“Nagarjuna's Advice for Buddhists is an excellent resource for anyone who wishes to understand how Buddhists think, speak, and act—and how the Buddhist vision was articulated two thousand years ago by one of the tradition’s most esteemed thinkers.”
Description
A modern commentary by a beloved Tibetan teacher on a classical Indian Buddhist text and an introduction to Buddhism by one of the tradition’s most famous authors. A teaching on how to live a Buddhist life in contemporary society.
Letter to A Friend, by the great Indian philosopher Nagarjuna, is one of the best-known introductions to Buddhism in classical Indian Buddhist literature. In this warm and generous commentary, one of the twentieth century’s most beloved teachers, Geshe Lhundup Sopa, shows how Nagarjuna’s advice on how to follow Buddhist ethics while living fully in the world speaks just as clearly to us today as it did to the Indian king for whom it was composed.
Nagarjuna maintained that all Buddhists can embody the full teachings of the Buddha. Therefore, this book covers topics from simple virtues to the most profound truths of emptiness. Expertly compiled by his student, scholar Beth Newman, from talks given over a number of years, the commentary brings this ancient Buddhist teaching to a modern audience.
Reviews
“Geshe Sopa was a lineage holder of our time, and having this teaching on Nagarjuna's Letter in his words will be a great benefit for us. Reading Nagarjuna's text through the lens of Geshe-la's wisdom and compassion is an unbelievable opportunity for readers to gain realizations.”
“Geshe Sopa embodies every part of what he is teaching, exerting a power of awakened compassion and awareness that comes through his words to the heart and mind of the reader.”
“Beautifully introduced and edited, with useful explanatory notes and appendices, this book is a wonderful tribute both to Nagarjuna's original Letter, and to Geshe Sopa’s exceptional teachings on that work."