When the Dalai Lama was forced to go into exile in 1959, he could
take only a few items with him. Among these cherished belongings was his
copy of Tsong-kha-pa's classic text The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment.
This text distills all of the essential points of Tibetan Buddhism,
clearly unfolding the entire Buddhist path to enlightenment. In 2008, celebrating the long-awaited completion of the English-language translation of The Great Treatise,
the Dalai Lama gave a historic six-day teaching at Lehigh University to
explain the meaning of this classic text and to underscore its
importance. It is the longest teaching that he has ever given to
Westerners on just one text, and Westerners have never before had the
opportunity to receive such a complete teaching that encompasses the
totality of the Buddhist path from the Dalai Lama. From Here to Enlightenment makes the teachings from this momentous event available for a wider audience.
From Here to Enlightenment: An Introduction to Tsong-kha-pa's Classic Text The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment, H.H. the Dalai Lama, Snow Lion Publications, Hardcover, $24.95
His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, was born in 1935 in the province of Amdo in eastern Tibet. When he was two years old he was recognized as the fourteenth in the line of Dalai Lamas, the spiritual masters who for three centuries had governed the country. After China invaded Tibet, the Dalai Lama took refuge in Northern India, where he has led and inspired the Tibetan community in exile.
Guy Newland is Professor of Religion and Chair of the Department of
Philosophy and Religion at Central Michigan University, where he has
taught since 1988. He holds a Ph.D. in the history of religions from the
University of Virginia, where he studied Tibetan Buddhism with Jeffrey
Hopkins.
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