It is crucial for students of Vajrayana Buddhism to find an authentic wisdom teacher, and know how to properly rely upon that teacher in order to awaken to their buddha nature and thereby attain full enlightenment. As Buddhism is still relatively new in the West, we don't always know how to go about this essential task. Fortunately the topic has never more been more thoroughly explored and the ideal relationship more clearly delineated, than by the unsurpassed Tibetan teacher Jamgon Kongtrul in the tenth chapter of his monumental Buddhist encyclopedia, The Treasury of Knowledge.
Translated: by Dr. Ron Garry, this essential text clearly lays out what credentials and qualities every student should look for in a wisdom teacher, why a wisdom teacher is necessary and how the relationship between this teacher and disciple be develops once it is established. With chapters such as How to Seek the Wisdom Teacher, Why a Wisdom Teacher Is Necessary, Categories and Quali of the Master, and How to Choose a Wisdom Teacher, this authoritative work places into the hands of every student all he or she needs to know to undertake the most fundamental and important step on the path: finding a qualified wisdom teacher.
This book also includes a teaching by Gyatrul Rinpoche that explains for Western students the critical importance of the teacher-student relationship in Buddhist practice.
"I highly recommend this book because it shows us in a clear and concise way how to create and nurture this relationship...."-from the foreword by Lama Tharchin Rinpoche
Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye (1813-1899), popularly known as Jamgon Kongtrul the Great, was a pivotal figure in eastern Tibet's non-sectarian movement and one of the most outstanding writers and teachers of his time. In his monumental Encyclopedia of Buddhism (Treasury of Knowledge), he presents a complete account of the major lines of thought and practice that comprise Tibetan Buddhism.

The Teacher-Student Relationship, Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye , Snow Lion Publications, 236pp, $14.95