Originally published in 1997, "Religions of Tibet in Practice" is a landmark work--the first major anthology on the topic ever produced. This new edition--abridged to further facilitate course use--presents a stunning array of works that together offer an unparalleled view of the Tibetan religious landscape over the centuries.

Organized thematically, the twenty-eight chapters are testimony to the vast scope of religious practice in the Tibetan world, past and present. "Religions of Tibet in Practice" remains a work of great value to scholars, students, and general readers.

Santideva's eighth-century work, the Guide to Bodhisattva Practice (Bodhicaryavatara), is known for its eminently practical instructions and its psychologically vivid articulations of the Mahayana path. It is a powerful, succinct poem into which are woven diverse Buddhist traditions of moral transformation, meditative cultivation, and philosophical insight. Since its composition, it has seen continuous use as a ritual, contemplative, and philosophical manual, making it one of the crucial texts of the Buddhist ethical and philosophical tradition. This book serves as a companion to this Indian Buddhist classic. The fifteen essays contained here illuminate the Guide's many philosophical, literary, ritual, and ethical dimensions. Distinguished scholars discuss the historical significance of the text as an innovative piece of Indian literature, illuminate the important roles it played in shaping Buddhism in Tibet, and bring to light its contemporary significance for philosophy and psychology. Whether experienced or first-time students of Buddhist literature, readers will find compelling new approaches to this resonant masterpiece.

Over the past century and with varying degrees of success, China has tried to integrate Tibet into the modern Chinese nation-state. In this groundbreaking work, Gray Tuttle reveals the surprising role Buddhism and Buddhist leaders played in the development of the modern Chinese state and in fostering relations between Tibet and China from the Republican period (1912-1949) to the early years of Communist rule. Beyond exploring interactions between Buddhists and politicians in Tibet and China, Tuttle offers new insights on the impact of modern ideas of nationalism, race, and religion in East Asia.

After the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911, the Chinese Nationalists, without the traditional religious authority of the Manchu Emperor, promoted nationalism and racial unity in an effort to win support among Tibetans. Once this failed, Chinese politicians appealed to a shared Buddhist heritage. This shift in policy reflected the late-nineteenth-century academic notion of Buddhism as a unified world religion, rather than a set of competing and diverse Asian religious practices.

While Chinese politicians hoped to gain Tibetan loyalty through religion, the promotion of a shared Buddhist heritage allowed Chinese Buddhists and Tibetan political and religious leaders to pursue their goals. During the 1930s and 1940s, Tibetan Buddhist ideas and teachers enjoyed tremendous popularity within a broad spectrum of Chinese society and especially among marginalized Chinese Buddhists. Even when relationships between the elite leadership between the two nations broke down, religious and cultural connections remained strong. After the Communists seized control, they continued to exploit this link when exerting control over Tibet by force in the 1950s. And despite being an avowedly atheist regime, with the exception of the Cultural Revolution, the Chinese communist government has continued to recognize and support many elements of Tibetan religious, if not political, culture.

Tuttle's study explores the role of Buddhism in the formation of modern China and its relationship to Tibet through the lives of Tibetan and Chinese Buddhists and politicians and by drawing on previously unexamined archival and governmental materials, as well as personal memoirs of Chinese politicians and Buddhist monks, and ephemera from religious ceremonies.

A manual of Tibetan meditation that simply and thoroughly presents the practices of Dzogchen and Mah?mudr?. These are two of the most profound methods of Tibetan Buddhist meditation, and in this book, the reader is given instructions on how to bring them together into a single unified approach that leads to realizing the ultimate nature of consciousness.

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.

"Apparitions of the Self" is a groundbreaking investigation into what is known in Tibet as "secret autobiography," an exceptional, rarely studied literary genre that presents a personal exploration of intimate religious experiences. In this volume, Janet Gyatso translates and studies the outstanding pair of secret autobiographies by the famed Tibetan Buddhist visionary, Jigme Lingpa (1730-1798), whose poetic and self-conscious writings are as much about the nature of his own identity, memory, and the undecidabilities of autobiographical truth as they are narrations of the actual content of his experiences. Their translation in this book marks the first time that works of this sort have been translated in a Western language.

Gyatso is among the first to consider Tibetan literature from a comparative perspective, examining the surprising fit--as well as the misfit--of Western literary theory with Tibetan autobiography. She examines the intriguing questions of why Tibetan Buddhists produced so many autobiographies (far more than other Asian Buddhists) and how autobiographical self-assertion is possible even while Buddhists believe that the self is ultimately an illusion. Also explored are Jigme Lingpa's historical milieu, his revelatory visions of the ancient Tibetan dynasty, and his meditative practices of personal cultivation. The book concludes with a study of the subversive female figure of the "Dakini" in Jigme Lingpa's writings, and the implications of her gender, her sexuality, and her unsettling discourse for the autobiographical subject in Tibet.

