebirth, which is a central feature in traditional Tibetan Buddhist teachings.

The second part is devoted to sutric Mahayana teachings and tantric Mahayana teachings. Here I deal with what sort of obstacles, impediments, and obscurations we need to overcome, the means we employ to overcome them, and the result of having used these antidotes. This is presented from the point of view of the sutric and tantric descriptions of the path and stages of spiritual development.

The final part is devoted to the teachings and to meditation, which is seen as the culmination of the three-yana system, and that is from the point of view of the Mahamudra tradition, which is seen as going beyond Tantra itself.

It is my wish that this book will be of use to newcomers and to seasoned Buddhists as well. In my mind, if only one person is turned toward the Dharma for having read this book, I will feel more than amply rewarded.

I WOULD LIKE TO THANK all of my students to whom I have had the opportunity to give discourses and discuss the topics broached in this book. I have always found teaching to be the best way to learn the Dharma. Teaching the Buddha-Dharma is just as beneficial and profitable as is receiving the teachings from a living master. Everything I know about Buddhism I learned from Khenpo Sodar and Khenpo Noryang of Sangngag Choling Monastery in Darjeeling, India. I would like to thank Deirdre Collings and Vyvyan Cayley for their help in preparing this book. I would also like to thank Samuel Bercholz for his inspiration and encouragement and Kendra Crossen Burroughs for her excellent editorial work. And I would like to thank Shambhala Publications for allowing this book to see the light of day.

The Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Noble Path

I N THIS BOOK we shall look at various aspects of the Buddhist tradition, and in particular at how Buddhism developed as a philosophy. This is so that we can get a comprehensive idea of Buddhism as a whole, because the type of Buddhism practiced by Tibetans is not based on one particular school of Buddhism as such; rather, it tries to incorporate a variety of practices and philosophical thought from many different traditions. This is known as the three yanas perspective on Buddhism. Yana (Sanskrit) is the spiritual vehicle that transports the individual from the samsaric condition to the freedom of nirvana.

So even though Tibetan Buddhists may emphasize certain aspects of Mahayana teachings, this does not mean that they do not practice any aspect of the Theravadin tradition as we find it in Thailand, Sri Lanka, and other countries. Some people feel that Tibetan Buddhism has no link or association with the Buddhism that is practiced in those countries. But Tibetan Buddhism contains elements of teachings as we find them in all parts of the worldfor example, we can even find elements of the Zen tradition in Tibetan Buddhism.

T HE B UDDHA S A WAKENING

Buddhism was founded by the Buddha about twenty-five hundred years ago. What we know about the Buddha is that he claimed to have seen the reality of things and to have gained enormous insight into the nature of the human condition. He did not claim to be an incarnation of some higher being nor to be a messenger of any kind. Neither did he say that he was an intermediary between some higher reality and human beings. He said that he was an ordinary human being who applied himself through the practice of meditation and was able to purify his own mind, so that insight was born in him, enabling him to see things as they are. And Buddha also said that this ability can be developed by anyone.