Among Tibetan Texts
Among Tibetan Texts

Author: E. Gene Smith

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2001-06-15

Total Pages: 402

ISBN-13: 0861711793

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For three decades, E. Gene Smith ran the Library of Congress's Tibetan Text Publication Project of the United States Public Law 480 (PL480) - an effort to salvage and reprint the Tibetan literature that had been collected by the exile community or by members of the Bhotia communities of Sikkim, Bhutan, India, and Nepal. Smith wrote prefaces to these reprinted books to help clarify and contextualize the particular Tibetan texts: the prefaces served as rough orientations to a poorly understood body of foreign literature. Originally produced in print quantities of twenty, these prefaces quickly became legendary, and soon photocopied collections were handed from scholar to scholar, achieving an almost cult status. These essays are collected here for the first time. The impact of Smith's research on the academic study of Tibetan literature has been tremendous, both for his remarkable ability to synthesize diverse materials into coherent accounts of Tibetan literature, history, and religious thought, and for the exemplary critical scholarship he brought to this field.

Hevajra and Lam 'bras Literature of India and Tibet as Seen Through the Eyes of A-mes-zhabs
Hevajra and Lam 'bras Literature of India and Tibet as Seen Through the Eyes of A-mes-zhabs

Author: Jan-Ulrich Sobisch

Publisher: Dr Ludwig Reichert

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9783895006524

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English description: The Hevajra Tantras and teachings of the 'Path with Its Fruit' (lam 'bras) that originated in India have been central practices of Tibetan tantric Buddhism for a millenium. The Tibetans translated eight Hevajra transmissions with their tantras, commentaries, rituals, and instructions and authored countless scriptures in the context of the tantra and the 'Path with Its Fruit' that originated with the Indian Mahasiddha Virupa. Drawing on title lists (dkar chag), colophones, and commentaries authored between the 11th and 17th centuries, the author attempts a reconstruction of the Indian and Tibetan corpora of these transmissions, its literary history and relations to one another. German description: Die aus Indien stammenden Hevajra-Tantras und Lehren des "Pfades mitsamt Frucht"' (lam 'bras) sind seit eintausend Jahren zentrale Praktiken des tibetischen tantrischen Buddhismus. Die Tibeter ubersetzten acht Hevajra-Uberlieferungslinien mit ihren Tantras, Kommentaren, Ritualen und Instruktionen und verfassten zahllose Schriften im Umfeld des Tantras und des auf den indischen Mahasiddha Virupa zuruckgehenden "Pfades mitsamt Frucht". Das vorliegende Buch versucht auf der Basis von zwischen dem 11. und 17. Jahrhundert verfassten Titellisten (dkar chag), Kolophonen und Kommentaren die indischen und tibetischen Korpora dieser Uberlieferungen, ihre Literargeschichte und ihre Bezuge zueinander zu rekonstruieren.

Red Mda'ba, Buddhist Yogi-scholar of the Fourteenth Century
Red Mda'ba, Buddhist Yogi-scholar of the Fourteenth Century

Author: Jampa Tsedroen (Bhikṣuṇī.)

Publisher: Dr Ludwig Reichert

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 508

ISBN-13:

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English description: Red mda' ba gZhon nu blo gros (1348-1412) played a pivotal role in the history of Tibetan Buddhists' engagement with Indian Madhyamaka, especially with regard to Candrakirti's interpretation of Nagarjuna. The lasting impact of this historical figure on the shape of Buddhist philosophy in Tibet - and particularly that of Madhyamaka - has been highly underestimated to date. Red mda' ba was an important teacher of scholastic Buddhist philosophy to the three main founders of Tibetan dGe lugs tradition. On the basis of this biography, Red mda' ba's contribution to the spiritual culture of Buddhism at his time can now be analyzed. It elucidates his influence in upgrading philosophical studies and dialectics, and expanding scholastic education in the monasteries, as well as his contribution to Tsong kha pa's foundation of the dGe lugs pa school, the lineage to which the Dalai Lamas belong. This work therefore aims to present the first detailed exposition of this crucial figure of Tibetan culture. The thesis presents a critical edition and English translation of the biography of Red mda' ba. German description: Red mda' ba gZhon nu blo gros (1348-1412) spielte eine entscheidende Rolle in der Geschichte der Beschaftigung tibetischer Buddhisten mit der indischen Madhyamaka Philosophie, insbesondere hinsichtlich Candrakirtis Auslegung von Nagarjuna. Der nachhaltige Einfluss dieser historischen Figur auf die Form der buddhistischen Philosophie in Tibet - vor allem die des Madhyamaka - wurde bislang wesentlich unterschatzt. Red mda' ba war ein wichtiger Lehrer fur scholastische Buddhismus-Philosophie der drei Grundergestalten der tibetischen dGe lugs-Tradition. Auf der Grundlage dieser Biografie kann nun Red mda' bas Beitrag zur geistigen Kultur des Buddhismus seiner Zeit untersucht werden. Sie zeigt beispielsweise, wie Red mda' ba den Ausbau der philosophischen Studien und der Dialektik beeinflusste, die scholastische Ausbildung in den Klostern erweiterte und massgeblich an Tsong kha pas Grundung der dGe lugs pa-Schule mitwirkte, einer Richtung, der auch die Dalai Lamas angehoren. Daher ist es Ziel dieser Arbeit, eine erste umfassende Darstellung des Lebenswerkes und Vermachtnisses dieser Schlusselfigur tibetischer Kultur und Geistesgeschichte zu geben. Sie umfasst die kritische Edition und die englische Ubersetzung der Biografie von Red mda' ba.

