Tibetan Buddhism - Snow Lion and Shambhala Publications

02/03/2025

Generosity is Freely Giving

Generosity is freely giving good things to others as abundantly as possible in order to enhance others’ well-being. Generosity isn’t limited to money and possessions; it can also refer to offerings such as time, attention, aid, encouragement, emotional availability, and respect. It’s a natural expression of living in harmony with the interconnected nature of reality—your well-being is intimately tied to my own.

—Radically Happy, page 157
By Phakchok Rinpoche & Erric Solomon
shambhala.com/radically-happy-15337.html

01/31/2025

It was a memorable night at the standing-room only crowd at the Boulder Bookstore with a reading, talk, and Q&A with Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche. The focus was on his new book, Diligence: The Joyful Endeavor of the Buddhist Path, based on the chapter in Shantideva's Way of the Bodhisattva which includes a wonderful forward by Pema Chodron.

For the book, ebook, and audiobook: http://shmb.la/diligence

The book at BBS: https://www.boulderbookstore.net/book/9781645472360

For a Reader Guide to the works of Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche: http://shmb.la/dzkr

For a set of resources including translations as well as book-length and chapter-specific commentaries of the Wa of the Bodhissattva, see: http://shmb.la/wob

Photo of Rinpoche by Sasha Dorje Meyerowitz

01/27/2025

By Means of the Path

Many people think that path means something like an already-existent road, as if someone already did the hard work and all one has to do is get his or her legs onto it, and as soon as they’re on it, everything will go splendidly. But perhaps a more accurate translation would be journey. In fact, in the Indian Buddhist context, the Sanskrit word for path, marga, is often used with an instrumental grammatical ending (margena)—it is “by means of the path” that one goes.

—The Buddhist Psychology of Awakening, page 3
By Steven D. Goodman

shambhala.com/the-buddhist-psychology-of-awakening.html

01/26/2025

Our lunar Tibetan Buddhist practice calendar is updated with all the special days and anniversaries and more for the upcoming Year of the Wood Snake is now up. Bookmark it so you never miss the special days to practice.

The Tibetan Lunar Practice Calendar has all the special practice days (10th, 15th, 25th, etc.), anniversaries of great masters, and details and resources about each one.

01/23/2025

✨Buddhist Master Spotlight: Longchenpa

Longchen Rabjam (1308-1364), was a master known by many names including Drime Ozer, Dorje Ziji, and most notably, Longchenpa, whose name literally means “Great Expanse.”

Born in a time of great social, political, and literary change in Tibet, Longchenpa made a significant impact on the development of the Nyingma tradition. Having systematized the tradition in such a way, during a time when the “old school” of the Nyingmas was nearing extinction due to the ever-changing social, political, and religious horizons of 14th century Tibet, the legacy of Longchenpa continues to draw inspiration for today’s Nyingma and Rimé teachers alike. We are proud to publish many of his greatest works translated into English for today’s readers.

📚 Check out these titles and more in our Reader’s Guide to Longchenpa
→ https://www.shambhala.com/longchenpa-a-guide-for-readers/

𑁍 Finding Rest in Illusion (Volume 3 from The Trilogy of Rest)
𑁍 The Precious Treasury of the Fundamental Nature
𑁍 The Life of Longchenpa
𑁍 The Practice of Dzogchen
𑁍 Nyingma: Mahayoga, Anuyoga, and Atiyoga, Part Two

01/21/2025

Happy Publication Day to Buddhist Dream Yoga by Chögyal Namkhai Norbu! 🌙

“In a real sense, all the visions that we see in our lifetime are like the images of a dream. If we examine them well, the big dream of life and the smaller dreams of one night are not very different.”

Enhance self-awareness and develop clarity in both your sleeping and waking life with practices rooted in the time-honored tradition of Dzogchen. With instructional exercises and personal dream accounts, Dzogchen master Chögyal Namkhai Norbu goes beyond the methods of lucid dreaming popularized in the West to offer practices for developing lucidity and generating greater awareness toward the ultimate purpose of spiritual liberation.

This addition includes additional insights on dreamwork and the extraordinary tradition of Dzogchen from editor Michael Katz and nineteenth century Dzogchen master Jamgön Mipham.

"A personal and inspiring account of the higher possibilities of sleep and dreams by an acknowledged master." —Stephen LaBerge, PhD, director of the Lucidity Institute and author of Lucid Dreaming

Learn more: shambhala.com/buddhist-dream-yoga.html

01/20/2025

Another Day to Practice

Today we woke up, so the day started off well. We can rejoice that we have another day to learn and practice the Buddha’s teachings (the Dharma), to cultivate a kind heart, and to let go of the misconceptions and disturbing emotions that cloud our minds. We don’t know how long we’ll live or when death will come, so we need to be fully present in life and make wise decisions. Let’s generate the intention to take care in our thoughts, words, and deeds, since what we do today will have consequences for ourselves and others far into the future.

—Awaken Every Day, page 3
By Thubten Chodron

shambhala.com/awaken-every-day.html

01/13/2025

Reduce Your Selfishness

Selfishness and greed cause the most intense kind of fear. We will all be alone once we are dead, but if your habit is constantly to act out your self-obsession in front of an admiring audience, the solitariness of death will be unbearable. Having become used to the admiration of sycophants who indulge your every whim, when you suddenly find yourself entirely alone, fear will overwhelm you. Reduce your selfishness and you will reduce the intensity of that fear.