Envisioning a Tibetan Luminary examines the religious biography of Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen (1859-1934), the most significant modern figure representing the Tibetan Boen religion-a vital minority tradition that is underrepresented in Tibetan studies. The work is based on fieldwork conducted in eastern Tibet and in the Boen exile community in India, where traditional Tibetan scholars collaborated closely on the project. Utilizing close readings of two versions of Shardza's life-story, along with oral history collected in Boen communities, this book presents and interprets the biographical image of this major figure, culminating with an English translation of his life story. William M. Gorvine argues that the disciple-biographer's literary portrait not only enacts and shapes religious ideals to foster faith among its readership, but also attempts to quell tensions that had developed among his original audience. Among the Boen community today, Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen has come to be unequivocally revered for an impressive textual legacy and a saintly death. During his lifetime, however, he faced prominent critics within his own lineage who went so far as to issue polemical attacks against him. As Gorvine shows, the biographical texts that inform us about Shardza's life are best understood when read on multiple registers, with attention given to the ways in which the religious ideals on display reflect the broader literary, cultural, and historical contexts within which they were envisioned and articulated.

In this classic scripture of Tibetan Buddhism--traditionally read aloud to the dying to help them attain liberation--death and rebirth are seen as a process that provides an opportunity to recognize the true nature of mind. This translation of "The Tibetan Book of the Dead " emphasizes the practical advice that the book offers to the living. The insightful commentary by Chogyam Trungpa, written in clear, concise language, explains what the text teaches us about human psychology. This book will be of interest to people concerned with death and dying, as well as those who seek greater spiritual understanding in everyday life.

The restless mind is frightened of silence, easily bored, and busy, busy, busy. The restful mind is creative and alert, relaxed and confident. The step from one to the other is all in the way we think. His Eminence Gyalwa Dokhampa has a real understanding of the pressures of modern life and how our crowded minds have left us too little space to stretch and grow. He shows us new ways to calm body and mind, become more aware, better able to deal with problems and appreciate the moment. It is with our mind that we create our world. Here's how to open it up and let the world in.

Renowned occultist H P Blavatsky is famous for introducing the 'Secret Doctrine' to an astonished West. 'The Voice of the Silence' is derived from the same deep spring of Wisdom. Tibet's Panchen Lama endorsed the work as the "only true exposition in English of the Heart Doctrine of Mahayana and its noble ideal of self-sacrifice." The current (14th) Dalai Lama concurred: "I believe that this book has strongly influenced many aspirants to the wisdom and compassion of the Bodhisattva Path." The book's three segments form a step-wise introduction to this spiritual path. Fragment 1 describes the preparation of the aspirant for discipleship; Fragment 2 the methods of purification of the lower vehicles; while Fragment 3, reveals the Seven Keys which open the way to Enlightenment.

Radiant Aspiration offers a clear introduction to the Tibetan Buddhist understanding of the nature of existence, exploring how to free ourselves from all that limits us. It provides a translation of a beautiful prayer which employs the symbolism of the ritual offering of butterlamps, where light is seen as the basis of the nonduality of all experience. The book contains the full ritual text so that readers can engage in its practice if they so choose. There is an extensive commentary focusing on the development of wisdom and compassion making the traditional text fully relevant to the modern reader.

Machig Labdron is popularly considered to be both a dakini and a deity, an emanation of Yum Chenmo, or Prajnaparamita, the embodiment of the wisdom of the buddhas. Historically, this Tibetan woman, a contemporary of Milarepa, was an adept and outstanding teacher, a mother, and a founder of a unique transmission lineage known as the Chod of Mahamudra. This translation of the most famous biography of Machig Labdron, founder of the unique Mahamudra Chod tradition, is presented together with a comprehensive overview of Chod's historical and doctrinal origins in Indian Buddhism and its subsequent transmission to Tibet.
Chod refers to cutting through the grasping at a self and its attendant emotional afflictions. Most famous for its teaching on transforming the aggregates into an offering of food for demons as a compassionate act of self-sacrifice, Chod aims to free the mind from all fear and to arouse realization of its true nature, primordially clear bliss and emptiness.

As a companion volume to the author's Tsongkhapa's Six Yogas of Naropa from 1996, this book contains translations of six classical Indian and Tibetan texts, his disciple Pandita Naropa, Lama Jey Tsongkhapa, Gyalwa Wensapa, the First Panchen Lama, and Jey Sherab Gyatso. The texts describe the roots and approach to the method of achieving enlightenme

The Four Immeasurables is a rich suite of practices that open the heart, counter the distortions in our relationships to ourselves, and deepen our relationships to others. Alan Wallace presents a unique interweaving of teachings on the Four Immeasurables (the cultivation of loving-kindness, compassion, empathetic joy, and equanimity) with instruction on quiescence or shamatha, meditation practices to empower the mind. The book includes both guided meditations and lively discussions on the implications of these teachings for our own lives.

