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Overview and Sources
The Tibetan Buddhist tradition has a vast number of texts, both translated from Sanskrit into
Tibetan and, over centuries, newly written volumes of Tibetan origin. The original canon is
organized into three categories: the
Sutras
, the
Vinaya
and the
Abhidharma
. Most of the texts
called Sutras deal with the discourses of the Buddha and his life stories, the Vinaya with monastic
discipline, and the Abhidharma
broadly speaking with Buddhist psychology and metaphysics.
Based on those source texts, many commentaries were written with the aim of elucidating the
respective meanings and applications. They investigate aspects of reality and expound concepts of
mind, metaphysics, philosophical systems and meditation. Some of these texts can be extremely
technical, while others are very practical.Among those many texts, two stand out for training
meditation and compassion: “The Stages of Meditation”
by Kamalashila, and “The Way of the
Bodhisattva”
by Shantideva. Both texts were written between the 8th and 9th centuries CE and
have been very influential in the development of Tibetan Buddhism. They are also very practical
since they can serve as manuals for meditation, training mental qualities, and as guidelines for
conduct in daily life.
They both elucidate in a clear way what destructive emotions are, why they lead to suffering, and
investigate whether there are any forces that oppose these afflictive emotions. Once the mental
qualities that oppose suffering-inducing emotions are identified, the texts explain how to develop
virtuous qualities of the mind that overcome negative emotions, and also how to stabilize the mind
once it has developed these positive mental qualities.
Suffering
In order to understand suffering, we need to look at the different types of suffering. Within the
Buddhist worldview, three categories of suffering are identified:
1. Suffering of suffering
2. Suffering of change
3. All-pervasive suffering
The first suffering is the apparent suffering, such as a fever, a bruise or some other ailment. These
are also called the obvious forms of suffering, as they are apparent and clearly unpleasant
sensations. However, besides being evident, they are often also compounded: on top of feeling
feverish, we have a headache. This is why this type of experience is called the “suffering of
suffering”.
The second category is called the “suffering of change”. You may feel cold at one point and you go
to a hot place to warm up – but then it gets too hot, and again you want something cooler; you are
hungry and thirsty, and after you have eaten and drunk you feel that you have consumed too
much; when you are tired from standing you want to sit down, but after a while sitting down you
again feel uncomfortable, and you want to get up. The relief from one condition, in itself, can be the
cause of suffering after a while. This is why this kind of experience is called the “suffering of
change”: a relief from one situation carries in itself the nature of change. It is part of our existence.
Sometimes we experience predominantly the first suffering, the “suffering of suffering”, and
sometimes we feel more of the second one, the “suffering of change”. It is important to understand
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