Through her own story of loss and spiritual seeking, paired with mandala meditations and rituals, bestselling author of Feeding Your Demons Lama Tsultrium Allione teaches you how to embody the enlightened, fierce power of the sacred feminine-the tantric dakinis. Ordained as one of the first Western Buddhist nuns and recognized as a reincarnation of a renowned eleventh century Tibetan yogini, Lama Tsultrim nonetheless yearned to become a mother, ultimately renouncing her vows so she could marry and have children. When she subsequently lost a child to SIDS, she found courage again in female Buddhist role models, and discovered a way to transform her pain into a path forward. Through Lama Tsultrim's story of loss and spiritual seeking, paired with her many years of expertise in mandala meditation, you will learn how to strengthen yourself by following this experiential journey to Tantric Buddhist practice. The mandala was developed as a tool for spiritual transformation, and as you harness its power, it can serve as a guide to wholeness. With knowledge of the mandala of the five dakinis (female Buddhist deities who embody wisdom), you'll understand how to embrace the distinct energies of your own nature. In Wisdom Rising, Lama Tsultrim shares from a deep trove of personal experiences as well as decades of sacred knowledge to invite you to explore an ancient yet accessible path to the ability to shift your emotional challenges into empowerment. Her unique perspective on female strength and enlightenment will guide you as you restore your inner spirit, leading you toward the change you aspire to create in the world.

'Rinpoche is a powerful and eloquent link between the great yogi practitioners of old Tibet and our bewildering 21st century' - from the Foreword by Richard Gere Tsoknyi Rinpoche's story is an unusual one: as a rebellious young man, he fled a monastery to marry and raise a family, then returned to Nepal and has since become a preeminent Tibetan Buddhist teacher. As a married man raising two daughters, Tsoknyi Rinpoche has interesting views on how to balance a life dedicated to Buddhist practice with the demands of a husband and father. In addition, he has a keen interest in the ongoing dialogue between Eastern philosophy and Western research, especially in neuroscience. His writing reflects this awareness of the Western psyche while also imparting the earliest tenets of Buddhism. OPEN HEART, OPEN MIND offers Rinpoche's extraordinary history as an example of how to lead a compassionate life, regardless of status, tradition or circumstances. Accessible and relevant to every variety of reader, this is an illuminating guide from a man who truly is a bridge between ancient wisdom and the modern mind.

The Tibetan Book of the Dead was traditionally used as a mortuary text, read or recited in the presence of a dying or dead person. As a contribution to the science of death and of rebirth, it is unique among the sacred books of the world. The texts have been discovered and rediscovered in the West during the course of almost the entire 20th century, starting with Oxford's edition by W Y Evans-Wentz in 1927. The new edition includes a new foreword, afterword and suggested further reading list by Donald S Lopez Jr to update and contextualize this pioneering work. Lopez examines the historical background of OUP's publication, the translation against current scholarship, and its profound importance in engendering both scholarly and popular interest in Tibetan religion and culture.

The Tibetan divination system called "Mo" has been relied upon for centuries to give insight into the future turns of events, undertakings, and relationships. It is a clear and simple method involving two rolls of a die to reveal one of the thirty-six possible outcomes described in the text. This Mo, which obtains its power from Manjushri, was developed by the great master Jamgon Mipham from sacred texts expounded by the Buddha.

The most graceful English translation of this masterpiece of world literature - prepared with the participation of the Dalai Lama and eminent contemporary masters of this tradition appointed by the Dalai Lama One of the greatest works created by any culture and one of the most influential of all Tibetan Buddhist texts in the West, The Tibetan Book of the Dead has had a number of distinguished translations, but strangely all of these have been partial abridgements. Now the entire text has not only been made available in English but in a translation of quite remarkable clarity and beauty. A comprehensive guide to living and dying, The Tibetan Book of the Dead contains exquisitely written guidance and practices related to transforming our experience in daily life, on the processes of dying and the after-death state, and on how to help those who are dying. As originally intended this is as much a work for the living, as it is for those who wish to think beyond a mere conventional lifetime to a vastly greater and grander cycle. 'Extraordinary ... this work will be a source of inspiration and support to many' His Holiness the Dalai Lama About the authors: Commentary by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Thupten Jinpa is the senior translator to the Dalai Lama and President of the Institute of Tibetan Classics. Graham Coleman is founder of the Orient Foundation for Arts and Culture, a major Tibetan cultural conservancy organization, and writer-director of the acclaimed feature documentary Tibet: A Buddhist Trilogy. Gyurme Dorje is a leading scholar of the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, from which the Tibetan Book of the Dead literature derives.

