The Handbook of Ordinary Heroes: The Bodhisattvas’ Way

Buddhism is said to be universal because it transcends all notions of time and culture. A French shepherd from the Middle Ages can apply it just as easily as a Singaporean businessman from the twenty-first century. The Buddha’ s teachings offer a method for understanding how to be and how to act— in other words, how to live our humanity while taking care of ourselves and others. The heroes referred to in this book are ordinary beings like us who choose to develop as individuals through their understanding and application of kindness and compassion. These heroes are bodhisattvas who wish for all beings to meet with lasting happiness and to experience protection from all causes for unhappiness. This handbook provides accessible explanations of what it means to live like a bodhisattva and offers a series of simple exercises directly related to daily life. It gives us key points for facing the difficulties we encounter in a new way and perceiving our lives according to altruistic values.

Born in Tibet in 1949, Lama Jigme Rinpoche grew up and received his education with the principal teachers of the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. The Sixteenth Karmapa named Lama Jigme Rinpoche as his official representative and the spiritual director of Dhagpo Kagyu Ling in France. Ever since, Lama Jigme Rinpoche has filled this role. Strengthened by many years of experience in the West, his unique and modern approach renders the Buddha’ s millennia-old wisdom accessible and allows students to apply it concretely in daily twenty-first- century life.