During the fifth century before our era, a tremendous explosion of philosophical thought appeared on the earth. During this time, the Buddha began delivering a remarkable set of teachings. He taught that instead of relying on a God or on materialistic pursuits, one can attain true, permanent happiness by simply examining one’s own mind. When Tibet became a Buddhist nation beginning in the eighth century A.D., the great practitioners and learned scholars who came from India were faced with the problem of how to convey the Buddhist teachings to a large population of traders and farmers who for the most part were illiterate. The great Indian scholar Atisa brought the four foundations of practice to Tibet in the eleventh century. These four foundations are identical to the "four thoughts that turn the mind towards dharma" that were taught by the great meditator Gampopa. He elaborated on these and these four thoughts have served to help thousands of students in Tibet to understand why they should begin dharma practice. Because these four thoughts are the basic reason for practicing dharma, they are said to be the four general foundations of Buddhist practice. These foundations are general to all levels and all sects of Buddhism and can be contrasted to the four special foundations (Tib. ngondro) which are specific to Vajrayana Buddhism.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche
Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche was born in Kham in 1933. At the age of five he was formally recognized by the Sixteenth Karmapa and the previous situ Rinpoche as the incarnation of the great Thrangu tulku. From the ages of seven to sixteen he entered Thrangu monastery and studied reading, writing, grammar, poetry, astrology, memorized ritual texts and completed two preliminary retreats. At the age of sixteen he began the study of the three vehicles of Buddhism under the direction of Khenpo Lodro Rabsel. He also spent time in retreat. At the age of twenty-three and the time of the Chinese Military takeover, Rinpoche left Tibet for Rumtek monastery in Sikkim where the Karmapa had his seat in exile. At the age of thirty-five he took the geshe examination before 1,500 monks at Buxador monastic refugee camp in Bengal and was awarded the highest degree of Rabjam. On his return to Rumtek he was named Khenpo or main teacher of Rumtek and all other Kagyu monasteries and became abbot of Rumtek monastery and also of the Nalanda Institute for Higher Buddhist studies also at Rumtek. He has been the personal teacher of the four principle Kagyu tulkus: Shamar Rinpoche, Situ Rinpoche, Jamgon Kongtul Rinpoche, and Gyaltsab Rinpoche. Thrangu Rinpoche has traveled extensively throughout Europe, the Ear East and North America. He is the abbot of Gampo Abbey, In Nova Scotia Canada and of Thrangu House in England. In 1984 he spent several months in Tibet where he ordained over one hundred monks and nuns and visited several monasteries. He has also founder his own monastery Thrangu Tashi Choling in Boudhnath near Kathmandu, Nepal; has a retreat center and college at Namo Buddha in the Kathmandu valley; has established his own primary school for the general education of lay children and young monks, has begun building a nunnery in Boudhnath for women to receive their khenpo degree, and has begun building a monastic college in Sarnath, India. Several of the works by Rinpoche published in English are Tranquility and Insight a detailed book on meditation, Buddha Nature, the Uttara Tantra by this publisher, the Song of Lodro Thaye, the differentiating Consciousness and Wisdom, and a series of texts on mahamudra meditation. He also has a book in German and one in Spanish.
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