Three Principal Aspects of the Path

The wish for freedom, altruistic intention, and the wisdom of emptiness constitute the three principal aspects of the path to enlightenment. The essential prerequisite is a strong wish for freedom. But to know how to attain freedom and cut the root of cyclic existence, it is necessary to have the correct understanding of reality. Even with a feeling of antipathy to this cycle of involuntary birth and death and an undistorted understanding of reality, supreme enlightenment will remain out of reach without the altruistic intention to act selflessly for the good and happiness of all living beings. These three are the key —everything that the Buddha thought necessary to attain enlightenment is contained in these teachings.

"Geshe Rinchen splendidly elucidates and expands on the short dialogue of Je Tsongkhapa."—John Tigue, Ph.D., for Explorations