Samatha and Vipasyana: An Anthology of Pith Instructions
Sep 2025 · Simon and Schuster
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392
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About this ebook
Invaluable instructions on core meditations designed to bring about irreversible spiritual transformation.
For those who aspire to the total enlightenment of a buddha, the practices of samatha and vipasyana play a crucial role from the beginning of the path to its culmination. Designed to first free our minds from the five obscurations and eventually from the ignorance that is the root of suffering, these practices, when imbued with bodhicitta, enable us to reach a pivotal stage within the Mahayana path of accumulation, at which we’re assured of being a bodhisattva in all our future lives until enlightenment.
The instructions gathered here are like a string of pearls spanning from the eleventh century to the present day. They include teachings from great Indian masters as well as renowned lamas of the past and present from the four major orders of Tibetan Buddhism, many of them stemming from visionary teachings revealed by Manjusri, Vajrapani, Avalokitesvara, and Padmasambhava. Introductions rich with biographical detail accompany each group of translated entries, providing invaluable context and drawing connections for the reader. Original essays from Lama Alan Wallace cap off the anthology, and a collection of links to a rich array of recorded oral teachings by eminent lamas, including His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s first teachings in the West, make this a true treasure trove for the practitioner and scholar alike.
For those who aspire to the total enlightenment of a buddha, the practices of samatha and vipasyana play a crucial role from the beginning of the path to its culmination. Designed to first free our minds from the five obscurations and eventually from the ignorance that is the root of suffering, these practices, when imbued with bodhicitta, enable us to reach a pivotal stage within the Mahayana path of accumulation, at which we’re assured of being a bodhisattva in all our future lives until enlightenment.
The instructions gathered here are like a string of pearls spanning from the eleventh century to the present day. They include teachings from great Indian masters as well as renowned lamas of the past and present from the four major orders of Tibetan Buddhism, many of them stemming from visionary teachings revealed by Manjusri, Vajrapani, Avalokitesvara, and Padmasambhava. Introductions rich with biographical detail accompany each group of translated entries, providing invaluable context and drawing connections for the reader. Original essays from Lama Alan Wallace cap off the anthology, and a collection of links to a rich array of recorded oral teachings by eminent lamas, including His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s first teachings in the West, make this a true treasure trove for the practitioner and scholar alike.
About the author
B. Alan Wallace is president of the Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies. He trained for many years as a monk in Buddhist monasteries in India and Switzerland. He has taught Buddhist theory and practice in Europe and America since 1976 and has served as interpreter for numerous Tibetan scholars and contemplatives, including H. H. the Dalai Lama. After graduating summa cum laude from Amherst College, where he studied physics and the philosophy of science, he earned his MA and PhD in religious studies at Stanford University. He has edited, translated, authored, and contributed to more than forty books on Tibetan Buddhism, medicine, language, and culture, and the interface between science and religion. Alan is also the founder of the Center for Contemplative Research (CCR), which has retreat center locations in Crestone, Colorado and Castellina Marittima, Italy and a center in New Zealand slated to open soon. The CCR is dedicated to researching the role and methods of the ancient contemplative practices of shamatha and vipashyana, and their involvement in mental health and wellbeing, as well as their role in fathoming the nature and origins of human consciousness.
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