To read spiritual biographies of the Kagyu lineage masters is a great inspiration to enter the path and also provides encouragement and enthusiasm to continue when circumstances become difficult. The spiritual biography of Gampopa, covered in the first half of this book, is a very good example of avoiding the extremes in practice and of showing how we should correctly practice.

Gampopa was the main disciple of Milarepa and one of the founders and shining jewels of the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism from which originate the four greater and eight lesser schools.

Besides writing the Jewel Ornament of Liberation, Gampopa distilled the Buddhist path into four short lines or truths, called dharmas. These lines became known as the "Four Dharmas of Gampopa." The second half of this book translates these four lines along with a detailed commentary on each by Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche.
Life and Teachings of Gampopa, Thrangu Rinpoche, Zhyisil Chokyi Ghatsal, Paperback, 135 pp., $24.00

Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche is a renowned Tibetan Buddhist master known for his deep compassion and the clarity of his teachings. He was selected by His Holiness the Dalai Lama to serve as the principal tutor to His Holiness the 17th Karmapa, Oryen Trinley Dorje.

Thrangu Rinpoche is a full holder and teacher of the Kagyu Vajrayana lineages. He founded the Namo Buddha retreat center in Nepal, has established two shedras (monastic universities) in Nepal and India, and serves as Abbot of Gampo Abbey in Nova Scotia. He also built Tara Abbey, where nuns receive a full dharma education qualifying them to become khenpos or teachers. Thrangu Rinpoche teaches entensively throughout Asia, Europe and the United States. He has centers in Maine and California, and is building the Vajra Vidya Retreat Center in Crestone, Colorado.

CONTENTS: The Life and Teachings of Gampopa
	Foreword	xi
	Biography of Thrangu Rinpoche	xiii
	Preface	xv
PART I: THE LIFE OF GAMPOPA
1	Gampopa's Mahayana Realization	1
2	Gampopa as Milarepa's Disciple	15
3	Gampopa's Dharma Activity	39
PART II: THE FOUR DHARMAS OF GAMPOPA
4	The Lineage of the Four Dharmas of Gampopa	59
5	The First Dharma	65
6	The Second Dharma	71
7	The Third Dharma	81
8	The Fourth Dharma	91
	Notes	103
	Glossary of Terms	109
	Glossary of Tibetan Terms	131
	Index	133