Nagarjuna's Letter to a Friend by Nagarjuna, with commentary by Longchen Yeshe Dorje, Kyabje Kangyur Rinpoche, translated by The Padmakara Translation Group
The great Indian Buddhist master Nagarjuna (1st-2nd 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 Rinpoche's commentary, which turns Nagarjuna's 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 Nagarjuna's 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 Nagarjuna's lines of metric verse. Also included are Kangyur Rinpoche's structural outline (sa bchad), a Tibetan line index to enable students to locate quotations used in other Tibetan works, and full notes and glossary.
"This text is one of the most cherished works amongst practitioners of all levels of understanding and practice. It is priceless advice written by the renowned master Nagarjuna—known as the second Buddha—to his dear friend."—Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, author of It's Up to You
"An inspiring classic of Buddhist literature, an enlightening commentary, an impeccable translation."—Matthieu Ricard, author of Journey to Enlightenment and co-author of The Monk and the Philosopher
Nagarjuna, the South Indian Buddhist master who lived some six hundred years after the Buddha, is undoubtedly the most important, influential, and widely studied Mahayana Buddhist philosopher.
Longchen Yeshe Dorje, Kangyur Rinpoche (1897-1975), of the monastery of Riwoche in Kham, was a great scholar and treasure revealer. He left Tibet in the 1950s and was one of the first Tibetan masters to accept Western students. His life and teachings are the inspiration behind the work of the Padmakara Translation Group and the establishment of centers in France where numerous Westerners have been able to complete the traditional three-year retreat.
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