Additional information
by Tina Draszczyk (Translator), Shamar Rinpoche (Author)
Explanations Based on The Commentary on the Discourse of Defining the Topics (Arthaviniscaya sutratika) These teachings by Shamar Rinpoche are based on The Dharma Discourse on Defining the Topics (Arthaviniscaya Dharmaparyaya), a text considered to be a discourse or sutra taught by Buddha Sakyamuni. Shamar Rinpoche guides practitioners along a trajectory toward increasingly profound levels of insight, leading them through the steps of learning, reflecting, and meditating within the context of the fourfold application of mindfulness. This comprises training in mindfulness with regard to the body, the feelings, the mind, and the mental phenomena. Where the process of studying, reflecting, and meditating is concerned, Shamar Rinpoche tells us that the insight gained from listening serves as the riverbed; the insight gained from reflection corresponds to the river emanating from the spring and coursing along the riverbed, and the insight gained from meditation is comparable to the river reaching and merging with the sea. He stresses that practitioners who undergo this process thus reach a point at which they experience insight that is direct, deep, and expansive. This insight possesses the power to dispel ignorance, making the journey truly rewarding!
Author Biography
Shamar Rinpoche, Mipham Ch? kyi Lodr? (1952- 2014), was the 14th Shamarpa. Born in Derge, Tibet, Shamar Rinpoche was recognized by the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa in 1957 and by the 14th Dalai Lama. Shamar Rinpoche was an accomplished Buddhist master and teacher, respected and cherished by many students of Buddhism the world over. In 1996, he began organizing Bodhi Path Buddhist Centers, a network of centers covering many continents, in which a non-sectarian approach to meditation is practiced. Dr. Tina Draszczyk, M.A., studied Tibetology and Indology at the University of Hamburg. Since the early 1980s, she learned and practiced mainly under the guidance of Shamar Rinpoche. Since the late 1980s, she repeatedly interpreted for him. From 1992 to 2005 she acted as an interpreter at the Karmapa International Buddhist Institute (KIBI) in New Delhi while continuing her own studies there at the same time. She completed her doctoral thesis at the Department for South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies of the University of Vienna.