The paradox of awareness is very profound and yet very simple. It can't be described because it has no objective qualities and no limitation. Sometimes it comes naturally to the surface when we are fully in the present moment and no longer lost in thought or mental projections. Pure consciousness is neither high nor low, neither pleasant nor unpleasant, neither good nor bad. No matter where we are, no matter what we are doing, we always have an immediate access to that inner stillness. It can be experienced in an instant in all circumstances once we know how to pay attention to it. It is utterly peaceful and it is also insightful, so it sees through all illusions. Whenever there is a moment of being deluded, we can use that moment to practice settling in the very perfect sphere of the Buddha mind without trying to change anything. When we reside in that liberated mind, we find the very thing we have been seeking all along.

Laurence Austine Waddell (1854-1938) qualified in medicine and chemistry at Glasgow University and in 1880 embarked on a successful career in the colonial Indian Medical Service which took him to Darjeeling, Burma and Tibet, and eventually an academic post at Calcutta Medical College. In addition, Waddell studied Sanskrit and published extensively on Tibet (his books Among the Himalayas (1899) and Lhasa and its Mysteries (1905) are also reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection). This landmark study of Tibetan Buddhism first appeared in 1895. Waddell cites earlier European scholarship, including that of Burnouf (also reissued), but emphasises that his book is based on original field research at temples and among the lay population. It covers the history of Tibetan Buddhism, its relationship with other branches of Buddhism, doctrine, places of worship, rituals and festivals, popular religion and the occult. It also includes around 200 illustrations and a substantial bibliography.

How did a society on the edge of collapse and dominated by wandering bands of armed men give way to a vibrant Buddhist culture, led by yogins and scholars? Ronald M. Davidson explores how the translation and spread of esoteric Buddhist texts dramatically shaped Tibetan society and led to its rise as the center of Buddhist culture throughout Asia, replacing India as the perceived source of religious ideology and tradition. During the Tibetan Renaissance (950-1200 C.E.), monks and yogins translated an enormous number of Indian Buddhist texts. They employed the evolving literature and practices of esoteric Buddhism as the basis to reconstruct Tibetan religious, cultural, and political institutions. Many translators achieved the de facto status of feudal lords and while not always loyal to their Buddhist vows, these figures helped solidify political power in the hands of religious authorities and began a process that led to the Dalai Lama's theocracy. Davidson's vivid portraits of the monks, priests, popular preachers, yogins, and aristocratic clans who changed Tibetan society and culture further enhance his perspectives on the tensions and transformations that characterized medieval Tibet.

'Impressive in its clarity this biography [is] the most detailed and accurate to date. Written in an engaging prose, [it] ends with an insightful prediction of the legacy of the fourteenth Dalai Lama, and a cleareyed assessment of the challenges that the fifteenth will face' The New York Times The Dalai Lama's message of peace and compassion resonates with people of all faiths and none. Yet, for all his worldwide fame, he remains personally elusive. Now, Alexander Norman, acclaimed Oxford-trained scholar of the history of Tibet, delivers the definitive biography-unique, multi-layered, and at times even shocking. The Dalai Lama illuminates an astonishing odyssey from isolated Tibetan village to worldwide standing as spiritual and political leader of one of the world's most profound and complex cultural traditions. Norman reveals that, while the Dalai Lama has never been comfortable with his political position, he has been a canny player-at one time CIA-backed-who has manoeuvred amidst pervasive violence, including placing himself at the centre of a dangerous Buddhist schism. Yet even more surprising than the political, Norman convinces, is the Dalai Lama's astonishing spiritual practice, rooted in magic, vision, and prophecy-details of which are illuminated in this book for the first time. A revelatory life story of one of today's most radical, charismatic, and beloved world leaders.

