Introduction

The present oral exposition is of two works, the Treasury of Knowledge, a Verse Summary, (Abhidharmakoshakaarikaa), by the Indian master Vasubandhu and the Clarifying the Path to Liberation Explanation of the Treasury of Knowledge by the First Dalai Lama of Tibet, Gedun Drub.

Vasubandhu's Treasury of Knowledge has stood for sixteen centuries as one of the most acclaimed syntheses of Buddhism's Abhidharma philosophy. Likewise, though more than five centuries have passed since Gedun Drub wrote his Clarifying the Path to Liberation commentary, it retains a pre-eminent place among condensed presentations of Abhidharma in Tibetan, as a critical exposition of the Treasury root verses with the same lucidity and philosophical standpoint as Vasubandhu's own commentary, the Abhidharmakoshabaashya.

The present explanation of these two classics was kindly given in 2001-2002 at the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics, Dharamsala, by the Director, Geshe Dam-cho-gyal-tsen (1934-), with supplementary teachings by Ladaki Geshe Gun-chok-wang-du.

Both teachers received their lharampa geshe degrees from Drepung Loseling Monastic College, Geshe Gun-chok-wang-du in 2000 and Geshe Dam-cho-gyal-tsen in 1979, after he had thotoughly studied Abhidharma under two main teachers, Khensur Gen Pe-ma-gyal-tshen and Shag-kor Khen Rin-po-che, Gen Nyi-ma-gyal-tshen, for well over a decade; a period of study protracted and much interrupted since it took place during the precarious and arduous early exile years, when Drepung Monastery had to be re-established from scratch in tropical south India.

Geshe Dam-cho-gyal-tsen became a teacher of philosophy at the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics in 1980 and has been Director also since 1997. Unfortunately, halfway through this teaching, Geshe Dam-cho-gyal-tsen suffered serious problems with the sight of one eye. Thenceforth he taught the root text from memory, leaving the explanation of the Clarifying the Path to Liberation commentary in the capable hands of Geshe Gun-chok-wang-du.