The teaching on Parting from the Four Attachments is universally regarded as one of the jewels of Tibetan Buddhism. Rinpoche leads the reader through a detailed and lucid exploration of the nature of mind, pointing out inevitable pitfalls in spiritual practice and showing how they can be avoided.

This teaching, the path of all Buddhas of the past and of the future that contains all the deep meanings of all the Sutras combined in a practical way, is known as the Mind Training or Pith Instructions, presented by the great masters in the most practical way through their own experience. The history of this teaching is this. When the great Lama Sakyapa was twelve years old, his spiritual master suggested that since he was the son of a great spiritual master he should study the teaching; however, in order to study the teaching he needed first to acquire wisdom. In order to acquire wisdom, he had to practise Manjushri, the manifestation of all the Buddhas' wisdom. Sakyapa's spiritual master, Pari Lotsawa, one of the greatest translators, gave him the initiation of Manjushri and all the teachings related to Manjushri and then asked his disciple to do a meditation retreat. After completing six months of meditation, one day in his pure vision he saw Manjushri in person sitting on a jewel throne, his hands in the teaching mudra, with two Bodhisattva attendants, one on each side. Then the main deity Manjushri gave this teaching, which is made up of four lines: If you have attachment to this life, you are not a religious person. If you have attachment to the world of existence, you do not have renunciation. If you have attachment to your own purpose, you have no Enlightenment Thought (Bodhicitta). If grasping arises, you do not have the view. All the paths of the Sutrayana are included in these four lines.

Parting from the Four Attachments (ཞེན་པ་བཞི་བྲལ།) presents the quintessential mind training teaching of the Sakya tradition, the famous four-line instruction bestowed by Manjushri to Sakya Kunga Nyingpo. In December 2014, during the 32nd Kagyu Monlam in Bodhgaya, the 4th Jamgön Kongtrul Rinpoche taught this based on the well-known commentary composed by Jetsun Drakpa Gyaltsen. It was the very first public teaching gave by Jamgön Kontrul Rinpoche and was published in a book in 2015. The ebook features a few photographs of Rinpoche taken during the Kagyu Monlam in Bodhgaya as well as an Appendix with The Aspiration for Mind Training composed by Jamgön Kontrul Lodrö Thaye.

The teaching on Parting from the Four Attachments is universally regarded as one of the jewels of Tibetan Buddhism. Rinpoche leads the reader through a detailed and lucid exploration of the nature of mind, pointing out inevitable pitfalls in spiritual practice and showing how they can be avoided.

"Freeing the Heart and Mind "perfect introduction to the basic teachings of Buddhism, wisdom, compassion, and liberation for all beings. Learning about Buddhism is a gradual process, a process that lasts a lifetime and is deeply rooted in tradition and personal experience. Sakya Trizin expertly presents the essential Buddhist teachings of the four noble truths, compassion, and the correct motivation for practice. This lovely book also includes a biography of the Indian saint and Sakya forefather Virupa as well as the classic Sakya teaching on "parting from the four attachments. His Holiness Sakya Trizin is the head of one of the four major traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. "Freeing the Heart and Mind "is his first book. This beautiful cloth volume will be a treasure for students of Buddhism both new and old.