The teachings of the Buddha can be summarised as dealing with conduct and view. Conduct refers to the way we should behave, which is essentially to be non-violence. The Buddha counseled us to help each other if we can, and if we cannot at least to avoid doing one another harm. View refers to the way we understand how things exist. The Buddha explained that nothing exists of its own accord in isolation. Everything exists in dependence on something else, the result of a variety of causes and conditions.
His Holiness was requested to compose A Tantric Meditation to give an opportunity to people seriously interested in finding out about the practice of tantra the opportunity to do so without the necessity of receiving prior empowerment. Consequently, it includes a simple process of visualization, recitation of the traditional seven branch rite, recitation of mantras and dissolution of the visualised meditational deities into emptiness. If it is performed with faith, this meditation can be a source of great mental purification and merit but whether you do so or not is entirely up to the individual.
If the teachings of the Buddha are to help us make spiritual progress it is also most important that we familiarise ourselves with them regularly, either by listening to them or by reading.
Introduction to Buddhism and Tantric Meditation, Dalai Lama, LTWA, Paperback, 62 pages, $6.00
An Introduction to Buddhism 7
The Need for Religion in Our Present Lives 9
The Need for Religion in Our Future Lives 10
Buddhism and its Founder 11
The Spread of Buddhism in Tibet 14
The Meaning of Chos or Dharma 16
The Four Noble Truths 17
Samsara and Beings 18
Training in Higher Conduct 29
Training in Higher Meditation 30
The Nine Stages of Concentration 33
The Four Comprehensions 35
Training in Higher Wisdom 36
Shunyata 37
Vipassana 40
Bodhichitta 42
The Causes of the Miseries of Samsara 19
The Essence of Nirvana 20
Hinayana 21
Mahayana 22
Dual Truths 24
An Outline of the Method of Following Buddhism 25
The Three Refuges 27
Karma 28
