Nagarjuna's Precious Garland (2015-17)
Teachings on Practical Ethics and Profound Emptiness: A Commentary on Nagarjuna's "Precious Garland".
Chapter 1: Upper rebirth and highest good
Venerable Thubten Chodron An introduction to the text in the context of Nagarjuna's other treatises on the Middle Way, and beginning the commentary on Verse 1.
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Chapter 1: Verses 2-3
Because a series of good rebirths provides the foundation for liberation and awakening, the causes for upper rebirth need to be recognized and created.
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Chapter 1: Verses 4-9
To generate wisdom a series of upper rebirths is needed. Upper rebirth requires confidence in the laws of karma and knowing what to practice and…
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Chapter 1: Verses 10-13
To attain an upper rebirth to continue working for awakening we need to abandon destructive actions and mistaken paths and engage in constructive actions.
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Chapter 1: Verses 14-19
By reflecting on the results of actions we can change our behavior to have conducive conditions in the future and also understand our experiences of…
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Precious Garland review: Characteristics of karma
Venerable Thubten Tarpa With an understanding of the four general characteristics of karma we will see the importance of abstaining from the ten nonvirtuous pathways of action.
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Abandoning the 10 nonvirtues, part 1
Review of the first five of the ten non-virtuous pathways: killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and divisive speech.
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Abandoning the 10 nonvirtues, part 2
A review of the nonvirtuous pathways of harsh speech and idle talk. Looking at the varieties of harsh speech and idle talk.
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Abandoning the 10 nonvirtues, part 3
Review of the three mental nonvirtuous pathways of action: covetousness, maliciousness, and wrong view.
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Chapter 1: Verses 20-24
The essential thing to remember is don't engage in nonvirtue, engage in virtue. How do we get our mind to that place? Think about the…
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Chapter 1: Verses 25-26
A correct understanding of emptiness leads to developing wisdom, while misunderstanding emptiness leads to a fear of total nonexistence.
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Chapter 1: Verses 27-32
Looking at how grasping at a truly existent I causes problems and binds us to cyclic existence.
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