The Excellent Vase of Nectar—A Commentary on Thogme Zangpo’s The Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva

The Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva is one of the most famous Tibetan texts on mind training, composed by the renowned Kadampa master Gyalse Thogme Zangpo. This lojong text condenses the entire Mahayana path into thirty-seven verses.

Based on an abridged version of Thogme Zangpo’s life story written by Nyenpo Palrin, which is considered a commentary on The Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva, Chokyi Dragpa composed The Excellent Vase of Nectar—A Commentary on Thogme Zangpo’s The Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva.

In this commentary, Chokyi Dragpa first explains the plain meaning of the root verses word for word, and then succinctly cites a number of scriptural references. He enriches the main and concluding parts of his explanation for each verse with teachings from Lord Atisha and his spiritual sons, as well as the nectar-like pith instructions of Thogme Zangpo himself.

Khenpo Sodargye initially translated this commentary from Tibetan into Chinese in 2002, revised it in 2021, and taught it in 2022. His teachings on this commentary guide practitioners on how to embrace the bodhisattva path by transforming their actions and ways of thinking to align with those of bodhisattvas.