Critically exploring medical thought in a cultural milieu with no discernible influence from the European Enlightenment, Being Human in a Buddhist World reveals an otherwise unnoticed intersection of early modern sensibilities and religious values in traditional Tibetan medicine. It further studies the adaptation of Buddhist concepts and values to medical concerns and suggests important dimensions of Buddhism's role in the development of Asian and global civilization. Through its unique focus and sophisticated reading of source materials, Being Human adds a crucial chapter in the larger historiography of science and religion. The book opens with the bold achievements in Tibetan medical illustration, commentary, and institution building during the period of the Fifth Dalai Lama and his regent, Desi Sangye Gyatso, then looks back to the work of earlier thinkers, tracing a strategically astute dialectic between scriptural and empirical authority on questions of history and the nature of human anatomy. It follows key differences between medicine and Buddhism in attitudes toward gender and sex and the moral character of the physician, who had to serve both the patient's and the practitioner's well-being. Being Human in a Buddhist World ultimately finds that Tibetan medical scholars absorbed ethical and epistemological categories from Buddhism yet shied away from ideal systems and absolutes, instead embracing the imperfectability of the human condition.

Pabongka Rinpoche was one the twentieth century's most charismatic and revered Tibetan lamas, and in "Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand" we can see why. In this famous twenty-four-day teaching on the "lamrim," or stages of the path, Pabongka Rinpoche weaves together lively stories and quotations with frank observations and practical advice to move readers step by step along the journey to buddhahood. When his student Trijang Rinpoche first edited and published these teachings in Tibetan, an instant classic was born. The flavor and immediacy of the original Tibetan are preserved in Michael Richards' fluid and lively translation, which is now substantially revised in this new edition.

This complete textbook on classical Tibetan is suitable for beginning or intermediate students. It begins with rules for reading writing and pronouncing Tibetan, gradually carrying the reader through the patterns seen in the formation of words and into the repeating patterns of Tibetan phrases, clauses, and sentences. Students with prior experience will find the seven appendices--which review the rules of pronunciation grammar and syntax--provide an indispensable reference. It balances traditional Tibetan grammatical and syntactic analysis with a use of terminology that reflects English preconceptions about sentence structure. Based on the system developed by Jeffrey Hopkins at the Unversity of Virginia, this book presents in lessons with drills and reading exercises a practical introduction to Tibetan grammar syntax and technical vocabulary used in Buddhist works on philosophy and meditation. An extremely well designed learning system, it serves as an introduction to reading and translating and to Buddhist philosophy and meditation. Through easily memorizable paradigms the student comes to recognize and understand the recurrent patterns of the Tibetan language. Each chapter contains a vocabulary full of helpful Buddhist terms.

A favorite of Tibetans and recommended by the Dalai Lama and other senior Buddhist teachers, this practical guide to inner transformation introduces the fundamental spiritual practices common to all Tibetan Buddhist traditions.The Words of My Perfect Teacher is the classic commentary on the preliminary practices of the Longchen Nyingtig-one of the best-known cycles of teachings and a spiritual treasure of the Nyingmapa school-the oldest Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Patrul Rinpoche makes the technicalities of his subject accessible through a wealth of stories, quotations, and references to everyday life. His style of mixing broad colloquialisms, stringent irony, and poetry has all the life and atmosphere of an oral teaching. Great care has been taken by the translators to render the precise meaning of the text in English while still reflecting the vigor and insight of the original Tibetan. A preface by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, insightful introductory essays, explanatory notes, and classic illustrations enhance this quintessential introduction to Tibetan Buddhist practice. This new edition includes translations of a postface to the text written a century ago (for the first printed edition in Tibetan) by the first Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche, and a new preface by the late Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. The notes, glossary and bibliography have been expanded and updated, Sanskrit names and terminology have been given their proper transliterated form, and the illustrations have been improved in quality and supplemented with new material.

Midal steers a middle way between Western biography & Tibetan hagiography to provide a detailed portrait of Chogyam Trungpa, a Tibetan lama who is best known for his teaching in the West. Midal reveals Trungpa as a traditional teacher, who places great emphasis on the practice of sitting meditation.

