{"product_id":"the-perfection-of-wisdom-tradition-three-essential-works-9780861714568","title":"The Perfection of Wisdom Tradition: Three Essential Works","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe foremost translator of Perfection of Wisdom literature from Tibetan today presents three foundational works that formed the basis for the Tibetans' study of Mahayana scripture and the bodhisattva path.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe perfection of wisdom (\u003ci\u003eprajnaparamita\u003c\/i\u003e) is a key element of the path in Mahayana Buddhism. \u003ci\u003eWisdom\u003c\/i\u003e here is the transcendent wisdom of a bodhisattva who has penetrated the nature of reality, the emptiness (\u003ci\u003eshunyata\u003c\/i\u003e) of all things. Sutras that take the Perfection of Wisdom as their name emerged in the centuries before and after the start of the Common Era and became foundational for the nascent Mahayana. These include the well-known \u003ci\u003eHeart Sutra\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eDiamond Cutter Sutra\u003c\/i\u003e as well as the Perfection of Wisdom sutras in eight thousand and a hundred thousand lines. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Study of the Perfection of Wisdom sutras in Tibet has historically been through commentaries on the \u003ci\u003eOrnament for the Clear Realizations\u003c\/i\u003e (\u003ci\u003eAbhisamayalamkara\u003c\/i\u003e), a short verse distillation in eight chapters attributed to Maitreya that was expanded in India by such figures as Asanga, Haribhadra, and Arya-Vimuktisena. The three works in the present volume reflect the diversity of the Tibetan commentarial tradition on these Indian works. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Ngok Loden Sherab's (1057-1109) \u003ci\u003eTopical Summary\u003c\/i\u003e marks the beginning in Sangphu Monastery of the most influential Perfection of Wisdom commentarial tradition. Ngok's short work leads the reader briskly through the \u003ci\u003eAbhisamayalamkara\u003c\/i\u003e's seventy topics, presenting what would become the standard framework for explaining the Perfection of Wisdom in Tibet. The entirety of Haribhadra's \u003ci\u003eVivrti\u003c\/i\u003e commentary has been embedded in Ngok's text. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Gyaltsab Darma Rinchen's (1364-1432) \u003ci\u003eWay to Practice the Sequence of Clear Realizations\u003c\/i\u003e, structured as a defense of the meditation system set forth by his guru Tsongkhapa in the \u003ci\u003eGreat Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment\u003c\/i\u003e, links the stages of the path expanded into the seventy topics with the actual practices of an accomplished yogi. Working outward from the middle of the \u003ci\u003eAbhisamayalamkara\u003c\/i\u003e's fourth chapter, it explains how the Perfection of Wisdom is integrated into a total and complete meditational practice for the attainment of buddhahood. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e The great Drukpa Kagyu scholar Kunkhyen Pema Karpo's (1527-92) \u003ci\u003eSacred Words of Lord Maitreya\u003c\/i\u003e is the most detailed and systematic of the three works, supplementing explanations of the Perfection of Wisdom based on the \u003ci\u003eAbhisamayalamkara\u003c\/i\u003e with verses from the \u003ci\u003eMahayanasutralamkara\u003c\/i\u003e (\u003ci\u003eOrnament for the Mahayana Sutras\u003c\/i\u003e) and the \u003ci\u003eUttaratantra\u003c\/i\u003e (\u003ci\u003eSublime Continuum\u003c\/i\u003e). This work as presented here includes within it a complete translation of the \u003ci\u003eAbhisamayalamkara\u003c\/i\u003e's eight chapters.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Wisdom Publications\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 12\/02\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780861714568\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 888\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 2.85lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.50h x 5.90w x 2.30d","brand":"Gareth Sparham,Ngok Loden Sherab,Gyaltsab Darma Rinchen","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52051758612661,"sku":"9780861714568","price":73.06,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_5ef45a45-bd8d-4e8c-ab9d-5d73a1c0a71b.jpg?v=1764047825","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/the-perfection-of-wisdom-tradition-three-essential-works-9780861714568","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}