The Great Path of Awakening

This is a practical, classic Buddhist guidebook that offers techniques for developing a truly compassionate heart in the midst of everyday life. For centuries, Tibetans have used fifty-nine pithy slogans such as "A joyous state of mind is a constant support" and "Don't talk about others' shortcomings" as a means to awaken kindness, gentleness, and compassion. While Tibetan Buddhists have long valued these slogans, recently they have become popular in the West due to such books as Start Where You Are by Pema Chödrön and Training the Mind by Chögyam Trungpa.

This edition of The Great Path of Awakening contains an accessible, newly revised translation of the slogans from the famous text The Seven Points of Mind Training. It also includes an illuminating commentary by the nineteenth-century Tibetan scholar Jamgon Kongtrul that provides clear and concise instructions on how to meet situations with intelligence and an open heart.

"Jamgon Kongtrul's commentary on the Kadampa slogans is one of the best books I studied. . . . I was relieved that Buddhism was so simple and that you could actually do something about it. You can just follow the book and do as it says, which is extraordinarily powerful and such a relief." - Chögyam Trungpa