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Transcendent Wisdom
In this work we have the Dalai Lama at full strength...a profound work.—Parabola
- GenresBuddhismSpirituality
142 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1955
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99 people want to read
About the author
Dalai Lama XIV
1,552 books6,252 followersJetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso (born Lhamo Döndrub), the 14th Dalai Lama, is a practicing member of the Gelug School of Tibetan Buddhism and is influential as a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, the world's most famous Buddhist monk, and the leader of the exiled Tibetan government in India.
Tenzin Gyatso was the fifth of sixteen children born to a farming family. He was proclaimed the tulku (an Enlightened lama who has consciously decided to take rebirth) of the 13th Dalai Lama at the age of two.
On 17 November 1950, at the age of 15, he was enthroned as Tibet's ruler. Thus he became Tibet's most important political ruler just one month after the People's Republic of China's invasion of Tibet on 7 October 1950. In 1954, he went to Beijing to attempt peace talks with Mao Zedong and other leaders of the PRC. These talks ultimately failed.
After a failed uprising and the collapse of the Tibetan resistance movement in 1959, the Dalai Lama left for India, where he was active in establishing the Central Tibetan Administration (the Tibetan Government in Exile) and in seeking to preserve Tibetan culture and education among the thousands of refugees who accompanied him.
Tenzin Gyatso is a charismatic figure and noted public speaker. This Dalai Lama is the first to travel to the West. There, he has helped to spread Buddhism and to promote the concepts of universal responsibility, secular ethics, and religious harmony.
He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, honorary Canadian citizenship in 2006, and the United States Congressional Gold Medal on 17 October 2007.
Tenzin Gyatso was the fifth of sixteen children born to a farming family. He was proclaimed the tulku (an Enlightened lama who has consciously decided to take rebirth) of the 13th Dalai Lama at the age of two.
On 17 November 1950, at the age of 15, he was enthroned as Tibet's ruler. Thus he became Tibet's most important political ruler just one month after the People's Republic of China's invasion of Tibet on 7 October 1950. In 1954, he went to Beijing to attempt peace talks with Mao Zedong and other leaders of the PRC. These talks ultimately failed.
After a failed uprising and the collapse of the Tibetan resistance movement in 1959, the Dalai Lama left for India, where he was active in establishing the Central Tibetan Administration (the Tibetan Government in Exile) and in seeking to preserve Tibetan culture and education among the thousands of refugees who accompanied him.
Tenzin Gyatso is a charismatic figure and noted public speaker. This Dalai Lama is the first to travel to the West. There, he has helped to spread Buddhism and to promote the concepts of universal responsibility, secular ethics, and religious harmony.
He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, honorary Canadian citizenship in 2006, and the United States Congressional Gold Medal on 17 October 2007.
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April 17, 2011Oral commentary by the Dalai Lama, translated by B. Alan Wallace; most recent copyright 2009
From the Foreword:
"This work consists of a translation from the Sanskrit of the ninth chapter of a work entitled A GUIDE TO THE BODHISATTVA WAY OF LIFE by the Indian scholar and contemplative Shantideva. This chapter, named 'Transcendent Wisdom,' sets forth the Centrist, or Madhyamika view of Buddhist philosophy in the context of other Buddhist and non-Buddhist views. From a Western perspective it is philosophical in content; yet it has a definite religious tone to it, and it also belongs to a contemplative discipline that presents empirical means for testing its conclusions.
".... The text is accompanied by a translation from spoken Tibetan of an oral commentary presented by H.H. the Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, during the summer of 1979 in Rikon, Switzerland. This commentary was delivered before an assembly of roughly a thousand Tibetans and a few score Westerners, and it clearly assumes some background in Buddhist philosophy on the part of the listeners. The 'Transcendent Wisdom' chapter of Shantideva's classic treatise is known among Buddhist scholars as a challenging and profound exposition of the pinnacle of Buddhist philosophy. Hopefully this translation will further elucidate this text for those seeking an understanding of the Buddhist Centrist view and its relevance to contemporary thought."
Kindle location 18
From the Foreword:
"This work consists of a translation from the Sanskrit of the ninth chapter of a work entitled A GUIDE TO THE BODHISATTVA WAY OF LIFE by the Indian scholar and contemplative Shantideva. This chapter, named 'Transcendent Wisdom,' sets forth the Centrist, or Madhyamika view of Buddhist philosophy in the context of other Buddhist and non-Buddhist views. From a Western perspective it is philosophical in content; yet it has a definite religious tone to it, and it also belongs to a contemplative discipline that presents empirical means for testing its conclusions.
".... The text is accompanied by a translation from spoken Tibetan of an oral commentary presented by H.H. the Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, during the summer of 1979 in Rikon, Switzerland. This commentary was delivered before an assembly of roughly a thousand Tibetans and a few score Westerners, and it clearly assumes some background in Buddhist philosophy on the part of the listeners. The 'Transcendent Wisdom' chapter of Shantideva's classic treatise is known among Buddhist scholars as a challenging and profound exposition of the pinnacle of Buddhist philosophy. Hopefully this translation will further elucidate this text for those seeking an understanding of the Buddhist Centrist view and its relevance to contemporary thought."
Kindle location 18
September 28, 2017
A thorough commentary on Shantideva's Wisdom chapter of the Bodhicharyavatara, but clearly one of HHDL earlier teachings. He has since learned how to speak to a wider audience and has challenged the patriarchal views he clearly still had at the time of this teaching.
February 5, 2020
DNF: I skimmed this scholarly, detailed analysis of HHDL’s teaching on emptimess. This is another text for serious Buddhist scholars, not practitioners. Very authoritative. Translated, edited, and annotated by B. Alan Wallace.
April 19, 2010
A very close, nearly "technical" explication of Shantideva's difficult "wisdom" chapter by HH Tenzin Gyatso. The Dalai Lama's philosophical training and subtle mind are on full display as he interprets Shantideva's teachings on emptiness, impermanence and fundamental interrelatedness. While the rest of Shantideva's Way of the Bodhisattva is almost colloquial, poetic and composed of teachings on practices and moral prescriptions, the "wisdom" chapter reads totally differently. It's a logical, dialectical refutation of then contemporary theories of self and reality, exposing the fundamental emptiness of all experience and the infinite interdependence of all phenomena.
October 20, 2015
Dolly Llama? Seriously, he is wise and his insights worth thinking about.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews