Homage | ix |
| | Acknowledgments | xiii |
| | Foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama | xvii |
| | From Tulku Sangak Rinpoche | xix |
| | Who Is Lama Tsomo? | xxi |
| | Lama Tsomo's Background | xxii |
| | Prologue: Why is the Dalai Lama Always Smiling? | xxiii |
| | Introduction | 1 |
| | Why This Book | 1 |
| | Using This Book | 3 |
| | Are You as Happy as You Want to Be? | 7 |
| | Why I Bothered | 13 |
| | The Early Years: Even Then, I Was on a Path | 13 |
| | No Longer a Child, Not Yet a Buddhist | 22 |
| | I Meet the Buddha on the Path | 26 |
| | My Root Lama: Tulku Sangak Rinpoche | 27 |
| | Why Tulku Sangak Rinpoche Bothered | 51 |
| | Background | 51 |
| | In Prison, but Not Imprisoned | 55 |
| | Coming to America | 60 |
| | Why the Buddha Bothered | 69 |
| | From Prince to Buddha | 69 |
| | Some of What the Buddha Saw | 77 |
| | The Two Truths | 84 |
| | Tibetan Use of Imagery-Bunging It All onto the Path | 86 |
| | What's Samsara, and How Did We Get Here, Anyway? | 89 |
| | The Slippery Slope | 90 |
| | A Bit More About Karma | 97 |
| | How We Stay Stuck | 98 |
| | The Good News | 105 |
| | The Three Kay as | 107 |
| | The Five Timeless Awarenesses (Yeshes) | 115 |
| | The Five Dhyani Buddhas | 118 |
| | The Three Yanas | 120 |
| | Methods So We Can See for Ourselves | 127 |
| | Checking Our Motivation | 127 |
| | The Tibetan Nose Blow | 133 |
| | The Theory | 133 |
| | The Practice | 135 |
| | The Finer Points | 138 |
| | Back to the Blow by Blow | 141 |
| | Connecting | 149 |
| | Tranquil Abiding | 153 |
| | Shamata | 153 |
| | The Actual Practice of Tranquil Abiding-A Brief Introduction | 156 |
| | Some Shamata Tips | 158 |
| | Shamata: The Main Event | 161 |
| | Now What? | 164 |
| | Mind in Agitated State | 164 |
| | Unrealistic Expectations (or, I Want Patience, and I Want It Now!) | 171 |
| | When We Realize We've Been Following a Thought | 173 |
| | Agitation, Perhaps Our Most Popular Pitfall | 175 |
| | Dullness, the Other Pitfall | 179 |
| | Yet Another Pitfall: Great Experiences | 181 |
| | Beginning the Session | 182 |
| | Ending the Session | 183 |
| | In Conclusion | 185 |
| | Tonglen | 193 |
| | The Setup | 194 |
| | The Actual Practice | 196 |
| | Questions (and Answers!) | 199 |
| | Additional Comments | 203 |
| | Doing Daily Practice | 207 |
| | Round Robin | 207 |
| | Sample Daily Practice Session | 209 |
| | The Practice of Doing Daily Practice | 210 |
| | Working It into Tour Schedule | 211 |
| | How to Do a Prostration | 213 |
| | Place | 215 |
| | Frame of Mind | 216 |
| | In Closing: Some Words of Advice | 219 |
| | A Word or Two about Drugs | 220 |
| | More Support-Why Not?" | 222 |
| | Empowerments | 225 |
| | Refuge Ceremony | 228 |
| | More about the Three Jewels | 228 |
| | What Will Refuge in the Three Jewels Do for Me? | 231 |
| | How Will I Know If I'm Ready to Take Refuge? | 234 |
| | More Follow-Through: Some Qualified Teachers | 234 |
| | The Next Step-When You're Really Ready | 236 |
| Appendix A | How to Find or Start a Group | 241 |
| | Practice Group Meeting | 243 |
| | Dedication/Aspiration | 243 |
| Appendix B | Glossary | 245 |
| | Working Definitions of Buddhist (and Other) Terms | 245 |
| Appendix C | Recommended Reading | 253 |
| | For Practice and General Reading | 253 |
| | Three Books by Thublen Chodron | 256 |
| | Brain Science | 256 |
| | Seven Point Mind Training Books and Media | 257 |
| | On Cosmology | 258 |
| | On Impermanence | 258 |
| | Fun and Inspiring Reading | 259 |
| | Websites | 259 |
| Appendix D | Credits and Permissions | 261 |
| | Photos and Images | 261 |
| | Quotes | 262 |
| | Index | 263 |
| | Lama Sangak Yeshe Tsomo: Curriculum Vitae | 271 |
| | Education and Professional Training | 271 |
| | Affiliations and Memberships | 273 |
| | Selected Publications | 273 |
| | Selected Presentations and Teachings | 273 |