Season 03 begins December 15
A Manual of Key Buddhist Terms
Recently Lama John and I were discussing what text he would like to cover for the next season of “Chitta Chat.” He mentioned how he’d like to do something that covers the myriad lists that Tibetan Buddhism is well-known for. I know just the book, I said, as I hurried off to my studio bookshelf — “A Manual of Key Buddhist Terms: Categorization of Buddhist Terminologies With Commentary” by Kawa Paltsek, one of the twenty-five disciples of Padmasambhava.
The book is literally a collection of lists:
The Three Natures
The 10 Bodhisattva Grounds
The Four Fearlessnesses of Those Who Have Gone Beyond
And so on and so forth. Some of these you’ve probably heard of before, but many items will be new to even the most Buddha-heady of our listeners.
From the Publisher’s Note:
The text deals precisely with such topics as the nature of the person; the method by which the individual relates to the world and the ensuing consequences; the law of dependent origination; the nature of emptiness; the path to Buddhahood from two different angles; various qualities of beings not yet freed from cyclic existence (samsara), etc.
At 69 pages, it is probably the most condensed text of Tibetan Buddhism you will find in need of unpacking and elucidation. This book is easily found on Amazon and other online bookstores if you’re interested in following along as we read through it in its entirety. See you soon!
