General aspects of Tibetan Buddhism
From the book "De lama die naar 't westen kwam" (originally in French 'Le Lama venu du Tibet') , by Dagpo Rinpoche, the following interesting details were extracted:
Object of being a monk:
- Bettering ones own spirit
- Becoming a master of yourself
Five objects of study in Lam Rim (the stages to enlightenment) are:
- Logic (Pramana)
- The Perfections (Paramitas)
- System of the Middle Way (Madyamika)
- Rules of the convent (Vinaya)
- Metaphysics (Abidharma)
Furthermore:
The method (Vadjra) is all the qualities the
Buddha has which do not require discrimination: compassion, loving
kindness, generosity, patience, enthusiastic perseverance
etc.
Then there is the bell, which symbolizes wisdom: i.e. all the qualities of the Buddha which do require discrimination.