One Hundred Thousand Moons
One Hundred Thousand Moons

Author: Tsepon Wangchuk Deden Shakabpa

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 1261

ISBN-13: 9004177329

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A sustained argument for Tibetan independence, this volume also serves as an introduction to many aspects of Tibetan culture, society, and especially religion with a compendium of biographies of the most significant religious and political figures.

Hidden Lands in Himalayan Myth and History
Hidden Lands in Himalayan Myth and History

Author:

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2020-11-30

Total Pages: 382

ISBN-13: 9004437681

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Hidden Lands in Himalayan Myth and History showcases recent scholarship, photo essays, maps, and translations about hidden lands (sbas yul) across the Himalaya, from historical and contemporary perspectives.

Pith Instructions
Pith Instructions

Author: Dilgo Khyentse

Publisher: Shambhala Publications

Published: 2015-10-06

Total Pages: 150

ISBN-13: 0834802813

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This small collection of commentaries and verse by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, one of the greatest spiritual leaders of the twentieth century, contains exposition on different stages of the Buddhist path from the perspective of meditative experience and actually putting the teachings into practice. Originally given orally to Western students, the texts afford a rare glimpse into the direct transmissions of a master teacher. The commentaries are on ? • The Wheel of Investigation and Meditation That Thoroughly Purifies Mental Activity by Jamgön Mipham • The Lamp That Dispels Darkness by Jamgön Mipham • A Wondrous Ocean of Advice for the Practice of Retreat in Solitude by Jigme Lingpa. These, along with the five selected poems in the final section, provide an introduction to the wisdom and compassion of Khyentse Rinpoche.

Forging the Golden Urn
Forging the Golden Urn

Author: Max Oidtmann

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2018-07-31

Total Pages: 215

ISBN-13: 0231545304

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In 1995, the People’s Republic of China resurrected a Qing-era law mandating that the reincarnations of prominent Tibetan Buddhist monks be identified by drawing lots from a golden urn. The Chinese Communist Party hoped to limit the ability of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile to independently identify reincarnations. In so doing, they elevated a long-forgotten ceremony into a controversial symbol of Chinese sovereignty in Tibet. In Forging the Golden Urn, Max Oidtmann ventures into the polyglot world of the Qing empire in search of the origins of the golden urn tradition. He seeks to understand the relationship between the Qing state and its most powerful partner in Inner Asia—the Geluk school of Tibetan Buddhism. Why did the Qianlong emperor invent the golden urn lottery in 1792? What ability did the Qing state have to alter Tibetan religious and political traditions? What did this law mean to Qing rulers, their advisors, and Tibetan Buddhists? Working with both the Manchu-language archives of the empire’s colonial bureaucracy and the chronicles of Tibetan elites, Oidtmann traces how a Chinese bureaucratic technology—a lottery for assigning administrative posts—was exported to the Tibetan and Mongolian regions of the Qing empire and transformed into a ritual for identifying and authenticating reincarnations. Forging the Golden Urn sheds new light on how the empire’s frontier officers grappled with matters of sovereignty, faith, and law and reveals the role that Tibetan elites played in the production of new religious traditions in the context of Qing rule.

The Tibetans
The Tibetans

Author: Matthew T. Kapstein

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2013-06-05

Total Pages: 390

ISBN-13: 1118725379

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This book provides a clear and comprehensive introduction to Tibet, its culture and history. A clear and comprehensive overview of Tibet, its culture and history. Responds to current interest in Tibet due to continuing publicity about Chinese rule and growing interest in Tibetan Buddhism. Explains recent events within the context of Tibetan history. Situates Tibet in relation to other Asian civilizations through the ages. Draws on the most recent scholarly and archaeological research. Introduces Tibetan culture – particularly social institutions, religious and political traditions, the arts and medical lore. An epilogue considers the fragile position of Tibetan civilization in the modern world.

Freedom from Extremes
Freedom from Extremes

Author: Jose Ignacio Cabezon

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2013-02-08

Total Pages: 434

ISBN-13: 0861718577

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What is emptiness? This question at the heart of Buddhist philosophy has preoccupied the greatest minds of India and Tibet for two millennia, producing hundreds of volumes. Distinguishing the Views, by the fifteenth-century Sakya scholar Gorampa Sonam Senge, is one of the most important of those works, esteemed for its conciseness, lucidity, and profundity. Freedom from Extremes presents Gorampa's elegant philosophical case on the matter of emptiness here in a masterful translation by Geshe Lobsang Dargyay. Gorampa's text is polemical, and his targets are two of Tibet's greatest thinkers: Tsongkhapa, founder of the Gelug school, and Dolpopa, a founding figure of the Jonang school. Distinguishing the Views argues that Dolpopa has fallen into an eternalistic extreme, whereas Tsongkhapa has fallen into nihilism, and that only the mainstream Sakya view - what Gorampa calls "freedom from extremes" - represents the true middle way, the correct view of emptiness. Suppressed for years in Tibet, this seminal work today is widely regarded and is studied in some of Tibet's greatest academic institutions. Gorampa's treatise has been translated and annotated here by two leading scholars of Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, and a critical edition of the Tibetan text on facing pages gives students and scholars direct access to Gorampa's own words. Jose Cabezon's extended introduction provides a thorough overview of Tibetan polemical literature and contextualizes the life and work of Gorampa both historically and intellectually. Freedom from Extremes will be indispensable for serious students of Madhyamaka thought.