Nagarjuna's Letter To A Friend: With Commentary By Kangyur Rinpoche

Nagarjunas poetic presentation of the fundamental teachings of the Great Vehicle or Mahayanawhose followers driven by compassion strive to attain Buddhahood for the sake of all beingsis remarkable for its concise style and memorable imagery making it one of the most widely quoted sources in other commentaries on the Mahayana path. This work will appeal to readers with a general interest in Mahayana Buddhism to those who wish to familiarize themselves with one of the great classics of Indian Buddhist literature and to students who come across passages quoted in other Buddhist works and who wish to explore further. The great Indian Buddhist master Nagarjuna (firstsecond century A.D.) wrote his celebrated poem "Letter to a Friend" as a gift of advice to a South Indian king and it has since become a monument in the Indian shastra tradition. Despite its short length (only 123 verses) it covers the whole Mahayana path combining a practical approach to daily conduct with a theoretical exposition of the different stages leading to enlightenment. It has thus been an ideal source for many of Tibet s great scholars seeking a scriptural authority to enhance their own descriptions of the Buddhist path. Any difficulties in understanding the poem are overcome by Kangyur Rinpoches commentary which turns Nagarjunas sometimes cryptic poem into straightforward prose expanding on each topic and ordering the different subjects in such a way that on returning to the original poem the reader can easily make sense of the advice it contains. It includes headings to explain Nagarjunas frequent changes in subject and full explanations of the ideas introduced in each verse. In addition to the commentary this book presents the original poem in the Tibetan and in a new English translation that attempts to emulate Nagarjunas lines of metric verse. Also included are Kangyur Rinpoches structural outline (sa bchad) a Tibetan line index to enable students to locate quotations used in other Tibetan works full notes and a glossary.