After finishing our yearlong class on the 37 practices of a bodhisattva in June 2018, we are now studying Je Gampopa’s Ornament of Precious Liberation, the classic Kagyu how-to manual and step-by-step guide to the path of awakening. This study guide is being created to allow anyone to follow the readings and the class any time, anywhere. [Contact me if you’re interested in joining the class live.]

How to navigate: As with the 37 practices, the posts are in blog order (latest first), so to follow the course from the beginning or to find a particular post, click on the Gampopa tag in the right hand column of any page, and then scroll down to find the post you need.

Resources for the class: The books we’re using are Gampopa’s Ornament of Precious Liberation (aka, Jewel Ornament of Liberation) and Ringu Tulku’s Path to Buddhahood. It’s best to have both books, but if you can only get one, I recommend Ringu Tulku for his very accessible and Westerner-friendly retelling of Gampopa’s classic 12th-century text (which is quite accessible itself, for the most part, but longer).

Re OPL/JOL, any translation is fine. I personally rely mainly on the Ken Holmes translation under the title Ornament of Precious Liberation, but each translation has its advantages. Khenpo Konchog Rinpoche’s Jewel Ornament has a wealth of supplementary resources at the end.

Why study this text? If you need encouragement, Gampopa makes a compelling case in his introduction to OPL.

Recordings of the classes may be found here and via the link in the blogroll column to the right.