Meaningful to Behold: Becoming a Friend of the World Paperback – September 1, 2008

An amazing clear concise development of the Mahayana path. I love Santideva's work and this text not only is an amazing commentary but also makes so much of the teachings practical with methods to lead to realization. So many concepts that had been just words are now becoming something that is realized into the midstream. This is an amazing teacher - much like Choygam Trungpa. Anyone who listens to charlatan that criticize either of these teachers just has bad karma methinks.

This book is actually a commentary to Shantideva's Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of LIfe, which I would also reccommend to read along with this. The ninth chapter of this book is the most famous and profound and Geshe Kelsang Gyatso makes it very practical. I've read and studied this book many times and there is always more to learn and discover. Enjoy your time with this book!

Geshe Kelsang Gyatso has written an incredible commentary to Guide to the Bodhisattva's way of life, extracting the essential meaning of Shantideva's precious text and making it applicable to Western practioners in today's modern world.Geshe Kelsang explains the complete path to enlightenment focusing specific chapters on how to successfully cultivate peaceful states of mind that ensure long-lasting happiness, and how to effectively eradicate negative states of mind that cause suffering and harm to others.He explains in detail how to cultivate bodhichitta, the spontaneous mind that wishes for all living beings to be free from suffering and why that mind is so important for ourselves and others.Geshe Kelsang also describes how to overcome our attachment and increase our love as well as other virtuous minds such as: patience , effort, concentration, and wisdom. He also gives an in-depth analysis of what the ultimate nature of reality is and why if we understand it, we can experience unlimited happiness.This is an advanced text on Buddhist thought and meditation for the serious spiritual practitioner interested in deepening his/her insight into some of the more challenging tenents of Buddhism. It is incredibly inspiring and demonstrates clearly that the author Geshe Kelsang Gyatso is an extraordinary being.

Extremely clear and deep exposition on the 6 perfections.

An incredible book but not for light reading. Perfect for studying with a class.

Absolutely wonderful book by a great master

An absolutely wonderful book that should be read in conjunction with "A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life". I have been studying the book on the Teachers Training Programme and have found it very practical and inspiring.

Although I'm not a Buddhist, per se, and not involved in the New Kadampa Tradition, I have really come to enjoy Geshe Kelsang Gyatso's books. I like the way he writes his commentaries. Despite the differences between Vajrayana and the Vietnames Zen as taught by the Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh (whose books fill almost one full shelf of my library), what Geshe Kelsang Gyatso writes on the general topics is very similar to what I read in Thich Nhat Hanh's books. I noticed this not only with this commentary, but also when I read Geshe Kelsang Gyatso's commentary on the Heart Sutra, and when I read chapters from his New Meditation Manual and Modern Buddhism. The Meditation Manual teaches counting one's breath in meditation, as does Thich Nhat Hanh's commentary on the Sutta of the Full Awareness of Breathing, for example. What GKG writes concerning the Heart Sutra is similar to what is in Thich Nhat Hanh's commentary of the same Sutra, as far as the general themes.As far as I know, Thich Nhat Hahn never wrote a verse-by-verse commentary on Shantideva's "Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life," but the advices in the Guide and Commentary are very much the same as in many of Thich Nhat Hanh's books. For me, these two writers complement each other.Of course, Thich Nhat Hanh's books for higher level students give more or less the Zen approach, while Geshe Kelsang Gyatso's higher level books concern subjects in Tibetan Buddhism such as Mahamudra Tantra. However, there is still a lot of common ground between these two streams of Mahayana Buddhism, and therefore these two great writers teach many of the same things.If one decides the be a serious student of the New Kadampa Tradition, at that time one would do best just to concentrate on the NKT curriculum. As for me, while I read basic and mid-level books from various schools of Tibetan Buddhism, I mostly read books by Thich Nhat Hanh. as well as poetry from the Shin Buddhist school (Pure Land Buddhism in the way of Honen and Shinran). Yes, I also read books by the Dalai Lama and Robert Thurman as well as the Kaygu Lineage (especially the songs of Milarepa), but since I don't pray to any of the protecting deities in the Tibetan Buddhist schools, there really is conflict of interest.The main thing is to practice what one learns about breath-meditation, compassion, emptiness (properly understood), the nature of suffering, non-attachment, enlightenment, and etc.

Eventhough this Matter is very uncommon to start with, reading it again and again make you very happy because you start to realize what "uncommon" means and that your life can be used in a much more meaninful way that i ever dared to dream of!

Incredible book ! One of the most in depth , profound books one could ever read !

Expert guide to Santideva. Clear, clean prose. Early delivery, book in perfect condition.

An excellent and thought provoking approach and understanding of the pathway to personal enlightment and peace.

Direct and very profound