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Index
Foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Foreword by Jigme Khyentse Rinpoche
Introduction
Treasury of Precious Qualities
by Jigme Lingpa
The Quintessence of the Three Paths
by Longchen Yeshe Dorje, Kangyur Rinpoche
Prologue
The title
Homage to the Three Jewels
Commitment to Compose the Text
PART ONE : Turning the Mind to the Dharma
CHAPTER 1 The Value of Human Existence
Samsaric existence
Eight conditions in which there is no freedom to practice the Dharma
Five individual and five circumstantial advantages
The rarity of a precious human existence
PART TWO : An Incentive for the Practice
CHAPTER 2 Impermanence
The impermanence of the outer world
The impermanence of living beings
PART THREE : The Gradual Path of the Three Kinds of Beings
The Path of Beings of Lesser Scope
Ethical Teachings in Relation to the Karmic Law of Cause and Effect
CHAPTER 3 The Law of Karma
The karmic process in general
Actions never fail to produce an effect
The karmic process is irresistible
Karmic effects are not transferable from one mindstream to another
An explanation of the eight worldly concerns and thirteen influential factors
The proliferating tendency of karmic results
Assessing the gravity of positive and negative actions
The basis of the karmic phenomenon
Propelling and completing actions
The performed and stored aspects of actions
Negative actions
Negative actions regarding the Three Jewels
The crucial role of intention
The ten negative actions
The results of the ten negative actions
The fully ripened effect
The effect similar to the cause
The conditioning or environmental effect
The proliferating effect
Conclusion
Virtuous actions
A recapitulation of the path of beings of lesser scope
How beings of medium scope practice virtue
How beings of great scope practice virtue
The Path of Beings of Medium Scope
Correct Conduct in Relation to the Four Truths
CHAPTER 4 The Sufferings of Samsara
The four truths
The truth of suffering
The all-pervasive nature of suffering
The conditions that perpetuate suffering
The sufferings of the lower realms
The eight hot hells
The sixteen neighboring hells
The eight cold hells
The ephemeral hells
The sufferings of the higher realms
The suffering of the gods
The suffering of the asuras
The suffering of human beings
Suffering of suffering
Suffering of change
All-pervading suffering in the making
The eight complementary sufferings
Birth
Old age
Illness
Death
Meeting unwanted circumstances
Separation from what is loved
Not having what one wants
Having what one does not want
The truth of origin
The truth of path and truth of cessation
The twelve links of dependent arising
The need for this teaching
Definitions of the twelve links
Four ways of presenting the principle of dependent arising
The number of lifetimes required for an entire cycle
How to meditate on the principle of dependent arising
The unoriginated nature of dependent arising
The Extraordinary Path of Beings of Great Scope
Meditation on the Twofold Bodhichitta
CHAPTER 5 The Preparation: The Four Wheels
Prerequisites for the practice
Solitude
Livelihood
Reliance on a spiritual master
Fully qualified masters
False teachers
Evoking the sublime qualities of an authentic teacher
Relying on the teacher with a twentyfold attitude
The characteristics of bad disciples
The characteristics of good disciples
How to serve and follow the teacher
How to behave in the presence of the teacher
Reasons for serving the teacher
Conclusion
Excellent aspiration
The supreme protection of merit
CHAPTER 6 The Foundation of the Path: Refuge
The reasons for taking refuge
Faith as the cause of taking refuge
The causes of faith
The qualities of the Buddha
The qualities of elimination
The one hundred and twelve obscurations eliminated on the path of seeing
How the obscurations militate against the understanding of the four truths
The four hundred and fourteen obscurations eliminated on the path of meditation
The difference between the Hinayana and the Mahayana approaches to the removal of obscurations
The Hinayana and Mahayana ways of removing the obscurations by seeing
How the obscurations are eliminated on the path of meditation
The qualities of a Buddha’s realization
The qualities of the Dharma
Dharma posited as the two truths of path and cessation
Dharma defined as the Dharma of transmission and realization
The Dharma of transmission
The Dharma of realization
The grounds or stages of realization
The qualities of the Sangha
The Hinayana and Mahayana Sangha
What is refuge?
Causal and resultant refuge
The different motives for taking refuge
How to take refuge
The benefits of taking refuge
The benefits of causal refuge
The benefits of resultant refuge
The precepts of the refuge vow
The precepts of causal refuge
The precepts regarding things to be avoided
The precepts regarding things to be accomplished
The precepts of resultant refuge
When the refuge vow is broken
Attitudes incompatible with refuge
The benefits of observing the precepts of the refuge vow
CHAPTER 7 Cleansing the Mind by Training in the Four Boundless Attitudes
The Mahayana path
The four boundless attitudes
How to meditate on the four boundless attitudes
The benefits of this meditation
CHAPTER 8 The Vow of Bodhichitta
What is bodhichitta?
Classifications of bodhichitta
Bodhichitta in aspiration and action
Other classifications of bodhichitta
Bodhichitta classified according to twenty-two similes
Bodhichitta classified according to its benefits
Bodhichitta classified according to the speed of progression
How to cultivate bodhichitta
The causes of bodhichitta
Who can generate bodhichitta?
