In this new book from the Dalai Lama, the reader will discover the mind's infinitely vast potential, its buddha nature. Knowledge of buddha nature reveals and reconciles the paradox of how the mind can be the basis for both the duhkha of samsara (the unpurified mind) and the bliss and fulfillment of nirvana (the purified mind). To illustrate this, Samsara, Nirvana, and Buddha Nature first takes readers through Buddhist thought on the self, the four truths, and their sixteen attributes. It then explains afflictions--including how they arise and their antidotes--followed by an examination of karma and cyclic existence, and, finally, a deep and thorough elucidation of buddha nature. Samsara, Nirvana, and Buddha Nature shows us how to purify our minds and cultivate awakened qualities.

This is the third volume in the Dalai Lama's definitive and comprehensive series on the stages of the Buddhist path, The Library of Wisdom and Compassion. Volume 1, Approaching the Buddhist Path, contains introductory material that sets the context for Buddhist practice. Volume 2, The Foundation of Buddhist Practice, describes the important teachings that help us establish a flourishing Dharma practice. Samsara, Nirvana, and Buddha Nature can be read as the logical next step in this series or enjoyed on its own.
Samsara, Nirvana, and Buddha Nature, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Thubten Chodron, Wisdom Publications, Paperback, 440 pp, $23.95

Tenzin Gyatso, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, is the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people. He frequently describes himself as a simple Buddhist monk. Born in northeastern Tibet in 1935, he was as a toddler recognized as the incarnation of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama and brought to Tibet's capital, Lhasa. In 1950, Mao Zedong's Communist forces made their first incursions into eastern Tibet, shortly after which the young Dalai Lama assumed the political leadership of his country. He passed his scholastic examinations with honors at the Great Prayer Festival in Lhasa in 1959, the same year Chinese forces occupied the city, forcing His Holiness to escape to India. There he set up the Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharamsala, working to secure the welfare of the more than 100,000 Tibetan exiles and prevent the destruction of Tibetan culture. In his capacity as a spiritual and political leader, he has traveled to more than sixty-two countries on six continents and met with presidents, popes, and leading scientists to foster dialogue and create a better world. In recognition of his tireless work for the nonviolent liberation of Tibet, the Dalai Lama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. In 2012, he relinquished political authority in his exile government and turned it over to democratically elected representatives.

His Holiness frequently states that his life is guided by three major commitments: the promotion of basic human values or secular ethics in the interest of human happiness, the fostering of interreligious harmony, and securing the welfare of the Tibetan people, focusing on the survival of their identity, culture, and religion. As a superior scholar trained in the classical texts of the Nalanda tradition of Indian Buddhism, he is able to distill the central tenets of Buddhist philosophy in clear and inspiring language, his gift for pedagogy imbued with his infectious joy. Connecting scientists with Buddhist scholars, he helps unite contemplative and modern modes of investigation, bringing ancient tools and insights to bear on the acute problems facing the contemporary world. His efforts to foster dialogue among leaders of the world's faiths envision a future where people of different beliefs can share the planet in harmony. Wisdom Publications is proud to be the premier publisher of the Dalai Lama's more serious and in-depth works.

Venerable Thubten Chodron is an author, teacher, and the founder and abbess of Sravasti Abbey, the only Tibetan Buddhist training monastery for Western nuns and monks in the US. She graduated from UCLA, and did graduate work in education at USC. Ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist nun in 1977, she has studied extensively with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Tsenzhap Serkong Rinpoche, and Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche.

Ven. Chodron teaches worldwide and is known for her practical (and humorous!) explanations of how to apply Buddhist teachings in daily life. She is also involved in prison outreach and interfaith dialogue. She has published many books on Buddhist philosophy and meditation, and has co-authored a book with His Holiness the Dalai Lama--Buddhism: One Teacher, Many Traditions. Visit thubtenchodron.org for a media library of her teachings, and sravasti.org to learn more about the Abbey.

