Geshe Lhakdor – Precious Garland of the Sublime Path

November 20 – 26, 2021

This course is open for beginners and experienced students alike!

Geshe Lhakdor la himself chose this text, saying:
“This is an extremely beautiful text, very relevant in our day-to-day life’s practice. There is no need to try to finish the whole book because it has so many different sections.”

The 12th century master Gampopa, who is also known as the “Great Doctor of Gampo”, Sonam Rinchen, was one of the main students of Milarepa and the founder of the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism.

Gampopa was born in Eastern Tibet, where he first trained as a physician and began a family. At the age of 26, after his wife and two children died in an epidemic, he was ordained as a monk. After studying and practising the Kadampa teachings for a period of time, at the age of 32 he met Jetsun Milarepa, with whom he studied the Mahamudra teachings.

Gampopa authored a number of influential writings, including the lamrim text, Jewel Ornament of Liberation and A Precious Garland of the Sublime Path.

Gampopa has said, “In the future, people who have devotion for me and feel sad that they didn’t meet me, please read The Precious Garland of the Supreme Path, The Jewel Ornament of Liberation, and my other writings. It will be no different from meeting me face to face.” Anyone feeling devotion toward Gampopa will highly benefit from studying and contemplating his texts.

In The Precious Garland of the Sublime Path, Gampopa succinctly outlines in twenty-eight categories what we need to know to perfect our spiritual practice. He gives precise instructions on the path’s fundamental essentials – understanding, meditation, and conduct – and speaks to practitioners at all levels. His timeless advice is relevant even in today’s challenging world.

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Teacher

Venerable Geshe Lhakdor was born in Yakra, Western Tibet in 1956 and left Tibet in 1962 following the communist Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1959. Geshe received his novice monk ordination in 1964, attended the Central School for Tibetans, in Dalhousie, India from 1972 to 1976 and studied specialized Buddhist Philosophy in the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics in Dharamsala, India until 1986.

From December, 1986 to May, 1989 he served as translator and research assistant in Tibet House, the Cultural Centre of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, in New Delhi. In August 1989, Geshe joined the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama where he has served as Religious Assistant and Translator and has accompanied His Holiness the Dalai Lama to over thirty countries in the Americas, Europe, Australia, Africa and Asia.

Beside the Master of Prajnaparamita in 1982, he also received the Master of Madhyamika in 1989 and the Master of Philosophy (MPhil) from the University of Delhi. In 1995 he received the Geshe Degree from Drepung Loseling Monastic University in South India. In 2008, he was also conferred Honorary Professorship by the University of Delhi, Department of Psychology.

Since 2005 he has been the director of the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives in Dharamsala, after serving as His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s official translator for 16 years (still occasionally travels with H.H. as translator).

Geshe Lhakdor has also co-translated and co-produced several books by His Holiness, including The Way to Freedom, The Joy of Living and Dying in Peace, Awakening the Mind and Lightening the Heart, and Stages of Meditation, among others.

Geshe Lhakdor is a trustee of the Foundation for Universal Responsibility, established by His Holiness, Director of the Central Archive of His Holiness, a member of the Advisory Board of the Institute of Tibetan Classics in Montreal, Canada, and Honorary Professor at the University of British Columbia, Canada.

You can hear a recording of a teaching Geshe Lhakdor gave at Tushita in July 2014 here.

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Course Schedule

November 20 – 26, 2021

• Online Class: 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm each day (Indian Standard Time)

Times are based in India Standard Time. We recognize that for many of you outside India, these times may not work. It can still be possible to use the recordings and join in any live sessions that are convenient for you.

Video recordings of each session will be available for those who cannot make the live session.

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Precious Garland of the Sublime Path – The Text

• Available for purchase – from AbeBooks

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Register

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