—Living Is Dying, page 10
By Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse

shambhala.com/living-is-dying.html

01/13/2025

Right now in Kathmandu Nepal, over 3,000 lamas, monks, nuns, yogi, yognis, and other lay people, Nepalese, Tibetans, Westerners, and more are gathering every day for a month of teachings from Tulku Pema Rigtsal Rinpoche, a highly revered lama.

The subject? The profound teachings of H.H. Dudjom Jigdrel Yeshe Dorje in his masterpiece of Tibetan Buddhism, A Torch Lighting the Way to Freedom. This is an incredible book, on the surface on the preliminary practices, but at the same time some of the most profound wisdom of the tradition shines through.

Links in the comments.

01/07/2025

Happy Publication Day to The Golden Garuda by Khenpo Sodargye!⁠
⁠
☀️The Golden Garuda: The Extraordinary Life of Modern-Day Mahasiddha Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche☀️⁠
⁠
Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche (1933–2004) was one of the most influential Buddhist teachers of the twentieth century. In this moving biography, Khenpo Sodargye—a lead teacher at Larung Gar Five Sciences Buddhist Academy—brings his beloved root teacher’s remarkable story and accomplishments to life with wisdom and reverence. His personal anecdotes coupled with the prophecies of great masters and verse from Buddhist texts offer a portrait that is at once intimate and profound, revealing Jigme Phuntsok’s legacy as the mythical “golden garuda” who was instrumental in the flourishing of Buddhism. During a pivotal period in modern Tibetan history, he created the world’s largest Buddhist institution, attracted thousands of followers with his nonsectarian teachings, and taught some of today’s great Tibetan Buddhist teachers.⁠
⁠
✨ Follow the link below to learn more:
https://www.shambhala.com/the-golden-garuda.html

01/06/2025

The Practice of Diligence

The point of becoming aware of our own neuroses and obstacles is not to stew in them and make ourselves feel worse; the point is to remedy them. These neuroses are not “you,” after all; they are an obstacle to you. They are an impediment to what you aspire to be and who you truly are. We aspire to be liberated and compassionate, not bound by our habitual reactiveness or prejudices. In acknowledging and understanding our neuroses, we naturally take the next step toward employing wisdom and skillful means. This doesn’t happen just because we want it to. We need to be interested and willing to get in there and understand the impediment in order to then apply the remedy. To “get out,” we have to “go in”—to explore the neurosis and precisely understand what is happening in our own experience. This creates room for wisdom and skillful means, or tabshé in Tibetan, to naturally arise. This is how we discover and apply the practice of diligence. There is tremendous joy in this process because along the way we come to know who we truly are.

—Diligence, page 34-35
By Dzigar Kongtrul

shambhala.com/diligence.html

12/30/2024

Realm of Reality

A lapis-­lazuli jewel
Radiates all the time,
But when residing in its ore
Its light does not shine forth.

So, too, although the realm of reality is stainless,
When covered with afflictions,
Its light is not seen in the world.
When liberated, its light shines forth.

—Atisa Dipamkara, page 135
By James B. Apple

shambhala.com/atisa-dipamkara-15300.html

12/29/2024

Today we remember the incomparable Tulku Thondup Rinpoche who left us a year ago today.
Here is a remembrance from his wife Lydia, which cannot fail to inspire all of us:
https://www.tulkuthondup.com/passing

For more on Tulku Thondup Rinpoche, see our guide to his works here: https://www.shambhala.com/tulku-thondup-a-guide-for-readers/

12/27/2024

🙏🏼 Though no words could match the rare and exceptional life of Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche, The Golden Garuda is worthy of enormous respect and praise! ⁠

⬇ Continue below to see what today's Buddhist teachers have to say!

"In these times, when meeting such an authentic master is as rare as a daytime star, this book—like the sighting of a Golden Garuda—gives us a renewed sense of hope and faith in the timeless wisdom of the Mahayana, Vajrayana, and Ati Yoga traditions."
⁠⁠—Sangye Khandro

"Khenpo Sodargye compressively illuminates the inspiring life of Khenchen Jigme Phuntsok. He vividly captures his extensive Dharma activities, beginning with his auspicious birth and continuing up until his passing into parinirvana."
—Khenpo Sherab Sangpo

"My heartfelt appreciation for the publication of this important biography. Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche’s extraordinary qualities can now be understood and appreciated by readers everywhere."
—Orgyen Chowang Rinpoche

Click the link below to preorder The Golden Garuda ☀️⁠
Available January 7, 2025⁠

shambhala.com/the-golden-garuda.html

12/23/2024

The Foundation of All Spiritual Paths

Generally speaking, all the major religions of the world emphasize the importance of the practice of love, compassion, and tolerance. This is particularly the case in all the traditions of Buddhism, including the Theravada, Mahayana, and Tantrayana (the esoteric tradition of Buddhism). They all state that compassion and love are the foundation of all the spiritual paths.

—Perfecting Patience, page 1
By H.H. the Fourteenth Dalai Lama

shambhala.com/perfecting-patience.html

12/16/2024

Curious about the world of Tibetan Buddhist publishing. Here are some thoughts from our president, in the Journal of Tibetan Literature which is packed with some other really interesting articles.

12/16/2024

The Obstacle of a Self-centered Attitude

We like to think we’re broad-minded, caring people and realizing anything contrary to that may be difficult. Our self-centered attitude prefers to think, “I’m a really good person. I’m unhappy because the rest of the world is ignorant and hostile.” As long as we hold that idea, spiritual progress will be difficult. As long as we keep blaming our problems on others and seek a “feel-good hit,” we are not doing actual Dharma practice.

—Guided Buddhist Meditations, page 43
By Thubten Chodron

shambhala.com/guided-meditations-on-the-stages-of-the-path-15296.html