Stages of Meditation: The Buddhist Classic on Training the Mind (Core Teachings of Dalai Lama) Paperback – February 19, 2019

Fantastic book. Its content was a big and pleasent surprise for me, since I bought it thinking it was a shamatha practice manual, however it's much more than that.First of all the book is a new edition of the same title published in 2001, which is a transcription of teachings given by His Holiness in Manali, India, in 1989.Kamalashila's text is part theoretical and part a practical exposition on the gradual path for Bodhisattvas. The text increases in complexity as it progresses. It begins with the functional structure of the mind, karma, compassion, Bodhicitta, suffering, and in chapter 7 Suchness according to Madhiamika. All these chapters are presented interwined eachother by logical reasoning - very cartesian. From chapter 8, the text gives general instructions for advanced meditators to attain shamatha. The peak of the teachings are chapters 9 and 10, where it is described how to develop vipashyana and the union of shamatha and vipashyana, in combination with the Six Perfections in order to progress through the Bodhisattva stages until attaining complete Buddhahood.As such, it can be said that the text is for medium, advanced and speacially, for very advanced practitioners. Altough the scripture style is a little dry and too theoretical in some passages, it's a Dharma jewel to be use as a map to the entire spiritual path. And it's my new text of reference along with the 37 Practices of Bodhisattvas, and Parting from the Four Attachments.

I liked this. Very practical.