Here is a comprehensive overview of the Buddhist path from the perspective of the three vehicles of Tibetan Buddhism - the Hinayana, Mahayana, and Vajrayana. While these vehicles are usually presented as a historical development, they are equated here with the attitudes that individuals bring to their Buddhist practice. Basic to them all, however, is the need to understand our own immediate condition. The primary tool for achieving this is meditation, and The Essence of Buddhism serves as a handbook for the various meditative approaches of Buddhist practice.

Beginning with the Four Noble Truths, Traleg Rinpoche incorporates the expansive vision of the Bodhisattva path and the transformative vision of Tantra. The final chapters present the transcendent view of Mahamudra. This view dispenses with all dualistic fixations and directly realizes the natural freedom of the mind itself.

Along the way, the book provides vivid definitions of fundamental concepts such as compassion, emptiness, and Buddha-natura, and answers common questions: Why does Buddhism teach that there is "no self"? How is the Mahayana ("large vehicle" different from the Hinayana ("small vehicle")? Are Buddhists teachings pessimistic? Does Buddhism encourage social passivity? What is the role of sex in Buddhist Tantra? Why is it said that "samsara is nirvana"? Does it take countless lifetimes to attain enlightenment, or can it be achieved in a moment?
The Essence of Buddhism, Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche, Shambhala Publications, 188 pages, $18.95

The Venerable Traleg Kyabgon Riinpoche was born in 1955 in Eastern Tibet. At the age of two, he was recognised by His Holiness the sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa, head of the Kagyu lineage, as the ninth incarnation of the Traleg tulkus, which can be traced back to the time of Saltong Shogam, a contemporary of the first Karmapa. Traleg Rinpoche was enthroned as the Abbot of Tra'gu Monastery in Tibet and following the Chinese invasion of his country was taken to safety in India. There he continued the rigorous training prescribed for tulkus born with responsibilities as major lineage holders in the Tibetan tradition of Vajrayana Buddhism. This training included five years at Sanskrit University in Varanasi and several years at Rumtek Monastery, the main seat of the Karma Kagyu Lineage. Not only has Traleg Rinpoche received the complete teachings of the Karma Kagyu tradition of Vajrayana Buddhism, but he is also well acquainted with the practices and philosophy of the Drugpa Kagyu strand of the Kagyu lineage, having spent nine years studying with the Regent of the Drugpa mKagyu, the late Dungsse Rinpoche, at his monastery in Darjeeling.

Rinpoche came to Australia in 1980 in order to make the teachings and practices of the Kagyu tradition available there. He established the Kagyu E-Vam Buddhist Institute in 1982 and regularly conducts courses and retreats in the practice and theory of Buddhism for the Institute. Rinpoche has travelled widely, giving lectures and seminars on Buddhism and related topics in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, South-East Asia and Europe.

CONTENTS: Essence of Buddhism
	Foreword by His Holiness the Seventeenth Karmapa	ix
	Foreword by Sogyal Rinpoche	xi
	Preface	xv
	Acknowledgments	xvii
1	Fundamentals The Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Noble Path	1
2	Ethical Conduct Doing What Is Truly Beneficial	10
3	Meditation Changing Our Mental Outlook	23
4	Karma and Rebirth Everything Is in Relationship	30
5	Mahayana Buddhism Helping Others is Helping Oneself	36
6	The Way of the Bodhisattva Meditation and Action Go Together	42
7	Realizing Wisdom and Compassion Bodhichitta and the Paramitas	50
8	The Link between Wisdom and Compassion The Paramita of Meditation and the Nine Stages of Shamatha	58
9	Insight Meditation The Paramita of Wisdom and the Madhyamaka School	69
10	The Role of the Mind The Yogachara School and Buddha-Nature	79
11	Spiritual Progress The Five Paths and the Ten Stages of the Bodhisattva	96
12	Buddhahood The Three Kayas	119
13	Sutra and Tantra The Tantric Levels of Attainment	134
14	Supreme Yoga Tantra Becoming a Total Person	144
15	The Six Yogas of Naropa Dealing with Conflicting Emotions	149
16	Mahamudra and the Nature of the Mind Going beyond Duality	158
17	Mahamudra Meditation Allowing the Mind to Rest in Its Natural State	165
	Index	179