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Few figures in the history of Buddhism in Tibet have had as far-reaching and profound an influence as the Indian scholar and adept Atiśa Dīpaṃkara (982–1054). Originally from Bengal, Atiśa was a tantric Buddhist master during Vajrayana Buddhism’s flowering in India and traveled extensively, eventually spending the remaining twelve years of his life revitalizing Buddhism in Tibet. Revered by all the schools of Tibetan Buddhism, Atiśa and his students founded what came to be known as the Kadam school, whose teachings have influenced countless Buddhist masters. These teachings, cherished by all major traditions, are preserved by the Geluk in particular, the school of the Dalai Lamas.
Although Atiśa was an influential practitioner and scholar of Tantra, he is best known for introducing many of the core Mahayana teachings that are widely practiced throughout the Tibetan Buddhist world, including the Stages of the Path to Awakening and Mind Training (lojong), as well as having contributed to highly influential commentaries on Madhyamaka that synthesize various schools of thought. This succinct biography of Atiśa’s life, together with a collection of translations, represents for the first time the full range of Atiśa’s contribution to Buddhism. As the most comprehensive work available on this essential Buddhist figure, this book is an indispensable resource for scholars and Buddhist practitioners alike. (Source: Shambhala Publications)
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About one thousand years ago, the great Indian pandit and yogi, Dipamkara Shrijnana (Atisha), was invited to Tibet to re-establish the Buddhadharma, which had been suppressed and corrupted for almost two centuries. One of Atisha's main accomplishments in Tibet was his writing of the seminal text, A Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment, in which he extracted the essence of all 84,000 teachings of the Buddha and organized them into a clear, step-like arrangement that makes it easy for any individual practitioner to understand and practice the Dharma. This genre of teachings is known as lamrim, or steps of the path, and forms an essential part of every school of Tibetan Buddhism.
In this book, His Holiness the Dalai Lama gives a commentary to not only Atisha's revolutionary work but also to Lines of Experience, a short text written by Lama Tsongkhapa, who was perhaps the greatest of all Tibetan lamrim authors. In bringing together Atisha, Lama Tsongkhapa and His Holiness the Dalai Lama, this book offers readers one of the clearest and most authoritative expositions of the Tibetan Buddhist path ever published, and it is recommended for those at the beginning of the path, the middle and the end. This is the first time a major teaching by the Dalai Lama has been published for free distribution. (Source Accessed August 24, 2026)-redo-front.jpg)
The book is divided into five parts:
I. Daily Recitation and Practice
II. Selected Texts for Study, Reflection and Meditation
III. Additional Prayers, Vows and Commitments
IV. Daily Dedication Prayers
V. Appendix
Part I and Part IV serve as a useful guide for all, who have an inclination towards dharma practice, but do not know how to start and design a daily practice session. It is also useful for those seekers who might be misguided and surmise that dharma practice comprises only of mantra recitation and so forth, thereby missing its essence.
Part II helps strengthen the practitioner’s dharma practice on the basis of selected compositions of great scholars and yogis. The actual breakthrough in the mental transformation happens through changes in the thought process, for which study and reflection are the cornerstones. Any of these profound texts and short extracts may be selected for study, reflection or meditation, on an on-going basis.
Part III reinforces and rejuvenates dharma practice and to that end, may be undertaken on a regular or occasional basis.
Part V introduces the reader to meditation practices, both shamatha (calm abiding) and vipasyana (special insight), including meditation on the breath, as well as methods to cultivate Bodhicitta and the wisdom of emptiness. While there are many texts on the wisdom of emptiness, the meditation included here is designed for all those who are not thoroughly introduced to this subject and still want to familiarise and habituate themselves with the wisdom of emptiness.
Brief notes, Endnotes and Glossary have been added to help the readers unfold the meanings of the texts with ease. (preface, xiv–xv)
Few figures in the transmission of the Dharma from India to Tibet hold as central of a role as the great master Atiśa Dīpaṃkara Śrījñāna (982–1055?). Often referred to in Tibetan simply by the epithet of “Lord” (Tib. jo bo rje), Atiśa is the individual most associated with the eleventh-century revival of Buddhism in Tibet, which followed the tumultuous era of fragmentation (sil bu’i dus) that began with the 842 collapse of the Tibetan Empire. His impact on the Tibetan Buddhist Dharma continues to reverberate to this day, nearly a full millennium after he first arrived in the Land of Snows, and his teachings have inspired millions of Buddhists in Central Asia and now the world over. A brief introduction to his life and activities may shed light on this foundational text.
