Light Comes Through: Buddhist Teachings on Awakening to Our Natural Intelligence [Paperback]

Dzigar Kongtrul (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 15, 2009

Buddhahood, says Dzigar Kongtrül, is nothing but an unobstructed experience of the nature of mind, boundlessly spacious and limitlessly compassionate. The trick is that in order to see the mind accurately, we must use the particular aspect of mind he calls natural intelligence. Natural intelligence enables us to discriminate between what helps or hinders us. But most of all, it’s the part of us that searches for happiness and meaning. In Light Comes Through, he shows us how to skillfully use our wish for happiness as a tool in awakening to the joyous wisdom of mind.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Friend and teacher of the high-profile author Pema Chödrön, Tibetan Buddhist lama Kongtrül grew up in a monastic environment and received broad training in Buddhist doctrine. Steadily gaining in sophistication in its three sections, this slender book has wisdom for practitioners of all levels. The first part lays bare the five self-centered emotions of jealousy, aggression, attachment, arrogance and stupidity. The second, which delves into working with others, offers fresh material on working with a teacher, as well as understanding the pull of our emotions and thoughts in everyday relationships. The final part, on emptiness, is more suited to advanced practitioners who are ready to embrace esoteric teachings. Kongtrül's primary mission is to help readers train their minds in wisdom. There is a comforting bravery in his thinking about the difference between trying to arrange the world according to our preferences and delighting in the way our experience naturally unfolds. (July 8)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

“This is a wonderful fresh look at the amazing potential of our human mind.”—Pema Chödrön, author of When Things Fall Apart

“There is a comforting bravery in Kongtrül’s thinking that clarifies the differences between ‘trying to arrange the world according to our preferences’ and ‘delighting in the way our experience naturally unfolds.’ This is a suitably calm and graceful pathway illuminated by a Buddhist master.”—Publishers Weekly

“An interesting and refreshing snapshot of Buddhist teachings.”—Yoga Magazine (UK) 


“Light Comes Through is an inspired, well-written, and creative examination of topics such as faith, romance, developing happiness for others, and facing our own suffering with perspective and compassion. It is a wonderful guidebook for living a very different kind of life.”—Sharon Salzberg, author of Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Shambhala; Reprint edition (December 15, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590307194
• ISBN-13: 978-1590307199
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 0.4 x 8.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #202,132 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clearly Explains Important Topics, August 11, 2008

By 

Marpo Ri "marpo ri" - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Light Comes Through: Buddhist Teachings on Awakening to Our Natural Intelligence (Hardcover)

This is a very well written book. It broken into five sections:

1) The problem with Self-Centered emotions:
o the problem with the 5 poisons & what to do about them
o how to be less self-centered and relax with our world as it is
2) Working with others:
o putting others first without creating unhealthy love
o humbleness and working with a teacher
3) Teachings on Emptiness:
o this clear explanation of emptiness is inspiring

Although this book covers big themes it is a delightful, easy read.
This book makes all these topics inspiring and very workable.
Often these topics can feel complicated and difficult to work with.

I strongly recommend this book.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Illuminating, February 22, 2009

By 

Michael P. Maslanka (dallas, texas United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Light Comes Through: Buddhist Teachings on Awakening to Our Natural Intelligence (Hardcover)

Kongtrul packs a lot into this slender book(all 121 pages), taking on anger( anger provides us only with the illusion of clarity), attachment(makes us dependent upon objects for fullfillment), and attributes(we do not own them, they come from many sources). The book is gracefully written and comes from his heart. A book to read, highlight, and read again.

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A superbly written and thoroughly 'reader friendly' treatise, August 17, 2008

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Light Comes Through: Buddhist Teachings on Awakening to Our Natural Intelligence (Hardcover)

The philosophies and tenants of Buddhism are continuing to gain wide acceptance and increasing interest among westerners as an alternative to the Abrahamic religions and their dogmas. Shambhala Publications is a premier publisher of books on Buddhism and one of their newest titles is "Light Comes Through: Buddhist Teachings On Awakening To Our Natural Intelligence" by Dzigar Kongtrul, a Tibetan lama who has been teaching Buddhism in the United States for the better part of the last twenty years. Kongtrul maintains that 'Buddhahood' is essentially acquiring an unobstructed experience of the true nature of the human mind as being "boundlessly spacious and limitlessly compassionate". In "Light Comes Through" this master teacher shows the reader how to use his or her natural intelligence as a tool to "awaken to the joyous nature of mind" and thereby achieve emancipation from suffering through life-changing insights. A superbly written and thoroughly 'reader friendly' treatise, "Light Comes Through" is inspired and inspiring -- and an essential, core addition to personal, academic, and community library Buddhist Studies reference collections and supplemental reading lists.