Tibetan biographers began writing Jetsun Milarepa's (1052--1135) life story shortly after his death, initiating a literary tradition that turned the poet and saint into a model of virtuosic Buddhist practice throughout the Himalayan world. Andrew Quintman traces this history and its innovations in narrative and aesthetic representation across four centuries, culminating in a detailed analysis of the genre's most famous example, composed in 1488 by Tsangny?n Heruka, or the "Madman of Western Tibet." Quintman imagines these works as a kind of physical body supplanting the yogin's corporeal relics.

Zen Cat MindfulnessReaders of Start With Why, You Are Here and Whatever You Are, Be A Good One will love the quotes and teachings of Zen Cats Advice from Zen Leaders: Join some cuddly kittens for a collection of sayings from the Buddha in Zen Cats. Don't let the adorable cats fool you-they have plenty of mindfulness wisdom to share in the form of quotes and verses. These timeless verses, taken from the Dhammapada, will continue to be helpful and relevant to your life for years to come. Daily Mindfulness: Meditate along with these verses daily to gain a greater understanding of you, your life and your purpose. Learn from the clever cat to be true in body and mind. If you appreciated the mindfulness encouragement from Peace Is Every Step, The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching and Together Is Better, you will love the quotes in Zen Cats. Let your inner Zen Cat guide you to enlightenment.

In the shamanic world-view of Tibet, the five elements of earth, water, fire, air, and space are accessed through the raw powers of nature and through non-physical beings associated with the natural world. In the Tibetan tantric view, the elements are recognized as five kinds of energy in the body and are balanced with a program of yogic movements, breathing exercises, and visualizations. In these Dzogchen teachings, the elements are understood to be the radiance of being and are accessed through pure awareness. Healing with Form, Energy, and Light offers the reader healing meditations and yogic practices on each of these levels. Tenzin Rinpoche's purpose is to strengthen our connection to the sacred aspect of the natural world and to present a guide that explains why certain practices are necessary and in what situations practices are effective or a hindrance. This is a manual for replacing an anxious, narrow, uncomfortable identity with one that is expansive, peaceful, and capable. And the world too is transformed from dead matter and blind processes into a sacred landscape filled with an infinite variety of living forces and beings.

This guide provides readers with essential background information for studying and practicing with Patrul Rinpoche's "Words of My Perfect Teacher-- "the text that has, for more than a century, served as the reliable sourcebook to the spiritual practices common to all the major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. By offering chapter-by-chapter commentary on this renowned work, Khenpo Pelzang provides a fresh perspective on the role of the teacher; the stages of the path; the view of the Three Jewels; Madhyamika, the basis of transcendent wisdom; and much more.

Dharma Paths, by one of the most highly respected lamas in North America, is a broad and in-depth introduction to Tibetan Buddhism that cuts through the complexity of the tradition. Without assuming an academic background or knowledge of Buddhist terminology, it presents both basic and quite advanced material, revealing a flexible approach oriented to our individual capacities. Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche has the gift of making the essence of the vast Tibetan teachings surprisingly accessible.

This is the paperback edition of the first full study, translation, and critical annotation of the "Essence of True Eloquence" by Jey Tsong Khapa (1357-1419), universally acknowledged as the greatest Tibetan philosopher. Robert Thurman's translation and introduction present a strain of Indian Buddhist thought emphasizing the need for both critical reason and contemplative realization in the attainment of enlightenment. This book was originally published under the title "Tsong Khapa's Speech of Gold in the "Essence of True Eloquence.""

"I am very happy that Tsong Khapa's masterpiece of Tibetan Buddhist philosophy has been translated into English, and can now be studied by Western philosophers and practitioners of Buddhism. It has long been one of my favorite works, and I hope that others will appreciate its deep thought and lucid insights as we have for centuries in Tibet."--From the foreword by the Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama has represented Buddhism as a religion of non-violence, compassion, and world peace, but this does not reflect how monks learn their vocation. This book shows how monasteries use harsh methods to make monks of men, and how this tradition is changing as modernist reformers - like the Dalai Lama - adopt liberal and democratic ideals, such as natural rights and individual autonomy. In the first in-depth account of disciplinary practices at a Tibetan monastery in India, Michael Lempert looks closely at everyday education rites - from debate to reprimand and corporal punishment. His analysis explores how the idioms of violence inscribed in these socialization rites help produce educated, moral persons but in ways that trouble Tibetans who aspire to modernity. Bringing the study of language and social interaction to our understanding of Buddhism for the first time, Lempert shows and why liberal ideals are being acted out by monks in India, offering a provocative alternative view of liberalism as a globalizing discourse.