Ringu Tulku has been a university professor of Tibetan studies for seventeen years and a visiting professor at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, for five years. In this user-friendly paperback, he interprets Gampopa's classic text in Tibetan Buddhism that outlines the step-by-step path toward enlightenment. There are chapters on Buddha nature, a precious human life, the spiritual friend, the instructions of the spiritual friend, perfect Buddhahood, and the activities of a Buddha.
Ringu Tulku clarifies some central aspects of this philosophy and way of life. For example, he reveals that when Buddhists talk about emptiness, Westerners usually think it means nothingness. Instead it means that everything is interdependent and all phenomenon are "empty of an essential independent nature." He also explains that every human being is capable of kindness and the understanding of right from wrong. That is what is meant by the phrase that we are all little Buddhas.
Given the large number of wealthy people in the West, it is interesting to note that according to Tibetan tradition, these individuals have achieved this status because they were generous in previous lives. So instead of trying to get rich right now, we should learn to give. Then perhaps in a future life, we too will be rich. But Tulku advises us to remember that "if we are rich but don't have the courage to enjoy what we have and share it with others, then no matter how much we possess, it's as if we had nothing."
These are only a few of the insights into Tibetan Buddhism to be found in this clearly written and ethically profound paperback.
