Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path (Lamrim Chenmo)

Introduction

Tsongkhapa completed the work in 1402 at Reting, the monastery founded by Atisha’s disciple Dromtönpa. Following Atisha’s Lamp for the Path, it leads through the practices for beings of three “scopes”, from reflection on death and karma to compassion, the resolve to attain awakening and the six perfections. The final sections, on calm abiding (shamatha) and insight (vipashyana), set out Tsongkhapa’s reading of Madhyamaka: emptiness does not deny that things exist conventionally, only that they exist by their own nature, so identifying exactly the “object of negation” is crucial. The work became a foundational text of the Gelug school, which regards Tsongkhapa as its founder; a complete English translation appeared in three volumes between 2000 and 2004.

Connections

Builds on

• Fundamental Verses on the Middle Way (Mulamadhyamakakarika)c. 200 · Nagarjuna
• Lamp for the Path to Enlightenmentc. 1042 · Atisha