Brief commentary by Thrangu Rinpoche on Gampopa's text. Gampopa was the main disciple of Milarepa and one of the founders of the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. Besides writing the Jewel Ornament of Liberation, Gampopa distilled the essence of the path into these four short lines of truth, or Dharmas. This advice became well known as the Four Dharmas of Gampopa.

A Life of Happiness: A Practice Guide for Older Practitioners is the first Buddhist practice guide intended for older people. Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche is a highly regarded lama with many students and centres worldwide. He has dedicated his life to serving the Dharma and is one of the most revered teachers in the Karma Kagyu. Rinpoche draws on his own personal experiences of the problems encountered with ageing, declining health and end of life to give advice on the Dharma practices they should follow, the attitudes they should adopt, and the actions they should take. He includes advice to family members and care-givers and instructions about what they should do when someone dies. The methods of practice that Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche explains here are easy to understand, yet extremely important and pithy. Rinpoche’s lifetime of pure and genuine practice is distilled into concise words of advice; each word and sentence conveys Rinpoche’s warm wishes and deep blessings.

Thupten Jinpa holds a Geshe Lharam degree from Ganden monastic university and a Ph.D. in religious studies from Cambridge University. The translator and editor of numerous books, he has been the principal English-language translator for His Holiness the Dalai Lama for over two decades, and he is the author of Self Reality and Reason in Tibetan Philosophy. He lives in Montreal with his wife and two daughters. --Book Jacket.

A concluding essay on mahamudra introduces Vajrayana buddhism to beginners, while simultaneously supporting advanced practitioners with fresh insights.

For inspiration, Buddhists turn to the life stories of how the great masters of their lineage struggled with their circumstances and achieved enlightenment. This important and very readable volume tells the extraordinary tales of the greatest teachers of the Kagyu the lineage with the widest following in the U.S.

"The art of composing spontaneous songs that express spiritual understanding has existed in Tibet for centuries. Over a hundred of these profound songs are found in this collection of the works of the great teachers of the Kagyü lineage, known as the Practice Lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. Many readers are already familiar with the colorful life of the yogin Milarepa, an early figure in the Kagyü lineage, some of whose songs are included here. Songs by over thirty other Buddhist teachers are also presented, from those of Tilopa, the father of the lineage, to those of the Sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa, as well as several songs by Chögyam Trungpa, the noted teacher of Buddhism in America who directed the translation of The Rain of Wisdom"--Publisher.

A welcome new translation of Gampopa's classic overview of the Buddha's teachings. Discover the heart of the Buddha’s teachings in this new and beautiful translation of Gampopa’s classic guidebook. Ornament of Precious Liberation is a spiritual and literary treasure of Tibetan Buddhism and of the Kagyü lineage in particular. Laying out step-by-step the path to buddhahood that is open to us all, to read Gampopa’s text is like receiving the teachings directly from the master himself. It is a quintessential guide to enlightenment that students will return to again and again for its insights into living an awakened life.