The latest offering from a renowned translator in the Buddhist world of one of the most important texts in the Sakya tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. This translation was made at the request of the head of the Sakya tradition.

Ornament to Beautify the Three Appearances is the first book of a two-volume set of works written by Ngorchen Konchok Lhundrup (1497-1557) to explain the Lamdre teachings, the most important system of tantric theory and practice in the Sakya tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.

The Lamdre, or Path with the Result, is based on the Vajra Lines of the great Indian adept Virupa (ca. seventh-eighth centuries). The first topic is the fundamental meditative practices of Hinayana and Mahayana Buddhism. In the Lamdre teachings, these preliminary instructions are known as the Three Appearances. The guiding instructions on impure appearance are for the purpose of developing renunciation. These focus on the defects of samsara; the rarity, benefit, and transience of human life; and the nature of positive and negative actions and results. The guiding instructions on the appearance of the experiences are for the purpose of producing the altruistic intent. These focus on developing love, compassion, and bodhicitta, and on cultivating joy now about the uncommon experiences that will arise later when practicing the Vajrayana teachings. The guiding instructions on pure appearance are for the purpose of producing enthusiasm for the ultimate result of complete awakening. These briefly describe the inconceivable nature of a buddha's enlightened body, speech, and mind.

Having absorbed these preliminary instructions, the practitioner may go on to the second volume of Ngorchen's works, a restricted text that explains the main tantric practices of the Three Continua, intended for students who have at least received the great initiation of Hevajra. Volume 2 is available in a restricted box set that includes this first volume and may be obtained only on the Wisdom Publications website.

Ornament to Beautify the Three Appearances: The Mahayana Preliminary Practices of the Sakya Lamdre Tradition, Ngorchen Konchok Lhundrup, Cyrus Stearns (Translator), Wisdom Publications, Hardcover, 304 pages, $49.95

Ngorchen Konchok Lhundrup (1497-1557) was one of the greatest masters of the Sakya tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. In 1534, after years of study and meditation, he became the tenth abbot of Ngor Monastery. His many writings, especially those concerning the Lamdre teachings, are famous for their clarity and eloquence, and remain indispensable for understanding Buddhist practice and theory in the Sakya tradition today, nearly five hundred years after they were composed.

Cyrus Stearns (translator) has been a student of Tibetan Buddhism since 1973. His main teachers have been Dezhung Tulku Rinpoche, Chogye Trichen Rinpoche, and Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. He received a PhD in Buddhist studies from the University of Washington and has published several books about the Lamdre tradition and other topics. He is an independent scholar and translator living in the woods on Whidbey Island, north of Seattle, Washington.

CONTENTS: Ornament to Beautify the Three Appearances
Foreword by His Holiness the Sakya Trichen			ix
Translator's Introduction			1
Ornament to Beautify the Three Appearances
Introduction			17
THE PRELIMINARIES			21
	Faith		21
	Taking Refuge		25
THE MAIN PRACTICE			33
Part I: Guiding Instructions on Impure Appearance, to Produce Renunciation			35
	CHAPTER 1: Guiding Instructions on the Defects of Samsara, to Produce Renunciation		37
	I.	Reflection on the suffering of suffering, and developing renunciation	38
	II.	Reflection on the suffering of change, and abandoning attachment	55
	III.	Reflection on the suffering of conditioned existence, and cultivating the wish for liberation	65
	CHAPTER 2: Guiding Instructions on the Difficulty of Gaining the Freedoms and Endowments, to Arouse Diligence		73
	I.	Reflection on the difficulty of gaining a human body with the freedoms and endowments	74
	II.	Reflection on the great benefits of the body that has been gained	81
	III.	Reflection that the obtained freedoms do not last long	85
	CHAPTER 3: Guiding Instructions on Positive and Negative Actions and Results, to Show What Should Be Accepted and Rejected		107
	I.	Reflection on nonvirtuous actions and the karmic results, and producing the wish to abandon them	108
	II.	Reflection on virtuous actions and the karmic results, and producing the wish to cultivate them	116
	III.	Reflection on neutral actions, and transforming them into virtues	124
Part 2: Guiding Instructions on the Appearance of the Experiences, to Produce the Altruistic Intent			133
	CHAPTER 1: Meditation Until the Common Experiences Have Arisen in the Mindstream		135
	I.	Cultivating love, the wish to benefit others	135
	II.	Cultivating compassion, the wish to remove the sufferings of others	147
	III.	Cultivating bodhichitta, with the wish of buddhahood for the sake of others	152
	CHAPTER 2: Cultivating Joy Now about the Uncommon Experiences That Will Arise on the Path of Mantra		211
Part 3: Guiding Instructions on Pure Appearance, to Produce Enthusiasm			215
	I.	The ornamental wheel of inexhaustible enlightened body	217
	II.	The ornamental wheel of inexhaustible enlightened speech	218
	III.	The ornamental wheel of inexhaustible enlightened mind	219
Conclusion			221
Outline of Ornament to Beautify the Three Appearances			225
Notes			231
Bibliography			257
Index			269
About the Translator			285