Cultivating a Compassionate Heart: The Yoga Method of Chenrezig

Chenrezig (Avalokiteshvara / Kuan Yin) is not only Tibet’s patron deity, he also is the embodiment of the compassion of all the Buddhas and as such is deemed the best possible contemplative gateway to the cultivation of compassion.

In this book, which has received high praise from monastics and lay Buddhist scholars alike, the American-born nun Ven. Thubten Chodron lucidly and engagingly elucidates the Tibetan Buddhist yoga of Chenrezig. Her explanations are based not only on scriptural but also oral teachings, which makes them eminently authoritative and practical.

Essentially, Cultivating a Compassionate Heart is a knowledgeable, highly practical, and fairly extensive commentary on the Chenrezig sadhana. The book starts with the Thousand-Armed Chenrezig visualization and the preliminary prayers found in most sadhanas and the long mantra of Chenrezig. Only then does the author proceed to explaining the various concepts that make up the theoretical underpinnings of this extraordinary practice.

An outstanding and engaging introduction to the most widely known Buddhist deity, Chenrezig also known as Avalokiteshvara or Kuan Yin written by a popular Western Buddhist teacher.

Library Journal

Chenrezig is one of the less-familiar names of the Great Compassionate Buddha also known as Kuan-Yin, Kannon, and Avalokiteshvara. This "yoga" is not a routine of stretches and postures, but a system of meditations designed to enable practitioners to experience true compassion and become one with this Buddha. Clearly written by an American-born Buddhist nun and the author of Buddhism for Beginners, this engaging book on the traditional "Meditation on Thousand-Arm Chenrezig" is less a guide to practice than a full explication of it for a contemporary audience. For most collections. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Thubten Chodron, an American-born Tibetan Buddhist nun, travels worldwide, teaching and leading meditation retreats. Known for her clear and practical explanations of the Buddha's teachings, she is the author of Buddhism for Beginners; Working with Anger; How to Free Your Mind; Open Heart, Clear Mind; and Taming the Mind. She lives in Seattle, Washington.