Change of Heart
Lama Shenpen Drolma
(Reviewer - Rebecca Brown)
2003 Padma Publishing
ISBN: 1881847349

The Bodhisattva Peace Training of Chagdud Tulku.

Wisdom & insights into transforming ourselves to bring peace & justice to our world.

Chagdud Tulku, a beloved Tibetan Buddhist Rinpoche --“precious one”, who died in 2002, offers wisdom on becoming a spiritual warrior of compassion.

His student, Lama Shenpen Drolma, has edited this collection from a variety of talks & training seminars Tulku gave during the last 14 years of his life.

All individuals, Tulku believed, can benefit from Bodhisattva Peace Training, his system of teaching others to understand human interconnectedness & alleviate suffering.

Tulku explores ways to develop equanimity, transform an angry heart, awaken compassion, understand the root causes of suffering, contemplate impermanence & purify oneself from within.

Most of Bodhisattva Peace Training is in the form of a Q&A, taken from transcripts of Tulku's seminars. This give-&-take is an inherent part of Change of Heart's success in illuminating difficult teachings, & placing them into practical contexts.

In the Anger Chapter students challenge Tulku to unpack his statements that “anger is never useful” or that “there is no such thing as the right to be angry.” One student, an advocate for battered women, believes that abused people can & should become angry about their circumstances, & that anger can be a catalyst for change.

Tulku answers that anger is a fleeting response that cannot be depended upon to change unjust situations, & in fact usually compounds them.

Given that Change of Heart is taken from Tulku's unedited talks, it is a bit repetitive, however, it is a thoughtful, fascinating read which will linger long in your mind.

Essential reading with Meditations, for those wanting to unravel our unruly emotions, to soothe our ragged souls, to glimpse the yearning for the peace, real peace, within.

More from Chagdud Tulku Lama:
Life In Relation To Death
Lord of the Dance: Autobiography of Chagdud Tulku Lama
Gates to Buddhist Practice: Essential Teachings of a Tibetan Master, & many more!
(04/18/04)

Rebecca