Advice from a Spiritual Friend
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Description
The commentary to the Jewel Rosary of an Awakening Warrior was given by the most learned Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey and translated by the venerable Sherpa Tulku. It was given in October, 1973, at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, and is published here with the kind permission of its director, Mr. Gyatsho Tshering.
- General Introduction 9
- I. Thought Transformation in Eight Stanzas 15
- II. The Seven Point Thought Transformation 19
- Introduction 21
- 1. The Preliminary Practices 25
- 2. The Main Practice 34
- Generating the ultimate awakened mind34
- A. Meditation Period 35
- i: Discerning the object of refutation 35
- ii: The Emptiness of the mind 41
- iii: The Emptiness of emptiness 41
- iv: Space-like meditation 44
- B. Post-meditation period 45
- C. The true mode of existence 46
- A. Meditation Period 35
- Generating the conventional awakened mind48
- 3. Changing adverse circumstances into the path 58
- 4. Elucidating a lifetime's practice 64
- 5. The measure of thought transformation 70
- 6. The commitment of thought transformation 73
- 7. The instructions on thought transformation 79
- Conclusion87
- III. The Jewel Rosary of an Awakened Warrior 89
- The Root Text90
- The Commentary95
- IV. A Daily Practice 129
cultivating the awakening mind of compassion, wisdom, and love. This eight-verse lojong enshrines the very heart of Dharma, revealing the true essence of the Mahayana path to liberation. Even a single line of this practice can be seen as encapsulating the entire teaching of the Buddha. For even a single statement of this mind training practice has the incredible power to help us subdue our self-oriented behavior and mental afflictions. The fundamental theme of mind training practice is the profound reorientation of our basic attitude, both toward our own self and toward our fellow human beings, as well as toward the events around us. The goal of mind training practice is the radical transformation of our thoughts, attitudes, and habits. Presently, we tend to cherish the welfare of our own self at the expense of all others. However, the mind training teaching challenges us to reverse this process. This involves a deep understanding of others as true friends, and the recognition that our
true enemy lies inside of ourselves, not outside. Source Accessed Jan 30, 2025)
According to Thupten Jinpa,
"Although this text appears in the Tengyur (Toh 3951) as a self-standing work, it also exists almost in its entirety in another of Atiśa's works, entitled Letter of Unblemished Precious Jewels (Toh 4188), a letter sent by Atiśa to the Indian Bengali royalty Nayapāla from Nepal. Noting this, the Tibetan historian Pawo Tsuklak Trengwa asserts that Bodhisattva's Jewel Garland may actually have been compiled by Dromtönpa by drawing from Atiśa's writings. See his Joyful Feast for the Learned (Mkas pa'i dga' ston), p. 709." (Source Accessed Mar 14, 2025)
