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Ornament of Precious Liberation (Holmes)

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Ornament of Precious Liberation is a spiritual and literary treasure of Tibetan Buddhism and of the Kagyü lineage in particular. Laying out step by step the path to buddhahood that is open to us all, to read Gompopa's text is like receiving the teachings directly from the master himself.
      It is a quintessential guide to enlightenment that students will return to again and again for its insights into living an awakened life. (Source: Wisdom Publications)

This publication is an updated version of the translation found in Stages of the Buddha's Teachings: Three Key Texts.

Citation	Holmes, Ken, trans. Ornament of Precious Liberation. By Gampopa (sgam po pa). Edited by Thupten Jinpa. Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications, 2017.

Part I: The Prime Cause

Book Excerpt

Table of Contents About the Book Texts Translated Quotes

• Foreword by His Holiness the Karmapa vii
• Editor’s Preface ix
• Translator’s Introduction 1

• Ornament of Precious Liberation: A Wish-Fulfilling Gem of Sublime Dharma
• Gampopa Sonam Rinchen (1079–1153)
  • Author’s Preface 11
• I. The Prime Cause
  • 1. Buddha Nature 15
• II. The Basis
  • 2. A Precious Human Existence25
• III. The Condition
  • 3. Relying on the Dharma Master 37
• IV. The Means:
• The Dharma Master’s Instruction
  • 4. The Impermanence of Conditioned Existence 47
  • 5. The Suffering of Samsara 59
  • 6. Karma and Its Effects 77
  • 7. Loving Kindness and Compassion 89
  • 8. Taking Refuge 99
  • 9. The Proper Adoption of Bodhicitta 111
  • 10. Precepts for Generating Aspiring Bodhicitta 145
  • 11. Presentation of the Six Perfections 151
  • 12. The Perfection of Generosity 155
  • 13. The Perfection of Moral Discipline 169
  • 14. The Perfection of Forbearance 181
  • 15. The Perfection of Diligence 191
  • 16. The Perfection of Meditative Concentration 199
  • 17. The Perfection of Wisdom 215
  • 18. The Presentation of the (Five) Paths 247
  • 19. The Presentation of the Levels 253
• V. The Result
  • 20. The Bodies of Perfect Buddhahood 275
• VI. Enlightened Activities of the Buddhas
  • 21. Enlightened Activities of the Buddhas 291

• Notes 297
• Glossary 319
• Bibliography 331
• Index 341
• About the Contributors357

The text in this volume has a long and rich history in the world of Tibetan Buddhism. Gampopa's Ornament of Precious Liberation remains to this day the quintessential understanding of the Buddhist path to enlightenment in the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. Trained in the Kadam teachings stemming from the Bengali master Atiśa as well in the Mahāmudrā instructions of Marpa Lotsāwa and his famed disciple Milarepa, Gampopa presents in his work a unique blending of two important streams of Tibetan spiritual instructions.

The step-by-step instructions developed in this work continue to guide and elevate the attentive reader and practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism today. Imbued by Gampopa with so much insight and helpful instruction, it is not surprising that this manual was considered a classic of Buddhist literature in Tibet. With this new translation, students and teachers of Tibetan Buddhism will have a chance to directly engage with the insights and instructions of a great spiritual master. For the general reader, it offers an opportunity to appreciate the richness of the Tibetan tradition and its creative synthesis of the vast corpus of classical Indian Buddhist teachings.

Thupten Jinpa

1. Sgam po pa. dam chos yid bzhin gyi nor bu thar pa rin po che'i rgyan.
   1. rtsib ri woodblocks preserved in Solukhumbu Monastery of northern Nepal.
   2. Palpung edition. Thimpu, 1985.
   3. For digital edition see

Gampopa's own teaching practices became the root from which developed the distinctive system that all the Dakpo Kagyu schools follow to this day. Students first studied the lamrim teachings on the stages of the path from the Kadam tradition, and then they were allowed to study mahamudra and other tantric practices. Hence, the extant lineages within the Dakpo Kagyu-the Drikung, Drukpa, Karma Kamtsang, Taklung, and Barom-resemble the branches of a family tree, and Lord Gampopa is our common ancestor. The Ornament of Precious Liberation is our great family treasury and our shared inheritance. It is my aspiration that through this text the different traditions of the Dakpo Kagyu will rediscover their common ancestry and become a joyous and harmonious family once more.  

~ Karmapa, 17th in Ornament of Precious Liberation (Holmes), page(s) vii