The Great Path of Awakening, by Jamgon Kongtrul

Here is a practical Buddhist guidebook that offers techniques for developing a truly compassionate heart in the midst of everyday life. For centuries, Tibetans have used fifty-nine pithy slogans—such as "A joyous state of mind is a constant support" and "Don't talk about others' shortcomings"—as a means to awaken kindness, gentleness, and compassion. While Tibetan Buddhists have long valued these slogans, recently they have become popular in the West due to such books as
Start Where You Are by Pema Chödrön and
Training the Mind by Chögyam Trungpa. This edition of
The Great Path of Awakening contains an accessible, newly revised translation of the slogans from the famous text
The Seven Points of Mind Training . It also includes illuminating commentary from Jamgon Kongtrul that provides further instruction on how to meet every situation with intelligence and an open heart.

Jamgön Kongtrül (1813–1899) was a versatile and prolific scholar. He has been characterized as a "Tibetan Leonardo" because of his significant contributions to religion, education, medicine, and politics.