Author: Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche
Translator(s): Sonam Palden / Chojor Radha
Publisher: Sri Satguru Publications
Year: 1998
Language: English
Pages: 132
ISBN/UPC (if available): 8170305713
Description
Traditionally, the Buddhist teachings are divided into three major divisions: the Sutras, the Vinaya, and the Abhidharma. The Vinayas are the discourses of the Buddha on the conduct of the monks and nuns and also lay persons.
The Buddha taught the Vinaya to monks and nuns so that they had a set of rules allowing them to devote their complete energy to teaching enlightenment. The Buddha, however, did not simply one day give these rules. Rather he waited for the proper situation to arise and would give a teaching on that particular situation.
Since this time, the world has changed. For example, in Buddha's day all ordinary persons slept on straw mats on the floor and only kings and wealthy merchants slept on the beds. So one of the rules of the Vinaya is that monks and nuns could not sleep in a high bed. Clearly, today when almost everyone sleeps in a bed, this prohibition seems antiquated.
Thrangu Rinpoche, is eminently qualified for explaining the Vinaya and Buddhist conduct because he has lived since the age of four in a monastic situation. He has maintained his vows and was asked to become abbot of Gampo Abbey, one of the few Tibetan monasteries in North America. These teachings are Rinpoch's detailed explanation of this poorly understood part of Buddhist cannon.
Contents
FOREWORD
The Pratimoksha Precepts
Discipline and the Precepts
The Vow of Individual Liberation
Karma and the Accumulation of Merit
The Outer, Inner, and Secret Pratimoksha
Nine Aspects of a Noble Being
Three Aspects of the Bodhisattva Vow
The Five Classes of Vajrayana Precepts
The Vows of the Three Yanas
The Vows of Shravakas
The Vows of Bodhisattva
The Vows of Vajrayana
The Samaya Vow
This is my Monastery
Glossary of Terms
Glossary of Tibetan Terms
Bibliography
Khenchen Thrangu, Rinpoche.