Gently Whispered: Oral Teachings by the Very Venerable Kalu Rinpoche [Paperback]

Khenpo Kalu Karma-Ran-Byun-Kun-Khyab-Phrin-Las (Author), Elizabeth Selandia (Author), Kalu Rinpoche (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 7, 1994

This compilation of teachings presents the oral wisdom of Kalu Rinpoche, revered worldwide as a teacher of Vajrayana Buddhism. Here are his views on the mastery on the three yanas, the vows of Refuge and Bodhisattva, and the true nature of the mind. Also included are techniques for stepping beyond the Four Veils of Obscuration and Emotional Subjectivity onto the Five Paths that culminate in the liberation of mahamudra, plus a thorough introduction to the visualization techniques of yidam practice, a detailed commentary on the Chenrezig sadhana, and an extensive explanation of the Bardos of Death and Dying. Leavened with humor and fresh insight, this first English translation is an excellent resource for the novice and experienced student alike.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Kyabje Kalu Rinpoche (1905 May 10, 1989) was a Buddhist meditation master, scholar and teacher. He was one of the first Tibetan masters to teach in the West. Kalu Rinpoche was born in 1905 during the Female Wood Snake year of the Tibetan lunar calendar in the district of Tresho Gang chi Rawa in the Hor region of Kham, Eastern Tibet. When Kalu Rinpoche was fifteen years old, he was sent to begin his higher studies at the monastery of Palpung, the foremost center of the Karma Kagyu school. He remained there for more than a decade, during which time he mastered the vast body of teaching that forms the philosophical basis of Buddhist practice, and completed two three-year retreats. At about the age of twenty-five, Rinpoche left Palpung to pursue the life of a solitary yogi in the woods of the Khampa countryside. For nearly fifteen years, he strove to perfect his realization of all aspects of the teachings and he became renowned in the villages and among the nomads as a representative of the Bodhisattva path. During the 1940s, Kalu Rinpoche visited central Tibet with the party of Situ Rinpoche, and there he taught extensively. His disciples included the Reting Rinpoche, regent of Tibet during the infancy of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama. Returning to Kham, Kalu Rinpoche became the abbot of the meditation center associated with Palpung and the meditation teacher of the Sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa. He remained in that position until the situation in Tibet forced him into exile in India. In the late 1960s Kalu Rinpoche began to attract Western disciples in India. By the 1970s, he was teaching extensively in the Americas and Europe, and during his three visits to the West he founded teaching centers in over a dozen countries. In France, he established the first retreat center to teach the traditional three-year retreats of the Shangpa and Karma Kagyu lineages to Western students.

Product Details

• Paperback: 314 pages
• Publisher: Station Hill Press (June 7, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0882681532
• ISBN-13: 978-0882681535
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #417,984 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best on Buddhadharma in English I have ever read!!, February 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Gently Whispered: Oral Teachings by the Very Venerable Kalu Rinpoche (Paperback)

The book is well organized by the designer and leads the reader gently along the path to a fuller awareness of their potenial for true liberation. The glossery is replete to a point this book becomes a valuable reference, one that will be handy on the shelf for years for anyone who is interested in Tibetan Buddhism, vajrayana and getting enlightened. Kalu Rinpoche IS (was) on of the most respected teachers on the topics the book covers and he was one of the first persons from Tibet who took seriously the interest of Westerners in this topic field and who saw in them the potential for development equal to or better than that of the Tibetans themselves. Generous in his willingness to share his knowledge, he stands above all other teachers in his compassion for all sentient beings. The photographer, Sherab Ebin, adds greatly to the wonders to be found in this volume and was the great Kalu's first Western translator. One of the beauties of this work is that it is well typeset and generously illustrated, making it user friendly.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars oral advice, January 25, 2001

By 

taylor caron - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gently Whispered: Oral Teachings by the Very Venerable Kalu Rinpoche (Paperback)

This is a really sweet book. It is a compilation of mostly lectures and notes from Kalu Rinpoche's teachings. Many times during the first read-through, I honestly felt as though this master was in the room, speaking the words on the page directly to me - evidence of the truthfulness in his words. The format of the book is such that each chapter builds upon the last, going from some very fundamental teachings (examining our situation) through the refuge vow, and all the way up to the esoteric mahamudra teachings. There is also a chapter on the challenges of dharma practice. Appended is an actual visualization practice, ("sadhana" in sanskrit) of the tantric deity of compassion, along with instructions. Among my own books, this is one I keep on the "reference" shelf.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The one you'll keep going back to, October 5, 2001

By 

George A. Ramos "Books and Kindle" (Montreal, Quebec) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gently Whispered: Oral Teachings by the Very Venerable Kalu Rinpoche (Paperback)

I think the cover of this book represents the book accurately: at first, you see a stern, wizened Kalu Rinpoche staring at you; the book, too, seems like a dry, dogmatic text expounding on things you may have read before. But the picture also captures Kalu Rinpoche's immeasurable awareness, the clarity of gaze and of his mind. And so the book, too, has such an immense scope, with such lucid explanations and discussions, that you will continually return to this book and find your previous understanding of the text was limited. This isn't a book for beginners, because it is not "fluffy" in any way. But it is an inspiring read, and fascinating, which sets it apart from so many other books on Tibetan Buddhism.