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This mind training text by the Sakya master Togme Zangpo is studied by all the Tibetan Buddhist traditions. The number 37 is significant; there is a set of 37 practices or factors that lead to a purified state. These are well-known practices followed on a graded course of development to progress toward either liberation, following a Hinayana path, or enlightenment, following a Mahayana path. The 37 bodhisattva practices presented in this short text provide the guidelines for the complete bodhisattva path. +
This English musical version of the ''37 Practices'' was created and sung by the first group of 3-year retreatants at the Garchen Buddhist Institute. +
This English musical version of the 37 Practices was created and sung by the first group of 3-year retreatants at the Garchen Buddhist Institute. +
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On the Way Talks about the Buddhist Path:
In this video, H. H. The 42nd Sakya Trizin, Ratna Vajra Rinpoche, speaks about the bodhisattva and their main practices.
His Holiness Ratna Vajra Rinpoche, the elder son of His Holiness the 41st Sakya Trizin and one of the most important lineage holders living today. +
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A bibliography of the Sanskrit Texts of the ''Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra'' by Akira Yuyama. +
No abstract given. Here are the first relevant paragraphs:
The best way to begin this practice is by thinking of a person whose suffering you feel strongly and whose happiness is very important to you. This could be someone you know or have known, or someone you’ve seen on the street or read about in the newspaper. The thought of certain people naturally and easily awakens bodhicitta in us: we care about them and we don’t want them to suffer. Think of such a person and, whether you feel love, gratitude or compassion for them, say, “May they be free of suffering and the root of suffering; may they enjoy happiness and the root of happiness.” +
A Brief Commentary on the Refuge & Bodhicitta Prayer Known as Sangyé Chö Tsok Ma (Ngawang Tenzin Norbu 2009)/Full text +
Read the full text of this work here on our website. +
A Brief Commentary on the Refuge & Bodhicitta Prayer Known as Sangyé Chö Tsok Ma (Ngawang Tenzin Norbu 2009) +
A simple commentary on the most famous four-line prayer of taking refuge and arousing bodhicitta; it explains the nature of the Buddha, Dharma and Saṅgha as well as relative and absolute bodhicitta. +
The path of accumulation (Skt. ''sambhāramārga''; Tib. ཚོགས་ལམ་, ''tsoklam'', Wyl. ''tshogs lam'') is the first of the five paths. It is divided into greater, intermediate and lesser stages.
Patrul Rinpoche says:
"It is called the path of accumulation because it is the stage at which one makes a special effort to gather the accumulation of merit, and also because it marks the beginning of many incalculable aeons of gathering the accumulations.
On the lesser path of accumulation it is uncertain when one will reach the path of joining. On the intermediate path of accumulation it is certain that one will reach the path of joining in the very next lifetime. On the greater path of accumulation it is certain that one will reach the path of joining within that very same lifetime." ([https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Path_of_accumulation Source Accessed March 17, 2025]) +
The ''Bodhicaryāvatāra'' and the ''Śikṣāsamuccaya'' both discuss the generation of the mind of enlightenment for the benefit of sentient beings and prescribe practices one must perform in order to attain buddhahood. As such, both texts are designed to elicit a transformation in the reader. While they are stylistically and structurally unique, the two texts are thought to be mutually illuminating, and for this reason it is often recommended that they be studied together. +
Khenpo Sonam Phuntsho narrates a brief story about Shantideva, the author of "The Way of Bodhisattva." +
'''Structure and purpose:''' Das, exhibiting the piece through Sir Charles Elliott to the Asiatic Society of Bengal, provides an overview of the Tibetan text Mdo Bskal-bzang ("Sutra of the Glorious Age," Skt. Bhadrakalpika Sūtra), the opening text of the mDo (Sūtra) section of the Kangyur. He opens with a short primer on the two-part division of the Tibetan canon (Kangyur/Bstan-'gyur) and the seven sections of the Kangyur, before turning to this specific sutra.
