When the Buddha taught, he said that achieving enlightenment is due entirely to receiving correct teachings and then diligently implementing these teachings. One might ask, how does this phenomenal world work? The Buddha taught that it follows the process of interdependent origination in which one action or event causes another event, which causes another event, and so on. In personal terms, interdependent origination explains how the happiness and suffering in our present life is the result of actions in our previous lives, and how this process proceeds through twelve links.
Rinpoche discusses each of the twelve links of interdependent origination in sequence. He also discusses the five aspects of causality, the eight examples of interdependence, and the relationship of interdependence to the sutras and Mahamudra meditation. Finally, the twelve links are illustrated using a real-life example.
The Twelve Links of Interdependent Origination, Thrangu Rinpoche, Namo Buddha Publications, Paperback, 46 pp, $7.00
Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche is a renowned Tibetan Buddhist master known for his deep compassion and the clarity of his teachings. He was selected by His Holiness the Dalai Lama to serve as the principal tutor to His Holiness the 17th Karmapa, Oryen Trinley Dorje.
Thrangu Rinpoche is a full holder and teacher of the Kagyu Vajrayana lineages. He founded the Namo Buddha retreat center in Nepal, has established two shedras (monastic universities) in Nepal and India, and serves as Abbot of Gampo Abbey in Nova Scotia. He also built Tara Abbey, where nuns receive a full dharma education qualifying them to become khenpos or teachers. Thrangu Rinpoche teaches extensively throughout Asia, Europe and the United States. He has centers in Maine and California, and is building the Vajra Vidya Retreat Center in Crestone, Colorado.
|
CONTENTS: The Twelve Links of Interdependent Origination
|
| CHAPTER 1: Cause and Effect |
1
|
| CHAPTER 2: The Twelve Links |
5
|
| CHAPTER 3: The Two Main Kinds of Causes |
25 |
| CHAPTER 4: The Relevance of Interdependence for the Buddhist Teachings |
31 |
| CHAPTER 5: The Twelve Links Applied to One's Action |
37 |
|
|
| Notes |
41 |
| Glossary |
43 |
| A Biography of Thrangu Rinpoche |
47 |
|