Tibetan Buddhism is the most widely encountered and generally known Buddhist tradition in the world. From meditation classes to garden statues, from music and film to the popularity of the Dalai Lama, Introducing Tibetan Buddhism is the ideal starting point for students wishing to undertake a comprehensive study of the fascinating Tibetan Buddhist and Tibetan Bon religions. This lively introduction covers the whole spectrum of Tibetan religious history, from early Tibetan figures, and the development of the old and new schools of Buddhism, to the spread and influence of Tibetan Buddhism throughout the world. Geoffrey Samuel, an experienced teacher of Tibetan religions, introduces the major contemporary Buddhist traditions of Nyingmapa, Kagyupa, Sakyapa, Geluga and Bon, and the bodies of Tibetan textual material, including the writings of major lamas, and the relationship between the practical and textual transmission of the religion. Illustrated throughout, the book also includes text boxes, summary charts, a glossary and a list of further reading to aid students' understanding and revision. The accompanying website for this book can be found at www.routledge.com/textbooks/9780415456654.

The power of the breath has been recognized for millennia as an integral part of health and well-being. In Awakening the Sacred Body, teacher Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche makes accessible the ancient art of Tibetan breath and movement practices. In clear, easy-to-understand language, he outlines the theory and processes of two powerful meditations - the Nine Breathings of Purification and the Tsa Lung movements - that can help you change your relationship to yourself, to others and to the world. The simple methods presented in Awakening the Sacred Body and in the accompanying online video focus on clearing and opening your energetic centres to allow the natural human qualities of love, compassion, joy and equanimity to arise. When sadness releases, joy is able to arise. When anger releases, love becomes available. When prejudice releases, equanimity prevails. And when lack of kindness ceases, compassion is present. These practices, which focus the mind and breath together while performing specific body movements, will help you discover your inner wisdom and express your greatest potential.

These poignant and relevant dialogues, held just a few months prior to the attacks of September 11, 2001, forcefully put to rest the misconception that the realms of science and spirituality are fundamentally at odds with one another. Questions such as "Why are rational and intelligent people often at the root of destructive behavior? "and "How can the emotions that produce violence be controlled?" are the basis of these dialogues between the Dalai Lama and a select group of Buddhists, Western psychologists, neuroscientists, and philosophers who gathered together to elucidate, understand, and combat destructive emotions. Estos dialogos relevantes y profundos que tuvieron lugar pocos meses antes de los atentados del 11 de septiembre, desacreditan la idea falsa de que la ciencia y la espiritualidad no pueden existir juntas. Preguntas como "Por que personas aparentemente racionales e inteligentes se portan destructivamente?" y "Como pueden controlar las emociones que conducen a impulsos violentos?" son los temas de este dialogo entre el Dalai Lama y un selecto grupo de eruditos budistas, psicologos occidentales, neurocientificos y filosofos, reunidos para dilucidar, comprender y combatir las emociones destructivas.

Although the Dzogchen teachings are principally familiar to Westerners through the teachings of the Nyingma school, they also survive in the ancient Bon Religion of Tibet. "Wonders of the Natural Mind "presents Dzogchen as taught in the Zhang Zhung Nyan Gyud, the fundamental Bon text. The book summarizes the main points of Dzogchen and its relation to the various systems of Bon teaching. In offering these teachings, Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche provides the reader with a vivid and engaging portrait of Bon culture as he interweaves the teachings with his personal story and reflections on the practice of Dzogchen in the West.

In His Own Words

The Compelling Personal Story of the Spiritual Life of the Dalai Lama

The world knows the public face of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama. We have read about his near escape from Tibet after the Chinese invasion, his Nobel Peace Prize, and his friendships with world leaders, Hollywood actors, and scientists around the world. But what are his inner, personal thoughts on his own spiritual life? For the first time and in his own words, the Dalai Lama charts his spiritual journey from his boyhood days in rural Tibet to his years as a monk in the capital city of Dharamsala, to his life in exile as a world leader and symbol of peace.