These teaching are drawn from a yearly session the Dalai Lama holds each year with Western Buddhists, and addresses questions of psychology, Christianity, tantra and more.

In this book, two great Tibetan Buddhist masters of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries challenge us to critically examine our materialistic preoccupations and think carefully about how we want to spend the rest of our lives. At the same time, they provide practical guidance in following the Buddhist path, starting from the most basic motivation and culminating in the direct experience of reality beyond the reach of conceptual mind. The root text is a teaching in verse written in the nineteenth century by Patrul Rinpoche, one of the outstanding teachers of his day. In the accompanying commentary, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche (1910-1991)--lineage holder of the Nyingma school and one of the great expounders of the Dharma in Europe and North America--expands upon the text with his characteristic compassion and uncompromising thoroughness. Patrul Rinpoche's fresh and piercing verses combined with Khyentse Rinpoche's down-to-earth comments offer a concise yet complete examination of the Buddhist path.

The Tibetan Buddhist practice of Nyungne (nyoong-nay) has been gaining increased attention in Buddhist centers across North America; participants say the practice purifies them both physically and spiritually. This volume is one of the few comprehensive treatments in English of these powerful teachings. Nyungne is a profound two-and-a-half-day practice, whose length of time is especially helpful for people whose schedules cannot accommodate a long-term retreat. It involves the keeping of strict vows; the second day is devoted to complete silence and fasting. The meditation centers on the recitations, mantras, and guided visualizations of the Thousand-Armed Chenrezig, the embodiment of all the buddhas' loving-kindness and compassion. Translated as abiding in the fast, Nyungne is said to be effective in the healing of illness, the nurturing of compassion, and the purification of negative karma.meditation

Mahamudra and Dzogchen are perhaps the most profound teachings within all of Tibetan Buddhism. The experience of "Mahamudra, or "great symbol," is an overwhelming sense of extraordinary clarity, totally open and nondualistic. "Dzogchen, or "great perfection," is the ultimate teaching according to the Nyingma tradition and also represents the pinnacle of spiritual development. These are the two paths that provide practitioners with the most skillful means to experience the fully awakened state and directly taste the reality of our mind and environment. And yet these concepts are notoriously difficult to grasp and challenging to explain. In "Wild Awakening, Tibetan Buddhist master Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche presents these esoteric teachings in a style that reveals their surprising simplicity and great practical value, emphasizing that we can all experience our world more directly, with responsibility, freedom, and confidence. With a straightforward approach and informal style, he presents these essential teachings in a way that even those very new to Tibetan Buddhism can understand.