Atiśa was born in 982 as the second son of a royal house in Bengal, eastern India. On the eve of an adolescent marriage, he experienced a powerful vision of Tārā that motivated him to renounce the worldly life, even at this young age, and embark on the Buddhist path. He wandered through the jungles and mountains of India seeking the instruction of Buddhist masters, and he is said to have studied under a great number of mahāsiddhas. There are also accounts that he may have practiced the tantric sexual yogas at this time.
He received the bodhisattva vows from the master Bodhibhadra at the great Indian monastic university of Nālandā. At twenty-nine, the same age that Siddhartha left the palace, Atiśa had a dream in which he was urged by the Buddha himself to ordain, prompting him to take full monastic vows at a monastery in Bodh Gaya. Upon ordination, he was given the name Dīpaṃkara Śrījñāna, “He Whose Deep Awareness Acts as a Lamp.” With his relatively late ordination and scholarly pursuits, Atiśa’s biography is an inverse of Indian mahāsiddhas such as Nāropa, who only disrobed to practice tantra after many years living as a pure monk and scholar. Atiśa’s full monastic ordination after nearly two decades spent as a wandering yogi demonstrates the tremendous esteem with which he held the Vinaya and monastic discipline, values reflected in the Lamp for the Path and his broader missionary activities in Tibet.
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The commentary explains Atiśa's presentation of the three levels of practitioners: those of small capacity (seeking better rebirth), medium capacity (seeking liberation from samsara), and higher capacity (seeking enlightenment for all beings). Khunu Lama emphasizes the centrality of bodhicitta—the aspiration to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings—as the defining feature of Mahāyāna Buddhism that distinguishes it from other spiritual paths.
The teaching covers the essential practices: generating bodhicitta, observing moral conduct, developing single-pointed concentration, and cultivating the wisdom realizing emptiness. Khunu Lama stresses that both method (compassion and skillful means) and wisdom must be practiced together to achieve enlightenment. He concludes by encouraging his Western students to study Dharma deeply, learn Tibetan, and spread these teachings, noting that concern for others' welfare rather than one's own is the fundamental distinction of the Mahāyāna path.
About one thousand years ago, the great Indian pandit and yogi, Dipamkara Shrijnana (Atisha), was invited to Tibet to re-establish the Buddhadharma, which had been suppressed and corrupted for almost two centuries. One of Atisha's main accomplishments in Tibet was his writing of the seminal text, A Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment, in which he extracted the essence of all 84,000 teachings of the Buddha and organized them into a clear, step-like arrangement that makes it easy for any individual practitioner to understand and practice the Dharma. This genre of teachings is known as lamrim, or steps of the path, and forms an essential part of every school of Tibetan Buddhism.
In this book, His Holiness the Dalai Lama gives a commentary to not only Atisha's revolutionary work but also to Lines of Experience, a short text written by Lama Tsongkhapa, who was perhaps the greatest of all Tibetan lamrim authors. In bringing together Atisha, Lama Tsongkhapa and His Holiness the Dalai Lama, this book offers readers one of the clearest and most authoritative expositions of the Tibetan Buddhist path ever published, and it is recommended for those at the beginning of the path, the middle and the end. This is the first time a major teaching by the Dalai Lama has been published for free distribution. (Source Accessed August 24, 2026)
Eimer demonstrates that the Tibetan text is transmitted through three distinct lines: (a) the Madhyamaka sections of Tengyur xylographs, (b) the Jo bo'i chos chung sections of various Tengyurs, and (c) paracanonical manuscripts and blockprints. Through detailed textual criticism, he identifies numerous variant readings and problematic renderings in Shastri's edition, providing corrections based on multiple canonical and noncanonical sources.
The paper highlights significant challenges in Sanskrit restoration from Tibetan translations, including issues with meter, word choice, and technical terminology. Eimer shows that while traditional translation dictionaries like the Mahāvyutpatti provide guidelines, many of Shastri's Sanskrit equivalents deviate from standard conventions. A key contribution is the presentation of the original Sanskrit version of lines 229-232, preserved in manuscripts of the Avikalpapraveśadhāraṇī, which demonstrates how multiple restoration attempts can differ significantly from the authentic text.
