The Treasury of Knowledge (Series)

This monumental translation?more than twenty-five years in the making?is at last complete. We are delighted to make available this comprehensive collection of the entire range of Buddhist teachings as they have been preserved in Tibet. In Tibetan religious literature, Jamgön Kongtrül's Treasury of Knowledge in ten books stands out as a unique, encyclopedic masterpiece embodying the entire range of Buddhist teachings as they were preserved in Tibet. In his monumental Treasury of Knowledge, Jamgön Kongtrül presents a complete account of the major lines of thought and practice that comprise Tibetan Buddhism. Book One: Myriad Worlds This first book of The Treasury which serves as a prelude to Kongtrul's survey describes four major cosmological systems found in the Tibetan tradition?those associated with the Hinayana, Mahayana, Kalachakra, and Dzogchen teachings. Each of these cosmologies shows how the world arises from mind, whether through the accumulated results of past actions or from the constant striving of awareness to know itself. Book 2, 3, and 4: Buddhisms Journey to Tibet presents Kongtrül's masterful history of Buddhism in India and Tibet. Beginning with the appearance of the Buddha in our world (Book Two), it describes the Buddha's life, his enlightenment, and what he taught (Book Three) from a multitude of Buddhist viewpoints. Buddhism's transmission to and preservation in Tibet is the focus of the main part of this volume (Book Four), which describes the scriptural transmissions and lineages of meditation practice as well as the Buddhist arts that together make up the world of Tibetan Buddhism. Book 5: Buddhist Ethics, is considered by many scholars to be its heart. Jamgon Kongtrul explains the complete code of personal liberation as it applies to both monastic and lay persons, the precepts for those aspiring to the life of a bodhisattva, and the exceptional pledges for practitioners on the tantric path of pure perception. The translators have been thorough and careful, graciously providing the commentary received in an annoted section ~ the notes themselves could almost be published as a separate work! Book 6 is by far the longest concisely summarizing the theoretical fields of knowledge to be studied prior to the cultivation of reflection and discriminative awareness. The first two parts of Book Six, contained in this volume, respectively concern Indo-Tibetan classical learning and Buddhist phenomenology. Part 1 analyzes the traditional subjects of phonology and Sanskrit grammar, logic, fine art, and medicine, along with astrology, poetics, prosody, synonymics, and dramaturgy. The principal non-Buddhist philosophical systems of ancient India are then summarized and contrasted with the hierarchical meditative concentrations and formless absorptions through which the summit of cyclic existence can genuinely be attained. Part Two examines the phenomenological structures of Abhidharma – the shared inheritance of all Buddhist traditions from three distinct perspectives, corresponding to the three successive turnings of the doctrinal wheel. Part 3: in Jamgon Kongtrul's very concise style, the entire spectrum of views on the Buddha's teachings as studied in Tibetan Buddhism, from the Four Noble Truths through the Middle Way School tenets regarding emptiness. Jamgon Kongtrul surveys first the Shravakayana and Pratyekabuddhayana approaches to the spiritual path. Then he walks the reader through the philosophical underpinnings of the Mahayana, which is itself broken down into the Mind Only and Middle Way schools (the latter including the Autonomy, Consequence, Self-Empty, and Other-Empty schools, as well as Secret Mantra). Part 4: The chapters cover the nature, action, and conduct of tantra; yoga tantra; the nature of the mind and body; tantric scriptures; exposition methods; and more. Extensive notes aid in the understanding of sometimes technical discourses related to yoga, scripture, states of being, and other matters. This is a superb resource for advanced Buddhist practitioners, students and scholars striving to better understand the wisdom and path to inner peace handed down through centuries. Book 7 and 8, part 1 and 2: Once one has gained certainty about the teachings through hearing and contemplation, the logical next step is that of integrating them into one's experience through the process known as meditation. This is the main focus of book eight. Part One of Book Eight presents the practice of meditation as a twofold process comprising elements of calm abiding and a deeper awareness of the nature of reality. Part Two of Book Eight treats the stages of meditation as these are described in the sutra tradition that includes the three paths of the sravaka, pratyekabuddha, and the bodhisattva. Jamgon Kongtrul explains how the teachings are to be integrated into one's life through the practice of meditation, which unites a state of one pointed attention with profound insight into emptiness. Book 8 part 3: Part Three: The Elements of Tantric Practice is the eighth volume from the Treasury of Knowledge. It sets forth the essential components of the path of highest yoga tantra, a system of meditation that unites wisdom and compassion in its two phases of practice. Tibetan Buddhist teachers expected their students to study Buddhist philosophical texts as well as practice reflection and meditation; present-day students have also realized that awakening has its source in study as well as in reflection and practice. The Elements of Tantric Practice sets forth the essential components of the path of highest yoga tantra, a system of meditation that unites wisdom and compassion in its two phases of practice. The first phase, that of creation, relies primarily on the use of the imagination to effect personal transformation. The phase of completion allows the practitioner to perfect the process of transformation by training in methods that manipulate the energies and constituents of the mind and body. The result of this path is the direct experience of the fundamental nature of mind and phenomena. Book 8, Part 4: This volume, Esoteric Instructions, deals with meditation – specifically tantric meditation. It is a collection of intimate records of personal teachings by masters that simplify tantric meditations by providing pertinent examples and very personal and helpful hints to disciples based on the master's own experience. Although originally oral in nature, they have been codified and passed down through specific lineages from teacher to student. Book 9 and 10: Journey and Goal focuses on the spiritual path – the journey and the resultant state of enlightenment to which it leads – the goal. Extensively varied perspectives are offered not only from within the many schools of Buddhism but also from the different levels of practice and attainment. This is in fact the most comprehensive treatment of these themes to appear in the English language.