The ritual for taking the vow of bodhichitta
Inculcating the correct attitude
Accumulating merit
Preparing the place
Inviting the field of merit
Offering cleansing waters and clothes
Requesting to be seated
Expressions of respect
The prayer of seven branches
Offering oneself in service
Conclusion
The ritual of the bodhisattva vow
The conclusion of the ritual: the uplifting of one’s own and others’ minds
CHAPTER 9 The Precepts of Bodhichitta in Aspiration and Action
The Bodhisattva commitment
The precepts concerning what is to be avoided
Repairing faults
The precepts to be implemented
The four precepts of aspiration bodhichitta
The first precept: taking suffering and giving happiness
The second precept: the seven-point causal sequence giving birth to the attitude of bodhichitta
The third precept: the four black and four white factors
The fourth precept: the four attitudes that strengthen bodhichitta
The precepts of bodhichitta in action
A brief explanation of the paramitas
A categorization of Bodhisattvas according to their strength of mind
The Paramita of Generosity
The gift of material things
The gift of protection from fear
The gift of Dharma
The Paramita of Discipline
The discipline of avoiding negative actions
The difference between the vows of the Hinayana and Mahayana
Avoiding negativity according to the Mahayana
The levels of ordination
The Precepts of Laypeople
The Monastic Precepts
The precepts of shramaneras
The precepts of a woman novice in training for full ordination
The precepts of full monastic ordination
The precepts concerning what is to be avoided
The precepts concerning what is to be done
How the three kinds of vow may be observed simultaneously
The observance of the three vows as taught in the Nyingma tradition
1. The aspects remain distinct
2. The three vows are the same both in purpose and as antidote
3. The transmutation of the vows
4. The gradual qualitative enhancement of the three vows
5. The absence of contradiction in the practice of the three vows
6. Observance should be appropriate to the moment
The three vows as presented in other traditions
Concluding summary
The discipline of gathering virtue
The discipline of benefiting others
The Paramita of Patience
The Paramita of Diligence
The three kinds of laziness
The three kinds of diligence
The Paramita of Concentration
The prerequisites for concentration
In praise of forest dwellings
Giving up attachment to wealth
Giving up attachment to bad company
Giving up attachment to objects of the senses
In praise of solitude
Concentration itself
The essence of concentration
The categories of concentration
Childish concentration
Clearly discerning concentration
The excellent concentration of the Tathagatas
The qualities resulting from concentration
The Paramita of Wisdom
The categories of wisdom
The wisdom resulting from hearing the teachings
The keys that open the treasure chest of Dharma
The definitive and expedient teachings
The implied teachings and indirect teachings
Implied teachings
Indirect teachings
The difference between implied and indirect teachings
An explanation of the treasury of Dharma
A general exposition of the two truths
The four tenet systems
The Vaibhashikas
The Sautrantikas
The Chittamatrins, the Mind Only school
The Svatantrika Madhyamikas
The Prasangika Madhyamikas
Conclusion
The wisdom resulting from reflection
Dependent arising with regard to the ground nature
The dependent arising of samsara
The dependent arising of nirvana
The wisdom resulting from meditation
Wisdom itself
Progress on the paths and the attainment of the result
A concluding summary of the six paramitas
APPENDIX 1 Impermanence demonstrated by the formation and destruction of the universe according to Buddhist cosmology
The gradual formation of the universe
The gradual formation of animate beings
The duration of the universe
The destruction of beings
The destruction of the universe
The period of voidness
The four periods reflected in the existence of an individual being
The ceaseless continuity of the process of formation and destruction
APPENDIX 2 The Bardo
The four bardos
The six uncertainties of the bardo of becoming
How to benefit the consciousness of beings in the bardo
APPENDIX 3 The Four Truths
Essential definitions and aspects of the four truths
The meaning of the term “four truths”
A sequential exposition of the four truths
APPENDIX 4 The Five Aggregates
APPENDIX 5 A Buddha’s qualities of realization
APPENDIX 6 The five paths and the thirty-seven elements leading to enlightenment
APPENDIX 7 The Two Truths
The two truths according to the Madhyamika view
The specificity of the two truths
Their literal, etymological meaning
Their necessarily binary character
The kinds of cognition that validly ascertain the two truths
Divisions and categories of the two truths
The necessity and benefits of establishing the two truths
APPENDIX 8 The Madhyamika School
The Svatantrika Madhyamikas
The Prasangika Madhyamikas
Establishing the ground Madhyamika
Identifying the object of refutation: the two selves
The difference between the “self” and “apprehension of (or clinging to) self”
Analysis through the application of reason
The four arguments
An investigation of causes: the Diamond Splinters argument
An investigation of results: no effects, whether existent or nonexistent, can be said to be produced
An investigation of the causal process itself: a refutation of origination related to four possible alternatives
An investigation into the nature of phenomena: the Great Interdependence argument and the argument of “Neither One nor Many”
Why the Madhyamika dialectic is superior to all other tenet systems
APPENDIX 9 The twenty-one qualities of Dharmakaya wisdom
APPENDIX 10 The three doors of perfect liberation
Notes
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
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