Calming the Mind and Discerning the Real: Buddhist Meditation and the Middle View from the Lam rim chenmo of Tson-kha-pa

Lam rim chen mo (roughly, “the great book on stages of the path (to enlightenment”) is the abbreviated title of a massive encyclopedic manual written by Tson-kha-pa, the founder of the Gelugpa sect of Tibetan Buddhism. Calming the Mind and Discerning the Real marks the first appearance in English of the two most important segments of this work. As translator Alex Wayman notes, “From the begning of Buddhist literature we find the terms ‘calming’ and ‘discerning’ paired, as natures to be cultivated.” However, over centuries of religious teaching, the precise connotations of these terms became diffuse, and “calming”and “discerning”came to stand, at different times, for natures to be cultivated in their own right and for catagories covering various steps towards spiritual goals.

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About the Author(s)

ALEX WAYMAN, formerly Professor of Sanskrit, Columbia University, New York is in the forefront of Western Buddhist Scholarship by his series of books in both tantric and non-tantric Buddhism based on over thirty years of researches. He employs both the Sanskrit and Tibetan languages in his books and articles. He has authored well over a hundred articles for professional journals and honorary volumes in various countries and in recent years almost exclusively by invitation. His authorship of various seminal works on Buddhist Tantra ensures that the present collection of tantric essays conform to high standards of authoritative texts and dependable citations.