an explanation of Nagarjuna’s first letter to the King

by Jetsun Rendawa

translated by Geshe Michael Roach

Twenty-three centuries ago, a young man by the name of Alexander took off from his home in ancient Greece with around 30,000 soldiers—and before he had reached his 30th birthday, together they had conquered most of the civilized world known to them.  Today we can only look back and wonder how this could have been.

In those ancient times, it was a custom in both West and East for a great king to engage an especially wise individual as both a political and personal advisor.  Alexander had the great Greek thinker Aristotle, who together with his teacher Socrates and his teacher Plato created the foundation for much of Western thinking and education.

In Asia—around the same times—the famed Indian king Udayi Bhadra had Nagarjuna, master of emptiness and perhaps the greatest Buddhist thinker & writer of all time.  The book you have here presents a letter of life advice that his teacher offered to the King.  Along with the letter is an explanation of it composed by Jetsun Rendawa (1349-1412), an extraordinary Tibetan master who was the close personal instructor of Je Tsongkapa, greatest of thousands of masters in the Land of Snows.

These two masterpieces are combined in a single work here—a book which is the perfect doorway to the profound idea of emptiness, and a successful and happy life based upon it.

*Important Notice: This material can’t be shipped to countries where is not allowed.

Profits from the sale of this book go to benefit the Diamond Cutter Classics translation program.