A brief explanation of the teachings
Kamalashila
His Holiness the Dalai Lama taught on Volume Two of Kamalashila’s Stages of Meditation (Bhavanakrama - sgom rim bar pa).
Kamalashila, born in India in the 8th century AD, played a unique role in preserving and bringing to Tibet an authentic form of Buddha’s teachings. His three volume work, Stages of Meditation, according to His Holiness, can be considered "as a key that opens the door to all Buddhist texts."
In Volume Two, which His Holiness has chosen to give us a commentary on in Toulouse, Kamalashila explains the causes of Buddhahood with precision, and, above all, the way to create them. The root of omniscience is great compassion, which leads to the aspiration to Enlightenment for the sake of all beings, the ‘Mind of Enlightenment’ in both its relative and ultimate aspects. To attain this level, two types of practices are to be cultivated: meditative serenity (shamatha) and special insight (vipashyana). The favourable conditions for achieving these, the way to cultivate them, and finally, the way to combine them are brilliantly and meticulously described. Kamalashila also insists on the importance of the Method path - the practise of the six perfections - in order to obtain complete enlightenment. Finally, he mentions all the extraordinary qualities that are the fruit of such a meditation.