The Essential Nectar

Exploring crucial points on the path to enlightenment, "Stages of the Path" literature continues to hold its place as one of the great treasures of Buddhist thought. In this volume, Geshe Rabten presents a structured explanation of the popular and practical text, The Essential Nectar of Holy Doctrine, by the 18th century scholar Yeshe Tsondru. Geshe Rabten’s teachings reveal how we may see life’s great value and, by taking up the profound practice described herein, make the most of its abundant opportunity. In a voice both sweet and potent, The Essential Nectar reveals the essence of the path to enlightenment.

Geshe Rabten (1921–86) was born in Dargye in eastern Tibet. He studied at Sera Monastery in Lhasa, where he gained renown as a great scholar, debater, and meditation master. In 1959, he escaped to India, where he became the spiritual teacher of Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. In the mid 1960s Geshe Rabten was appointed as a religious assistant to His Holiness the Dalai Lama. On His Holiness's request he began teaching Dharma to Westerners in Dharamsala in 1969, and he went to live and teach in Switzerland in 1974. He founded Rabten Choeling Center (originally Tharpa Choeling) in Switzerland in 1979, where he lived and worked as spiritual director until he passed away in 1986.
Martin Willson received his PhD in radioastronomy at Cambridge University before spending twelve years as a Buddhist monk in Australia, Switzerland, and France. Now married, he lives in Swansea, South Wales, United Kingdom.