conversations.from: human
conversations.value: a description for a book titled Fundamentals of Tibetan Buddhism about Buddhism, Tibetan, Tibetans with the genre: Religion & Spirituality, Buddhism
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: the author is a writer who specializes in Tibetan Buddhism, its culture, and the plight of the exiled Tibetans. She has written or edited several books on Buddhism, including Fundamentals of Tibetan Buddhism and Illuminating the Path to Enlightenment , the latter with His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: the first five paragraphs for this book
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: Fundamentals of Tibetan Buddhism
  As the Nationalists gained power in China, Chao lost his support, and the Tibetan government banished all Chinese officials and soldiers from its soil. However, when the Chinese Nationalists took political control of China, they began to recognize Tibet's strategic significance and its vast mineral wealth. Tibet's right to self-rule had not been questioned for more than three hundred years, but in 1912, the new Chinese leaders began claiming historical rights over their neighbor. In 1933, the Thirteenth Dalai Lama died, but not before he had prophesied the imminent destruction of his country.
  The Thirteenth had foretold that he would be reborn in Eastern Tibet, and the search began for his reincarnation. In 1937, the ruling regent, Reting Rinpoche, in a sacred lake named Lhamo Lhatso, saw visions revealing the house where he would find Tibet's new leader. Following various signs and portents, Reting Rinpoche and his party found a house in the northeastern province of Amdo that matched the vision he had seen. The officials disguised themselves as merchants and began to question the two-year-old son of the family who lived there. The boy passed a number of intricate tests designed to determine if he was really the Thirteenth's true incarnation. The state oracles confirmed the discovery, and in 1940, at the age of four, the boy was enthroned as the new Dalai Lama.
  By 1948, the Chinese leadership had fallen to Communist control, and the new government began publicly to question Tibetan sovereignty. Once again, suspicious of their intentions, the Tibetan government expelled Chinese officials from the country. Tibet's fears were realized when on New Year's Day, 1950, Peking Radio reported its intention to "liberate" Tibet from Western imperialists, even though there were only six Westerners known to be living in Tibet at the time. At five million strong, China's army was almost the size of the entire Tibetan population. Due to the pressing circumstances, the government decided to officially inaugurate the sixteen-year-old Dalai Lama earlier than was customary.
  The monastic system allowed for a person from the humblest of origins to attain a privileged position through merit rather than birthright, but it was a system so utterly foreign to the communists (who despised all religion) that they could see it only as an example of feudalism with the monastics as overlords. If the Chinese found the Tibetan system incomprehensible, the Chinese Communist ideology was equally foreign to the Tibetans and contradicted the values they had held sacred for a thousand years. The young Dalai Lama tried to mediate and negotiate but to no avail. In his autobiography, he describes his inner struggle during this difficult time:
  Only the thought of my responsibility to the six million Tibetans kept me going. That and my faith. Early every morning, as I sat in prayer in my room before the ancient altar with its clutter of statuettes standing in silent benediction, I concentrated hard on developing compassion for all sentient beings. I reminded myself constantly of the Buddha's teaching that our enemy is in a sense our greatest teacher. And if this was sometimes hard to do, I never really doubted that it was so.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: five more paragraphs
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: By engaging in this practice, one begins to see oneself as less and less important, and as a result one's own sufferings decrease in significance. Yet, practitioners must guard against feelings of pride caused by feeding the ego with the self-image of a savior of the universe. For this reason it is better to begin with people one knows and expand gradually. We shouldn't have too many expectations about the outcome of this practice or become disillusioned if, for example, the situation of a person for whom we are doing the practice doesn't improve. The point of Tonglen is to learn to cherish others and to transcend self-centeredness. The immediate transformation is not in others, but in the individual who is doing the practice. Ultimately these other beings do receive a benefit, for Tonglen helps one to develop the compassion needed to become enlightened, and an enlightened person is in a position to help all beings. However, there may be other influences at work during such a practice, for studies have suggested that those for whom people pray heal more quickly than those who aren't the beneficiaries of others' prayers.
  In Mahamudra, an advanced meditation practice of the Kagyu and Gelug school, there is a level of realization called "one taste," which involves dissolving the perceived barrier between subject and object. The reason that we don't experience this dissolution on a daily basis, but remain in dualistic consciousness, is said to be due to the "four faults": (1) The mind is too close to be recognized; (2) The experience is too profound to comprehend; (3) The true nature of mind is too simple to believe; and (4) Enlightenment is too wonderful for us to accept.
  The ultimate nature of mind is described in terms of the five elements of space, fire, earth, water, and wind. The element of space is the mind's emptiness or voidness. This voidness has unlimited potential, and this illuminating potential is connected to the element of fire. All experience is rooted in the mind, just as plants are rooted in the soil, and so the function of mind as the foundation of all experience is connected to the element of earth. The mind is also dynamic and changeable, and this quality is associated with the element of wind. Water is associated with the mind's adaptability and continuity, like a river that conforms to the shape of the rocks and ground and flows on ceaselessly.
  The Truth Body of a Buddha is related to the quality of mind's emptiness. It is the combination of all the Buddhas' positive mental qualities, the ultimate aspect of mind that arises from perfect wisdom. The Truth Body is the field of ultimate reality experienced in profound states of meditation. "Your own mind, aware and void inseparably, is Dharmakaya," wrote Patrul Rinpoche. All Buddhas share this body of absolute reality. It is the universal reality of what Lama Anagarika Govinda calls "primordial law." The Truth Body is the nondual mind of a buddha free from all obscurations and empty of inherent existence. It is the ultimate aspect of the Dharma, and it is from the Truth Body that the Enjoyment Body and Form Body are manifested.
