This extensive set of teachings was one of Thrangu Rinpoche's introductions to the basic concepts of the three vehicles of Buddhism. When Buddhism came to Tibet, the great masters of meditation determined that to practice Buddhism properly, all three vehicles, or levels, of Buddhism have to be studied and practiced.

The first vehicle of this practice includes the careful examination of the self, the meticulous accumulation of merit, and, of course, the meditation on the Buddha's first teaching—the four noble truths. The practice of this vehicle is basic Shamatha and Vipashyana meditation. The second vehicle of this practice is the Mahayana path, which involves the understanding of the emptiness of phenomena and understanding of the ultimate and conventional truths. The practice of the Mahayana is embarking upon the bodhisattva path, engendering great compassion, and practicing the six perfections.

Finally, Thrangu Rinpoche, a well known teacher, explains the third vehicle of the Vajrayana, which involves doing the preliminary preparations, engaging in meditation on the yidams, and doing the meditation of looking directly at mind called Mahamudra.

In this book, Rinpoche discusses the four common foundations, which are the four thoughts to contemplate before beginning a spiritual practice.

The first foundation, precious human birth, explains in detail why practice is important. The second foundation, impermanence, teaches us to find something meaningful in life.

The most difficult to understand foundation, karma, is lucidly explained by Thrangu Rinpoche. Because of karma, we can determine if we will have a fortunate or unfortunate future. Then, after we have practiced, we must return to conventional reality (samsara) and so the fourth reminder is a review of the characteristics of samsara.

This book also includes Khenpo Karpo's excellent survey of the points of meditation and practice to round out the four foundations.

This e-book is in the Kindle format (mobi) and can be read on many ebook readers.

The paperback book is available on the Book section of this website.