- NDC601 Life of Shakyamuni Buddha
- NDC602 3 Turnings of Wheel of Dharma
- NDC 603 The Four Noble Truths
- NDC 604 — Wheel of Life and Twelve Links of Dependent Origination
- NDC605 4 Seals of Buddhism
- NDC606 Buddhist Psychology
- NDC 607 — Bodhicitta — Two Methods for Cultivation and Four Immeasurables
- NDC 608 — The Practice of Six/Ten Perfections
- NDC 609 — Five Aggregates, Twelve Sources, Eighteen Elements
- NDC 610 — Five/Fifteen Paths to Enlightenment
- NDC611 Tenet Systems
- NDC612 Wisdom of Emptiness
- NDC 613 — The Graded Path to Enlightenment (Lamrim)
- NDC 614 — Introduction to Buddhist Logic
- NDC 615 — Hermeneutics (Interpretative and Definite Meanings of Buddha’s Teachings)
- NDC616 Features of Meditation
- NDC617 Buddha Nature
- NDC 618 — Thirty Seven Harmonious Paths to Enlightenment
- NDC 619 — Four Fruits and Eight Sangha Members
- NDC 620 — Overview of Four Tibetan Buddhist Schools
- NDC 621 — Overview of Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism
- NDC 622 — Presentation of Kayas of Buddha
NDC600 Notes Semester 1
Heart Sutra
TADYATHĀ (OṂ) GATEY GATEY PĀRAGATEY PĀRASAṂGATEY BODHI SVĀHĀ
> Go, go, go utterly beyond, go, and establish enlightenment!“From from tears to fearlessness!”, or “Become happier and happier”.
The yardstick for our success in our spiritual practice is: as we age to become happier and happier.
Purpose of Life
The Purpose Of Life: (1) minimize misery (2) maximize meaningful happiness (ease, fullfillment).
Learn Slowly
Learn! Don’t be too quick to accept, don’t be too quick to reject (unless you are convienced, through analysis).
— Geshe Dorji Damdul LaAbsorb, work on knowing, rather than judging. “Oh it doesn’t make any sense” is knowledge destroyer.
Why Dedicating
Just as when winning money, we think about how we use this money. Same with this knowledge. In what way are we going to action this result?
Compassion
(Compassion = Being of service to others) = Being of service to yourself
Overusing Buddhism
A lady was trying to provoke Geshe-la by announcing she abandoned Buddhism. Geshe-la was answering “It’s OK” all the time, but she kept repeating her decision — clearly expecting a why? Then Geshe-la asked why. “Because I have been praying the Buddha and other deities and I was expecting help with X, Y and Z and neither of these things happened”. Geshe-la says:
If you are sick go to the doctor, don’t go to the Buddha!
Teach on Request
Buddhism Doesn't Have Missionaries
Other religions might encourage spreading the word and teachings that conform it. Buddhism seems to disallow it, and it has been explicitly said that Buddhism cannot be taught unless someone requests it.
That’s why when Buddha was enlightened he says he went back to the woods, instead of spreading the precious teachings. It was some time after that Indra and Brahma prompted him Please turn the Wheel of Dharma.
Link to original
Video:
May 10th 2026
Wheel of Life
Origins
Wheel of Life Origins — King Bimbisara and King Udrayana
Back then in India at the time of the Buddha there were many kingdoms. To maintain peace between them good relationships between the kings was crucial. A common way was to express good relation through gifts.
King Udrayana send to king Bimbisara — kingdom of which was much less powerful — an armour ornamented with precious stones.
Bimbisara felt preassure to repay the kindness of Udrayana, but didn’t know what to give, so he went to the Buddha, who lived in his kingdom. The Buddha comissioned then a painting to be given as gift, with highest quality materials.
Buddha told Bimbisara to deliver the gift in the grounds that would usually be battlefields, army included! So Udayana was confused and angry after the precious armour he gave. Udayana’s ministers told him it should be OK to go there to receive the “gift” in return, because Bimbisara was much less powerful.
Bimbisara obviously didn’t want to attack so when Udrayana saw him approaching with 2 ministers and then dismounting from their horses — with the object wrapped in expensive clothes — they got relieved.
Bringing the armies to this encounter was only to signify massive respect around the offering of the gift.
After seeing the painting Udrayana enquired about the figure on the top right of the painting: the Buddha. So now Bimbisara’s kingdom became very respected because through that painting Udrayana started analyzing, studying the painting, meeting the Buddha and following the path to liberation.
The Buddha thought this painting would be useful to have at monasteries so that monks could explain to pilgrims, since he anticipated the decline and degenerate times.
Link to original
bodhicitta: altruistic motivation to become Buddha for the benefit of all sentient beings.
Link to originalCircular transclusion detected: sources/class/tibet-house-nalanda-course-glossary
3 Aspects of the Path
Link to original3 Aspects of the Path
The three principal aspects of the path are: renunciation, bodhicitta and wisdom of emptiness, they are connected as follows:
Link to original
- 2 goals
- to attain fearlessness
- nirvana
- to expand ease into infinity
- buddhahood
- and potential that they have- this potential is obscured by 2 obscurations
- afflictive
- cognitive
- to remove them we need 2 motivations (renunciation, bodhicitta)
- to materialize those aspirations we require the liberating path
- the liberating path is the wisdom of emptiness