The aim of Dzogchen is the reawakening of the individual to the primordial state of enlightenment, which is naturally found in all beings. The master introduces the student to his or her real nature already perfected and enlightened, but it is only by recognizing this nature and remaining in this state of recognition in all daily activities that the student becomes a real Dzogchen practitioner of the direct path of self-liberation. In this book the Dzogchen teaching is presented through the tantra Kunjed Gyalpo, or "The King Who Creates Everything"--a personification of the primordial state of enlightenment. This tantra is the fundamental scripture of the Semde, or "Nature of Mind," tradition of Dzogchen and is the most authoritative source for understanding the Dzogchen view. The commentary by Chogyal Namkhai Norbu gives easier insight into the depths of these teachings. Adriano Clemente translated the main selections of the original tantra.

This fascinating book unfolds in detail the complex Tibetan Buddhist system of subtle physiology, providing a complete exposition of the channels, drops, and winds which serve as foundations for consciousness. Highest Yoga Tantra simulates processes of death, intermediate states, and rebirth, so it is important for the practitioner to know how humans die--the stages of death, and the physiological reasons behind them.

In this anthology, Matthieu Ricard gathers together the most clarifying and authentic texts he has come across in his 40 years of practice and study with great Tibetan masters. His compilation represents a wide range of Tibetan spiritual traditions, with each selection illuminating the stages of the Tibetan Buddhist path through its own lens.

Gendun Chopel is considered the most important Tibetan intellectual of the twentieth century. His life spanned the two defining moments in modern Tibetan history: the entry into Lhasa by British troops in 1904 and by Chinese troops in 1951. Recognized as an incarnate lama while he was a child, Gendun Chopel excelled in the traditional monastic curriculum and went on to become expert in fields as diverse as philosophy, history, linguistics, geography, and tantric Buddhism. Near the end of his life, before he was persecuted and imprisoned by the government of the young Dalai Lama, he would dictate the "Adornment for Nagarjuna's Thought," a work on Madhyamaka, or "Middle Way," philosophy. It sparked controversy immediately upon its publication and continues to do so today.
"The Madman's Middle Way" presents the first English translation of this major Tibetan Buddhist work, accompanied by an essay on Gendun Chopel's life liberally interspersed with passages from his writings. Donald S. Lopez Jr. also provides a commentary that sheds light on the doctrinal context of the "Adornment" and summarizes its key arguments. Ultimately, Lopez examines the long-standing debate over whether Gendun Chopel in fact is the author of the "Adornment"; the heated critical response to the work by Tibetan monks of the Dalai Lama's sect; and what the "Adornment" tells us about Tibetan Buddhism's encounter with modernity. The result is an insightful glimpse into a provocative and enigmatic work" "that" "will be of great interest to anyone seriously interested in Buddhism or Asian religions.

Tsongkhapa (1357-1419) is by any measure the single most influential philosopher in Tibetan history. His articulation of Prasangika Madhyamaka, and his interpretation of the 7th Century Indian philosopher Candrakirti's interpretation of Madhyamaka is the foundation for the understanding of that philosophical system in the Geluk school in Tibet. Tsongkhapa argues that Candrakirti shows that we can integrate the Madhyamaka doctrine of the two truths, and of the ultimate emptiness of all phenomena with a robust epistemology that explains how we can know both conventional and ultimate truth and distinguish truth from falsity within the conventional world. The Sakya scholar Taktsang Lotsawa (born 1405) published the first systematic critique of Tsongkhapa's system. In the fifth chapter of his Freedom from Extremes Accomplished through Comprehensive Knowledge of Philosophy, Taktsang attacks Tsongkhapa's understanding of Candrakirti and the cogency of integrating Prasangika Madhyamaka with any epistemology. This attack launches a debate between Geluk scholars on the one hand and Sakya and Kagyu scholars on the other regarding the proper understanding of this philosophical school and the place of epistemology in the Madhyamaka program. This debate raged with great ferocity from the 15th through the 18th centuries, and continues still today. The two volumes of Knowing Illusion study that debate and present translations of the most important texts produced in that context. Volume I: A Philosophical History of the Debate provides historical and philosophical background for this dispute and elucidates the philosophical issues at stake in the debate, exploring the principal arguments advanced by the principals on both sides, and setting them in historical context. This volume examines the ways in which the debate raises issues that are relevant to contemporary debates in epistemology, and concludes with two contributions by contemporary Tibetan scholars, one on each side of the debate.

Conflict in a Buddhist Society presents a new way of looking at Tibet under the rule of the Dalai Lamas (1642-1959). Although this era can be clearly delineated as a distinct period in the history of Tibet, many questions remain concerning the specific form of rule established. Author Peter Schwieger attempts to make transparent the complexity and dynamics of the Dalai Lamas' domination using the work of sociologist Niklas Luhman (1927-1998) as his theoretical starting point. Luhman's systems theory allows Schwieger to approach Tibetan history and culture as a remarkable effort to create-under times of great conflict and stress and using uncommon means-a stable social and political order. Such a methodology provides the distance needed to move beyond event-based narrative history and understand the structures that made social action possible in Tibet and the operations by which its society as a whole distinguished itself from its environment. Schwieger begins by asking the crucial question of how Tibet's society dealt with conflict. The chapters that follow answer this question from various perspectives: history and memory; domination; hierarchy; center and periphery; semantics; morality and ethics; ritual; law; and war. Each reveals a different avenue for cross-cutting discourses in the historical and social sciences. Together, they provide a comprehensive picture of how conflicts were portrayed in Tibet society and how the manner in which they were handled stabilized the country for a considerable time but were ultimately unsuccessful in the face of radical upheavals in its environment. Situated at the intersection of systems theory, conflict theory, and Tibetan/Inner Asian history and society, Conflict in a Buddhist Society will be of considerable interest to students and scholars in these areas. Its theoretical rather than narrative-descriptive approach to the history of the three centuries of Dalai Lama rule will be welcomed as wide-ranging and insightful.