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Course on Nagarjuna's Letter to a Friend (lower quality version, smaller files)

Here we present the recordings of a continuing weekly course given by Dr. Alexander Berzin in Berlin, Germany, on Nagarjuna's letter of advice to a king, outlining the main points of the Mahayana Buddhist path.

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Course Recordings

All files are in MP3 format. To listen to or download one of the recordings, choose one of the dates below:

• Tue 7. February 2006 Introductory Verses (verses 1 ‒ 3) (5.3 MB)
• Tue 14. February 2006 The First Three of the Six Objects of Mindfulness ‒ The Three Gems (verse 4) (6 MB)
• Tue 21. February 2006 The Buddhas Are the Deepest Source of Safe Direction and the Endpoint of the Path (5.4 MB)
• Tue 28. February 2006 The Four Qualities Why the Buddhas Are the Deepest Source of Safe Direction (5.1 MB)
• Tue 7. March 2006 The Thirty-two Excellent Signs of a Buddha’s Enlightening Body (6.1 MB)
• Tue 14. March 2006 What Does It Matter What a Buddha’s Body Looks Like and How Does an Artist Buddha Teach (6 MB)
• Tue 21. March 2006 The Sixty-four Qualities of a Buddha’s Enlightening Speech (1 ‒ 44) (4.7 MB)
• Tue 28. March 2006 Bodhichitta and the Relevance of the Qualities of a Buddha to Bodhichitta (4.9 MB)
• Tue 4. April 2006 The Sixty-four Qualities of a Buddha’s Enlightening Speech (45 ‒ 64), The Qualities of a Buddha’s Omniscient Mind (5.6 MB)
• Tue 11. April 2006 The Qualities of a Buddha’s Omniscient Mind (continued), of the Dharma, and of the Arya Sangha (10 MB)
• Tue 9. May 2006 The Good Qualities of Generosity, Ethical Discipline, and the Gods, Pathways of Karma ‒ The Ten Destructive Actions (Verse 5) (6.8 MB)
• Tue 16. May 2006 The Four Factors that Make a Pathway of Karma Complete (10.1 MB)
• Tue 23. May 2006 The Three Destructive Actions of Body (10.3 MB)
• Tue 30. May 2006 The Four Destructive Actions of Speech (5.8 MB)
• Tue 6. June 2006 The Four Destructive Actions of Speech (continued) (9.7 MB)
• Tue 13. June 2006 The Three Destructive Actions of Mind (9.4 MB)
• Tue 20. June 2006 Factors that Affect the Ripening of Karma and the Certainty of Its Ripening within a Certain Time Frame (11.2 MB)
• Tue 27. June 2006 Factors that Affect the Ripening of Karma (continued), Turning Away from Intoxicants, Delighting in Constructive Livelihoods (9.6 MB)
• Tue 11. July 2006 The Six Far-Reaching Attitudes ‒ Generosity and Ethical Discipline (Verses 6 ‒ 11) (9.6 MB)
• Tue 25. July 2006 Ethical Discipline (continued), the Four Types of Discriminating Awareness, the Two Truths (verses 12 ‒ 14) (4.7 MB)
• Tue 1. August 2006 Patience (verses 15 ‒ 17) (7.2 MB)
• Tue 8. August 2006 Patience (continued) and Joyful Perseverance (verses 18 ‒ 20) (9.7 MB)
• Tue 15. August 2006 Gaining Mental Stability by Avoiding Distraction by Objects of the Senses (verses 21 ‒ 26) (10 MB)
• Tue 22. August 2006 The Antidote to Distraction, Avoiding Distraction by the Eight Worldly Concerns (verse 27-29) (9.4 MB)
• Tue 5. September 2006 Avoiding Distraction by Wealth ‒ Getting Rid of Trivial Pursuits (verse 33) (5.7 MB)
• Tue 12. September 2006 Contentment ‒ The Antidote to Distraction by Wealth (verse 34 ‒ 35) (9.7 MB)
• Tue 19. September 2006 Avoiding Distraction by Partners (verses 36 ‒ 37) (10.3 MB)
• Tue 26. September 2006 Avoiding Distraction by Food and Sleep, Practicing the Four Immeasurable Attitudes as an Aid to Gaining Concentration (verses 38 ‒ 40) (9.3 MB)
• Tue 3. October 2006 The Actual Concentration (the Four Dhyanas) and What To Do Afterwards (verses 41 ‒ 44) (10.1 MB)
• Tue 10. October 2006 Discriminating Awareness ‒ The Five Forces and Five Powers, the Five Pathway Minds, the Sixteen Aspects of the Four Noble Truths (verse 45) (9.7 MB)
• Tue 17. October 2006 The Sixteen Aspects of the Four Noble Truths (continued) (11 MB)
• Tue 24. October 2006 True Sufferings and Distorted Ways of Understanding True Sufferings and True Causes of Suffering (9.5 MB)
• Tue 31. October 2006 Distorted Ways of Understanding the True Causes of Suffering (continued) (8.5 MB)
• Tue 7. November 2006 Distorted Ways of Understanding the True Causes of Suffering (continued) and Distorted Ways of Understanding True Stoppings (8.9 MB)
• Tue 14. November 2006 Distorted Ways of Understanding True Pathway Minds ‒ Is Liberation Possible (11.2 MB)
• Tue 21. November 2006 Distorted Ways of Understanding True Pathway Minds ‒ Is Nonconceptual Cognition of Voidness the Appropriate Means (continued) (9.8 MB)
