The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment (Volume 2) [Paperback]

The second volume of the fifteenth-century spiritual classic that condenses the enormous breadth of Buddhist teachings into one easy-to-follow meditation manual.

The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment (Tib. Lam rim chen mo) is one of the brightest jewels in the world’s treasury of sacred literature. The author, Tsong-kha-pa, completed it in 1402, and it soon became one of the most renowned works of spiritual practice and philosophy in the world of Tibetan Buddhism. Because it condenses all the exoteric sūtra scriptures into a meditation manual that is easy to understand, scholars and practitioners rely on its authoritative presentation as a gateway that leads to a full understanding of the Buddha’s teachings.

Tsong-kha-pa took great pains to base his insights on classical Indian Buddhist literature, illustrating his points with classical citations as well as with sayings of the masters of the earlier Kadampa tradition. In this way the text demonstrates clearly how Tibetan Buddhism carefully preserved and developed the Indian Buddhist traditions.

This second of three volumes covers the deeds of the bodhisattvas, as well as how to train in the six perfections.Editor's Preface
1. The Stages of the Path for Persons of Great Capacity
2. Compassion, the Entrance to the Mahāyāna
3. The Seven Cause-and-Effect Personal Instructions
4. Exchanging Self and Other
5. The Ritual for Adopting the Spirit of Enlightenment
6. Maintaining the Spirit of Enlightenment
7. An Introduction to the Six Perfections
8. Training in the Mahāyāna: Precepts and Perfections
9. The Perfection of Generosity
10. How to Give
11. The Perfection of Ethical Discipline
12. The Perfection of Patience
13. The Perfection of Joyous Perseverance
14. The Perfections of Meditative Stabilization and Wisdom
15. Helping Others to Mature: The Four Ways to Gather Disciples
AppendixlSØ