Jamgön Kongtrul's encyclopedic Treasury of Knowledge presents a
complete account of the major lines of thought and practice that
comprise Tibetan Buddhism. Among the ten books that make up this tour de
force, Book Six is by far the longest--concisely summarizing the
theoretical fields of knowledge to be studied prior to the cultivation
of reflection and discriminative awareness.
The first two parts of Book Six, contained in this volume, respectively
concern Indo-Tibetan classical learning and Buddhist phenomenology. The
former analyzes the traditional subjects of phonology and Sanskrit
grammar, logic, fine art, and medicine, along with astrology, poetics,
prosody, synonymics, and dramaturgy. The principal non-Buddhist
philosophical systems of ancient India are then summarized and
contrasted with the hierarchical meditative concentrations and formless
absorptions through which the "summit of cyclic existence" can genuinely
be attained. Part Two examines the phenomenological structures of
Abhidharma--the shared inheritance of all Buddhist traditions--from
three distinct perspectives, corresponding to the three successive
turnings of the doctrinal wheel.