The Middle Way: Faith Grounded in Reason

by Dalai Lama, Geshe Thupten Jinpa (Translator)

Overview

For nearly 2,000 years, Nagarjuna's teachings have occupied a central position in Mahayana Buddhism. An essential part of the study and practice in the great Indian Buddhist monastic universities, these teachings were later incorporated into the Tibetan monastic programs that modeled their curricula on their Indian predecessors. In The Middle Way, the Dalai Lama offers a brief, brilliant, and complete presentation of the ultimate view of reality in the Mahayana tradition of Buddhism. The teachings are about the Buddhist view, yet the Dalai Lama presents them in a way that allows any interested reader to grasp this profound outlook on life. Like his many books on compassion, The Middle Way is vitally important and universally applicable. With its release, the Dalai Lama adds his wisdom teachings to the already established recognition of his incomparable compassion.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780861715527
Publisher:	Wisdom Publications MA
Publication date:	05/26/2009
Pages:	200
Product dimensions:	6.34(w) x 9.28(h) x 0.82(d)

About the Author

Tenzin Gyatso, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, is the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people. Born in northeastern Tibet in 1935, he was as a toddler recognized as the incarnation of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama and brought to Tibet's capital, Lhasa. In 1950, Mao Zedong's Communist forces made their first incursions into eastern Tibet, shortly after which the young Dalai Lama assumed the political leadership of his country. In 1959, Chinese forces occupied the city, forcing His Holiness to escape to India. There he set up the Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharamsala, working to secure the welfare of the more than 100,000 Tibetan exiles and prevent the destruction of Tibetan culture. In his capacity as a spiritual and political leader, he has traveled to more than sixty-two countries on six continents and met with presidents, popes, and leading scientists to foster dialogue and create a better world. In recognition of his tireless work for the nonviolent liberation of Tibet, the Dalai Lama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. In 2012, he relinquished political authority in his exile government and turned it over to democratically elected representatives.

Thupten Jinpa Langri was educated in the classical Tibetan monastic academia and received the highest academic degree of Geshe Lharam (equivalent to a doctorate in divinity). Jinpa also holds a BA in philosophy and a PhD in religious studies, both from the University of Cambridge, England. Since 1985, he has been the principal English-language translator to the Dalai Lama. He has translated and edited many books by the Dalai Lama, including The World of Tibetan Buddhism, Essence of the Heart Sutra, and Ethics for the New Millennium. Jinpa has published scholarly articles on various aspects of Tibetan culture, Buddhism, and philosophy, and books such as Songs of Spiritual Experience (co-authored) and Self, Reality and Reason in Tibetan Thought. He serves on the advisory board of numerous educational and cultural organizations in North America, Europe, and India. He is currently the president and the editor-in-chief of the Institute of Tibetan Classics, a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to translating key Tibetan classics into contemporary languages. He also currently chairs the Mind and Life Institute.

Table of Contents

Translator's Preface vii

Prologue 1

Part I An Exploration of Nagarjuna's: Fundamental Stanzas on the Middle Way

1 Approaching the Profound 13

2 Twelve Links of Dependent Origination 29

3 The Analysis of Self and No-Self 65

4 Establishing Conventional Truth 93

Part II An Exploration of Tsongkhapa's: Three Principal Aspects of the Path

5 Practicing the Profound 119

Appendix 1 Three Principal Aspects of the Path 149

Appendix 2 Praise to Seventeen Nalanda Masters 153

Notes 163

Bibliography 169

Index 173

About the Author 185

Editorial Reviews

"How fortunate we are to have access to these brilliant teachings given by the Dalai Lama in Toronto in 2004 and now impeccably translated by his principal English translator, Thubten Jinpa. The first half of the book presents the Buddhist path to enlightenment a la Nagarjuna. The second half shows how to put the key elements into practice, and it is here that His Holiness offers a beautiful explanation of Lama Tsongkhapa’s Three Principal Aspects of the Path – true renunciation, the altruistic wakening mind and the correct view of emptiness. A truly inspiring book.

Mandala