Tuesday, May 12, 2026 · 天火 · tianmu.org
Letters, Advice, and Ethical Verse
Tibetan-preserved Buddhist letters, advice poems, ethical verse, and path instructions.
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Texts
A Letter from Avalokitesvara to the Monk RabsalA mythic verse epistle in which Avalokiteśvara writes to his old companion, the monk Rabsal the Youth, to remind him of their shared vow. From the Epistles section of the Degé Tengyur. First English translation.Advice in Categorical Statements — Maharshi CandraA ten-verse poem by Mahārṣi Candra addressing the poet's own mind on the urgency of impermanence, the corruption of the degenerate age, and the refuge of the compassionate Buddha. First English translation from the Tibetan (Tengyur D4173).Advice on the Meaning of Impermanence — RamendraA short Buddhist verse epistle on impermanence by the Indian poet Rāmendra, contemplating the universal reach of death — from dewdrops on grass to the aloneness of beings in saṃsāra. First English translation from the Tibetan (Tengyur D4174).Commentary on the Letter to a Student — PrajnakaramatiPrajñākaramati's commentary on Candragomin's famous letter to his wayward student — a systematic Buddhist guide through praise, suffering, and the path to awakening. First English translation.Commentary on the One Hundred LettersNāgārjuna's commentary on the Akṣaraśataka — a systematic Madhyamaka philosophical debate dismantling identity, difference, existence, causation, convention, reason, self-nature, perception, production, the conditioned, the unconditioned, names, and finally refutation itself. Fourteen rounds of objection and refutation, each turning the opponent's logic against itself. First English translation from the Tibetan Buddhist Tengyur (D3835).Devotion to Teaching and Hearing the True DharmaA discourse on the sacred merit of teaching and hearing the Dharma, with a lament for the future decline of the True Dharma and examples of beings transformed by hearing. First English translation from the Tibetan Buddhist Tengyur (Tohoku 4172).Difficult Commentary on the Letter to a Student — VairocanarakshitaFirst English translation of Vairocanarakshita's word-by-word commentary on Candragomin's Letter to a Student (Tengyur D4191), translated from Classical Tibetan.Discourse of the Casket of Gems of Well-Spoken Words — AryasuraA 28-chapter Buddhist didactic poem on merit, generosity, and the six perfections, by the great Indian poet Ācārya Śūra (Āryaśūra), preserved only in Tibetan translation in the Tengyur.Discourse on Abandoning the Four Inversions — MaticitraMāticitra's systematic Buddhist poem dismantling the four inversions — seeing permanence in what is impermanent, happiness in what is suffering, purity in what is impure, and self in what is selfless. Thirty-five verses on death, birth, the body, and the illusion of possession. First English translation from the Tibetan.Discourse on Solitude — JivaguptaA discourse on the spiritual benefits of forest solitude by the Indian Buddhist master Jīvagupta, translated into Tibetan by Atīśa Dīpaṃkara. First English translation.Discourse on the Age of Strife — MaticitraMaticitra's prophetic poem on the degeneration of the Kali Yuga — when discipline decays, the earth dries, crops fail, and the holy dharma is extinguished. A Buddhist apocalyptic lament from the 2nd century CE. First English translation from the Tibetan (D4170).Extensive Commentary on the Song of the Glorious Vajra-HolderA six-folio scholastic commentary explaining every phrase of the five-verse tantric hymn to Vajradhara (D1162). The commentator addresses three philosophical objections: the incomparability of buddha-qualities, the compatibility of compassion with stainlessness, and the continuity of compassionate activity after nirvana. First-ever English translation from the Tibetan Buddhist Tengyur (D1163).Lamp of Generating Faith — KamalasilaA comprehensive verse teaching by the great Indian master Kamalaśīla on the precious human birth, impermanence, bodhicitta, ethics, and the sufferings of samsara — first English translation from the Degé Tengyur.Letter to a Son — SajjanaA Buddhist father's letter to his wayward son — an Indian pandit's passionate warnings against sense pleasure, wealth, women, and alcohol. Structured as four renunciations with vivid imagery: elephants mired in mud, the Salmali tree of iron thorns, merchants seized by demons, and gods ruined by drink. First English translation from the Tibetan Buddhist Tengyur (D4187). From the Epistles section — the first text translated from this section for the archive.Letter to a Spiritual Teacher — Parahitaghosa AranyakaA forest monk's four-chapter letter to a spiritual teacher on abandoning desire, craving, heedlessness, and afflictions — first English translation from the Tibetan TengyurLetter to King Moon — JagatamitranandaA yogin's letter to a king — on impermanence, the futility of power, the nature of mind, and the gold-testing instruction. First English translation from the Tibetan Buddhist Tengyur (D4189). The first text translated from the Tengyur epistles section for this archive.One Hundred LettersTwenty-one Madhyamaka aphorisms in one hundred syllables — a compressed philosophical catechism that systematically dismantles identity, difference, existence, causation, and conceptual grasping. First English translation from the Tibetan Buddhist Tengyur (D3834). The first philosophical treatise translated from the Tengyur for this archive.Teaching on the Eight Kinds of Suffering — KamalasilaKamalaśīla's personal teaching on the eight kinds of suffering to a named student — birth, aging, sickness, death, not finding what is sought, not keeping what is held, meeting the hated, and parting from the beloved. First English translation.Teaching on the Path of the Ten Virtues — SubhutighoshaA systematic Buddhist ethical treatise analyzing the ten wholesome and unwholesome paths of action — their factors, karmic results, degrees of severity, root afflictions, and exceptions for bodhisattvas. With verse quotations from the Bodhisattva Collection, the Gandavyuha Sutra, the Tathagatagarbha Sutra, the Abhidharmakosa, and Nagarjuna. First English translation from the Tibetan Buddhist Tengyur (D4176).The Discourse Showing the Good Path — Acārya VīraA systematic treatise on the Buddhist threefold training by Acarya Vira, translated into Tibetan by Atisa and Rinchen Zangpo. The first complete English translation of this Tengyur text.The Hierarchs of the TeachingsAn anonymous fragment from a single-leaf Indian manuscript preserving the succession of Buddhist patriarchs who carried the teachings from Kashmir through the age of councilsTreasury of Verses — RaviguptaA collection of wisdom verses on the nature of virtue and vice, the noble and the ignoble, by the Indian master Ravigupta — translated from Classical Tibetan for the first time.