Nagarjuna's Letter to a Friend
Publisher: Shambhala Publications, Incorporated
Published: 2013
Language: eng; tib; san
Number of pages: 208
ISBN-13: 9781559394154
Subjects: Nagarjuna, active 2nd century; Religious life, buddhism; Buddhism, doctrines; Buddhist priests; India, religion
Description: "The great Indian Buddhist master Nagarjuna (1st - 2nd century A.D.) wrote his celebrated poem Letter to a Friend as a letter of advice to a South Indian king, and it has since become a monument in the Indian shastra tradition. Despite its short length (only 123 verses), it covers the whole Mahayana path, combining a practical approach to daily conduct with a theoretical exposition of the different stages leading to enlightenment. It has thus been an ideal source for many of Tibet's great scholars seeking a scriptural authority to enhance their own descriptions of the Buddhist path." "In addition to the commentary, this book presents the original poem in the Tibetan and in a new English translation that attempts to emulate Nagarjuna's lines of metric verse. Also included are Kangyur Rinpoche's structural outline (sa bchad), a Tibetan line index to enable students to locate quotations used in other Tibetan works, and full notes and glossary."--BOOK JACKET.