This unique and fresh presentation of Tibetan Buddhism provides a tool kit for how to be a twenty-first-century Buddhist, whether living in a busy city or a rural hermitage. These teachings go straight to the heart of why a person should bother with a spiritual path in the age of cell phones and shopping malls.

Avikrita Vajra Sakya Rinpoche, a twenty-six-year-old Tibetan lama born in Seattle and now residing in a monastery in the Himalayan foothills, teaches meditation and Buddhist philosophy to people from all over the world. He makes a direct and compelling case for the Buddhist path and offers a clear guide on how to use our own modern life circumstances to cultivate loving-kindness, compassion, wisdom, and our own buddha nature.

Wake Up to What Matters: A Guide to Tibetan Buddhism for the Next Generation, Avikrita Vajra Sakya, Shambhala Publications, Paperback, 152 pages, $16.95

Avikrita Vajra Sakya is a young, dynamic Buddhist teacher who is tuned in to Western culture and has trained in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Rinpoche straddles both worlds through growing up in America and now living in the Dzongsar Institute in India, studying Buddhist philosophy and teaching monks and nuns throughout the Himalayas. He is Head Lama of Sakya's Phunstok Phodrang and Sakya Monastery in Seattle and is ranked as one of the highest lamas in Tibetan Buddhism. He has thousands of students throughout America, Europe, and Asia and regularly travels internationally to teach.

Foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama	vii
Foreword by Abhaya Vajra Sakya	ix
Introduction	xiii
1. Buddhism for the Next Generation	1
2. Discovering the Riches of Buddhism	9
3. The Miracle of Awakening	23
4. The Cause for Attaining Everything on the Path	35
5. Putting Aspiration into Action	41
6. Transforming the Mind	47
7. As Fearless as Tara	71
8. The Transformative Power of Compassion	85
9. Victory Over All Obstacles	99
10. Questions for the Modern Practitioner	115
11. Being a Twenty-First-Century Buddhist	123
About the Author	131