The commentary explains Atiśa's presentation of the three levels of practitioners: those of small capacity (seeking better rebirth), medium capacity (seeking liberation from samsara), and higher capacity (seeking enlightenment for all beings). Khunu Lama emphasizes the centrality of bodhicitta—the aspiration to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings—as the defining feature of Mahāyāna Buddhism that distinguishes it from other spiritual paths.
The teaching covers the essential practices: generating bodhicitta, observing moral conduct, developing single-pointed concentration, and cultivating the wisdom realizing emptiness. Khunu Lama stresses that both method (compassion and skillful means) and wisdom must be practiced together to achieve enlightenment. He concludes by encouraging his Western students to study Dharma deeply, learn Tibetan, and spread these teachings, noting that concern for others' welfare rather than one's own is the fundamental distinction of the Mahāyāna path.Eimer demonstrates that the Tibetan text is transmitted through three distinct lines: (a) the Madhyamaka sections of Tengyur xylographs, (b) the Jo bo'i chos chung sections of various Tengyurs, and (c) paracanonical manuscripts and blockprints. Through detailed textual criticism, he identifies numerous variant readings and problematic renderings in Shastri's edition, providing corrections based on multiple canonical and noncanonical sources.
The paper highlights significant challenges in Sanskrit restoration from Tibetan translations, including issues with meter, word choice, and technical terminology. Eimer shows that while traditional translation dictionaries like the Mahāvyutpatti provide guidelines, many of Shastri's Sanskrit equivalents deviate from standard conventions. A key contribution is the presentation of the original Sanskrit version of lines 229-232, preserved in manuscripts of the Avikalpapraveśadhāraṇī, which demonstrates how multiple restoration attempts can differ significantly from the authentic text.Few figures in the history of Buddhism in Tibet have had as far-reaching and profound an influence as the Indian scholar and adept Atiśa Dīpaṃkara (982–1054). Originally from Bengal, Atiśa was a tantric Buddhist master during Vajrayana Buddhism’s flowering in India and traveled extensively, eventually spending the remaining twelve years of his life revitalizing Buddhism in Tibet. Revered by all the schools of Tibetan Buddhism, Atiśa and his students founded what came to be known as the Kadam school, whose teachings have influenced countless Buddhist masters. These teachings, cherished by all major traditions, are preserved by the Geluk in particular, the school of the Dalai Lamas.
Although Atiśa was an influential practitioner and scholar of Tantra, he is best known for introducing many of the core Mahayana teachings that are widely practiced throughout the Tibetan Buddhist world, including the Stages of the Path to Awakening and Mind Training (lojong), as well as having contributed to highly influential commentaries on Madhyamaka that synthesize various schools of thought. This succinct biography of Atiśa’s life, together with a collection of translations, represents for the first time the full range of Atiśa’s contribution to Buddhism. As the most comprehensive work available on this essential Buddhist figure, this book is an indispensable resource for scholars and Buddhist practitioners alike. (Source: Shambhala Publications)About one thousand years ago, the great Indian pandit and yogi, Dipamkara Shrijnana (Atisha), was invited to Tibet to re-establish the Buddhadharma, which had been suppressed and corrupted for almost two centuries. One of Atisha's main accomplishments in Tibet was his writing of the seminal text, A Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment, in which he extracted the essence of all 84,000 teachings of the Buddha and organized them into a clear, step-like arrangement that makes it easy for any individual practitioner to understand and practice the Dharma. This genre of teachings is known as lamrim, or steps of the path, and forms an essential part of every school of Tibetan Buddhism.
In this book, His Holiness the Dalai Lama gives a commentary to not only Atisha's revolutionary work but also to Lines of Experience, a short text written by Lama Tsongkhapa, who was perhaps the greatest of all Tibetan lamrim authors. In bringing together Atisha, Lama Tsongkhapa and His Holiness the Dalai Lama, this book offers readers one of the clearest and most authoritative expositions of the Tibetan Buddhist path ever published, and it is recommended for those at the beginning of the path, the middle and the end. This is the first time a major teaching by the Dalai Lama has been published for free distribution. (Source Accessed August 24, 2026)
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.
The Hermit was a follower of the Kagyu lineage, a lineage that gained the complete Kadampa teachings on refuge and bodhicitta as taught by Atisha through the early Kagyu master Gampopa. The two teachings here come from that tradition. Because of the Hermit’s ways explained above, the teachings are not dry expositions at all, but are very heartfelt and wonderful to read. Moreover, they contain many stories and quotes from the early Kadampa masters and from Kagyu masters such as Milarepa, Karmapa, and so on. What is really fascinating about both teachings is that they were given for a thoroughly traditional audience, so they talk about hell realms and so on in a traditional way. However, the teachings are intensely personal and practical, so they go from what could be teachings that many Westerners would not find relevant to being thought-provoking teachings on love and compassion. This feature on top of all the other features of the teachings makes this a very interesting book.