'''The sūtra's setting and content:''' The text is framed as a discourse Śākyamuni delivered near Vaiśālī at the request of a bodhisattva named Promodya Rāja, on the subject of the six (and sometimes ten) pāramitās—the perfections culminating in nirvāṇa. After lengthy doctrinal exposition (leaves 4–150), the bulk of the work catalogs 1,005 buddhas said to appear within this fortunate eon—four in the past, Śākyamuni as the present, and 1,000 more to come, beginning with Maitreya. For each buddha, sixteen standardized details are given (birthplace, lineage, parents, chief disciples, size of his assembly, lifespan, and so on). Das translates these entries in full for the first six buddhas of the list (Krakuchanda, Kanaka Muni, Kāśyapa, Śākyamuni, Maitreya, and Dhṛti), then summarizes that the pattern continues for the rest.
'''Closing sections:''' He notes the final portion of the text (leaves 459–547) recounts how each of these buddhas first formed the resolve for enlightenment in past lives, and closes with reflections on the merit of devotion to a buddha.
'''Appended note:''' Das adds a bibliographic note on the physical manuscript he consulted—a worm-eaten old copy in the Asiatic Society's library, compared against a cleaner block-print edition (from 1726 CE woodblocks) owned by Sir Charles Elliott—and describes the illustrated title page, which depicts Śākyamuni and Maitreya, using their iconography to muse on stages of spiritual development and a fanciful comparison between Buddhism and Christianity.
Patrul Rinpoche's work on the stages of meditation of the ''Bodhicaryāvatāra''. It is essentially a guide to using Śāntideva's root verses in the context of a practice session. +
A comprehensive edition of the ''Tathāgatagarbhasūtra'' (''TGS'') and an annotated English translation based on Tibetan materials, by Michael Zimmermann. +
Explores the philosophical foundation of altruism in Tibetan ethical theories through the lens of Śāntideva's ''Bodhicaryāvatāra''. +
''This early Western publication on Buddhism includes mention of the concept of buddha-nature 19 times. Thus this work would have been one of the few English publications at the time to mention buddha-nature by name. What follows is Goddard's preface to the book''.<br><br>
The first edition of this Buddhist Bible was published in 1932. When the need of a new edition became evident, it was decided to enlarge it so as to include other Scriptures of like importance so as to make it more comprehensive. This involved making a number of new translations for which we are indebted to Bhikshu Wai-tao. We are also indebted and are very grateful to a number of other Buddhist Scholars for permission to use their translations, as noted in the Appendix.<br> The compiling of a Buddhist Bible is a very different matter from compiling the Christian Bible. In the first place, there is no Hierarchy or Ecclesiastic Council to pass upon the authenticity of different scriptures, and as to their canonicity. In the second place, Christian Scriptures are a closed system of doctrines and dogmas that have been inspired by the Holy Spirit and are to be accepted in faith. Buddhism, on the contrary, is looked upon as a growing organism whose scriptures are of many kinds as the organism has developed under different racial, temporal and cultural conditions. As disciples follow the Buddha's Noble Path and practice dhyana concentration and intuitive meditation they have an unfolding experience of spiritual insight and grace which any one of them may describe and elucidate. Some of these expediences are of highest value, some of less value. Some are concerned with
the Dharma, some have to do with the rules of the Brotherhoods, some are philosophical, some psychological, some are commentaries and some are commentaries on commentaries. In the third place, there is the difference of quantity. In the Christian Bible there are sixty-six titles; Buddhist scriptures number over ten thousand, only a fraction of which have thus far been translated. In the Sung Dynasty about 972 AD a Chinese version of these scriptures was published consisting of 1521 works, in more than 5000 volumes, covering 130,000 pages.<br> The nearest approach to canonicity is the Pali Tripitika. That was the earliest collection and was supposed to be limited to the words of Buddha. Southern Buddhists are passionately devoted to these Pali Scriptures and are inclined to disparage and dispute the more philosophical scriptures of the Northern School that developed later after Buddhism had come in contact with other world religions in Persia, Palestine, Egypt and Greece. Under these conditions there developed in Northern India, and Kashgar, a succession of very able minds,
