The Karmapa's Middle Way Feast for the Fortunate

Marked by eloquent poetry, vigorous and extensive analysis, and heart instructions on breaking through the veils of confusion to independently experience the true nature of things, The Karmapa’s Middle Way contains the Ninth Karmapa Wangchuk Dorje’s comprehensive commentary on the Indian master Chandrakīrti’s seminal text, the Madhyamakāvatāra, or Entrance to the Middle Way. This commentary, Feast for the Fortunate, is the Ninth Karmapa’s abridgement of the Eighth Karmapa Mikyö Dorje’s masterpiece, the Chariot of the Takpo Kagyü Siddhas. In it, readers will find previously unavailable material on the Karmapas’ Middle Way view and a rare window into a philosophically charged era of Middle Way exposition in Tibetan Buddhism. It includes Chandrakīrti’s root text to the Entrance to the Middle Way and its commentary by the Ninth Karmapa; an introduction detailing the history of the Middle Way, key Middle Way philosophical principles, and the main points of each chapter of the text; an annotated translation of a famous excerpt of Chandrakīrti’s Lucid Words; and other useful appendices and reference materials.

The Ninth Karmapa, Wangchuk Dorje (1556–1603), is one of the most important figures of Tibetan Buddhism’s Kagyü lineage. Most renowned for his powerful writings on the meditation system known as Mahāmudrā, he also played a vital role in ensuring the continuity of the Kagyü lineage’s longstanding tradition of academic studies.

Tyler Dewar is a student of Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche and a founding member of the Nitartha Translation Network. He serves both as an oral and literary translator and as a teacher for Nalandabodhi, an international organization of Buddhist centers, and Nitartha Institute, an educational organization devoted to preserving and making accessible to the West the vibrant tradition of Buddhist intellectual studies.