Description

geshe kelsang gyatsoThis popular and practical manual allows us to discover for ourselves the inner peace and lightness of mind that come from meditation. The author explains twenty-one step-by-step meditations that lead to increasingly peaceful and beneficial states of mind, and that together form the entire Buddhist path to enlightenment.Geshe Kelsang has written twenty books that aim to provide Western Dharma practitioners with essential Buddhist texts. There are books for beginners such as Transform Your Life and How to Solve Our Human Problems, books about the Mahayana path like Universal Compassion (Lojong), Heart of Wisdom (Heart Sutra) and Joyful Path of Good Fortune (Lamrim), and books on Vajrayana (Tantra) like Mahamudra Tantra, Guide to Dakini Land and Essence of Vajrayana. Two of his books are commentaries on Indian Mahayana texts: the book Ocean of Nectar is a commentary on Chandrakirti’s Guide to the Middle Way, and Meaningful to Behold is a commentary on Shantideva’s Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life or Bodhicharyavatara. His books were first published by Wisdom Publications. Later in 1985, he founded Tharpa Publications, and since then Tharpa has been the exclusive publisher of his works.Furthermore, he has established three study programmes in his Dharma Centres, called the General Programme, Foundation Programme and Teacher Training Programme respectively. In these programs people can study Geshe Kelsang’s books with authorized NKT teachers.He founded the New Kadampa Tradition in 1991, and since then many NKT centers worldwide, according to NKT sources “almost 900 meditation centres in over 40 countries”.[8] They divide into about 200 residential centres and 700 groups at local places, such as rented rooms in libraries, local community centres, and members’ apartments.According to NKT, Geshe Kelsang Gyatso’s teachings “are especially suited to the modern world.”[9]According to Waterhouse, the doctrinally conservative nature of his teachings and the traditionally structured and direct style in which they are presented in his texts reflects his background within the rigorous scholastic and academic training system of Sera Je monastic training system.[10]According to Kay, Geshe Kelsang follows a strongly ‘clerical’ orientation, as Pabongka Rinpoche did. Kay states further: “For Geshe Kelsang the faithful transmission and continuation of the tradition as it was taught to him has been much more important than adapting the teachings or innovating new ones for westerners. His allegiance to the protective deity Dorje Shugden, also traced back through Trijang Rinpoche and Pabongka Rinpoche, forms another key element of his clerical and exclusive outlook. The clerical and exclusive character of Geshe Kelsang’s thought, however, has not been static and fixed throughout his career. His concern with the conservation and preservation of the tradition of Tsongkhapa became increasingly urgent during the time in the West and his exclusivism hardened and intensified.”[11]