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Thank you for the link. I like the simplicity of how the Dalai Lama explains various traditions and how they interpret the Heart Sutra in Essence of the Heart Sutra: The Dalai Lama's Heart of Wisdom ...

You can spend time contemplating the 59 Lojong slogans.

I'd recommend using a commentary as a guide while you do this. Practice of Lojong: Cultivating Compassion Through Training the Mind by Traleg Kyabgon is excellent.

I was a big fan of DT Suzuki's writings when I was a beginner. Check out Outline of Mahayana Buddhism. The Kindle version is only $0.99!

Thich Nhat Hanh's The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching is also very popular for beginners, but I caveat this by saying that TNH uses a very unique language... his attempt at being poetic and reaching the western audience in a very particular way, so while he transmits a true understanding of the dharma, it can be as difficult a learning curve as it is now to have that translate to broader Mahayana ideas and terminology.

I read that story too on a dharma-related internet forum, apparently it came from Bill Hamilton who was the author of the book Saints and Psychopaths. However it's possible that when U Pandita decided not to get up until finished, he was actually practicing in order to attain a lower stage of enlightenment. I don't know very much about Pandita though, so i'm not qualified at all to assess his attainments.