Books like this tend to be overlooked these days because these days people are forgetting about refuge and bodhicitta and seeking only the hot topic of Dzogchen. Refuge and bodhicitta are indispensable for all according to the Buddha, and this little book brings those two teachings right to the fore in a very compelling way.
The book contains translations of the following texts:
- From the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment: A small instruction on Taking Refuge called "The Great Entrance to the Excellent House of the Conqueror’s Precious Teaching"
- From the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment: For Beginners in the Great Vehicle, The Method of Meditating on Compassion that References Sentient Beings called "An Ornament for the Minds of Young Conquerors’ Sons" (Source Accessed Jan 16, 2025)
The book is divided into five parts:
I. Daily Recitation and Practice
II. Selected Texts for Study, Reflection and Meditation
III. Additional Prayers, Vows and Commitments
IV. Daily Dedication Prayers
V. Appendix
Part I and Part IV serve as a useful guide for all, who have an inclination towards dharma practice, but do not know how to start and design a daily practice session. It is also useful for those seekers who might be misguided and surmise that dharma practice comprises only of mantra recitation and so forth, thereby missing its essence.
Part II helps strengthen the practitioner’s dharma practice on the basis of selected compositions of great scholars and yogis. The actual breakthrough in the mental transformation happens through changes in the thought process, for which study and reflection are the cornerstones. Any of these profound texts and short extracts may be selected for study, reflection or meditation, on an on-going basis.
Part III reinforces and rejuvenates dharma practice and to that end, may be undertaken on a regular or occasional basis.
Part V introduces the reader to meditation practices, both shamatha (calm abiding) and vipasyana (special insight), including meditation on the breath, as well as methods to cultivate Bodhicitta and the wisdom of emptiness. While there are many texts on the wisdom of emptiness, the meditation included here is designed for all those who are not thoroughly introduced to this subject and still want to familiarise and habituate themselves with the wisdom of emptiness.
Brief notes, Endnotes and Glossary have been added to help the readers unfold the meanings of the texts with ease. (preface, xiv–xv)Few figures in the transmission of the Dharma from India to Tibet hold as central of a role as the great master Atiśa Dīpaṃkara Śrījñāna (982–1055?). Often referred to in Tibetan simply by the epithet of “Lord” (Tib. jo bo rje), Atiśa is the individual most associated with the eleventh-century revival of Buddhism in Tibet, which followed the tumultuous era of fragmentation (sil bu’i dus) that began with the 842 collapse of the Tibetan Empire. His impact on the Tibetan Buddhist Dharma continues to reverberate to this day, nearly a full millennium after he first arrived in the Land of Snows, and his teachings have inspired millions of Buddhists in Central Asia and now the world over. A brief introduction to his life and activities may shed light on this foundational text.
Atiśa was born in 982 as the second son of a royal house in Bengal, eastern India. On the eve of an adolescent marriage, he experienced a powerful vision of Tārā that motivated him to renounce the worldly life, even at this young age, and embark on the Buddhist path. He wandered through the jungles and mountains of India seeking the instruction of Buddhist masters, and he is said to have studied under a great number of mahāsiddhas. There are also accounts that he may have practiced the tantric sexual yogas at this time.
He received the bodhisattva vows from the master Bodhibhadra at the great Indian monastic university of Nālandā. At twenty-nine, the same age that Siddhartha left the palace, Atiśa had a dream in which he was urged by the Buddha himself to ordain, prompting him to take full monastic vows at a monastery in Bodh Gaya. Upon ordination, he was given the name Dīpaṃkara Śrījñāna, “He Whose Deep Awareness Acts as a Lamp.” With his relatively late ordination and scholarly pursuits, Atiśa’s biography is an inverse of Indian mahāsiddhas such as Nāropa, who only disrobed to practice tantra after many years living as a pure monk and scholar. Atiśa’s full monastic ordination after nearly two decades spent as a wandering yogi demonstrates the tremendous esteem with which he held the Vinaya and monastic discipline, values reflected in the Lamp for the Path and his broader missionary activities in Tibet.
Continue reading here . . .
