Wake Up to What Matters: A Guide to Tibetan Buddhism for the Next Generation

by Avikrita Vajra Sakya

Overview

An introduction to the Dharma for millennials by a young Tibetan lama.

This unique and fresh presentation of Tibetan Buddhism provides all the tools a millennial needs to navigate the Buddhist path in a modern world. The twenty-five-year-old lama, Avikrita Vajra Sakya, was born and raised in America and now lives in a monastery in India, training in and teaching meditation and Buddhist philosophy to hundreds of monks and nuns. He has thousands of students all over the world, with over 100,000 people following him on Facebook. His style of writing is frank and open, hitting straight to the heart of young people's concerns for why they should bother with a spiritual path in the age of cell phones and shopping malls.

There is no other book like this available that makes such a direct argument for being a twenty-first century Buddhist, whether you are living in Seattle or in a Himalayan hermitage. Fundamentally, we all have the same hang-ups and all equally have the potential to become buddhas ourselves by cultivating loving-kindness, compassion, and wisdom. And this book teaches readers to do just that.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781611806601
Publisher:	Shambhala
Publication date:	12/03/2019
Pages:	152
Sales rank:	1,046,340
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

AVIKRITA VAJRA SAKYA is a young, dynamic Buddhist teacher who is tuned in to Western culture and has trained in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Rinpoche straddles both worlds through growing up in America and now living in the Dzongsar Institute in India, studying Buddhist philosophy and teaching monks and nuns throughout the Himalayas. He is Head Lama of Sakya's Phunstok Phodrang and Sakya Monastery in Seattle and is ranked as one of the highest lamas in Tibetan Buddhism. He has thousands of students throughout America, Europe, and Asia and regularly travels internationally to teach.

Table of Contents

Foreword His Holiness the Dalai Lama vii

Foreword Abhaya Vajra Sakya ix

Introduction xiii

1 Buddhism for the Next Generation 1

2 Discovering the Riches of Buddhism 9

3 The Miracle of Awakening 23

4 The Cause for Attaining Everything on the Path 35

5 Putting Aspiration into Action 41

6 Transforming the Mind 47

7 As Fearless as Tara 71

8 The Transformative Power of Compassion 85

9 Victory Over All Obstacles 99

10 Questions for the Modern Practitioner 115

11 Being a Twenty-First-Century Buddhist 123

About the Author 131

Editorial Reviews

11/18/2019

Buddhist monk Sakya explores Mahayana Buddhism, “the altruistic system of Buddhism for attaining full awakening to benefit all sentient beings,” in his welcoming and lucid debut. Rather than “a totally secular and materialist or psychotherapeutic approach” to the ancient teachings, Sakya instructs 21st-century Buddhists on fundamental principles, such as the Triple Gem: “the Buddha who shows us the path; the verbalized and realized Dharma, which is the path; and the Sangha, especially the companionship of aryan bodhisattvas, who assist us on the path.” Rather than the traditional eightfold path, Sakya explains the five progressive paths of bodhisattvas in the Mahayanistic tradition, as well as the nature of bodhi (enlightenment), the conditions that strengthen and impede bodhichitta (“the altruistic determination for full awakening”), and the six transcendent perfections, or the paramitas. Sakya particularly shines in the chapters which explore the power of compassion and the “inner demons” of bodhisattvas (such as misknowing, anger, pride, and doubt). This thorough yet approachable treatise on Mahayana Buddhism will be invaluable reading for newcomers to the religion. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

Wake Up to What Matters, a book by Khondung Avikrita Vajra Sakya Rinpoche of the Sakya Phuntsog family, elucidates many philosophical ideas and practices of Buddhism…in a contemporary, readable manner.” —From the Foreword by H.H. the Fourteenth Dalai Lama

“I am encouraged that Avikrita Vajra Rinpoche, at such a young age, is already reaching out to young, modern people in a language and style to which they can relate. My wish is that this basic introduction to the dharma will attract many such people to the path of awakening and that it will encourage them to go ever further and deeper with their practice and study. I am sure it is with this in mind that Avikrita Rinpoche’s grandfather, H. H. Jigdal Dagchen Sakya, encouraged him to write this book. May Wake Up to What Matters bring great benefit to countless beings!”—Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse

“This thorough yet approachable treatise on Mahayana Buddhism will be invaluable reading for newcomers to the religion.”—Publishers Weekly 

From the Publisher