Ashvaghosha, Nargajuna, Vasobandhu and his brother Asangha from whose writings and teachings there developed various important schools of philosophical thought that profoundly changed the understanding of Buddha's Dharma.<br> Later on as Buddhism spread into China and came under the influence of its immemorial culture and practical good sense, it took on forms of Taoist naturalism and kindly humanism, and there developed forms of "salvation by faith in Amitabha's mercy" and rebirth in his Pure Land. While in Tibet, coming in contact with its ancient Bon religion, and
under the climatic conditions of its high altitudes, it took on forms of strenuousness and magic and tantric conceptions. Later on in Japan owing to political and social conditions incident to the presence of a limited but powerful noble class dominating a suppressed peasantry, which had developed extremes of loyalty and obedience and self-control, it took on forms of concentrative meditation known as Zen, and a still more widely divergent type of the True Pure Land Sect.<br> Naturally among these diverse conditions Buddhist scriptures vary widely, and the quantity of them being so enormous, they have become segregated into different groups as they are favored by different schools of thought and practice. The Tien-tai favor the more philosophical scriptures, the Shingon, the more esoteric, the Ch’an (Zen), the more intellectual, and the Pure Land, the more emotional. The present editor has been guided in his selection of scriptures for this Buddhist Bible by a sincere purpose to make the selection as comprehensive as possible within its limits and to represent as truly as possible the original teachings of the Blessed One both as understood by the Southern and more primitive school and by the Northern and more philosophical interpreters. He has also humbly tried to have the choice vouched for by his own spiritual experience in his practice of the Noble Path and especially during its Eighth Stage of intuitive Dhyana.<br> It follows, therefore, that the scriptures thus selected are the generally accepted scriptures of the Dhyana Sects—Ch’an in China, Zen in Japan and Kargyupta in Tibet. Of course among so enormous a collection of scriptures there are others that are favorites also, notably the ''Saddharma-pundarika'' (Lotus of the Perfect Law), and the ''Avatamsaka'', said to be the grandest religious document ever written, but these are very large books in themselves. The late W. E. Soothil of London left a very careful translation of the Lotus that still waits a publisher. Dr. Suzuki of Kyoto has made a translation of the Gandhavyuha sections of the Avatamsaka that is now in process of being published. The inclusion of Laotzu’s ''Tao-teh-king'' is open to question as it is not strictly a Buddhist
text, but its teaching has such a close affinity to Buddhist teaching and nearly all early Chinese Masters of Buddhism were Taoist scholars who, upon becoming Buddhists, did not give up their Taoist conceptions and terms, and because the Laotzuan teaching in the ''Tao-teh-king'' has had such a wholesome
influence on the development of Chinese Buddhism, and, in later years, wherever the ''Tao-teh-king'' is held in reverence, it has tended to restrain individual pride of egoism, religious ceremonial, ecclesiasticism, priestcraft and insincerity generally, we make no apology for including it. In fact, it is our earnest wish that the ''Tao-teh-king'' may become one of the foundation stones of American and European Buddhism.<br> Further introductory notes are reserved for the Appendix
under the heads of the individual Scriptures, as are also -grateful appreciation to those who have contributed to the preparation and publication of this Bible, especially to those Buddhist scholars who have courteously granted the Editor permission to use their translations for this purpose <br> Just a closing word as to the rules that have guided the
Editor in his choice and handling of textual material. He has always kept in mind the spiritual needs of his readers. This Buddhist Bible is not intended to be a source book for critical literary and historical study. It is only intended to be a source of spiritual inspiration designed to awaken faith and to develop faith into aspiration and full realization. The original texts having for centuries been carried in memory and transcribed by hand by scribes who were often more loyal to their Master than to historical exactness, are often overloaded with interpolations and extensions, and in places are confused and obscure. To carry out the design of the Editor, he has omitted a great deal of matter not bearing directly upon the theme of
