The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment (Volume 1) (The

The first volume of the fifteenth-century spiritual classic that condenses the enormous breadth of Buddhist teachings into one easy-to-follow meditation manual.

The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment (Tib. Lam rim chen mo) is one of the brightest jewels in the world's treasury of sacred literature. The author, Tsong-kha-pa, completed it in 1402, and it soon became one of the most renowned works of spiritual practice and philosophy in the world of Tibetan Buddhism. Because it condenses all the exoteric sutra scriptures into a meditation manual that is easy to understand, scholars and practitioners rely on its authoritative presentation as a gateway that leads to a full understanding of the Buddha's teachings.

Tsong-kha-pa took great pains to base his insights on classical Indian Buddhist literature, illustrating his points with classical citations as well as with sayings of the masters of the earlier Kadampa tradition. In this way the text demonstrates clearly how Tibetan Buddhism carefully preserved and developed the Indian Buddhist traditions.

This first of three volumes covers all the practices that are prerequisite for developing the spirit of enlightenment (bodhicitta).

Je Tsong-Kha-Pa (1357-1419), founder of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism, was one of Tibet's greatest philosophers and a prolific writer. His most famous work, The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path, is a classic of Tibetan Buddhism.

The Lamrim Chenmo Translation Comittee is composed of José Cabezón, Daniel Cozort, Joshua W. C. Cutler, Natalie Hauptman, Roger R. Jackson, Karen Lang, Donald S. Lopez Jr., John Makransky, Elizabeth S. Napper, Guy Newland, John Newman, Gareth Sparham, B. Alan Wallace, and Joe B. Wilson.

Editor's Preface
Foreword by Robert A. F. Thurman
Introduction by D. Seyfort Ruegg
Prologue
1. Atisha
2. The Greatness of the Teaching
3. How to Listen to and Explain Things
4. Relying on the Teacher
5. The Meditation Session
6. Refuting Misconceptions About Meditation
7. A Human Life of Leisure and Opportunity
8. The Three Types of Persons
9. Mindfulness of Death
10. Reflecting on Your Future Life
11. Going for Refuge to the Three Jewels
12. The Precepts of Refuge
13. The General Characteristics of Karma
14. The Varieties of Karma
15. Cultivating Ethical Behavior
16. The Attitude of a Person of Small Capacity
17. The Eight Types of Suffering
18. The Six Types of Suffering
19. Further Meditations on Suffering
20. The Origin of Suffering
21. The Twelve Factors of Dependent-Arising
22. The Attitude of a Person of Medium Capacity
23. Ascertaining the Nature of the Path
24. The Nature of the Three Trainings
Appendix 1: Outline of the Text
Appendix 2: Glossary
Notes
Abbreviations
Bibliography
Index