  This world of ours is also a Pure Land, for even the most impure realm exists in potential perfection. It only appears imperfect because of the imperfect minds of its inhabitants. The Pure Land is immediately available to us, but we do not see it. When we purify our minds we realize that the Sambhogakaya is not a cosmic Eden, but the condition of an enlightened mind. From the combination of the Truth Body and the Enjoyment Body flows Nirmanakaya, the Form Body.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Delete the first sentence.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: Yet, practitioners must guard against feelings of pride caused by feeding the ego with the self-image of a savior of the universe. For this reason it is better to begin with people one knows and expand gradually. We shouldn't have too many expectations about the outcome of this practice or become disillusioned if, for example, the situation of a person for whom we are doing the practice doesn't improve. The point of Tonglen is to learn to cherish others and to transcend self-centeredness. The immediate transformation is not in others, but in the individual who is doing the practice. Ultimately these other beings do receive a benefit, for Tonglen helps one to develop the compassion needed to become enlightened, and an enlightened person is in a position to help all beings. However, there may be other influences at work during such a practice, for studies have suggested that those for whom people pray heal more quickly than those who aren't the beneficiaries of others' prayers.
  In Mahamudra, an advanced meditation practice of the Kagyu and Gelug school, there is a level of realization called "one taste," which involves dissolving the perceived barrier between subject and object. The reason that we don't experience this dissolution on a daily basis, but remain in dualistic consciousness, is said to be due to the "four faults": (1) The mind is too close to be recognized; (2) The experience is too profound to comprehend; (3) The true nature of mind is too simple to believe; and (4) Enlightenment is too wonderful for us to accept.
  The ultimate nature of mind is described in terms of the five elements of space, fire, earth, water, and wind. The element of space is the mind's emptiness or voidness. This voidness has unlimited potential, and this illuminating potential is connected to the element of fire. All experience is rooted in the mind, just as plants are rooted in the soil, and so the function of mind as the foundation of all experience is connected to the element of earth. The mind is also dynamic and changeable, and this quality is associated with the element of wind. Water is associated with the mind's adaptability and continuity, like a river that conforms to the shape of the rocks and ground and flows on ceaselessly.
  The Truth Body of a Buddha is related to the quality of mind's emptiness. It is the combination of all the Buddhas' positive mental qualities, the ultimate aspect of mind that arises from perfect wisdom. The Truth Body is the field of ultimate reality experienced in profound states of meditation. "Your own mind, aware and void inseparably, is Dharmakaya," wrote Patrul Rinpoche. All Buddhas share this body of absolute reality. It is the universal reality of what Lama Anagarika Govinda calls "primordial law." The Truth Body is the nondual mind of a buddha free from all obscurations and empty of inherent existence. It is the ultimate aspect of the Dharma, and it is from the Truth Body that the Enjoyment Body and Form Body are manifested.
  This world of ours is also a Pure Land, for even the most impure realm exists in potential perfection. It only appears imperfect because of the imperfect minds of its inhabitants. The Pure Land is immediately available to us, but we do not see it. When we purify our minds we realize that the Sambhogakaya is not a cosmic Eden, but the condition of an enlightened mind. From the combination of the Truth Body and the Enjoyment Body flows Nirmanakaya, the Form Body.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: the last five paragraphs. End with the sentence ' This guide offers a roadmap for the beginner and a comprehensive resource for the continuing yoga student.'.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: The Lamdre teachings remained primarily a clandestine oral tradition until the eleventh century, and even today these teachings are given directly from master to student, who takes an oath of secrecy. The teachings are divided into "general teachings" and "initiate teachings," the latter being given only to very advanced students. Lamdre means "path and fruit." The path is the cultivation of method and wisdom, and the fruit is the attainment of Buddhahood. In this system each being is said to have within them an innate wisdom that is beyond all duality. The mind is said to have the quality of radiance with its ultimate nature being emptiness. Everything one perceives is but a reflection of the radiant mind.
  Tsong Khapa is considered by the Gelugpa to be an incarnation of Manjushri, the Buddha of wisdom. It was said that he could communicate with Manjushri and question him on aspects of Buddhist doctrine. Tsong Khapa traveled all over the country studying with over a hundred of the greatest Buddhist masters of all traditions and schools. One of his disciples, Gendun Druba was posthumously recognized as the first Dalai Lama in the late sixteenth century. He founded Tashihlunpo Monastery in 1445 which later became the monastery of the Panchen Lamas, who rank second only to the Dalai Lamas in the Gelug hierarchy.
  The Gelugpa emphasize the "Three Principle Aspects of the Path," that are said to encapsulate the purpose of Buddhism, some understanding of which is considered essential for the practice of Tantra. They are: (1) the renunciation of cyclic existence, (2) the determination to attain enlightenment for the good of all beings, and (3) the proper understanding of emptiness. In the Gelug school the journey to Enlightenment is presented as a series of gradual steps. This system is called Lamrim or "Stages of the Path," a tradition inspired by Atisha. However, Gelug practitioners combine their studies in the Lamrim with Tantric practice and so they work on understanding aspects of both Sutra and Tantra simultaneously.
  Evolving in isolation on an island paradise, the mystical practice of Huna has shaped the profound yet elegantly simple Hawaiian character. Charlotte Berney presents Huna traditions as they apply to words, prayer, gods, the breath, a loving spirit, family ties, nature, and mana.
  Hatha yoga is a holistic form of exercise tailor-made for modern Westerners. This guide offers a roadmap for the beginner and a comprehensive resource for the continuing yoga student.