[The Key that Unlocks the Door to the Noble Path (Lam bzang sgo ...

[28.] the Brahmin's son Tsanakya: In his classic work on the Steps to Buddhahood,
Pabongka Rinpoche explains that Tsanakya was able to master the difficult secret
practice of the Lord of Death, but fell to the lowest hell because he used his
knowledge to harm other beings (f. 225b, entry 47).
[29.] master meditator of Lo Diamond: The Rinpoche's Liberation in Our Hands again
explains (f. 291b, entry 47). The practitioner undertook one of the most powerful
practices of the secret teachings, but due to his less than perfect motivation was
able to achieve only a lower result. Lord Atisha notes here that such practitioners
had even dropped to the hells.
[30.] giving, morality, etc.: The first five of the six Buddhist perfections. The last is
the perfection of wisdom.
[31.] Suppose you fail... Quotation from Lord Tsongkapa's report to his teacher and
disciple, the venerable Rendawa, on teachings received from Gentle Voice
himself (ff. 2b-3a, entry 62).
[32.] body of form and dharma body: The physical form of a Buddha and his mind
(along with this mind's ultimate nature) are called the "form body" and "dharma
body," respectively.
[33.] two obstacles: See note 10.
[34.] two types of desire to reach Buddhahood: See note 136.
[35.] Suppose you try... Quotation from Lord Tsongkapa's opus magnum (f. 156b,
entry 61).
[36.] Everybody's got some mystic being... Original source of quotation not found; it
appears also in Pabongka Rinpoche's Liberation in Our Hands (f. 294a, entry 47).
The Seers of the Word were an eminent group of early Buddhist masters in Tibet
whose lineage descended from Lord Atisha and his principal disciple, Lord
Drom Tonpa. The school's name in Tibetan, "Kadampa," is explained as meaning
that they were able to see the Word of the Buddha (ka) as personal instruction
(dam) that applied immediately to their own practice.
[37.] I used the "Lamp on the Path": The full context of this quotation appears in
Pabongka Rinpoche's Liberation in Our Hands (f. 37b, entry 47); it reveals much of
the sources of our text and restates its comprehensive nature. Lord Tsongkapa