A Stairway taken by the Lucid: Tsong kha pa’s Stu dy
of Noble Beings
Dear Colleagues:
I am pleased to announce the publication of a recent new
book.
A Stairway taken by the Lucid: Tsong kha pa’s Study of Noble
Beings.
Introduced and translated by James B. Apple
Aditya Prakashan, New
Delhi, 2013
222 pages., bibliography, index, 24cm.
ISBN:
9788177421316
A Stairway taken by the Lucid presents for the first time
an annotated
English translation accompanied with a Tibetan critical edition
of Tsong
kha pa's commentary on the different types of Noble Beings
(Skt.
arya, Tib. ’phags pa) that progress toward awakening. In
this
critical edition and translation of his blo-gsal bgrod-pa'i
them-skas,
Tsong kha pa (1357-1419), revered as one of the foremost masters
in the
history of Tibetan Buddhism, provides a detailed exegesis of
the
characteristics and attainments that Noble Beings acquire in
advancing
toward nirvana through multiple lifetimes in
varying
cosmological realms. Noble Beings are individuals within the
Buddhist
spiritual community (samgha) who become constituted by moral
virtue,
mental quiescence, and cognitive insight through embodying the
Buddha’s
teaching on the way to nirvana. Tsong kha pa details the
location
and number of lives remaining until nirvana for Noble
Beings based on his
meticulous analysis of classical Indian Buddhist works
like Vasubandhu’s
Abhidharmakosa and Asanga's Abhidharmasamuccaya.
Table of
Contents
INTRODUCTION 1
1. TSONG KHA PA and His Works on the Twenty
Samghas 14
2. The Early Years of the Life of TSONG KHA PA 19
3. Writing of
THE STAIRWAY TAKEN BY THOSE OF
LUCID INTELLIGENCE 24
4. THE STAIRWAY TAKEN
BY THE LUCID 32
BIBLIOGRAPHY 198
INDEX 216
--
James B.
Apple, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Buddhist Studies
Department of Religious
Studies
University of Calgary
Calgary, Alberta T2N
1N4
Canada
Office: SS 1306
http://rels.ucalgary.ca/profiles/james-apple
http://ucalgary.academia.edu/JamesApple
Phone: (403)
220-8267
Fax: (403) 210-0801
Email: jbapple@ucalgary.ca