• Tue 28. November 2006 The Five Pathway Minds and the Four Close Placements of Mindfulness (10.1 MB)
• Tue 5. December 2006 Remembering the Disadvantages of Samsara ‒ The Eight Sufferings of the Human Rebirth (verse 46) (9.1 MB)
• Tue 12. December 2006 The Six Types of Suffering of Samsara in General (8.5 MB)
• Tue 19. December 2006 Discriminating Awareness as the Root of All Happiness, Distorted Antagonistic Thinking, the Four Close Placements of Mindfulness (verses 47 ‒ 48) (8.9 MB)
• Tue 9. January 2007 The Lack of an Impossible Self of Persons (verse 49) (9.2 MB)
• Tue 16. January 2007 Refutation of a Doctrinally Based Impossible Self (9.7 MB)
• Tue 23. January 2007 Refutation of an Atomatically Arising, Self-Sufficiently Knowable Self, The Twenty Deluded Outlooks toward a Transitory Network (10 MB)
• Tue 30. January 2007 The Twenty Deluded Outlooks (continued), Refutation of the Six Impossible Ways of Arising of the Aggregates (verse 50) (9.3 MB)
• Tue 6. February 2007 Refutation of the Six Impossible Ways of Arising of the Aggregates (continued), Three Things (Yokes) Incompatible with the Path (verse 51) (9.8 MB)
• Tue 27. February 2007 Perseverance, the Three Higher Trainings and Mindfulness (verses 52 ‒ 54) (7 MB)
• Tue 13. March 2007 Mindfulness of Death and the Ten Gem-like Attitudes (verse 55) (8.3 MB)
• Tue 20. March 2007 Death Will Come for Sure, No Certainty When, When It Comes, Only Dharma Can Help (verses 56 ‒ 58) (6.6 MB)
• Tue 27. March 2007 Rarity of the Precious Human Rebirth (verse 59) (8 MB)
• Tue 3. April 2007 Not Wasting the Precious Human Rebirth (verse 60) and the First Five of the Ten Enriching Factors (verse 61) (9 MB)
• Tue 10. April 2007 Second Five of the Ten Enriching Factors (7.1 MB)
• Tue 17. April 2007 Relation with a Spiritual Teacher, The Necessary Qualifications of the Teacher and Student (verse 62) (8.4 MB)
• Tue 24. April 2007 Appreciating Our Temporary Respite from Worse Rebirths, the Eight Faulty States-of No Leisure (verses 63 ‒ 64) (9 MB)
• Tue 1. May 2007 Turning Away from Samsara While Appreciating the Precious Human Rebirth, the Seven Sufferings of a Human Rebirth (verse 65) (8 MB)
• Tue 8. May 2007 First Two of the Six Sufferings of Samsara in General (verses 66 ‒ 67) (9.1 MB)
• Tue 15. May 2007 Fourth and Fifth of the Six Sufferings of Samsara in General (verses 68 ‒ 70) (9.1 MB)
• Tue 22. May 2007 Contiunuation of the Fifth and the Sixth of the Six Sufferings of Samsara in General (verses 71 ‒ 76) (8.4 MB)
• Tue 29. May 2007 Approach to the Sufferings of the Hell Realms (verse 77) (9 MB)
• Tue 5. June 2007 Importance of Dealing with Hellish Suffering (verses 78 ‒ 88) (9.6 MB)
• Tue 19. June 2007 Approach to the Sufferings of Animals and Clutching Ghosts (verses 89 ‒ 97) (9.2 MB)
• Tue 26. June 2007 Approach to the Sufferings of Celestial Beings (verses 98 ‒ 102) (10.2 MB)
• Tue 3. July 2007 Developing Confidence in Liberation and Enlightenment, Nirvana with and without Remainder (verses 103 – 105) (1 MB)
• Tue 10. July 2007 True Pathway Minds, Seeing Pathway Mind, Its Seven Branches, the Fourteen Questions Left Unanswered by Buddha (verses 106 ‒ 108) (9.9 MB)
• Tue 31. July 2007 The First Link of the Twelve Links of Dependent Arising – Unawareness (the Two Levels) (verses 109 – 111) (9.7 MB)
• Tue 7. August 2007 Unawareness (continued), The Second Link – Affecting (Karmic) Impulses (9.8 MB)
• Tue 14. August 2007 The Third through Sixth Links – Consciousness, Name and Form, Stimulators of Cognition, Contacting Awareness (8.4 MB)
• Tue 21. August 2007 Contacting Awareness (continued) (9.1 MB)
• Tue 11. September 2007 Side Discussion about the Relevance of the Indian Philosophical Systems in Our Times (10.3 MB)
• Tue 18. September 2007 Side Discussion about the Certainty Factor of Karma (9.4 MB)
• Tue 25. September 2007 Side Discussion about Our Not-Yet-Happening Enlightenment, the Seventh through Ninth Links ‒ Feeling a Level of Happiness, Craving, Obtainer Attitudes (10.1 MB)
• Tue 2. October 2007 Obtainer Attitudes (continued), the Last Three Links ‒ Further Existence, Birth, Old Age and Death, Dependent Arising (verse 112) (9 MB)
• Tue 9. October 2007 Accustoming Pathway Mind, Eight Branches of an Arya Pathway Mind (verses 113 ‒ 115) (7.3 MB)
• Tue 16. October 2007 Encouragement to Practice the Bodhisattva Path, Rejoicing, Dedicating, and Its Result, Recapitulation (verses 115 – 123) (5.8 MB)
• Tue 23. October 2007 Meditation on Some Basic Points in the Text, Putting the Teachings into Practice (6.5 MB)