the particular Scripture, and has interpreted occasionally where it seemed necessary and advisable, in order to provide an easier and more inspiring reading. The need for this course will become apparent to every earnest minded disciple.<br> In these days when Western civilization and culture is buffeted as never before by foreboding waves of materialism and selfish aggrandisement both individual and national, Buddhism seems to hold out teachings of highest promise. For two thousand years Dhyana Buddhism has powerfully conditioned the cultural, ethical and spiritual life of the great Oriental nations. It well may be the salvation of Western civilization. Its rationality, its discipline, its emphasis on simplicity and sincerity, its thoughtfulness, its cheerful industry not for profit but for service, its love for all animate life, its restraint of desire in all its subtle forms, its actual foretastes of enlightenment and blissful peace, its patient acceptance of karma and rebirth, all mark it out as being competent to meet the problems of this excitement loving, materialistic, acquisitive and thoughtless age.<br> Its basic principle of an eternal process based on unchanging law and operating in eternal recurrence, leading to mind-control, to highest cognition, to purest conceptions of love and compassion, to ever clearing insight, to highest perfect wisdom, to the self-giving of Bodhisattvas, and Buddhas, to blissful peace, is worthy of confidence; and its Noble Path worthy of
trial.<br> The theme of this Buddhist Bible is designed to show the unreality of all conceptions of a personal ego. Its purpose is to awaken faith in Buddhahood as being one’s true self-nature; to kindle aspiration to realize one’s true Buddha-nature; to energize effort to follow the Noble Path, to become Buddha. The true response to the appeal of this Buddhist Bible is not in outward activities, but in self-yielding, becoming a clear channel for Buddhahood's indrawing compassion, that all sentient beings may become emancipated, enlightened and brought to Buddhahood. (Goddard, preface, v–viii)
A brief comparative analysis between Charles Dickens's ''A Christmas Carol'' and Śāntideva's ''Bodhicaryāvatāra''. +
Each year, around 120 billion land animals and 1.5 trillion sea animals are killed for human consumption. This book provides compelling arguments on the wisdom of giving up meat and adopting a vegetarian
diet. Lama Phurbu Tashi Rinpoche draws on Buddhist teachings, both sutra and tantric, to support his case, while Matthieu Ricard refers to scientific evidence on the environmental damage caused by the industrial farming of animals and commercial fishing. Both authors invite us to extend our compassion to reduce the vast number of animals raised and slaughtered for human consumption. +
In this chapter Geoffrey Barstow translates a text by Khenpo Tsultrim Lodro called ''Words to Increase Virtue'' (''Dge bskul shu yig''), found in a compilation of texts titled ''A Collection of Texts on the Faults of Meat, Alcohol, and Tobacco'' (''Sha chang tha ma kha sogs kyi nyes dmigs phyogs bsdus'').
On this work, Barstow writes:
Khenpo Tsultrim Lodro originally delivered ''Words to Increase Virtue'', the work translated in this chapter, orally as a speech in 2003 during the annual festivities surrounding the Saga Dawa holiday. It was later transcribed and widely distributed in publication, but the work’s originally oral character remains. Khenpo Tsultrim Lodro speaks directly to "those here in this crowd" and repeatedly uses the first-person plural we directly, including himself among those who need to be concerned with this issue. Further, the text is clearly centered on the Larung Gar community. The only religious leader that Khenpo Tsultrim Lodro mentions, in fact, is his teacher Khenpo
Jigme Phuntsok who founded Larung Gar and whose vision of animal ethics deeply informs Khenpo Tsultrim Lodro’s own. Overall, then, this work gives its readers a sense of immediacy, as if they were personally listening to the khenpo speak. (Barstow, ''Voices from Larung Gar'', 126) +
''A Clear Differentiation of the Three Codes'' presents the first English translation of the ''sDom gsum rab dbye'', one of the most famous and controversial doctrinal treatises of Tibetan Buddhism. Written by Sakya Pandita Kunga Gyaltshen (1182–1251), a founder of the Sakya school and one of Tibet’s most learned sages, ''The Three Codes'' strongly influenced subsequent religious and intellectual traditions in Tibet—and sparked a number of long-lasting doctrinal and philosophical disputes, some of which persist today.
In ''The Three Codes'', Sakya Pandita discusses the Hinayana, Mahayana, and Tantric vows of Buddhist conduct, which often diverge and contradict each other. He criticizes, on at least one point or another, later practitioners of almost every lineage, including the Kadampa, Kagyupa, and Nyingmapa, for contradicting the original teachings of their own traditions. (Source: [https://www.sunypress.edu/p-3532-a-clear-differentiation-of-the-.aspx SUNY Press]) +
