May 2023 MBR The Buddhist Studies Shelf

The Buddhist Studies Shelf

Awakening Wisdom
Pema Wangyal
Shambhala Publications, Inc.
300 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, MA 02115-4544
www.shambhala.com
9781645471639, $21.95, PB, 176pp

https://www.amazon.com/Awakening-Wisdom-Fundamental-Practices-Vajrayana/dp/1645471632

Synopsis: For those new to Tibetan Buddhism, "Awakening Wisdom: Heart Advice on the Fundamental Practices of Vajrayana Buddhism" by Pema Wangyal is a short work will help them to get started with their practice. For those who are well steeped in these teachings, "Awakening Wisdom) will remind them of the essentials points. Framed as a commentary on the Tersar Ngondro by Dudjom Rinpoche.

"Awakening Wisdom" is geared toward connecting people with practice.

Part I covers motivation, posture and breathing, mantra practice, and the four reflections that turn the mind toward Buddhist practice.

Part II covers mantras and tonglen, the compassion practice that helps us connect to the suffering of others.

Part III provides guidance about the preliminary practices themselves: the practice of the threefold refuge; generating the altruistic mind, or bodhichitta; purification practice; mandala offering; and Guru Yoga, explaining how each practice is the antidote to a particular cause of suffering, or "poison". It also includes precious guidance about the Vajra Guru mantra and the transference of consciousness at the moment of death.

While these may seem like technical subjects (and this is indeed a traditional presentation) Pema Wangyal's writing is suffused with warmth and tenderness, making "Awakening Wisdom" quite accessible and inviting -- especially to beginners.

Critique: Impressively well written, organized and thoroughly 'reader friendly in presentation, "Awakening Wisdom: Heart Advice on the Fundamental Practices of Vajrayana Buddhism" is exceptionally informative and highly recommended for personal, professional, community, and academic library Buddhism collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in Buddhism that "Awakening Wisdom" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $16.99).

Editorial Note: Pema Wangyal (b. 1945), the first son of Kangyur Rinpoche, is the main resident master of the three-year Nyingmapa retreats in Dordogne, France, director of the Association du Centre d'Etudes de Chanteloube, and founder of the Padmakara Translation Group. Under the guidance of Kyabje Kangyur Rinpoche, Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche, and other great masters of Tibetan Buddhism, Pema Wangyal Rinpoche has studied extensively, his learning confirmed by years of intensive practice. At the request of Dharma groups and institutions around the world, Rinpoche has been active as a teacher since 1975, giving public talks, leading seminars, and providing individual guidance. Since 1980, Rinpoche has personally supervised the traditional three-year retreat of intensive study and practice in Dordogne, France. In 1999, he inaugurated a series of retreats in parallel with the three-year retreat, thus enabling Buddhist practitioners with family responsibilities to engage in serious and sustained practice. (https://buddhanature.tsadra.org/index.php/People/Wangyal,_Pema)

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