The Foundation of All Good Qualities: Khunu Lama Rinpoche

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Tsongkhapa

source author

Khunu Lama Tenzin Gyaltsen

author

Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche

translator

Nicholas Ribush

editor

Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive

publisher

Topics

Texts:

Yon tan gzhir gyur ma

Descriptionངོ་སྤྲོད།

This is Khunu Lama Tenzin Gyaltsen's 1975 commentary on Lama Tsongkhapa's Foundation of All Good Qualities, a concise prayer-text that encompasses the entire graduated path to enlightenment in verse form.

The teaching systematically covers the essential elements of the Buddhist path: proper guru devotion as the foundation of all spiritual attainment; recognizing the precious opportunity and impermanence of human life; understanding karma and its inevitable consequences; developing renunciation of samsara; cultivating bodhicitta by recognizing all beings as former mothers suffering in cyclic existence; practicing the six perfections, especially moral discipline; developing the union of calm abiding (shamatha) and penetrative insight (vipashyana); and entering the Vajrayana path as the swiftest route to enlightenment.

Khunu Lama emphasizes the Madhyamaka view as the most refined Buddhist philosophy and stresses that Tibetan Buddhism uniquely preserves all aspects of the Dharma—Hīnayāna, Mahāyāna, and Vajrayāna—in their complete form. He concludes by encouraging his Western students to master Tibetan language and grammar to fully access these teachings and then spread the Dharma in the West, adapting presentations skillfully to suit different capacities of mind, like a doctor prescribing appropriate medicine.

Citation

Khunu Lama. "The Foundation of All Good Qualities." In Teachings from Tibet: Guidance from Great Lamas, edited by Nicholas Ribush. Boston: Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive, 2015.

Commentary of

Yon tan gzhir gyur ma

The Foundation of All Good Qualities (Yon tan gzhi gyur ma) is a concise lamrim text by Je Tsongkhapa that outlines the graduated path to enlightenment in 14 verses. It covers the essential stages from cultivating devotion to one's spiritual teacher through the practices of beings of small, medium, and great spiritual capacity - including refuge, karma, the four noble truths, renunciation, bodhicitta, and the six perfections. The text serves as both a daily recitation and systematic guide for Tibetan Buddhist practitioners following the Geluk tradition's approach to spiritual development.

Text

Chapter or part of

Teachings from Tibet

This anthology presents teachings on all aspects of Buddhism given by various great lamas in India (mainly at Tushita Mahāyāna Meditation Centre) and Nepal during the 1970s and 1980s. The book was originally published as Teachings at Tushita in 1981, co-edited by Nicholas Ribush and Glenn H. Mullin.

The collection was made possible during a remarkable period when most of the great lamas who had fled Tibet were still alive and teaching, allowing fortunate students in India and Nepal to receive direct instruction from these masters. Many teachings were given at Tushita Mahāyāna Meditation Centre in New Delhi, which Ribush established at Lama Yeshe's request in 1977 and directed until 1983.

The book features an introductory overview of the path to enlightenment by the editor, followed by teachings from luminaries including Khunu Lama Rinpoche, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Kyabje Ling Rinpoche, Lama Yeshe, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and numerous other renowned Geluk masters. The teachings cover fundamental Buddhist topics including refuge, bodhicitta, the graduated path, the four noble truths, renunciation, emptiness, concentration, tantra, and thought transformation.

This revised second edition (2015) includes editorial improvements and is distributed freely to benefit all sentient beings and support the preservation of Mahayana Buddhism.

Book