Customer Reviews

Ways of Enlightenment (Nyingma Education Series)

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This is a book I can recommend to anyone interested in Buddhism. Ways of Enlightenment is based on the Tibetan Nyingmapa scholar Mipham's encyclopedic Gateway to Knowledge. The book gives in a quite accessible way the fundamentals of the Dharma. The reader is given a detailed and almost schematic description of the five skandhas, cause and effect, emotional afflictions, and so on. It is a book that will make it easier for the Western Dharma practitioner to actually grasp the theories behind meditation.

This book presents a level headed introduction to Buddhism. It starts with a brief historical account of the life of the Indian prince Siddhartha Gautama who eventually becomes what is known as the Buddha. It then goes on to document when and where Buddhism spread.

Buddhism is not a simple religion. It is very old and naturally attracts intellectuals. Ask a Christian what Christianity is and you will most likely get the twenty five words from John 3:16. Ask a Buddhist what Buddhism is and you will most probably get a four hour lecture.

This book does a good job at trying to answer that question. It attempts to document the various turnings, collections, traditions, lineages, schools, councils, trainings, canons, vehicles, motivations, and philosophies that have arisen out of Buddhism. Like any good teaching text, it introduces the various concepts incrementally. It starts off a subject from a high level viewpoint then returns to that subject over time, adding layer upon layer, in a way that is easy to digest.

The usual introductory materials are visited here including the four noble truths and the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. What was a surprise for me was the quite short treatment of the eight fold path and a long discourse and what they called the five paths which is new to me.

As noted by the previous reviewer, "Ways" is somewhat a summary of the Ju Mipham's Gateway To Knowledge, itself a compendium of essential tenets of the first and second turnings of the wheel of dharma. Lama Mipham draws largely (but not exclusively) from the Abhidhamrako'a of Vasubandhu, and the Abhidharmasamuccya of Asanga. As such he provides a thorough overview of the essential doctrines which underpin the second and third turning teachings, and which, therefore, are also essential for an understanding of the Vajrayana. However, "Gateway to Knowledge", translated brilliantly by Eric Pema Kunsang Schmidt, is extremely concise and compact. As such it is useful either when accompanied by a commentary, or if the reader already has a great deal of familiarity with the views of the schools of the foundational vehicle and of the Mah'y'na. Lacking either of those two, it is a challenging read for the beginner. Which is what makes "Ways of Enlightenment" such a treasure; it unpacks a great deal of the contents of "Gateway" in extremely user-friendly language. Of course it does so by sacrificing some of the content of Gateway, and without giving deep commentary either. Nonetheless, the commentary in "Ways" is very useful, and wholly up to the task of helping the student gain a good, working understanding of many essential tenets. However, in addition to summarizing "Gateway", "Ways" also includes a fine introduction to Buddhism beginning with the life of the Buddha, his teachings, and the transmission of Buddhadharma after his parinirvana. Thus, taken altogether, "Ways of Enlightenment" is an extremely useful sourcebook for students of Buddhist thought, as well as for practitioners. It is a book that one will turn to again and again, I'm sure.