The Three Vehicles of Buddhist Practice (Book)

The first path, the Shravaka or Theravada Path begins with the Four Noble Truths and the Eight Fold Path. Thrangu Rinpoche present the Five Paths and discusses the meditation at this level including why understanding selflessness is important and how this relates happiness in our life and to reincarnation.

The second major vehicle is the Mahayana in which Thrangu Rinpoche discusses the bodhisattva ideal and the four immeasurable. Then he discusses the concept of emptiness of self and emptiness of phenomena and how this affects our practice. To understand this we need to understand the interdependence of phenomena. Finally, the Mahayana vehicle only makes sense if we understand relative and ultimate truth, the mind's luminous clarity, and buddha nature.

The third vehicle of the Vajrayana is the most difficult to understand and Rinpoche gives an excellent explanation of how this vehicle is based mainly on understanding the mind and developing techniques to look directly into it. The meditation at this level is described clearly and is a valuable addition to developing one's meditation.