CONTENTS: Samsara, Nirvana, and Buddha Nature
Preface by Bhiksuni Thubten Chodron	xiii
Abbreviations	xxi
INTRODUCTION BY HIS HOLINESS THE DALAI LAMA	1
1. THE SELF, THE FOUR TRUTHS, AND THEIR SIXTEEN ATTRIBUTES	5
Three Questions about the Self	5
The Four Truths	10
The Coarse and Subtle Four Truths	18
The Sixteen Attributes of the Four Truths of Aryas	19
2. REVOLVING CYCLIC EXISTENCE: THE TRUTH OF DUHKHA	39
Knowing Duhkha for What It Is	39
Realms of Existence	41
Three Types of Duhkha	47
Feelings, Afflictions, and Duhkha	50
Six Disadvantages of Cyclic Existence	51
Eight Unsatisfactory Conditions	53
Examining True Duhkha via Ten Points	54
Our Human Value	57
3. TRUE ORIGINS OF DUHKHA	63
The Six Root Afflictions	64
More Types of Defilements	87
Afflictions	88
Underlying Tendencies	88
Auxiliary Afflictions	92
Fetters	97
Pollutants	98
Hindrances	99
4. AFFLICTIONS, THEIR ARISING, AND THEIR ANTIDOTES	101
Eighty-Four Thousand Afflictions	101
The Order in Which Afflictions Arise	104
Factors Causing Afflictions to Arise	106
Feelings That Accompany Afflictions	109
The Ethical Dimension of Afflictions	110
Counterforces to the Afflictions	112
Afflictions, Our Real Enemy	119
5. AFFLICTIONS AND KARMA, THEIR SEEDS AND LATENCIES	123
Acquired and Innate Afflictions	124
Coarse and Subtle Afflictions	126
Seeds, Latencies, and Having-Ceased	126
Latencies and Ideas in Other Religions and in Psychology	135
Virtue, Nonvirtue, Merit, and the Roots of Virtue	137
6. KARMA, THE UNIVERSE, AND EVOLUTION	141
The Origin of the Universe	141
Mind and the External World	144
The Laws of Nature and the Law of Karma and Its Effects	148
Karma and Our Present Environment	150
Karma, Instinctual Behavior, and Our Bodies	152
7. REVOLVING IN CYCLIC EXISTENCE: THE TWELVE LINKS OF DEPENDENT ORGINATION	155
Dependent Arising	156
How Cyclic Existence Occurs	158
1. Ignorance ( avidya)	159
2. Formative Actions ( samskara karman)	165
3. Consciousness ( vijnana)	168
4. Name and Form ( nama-rupa)	170
5. Six Sources ( sadayatana)	172
6. Contact ( sparsa)	176
7. Feeling ( vedana)	176
8. Craving ( trsna)	179
9. Clinging ( upadana)	182
10. Renewed Existence ( bhava)	185
11. Birth ( jati)	188
12. Aging or Death (jaramarana)	190
8. DEPENDENT ORIGINATION: CYCLING IN SAMSARA	193
How the Twelve Links Produce a Life	193
An Example	197
Flexibility	200
Pali Tradition: How We Cycle	200
An Example from a Pali Sutra	202
Who Revolves in Cyclic Existence?	204
The Ultimate Nature of the Twelve Links	211
9. THE DETERMINATION TO BE FREE	217
The Benefits of Meditating on the Twelve Links	217
Invigorating a Dry Dharma Practice	219
Can a Leper Find Happiness?	222
Compassion for Ourselves and Others	225
The Demarcation of Generating the Determination to Be Free	227
10. SEEKING GENUINE PEACE	231
The "Ye Dharma" Dharani	232
Forward and Reverse Orders of the Afflictive and Purified Sides of the Twelve Links	234
Transcendental Dependent Origination (Pali Tradition)	238
Karma in Samsara and Beyond	249
11. FREEDOM FROM CYCLIC EXISTENCE	253
Stages Leading to Liberation and Full Awakening	254
The Two Obscurations	259
Nirvana	261
Pali Tradition: Nirvana	266
Bodhi	274
12. THE MIND AND ITS POTENTIAL	277
The Mind's Potential	277
Is Liberation Possible?	279
Excellent Qualities Can Be Cultivated Limitlessly	281
Afflictive Mental States and the Nature of the Mind	283
The Equality of Samsara and Nirvana	284
Levels of Mind	286
13. BUDDHA NATURE	291
The Mind's Potential according to the Pali Tradition	291
Arya Disposition according to the Vaibhasikas and Sautrantikas	292
Buddha Nature according to the Cittamatra School	293
Buddha Nature according to the Madhyamaka School	296
Buddha Nature according to Tantra	301
Nine Similies for Tathagatagarbha	302
Three Aspects of the Tathagatagarbha	310
Three Aspects of the Buddha Disposition	314
A Puzzle	315
14. GOING DEEPER INTO BUDDHA NATURE	319
The Three Turnings of the Dharma Wheel and Buddha Nature	319
A Link between Sutra and Tantra	322
Nothing Is to Be Removed	325
The Capacity Giving Rise to the Three Kayas	327
A Buddha's Nature Dharmakaya	328
Pristine Wisdom Abiding in the Afflictions	330
Causal Clear Light Mind	332
What Continues to Awakening?	332
Dzogchen and Mahamudra	334
Are We Already Buddhas?	337
Awareness of Our Buddha Nature Eliminates Hindrances	341
Notes	343
Glossary	353
Further Reading	367
Index	371
About the Authors	409