Book Description
Collection of Dharma teachings addressing issues of common concern to Buddhist practitioners from all traditions.
Customer Reviews:
A Practical Guide to Enlightment.......2007-05-21
Venerable Tenzin Palmo describes in a very clear prose the benefits of meditation, its difficulties, how to overcome them, and extend this practice to our daily life. It is a book to be read more than once, and a must for those in quest of enlightment.
Reflections On A Mountain Lake : Teachings on Practical Buddhism.......2006-02-11
Reflections on a Mountain Lake is composed of Tenzin Palmo's talks to audiences of Western lay people and Buddhist nuns and monks. The talks cover a whole range of subjects on Buddhist teachings, practices and spiritual life. Reading her words of openness, warmth and fluidity, I felt as if I was with her in the audience. She begins with the story of her twelve-year retreat in a cave in the Himalayan mountains, and the words that fill the books seem to flow from that deep place of concentrated practice.
The book is lively, intelligent, practical and straightforward. Each chapter end with questions from the audience, such as: Where do thoughts arise from? Is it a good idea to take political action to right social evils? What's the process of making amends if you have acted unethically at some stage in your life? What happens if you don't keep your commitments?
One of her consistent messages is to keep it simple. She advises people not to be overcome by ambition to do more, or get more initiations and teachings. Tenzin Palmo has gained many insights and much wisdom from her practice and commitment, as if she has dug a deep, deep well from which she can bring up what is clearly needed in each different situation with people.
We all start with an undisciplined mind, and Tenzin Palmo has many excellent examples of how to approach spiritual practices and what these practices are all about. The mind has to be relaxed yet alert, and needs to be tuned like an instrument, with the knowledge of how to return to a clear place. It is then we can be of benefit to other people.
Tenzin Palmo is an example of how women are re-establishing the lineage of yogic practice for women. She is developing a Buddhist retreat for nuns and making available the teachings of Drukpa Kargyu lineage, which has a strong tradition of fully ordained female practitioners. Because of Tenzin Palmo's work, in 1995 nuns debated publicly for the first time in Tibetan history. "There is nothing that women cannot accomplish and have not accomplished in the past. It is up to us to support them...it is time to appreciate the whole picture and bring the two sides together."
I enjoyed Reflections on a Mountain Lake because Tenzin Palmo is a storyteller. Like all great teachers, she uses her personal life and traditional stories to engage us in the teachings. It seems somehow easier for the mind to catch hold of profound ideas if they are told as myth and metaphor. And because she tells many personal stories - from her home life as a child, her searching as a young woman and her times with her guru - she becomes human and accessible, as well as an example of dedication.
Practical and relates Vajrayana to the West.......2005-02-26
This is a great book for Western Buddhists, especially useful as a loaner to friends seeking to understand Tibetan Buddhism (Vajrayana). It includes extensive Q&A; 8 photos, and a great number of quotable quotes. Ani Palmo (Ani is an honorific for a Buddhist nun) is VERY down-to-earth and realistic and relates a considerable about of advice and commentary from her Lama. She points out that Tibetan mythological themes should not be taken literally-even Tibetan teachers indicate this. For example:
pp. 61-2: "Shantideva says, `Who made the red-hot iron floors? All this is a projection of the personal mind.' Even if we don't believe in the physical reality of the hell realms, we can definitely believe that a mind filled with anger, which loves harming others and takes pleasure in cruelty, could easily project a paranoid environment for itself...the content of our inner mind is projected outward and becomes our entire reality." Furthermore, she invokes valid psychological principles such as: p. 67: "Those who deny the shadow are in a very insecure and precarious position...It is hard to develop true compassion when you are continuously blanking out all suffering from your own life." Also, Sociological principles: p. 81: "Today the West is making a significant contribution to the way the Dharma is presented. Every time the Buddhadharma travels to a new country, that country gives it something of itself."
Ani Palmo, in a highly readable and understandable style, provides pithy advice to practitioners: p. 93: "We need to dissolve the boundary between the subject and the object. In other words, we need to become the meditation" & p. 102: "Worldly desires are like salty water. The more you drink, the thirstier you get...The problem is the way we cling to things" & p. 141: "Our problem is that we believe our mind and identify with it." She also provides logical explanations for many Vajrayana practices: p. 95: "intricate visualizations of mandalas...totally occupy the mind so that there is no room for distraction." She provides considerable, pragmatic material on relationships between Vajrayana and Western religions: p. 96: "All true religions seek to gain access to that level of consciousness which is not ego-bound. In Buddhism it is called the unconditional, the unborn, the deathless. You can call it anything you like. You can call it atman. You can call it anatman. You can call it God." She also provides a number of intriguing teaching stories such as p. 103: monkeys captured by refusing to let go of a sweet--: "If you want to hold water, you have to hold it with cupped hands. If you make a tight fist, it runs away" and of a king unattached to his palace with a guru attached to his gourd. She also observes that the movie "Groundhog Day" can be interpreted as a Buddhist film about reincarnation and karma.
And, best of all, Ani Palmo provides quotes which defuse misconceptions concerning Buddhist doctrines: p. 156: "The Buddha said, `I too use conceptualization, but I am no longer fooled by it."
pp. 159-160: "Difficult Points for Westerners" chapter: "The Buddha replied, `do not take anything on trust merely because it has passed down through tradition, or because your teachers say it, or because your elders have taught you, or because it's written in some famous scripture. When you have seen it and experienced it for yourself to be right and true, then you can accept it.'" However, the one criticism might be that she fails to apply this regarding: p. 238: Eastern images & p. 241: Tibetan lineages.
p. 166: "According to the Buddhadharma, the most important component of any action of body, speech, or mind is intention."
p. 168: when asked about hell, her "Lama just laughed and said, `Oh well, we talk that way in order to frighten people into being good. Actually, it is very difficult to be reborn in hell. You have to be especially evil, and particularly, very cruel.'"
p. 169: "My Lama once said, `Not everything you read in the sutras is true. You don't have to believe everything you read.' ... The Tibetans took from that huge ocean a few drops of this and a few drops of that and put it together into a mixture which was helpful for Tibetans. Much of it is relevant for the rest of us as well. The ways they present the Dharma is wonderful. But there is no doubt that certain aspects, although helpful for them, are not very helpful for us. We can leave those aside." Higher teachings often contradict lower teachings and not everything is appropriate for everybody.
p. 191: "Some Tibetans say it's almost impossible to realize the nature of the mind without a teacher. I don't think that's true. Some people do realize the nature of mind spontaneously without a teacher. But a good teacher helps."
She also provides valuable observations and techniques on Vajrayana practices: pp. 179-180: in utilizing tonglen - "black pearl-like seed of self-cherishing at our heart center...sometimes instead of a black pearl...we can visualize a crystal Vajra which represents our innate Dharmakaya mind. The dark light absorbs into this and is instantly transformed into radiance, since no darkness exists within the pristine nature of the mind." p. 235: "My Lama always said to me, `Don't undertake big commitments. Keep your practice very small and simple, but do it.' ... I have always been very clear with lamas when it comes to initiations. Sorry, I am not keeping this commitment. I say this before taking the initiation, then they can decide whether or not it's okay for me to take it. Usually, they say its okay."
Highly recommended.......2004-10-12
If I were to be stranded on a deserted island and could have but one book along, it would be Reflections on a Mountain Lake. With her lifetime in spiritual pursuit, twelve years as a woman in male dominated Tibetan Buddhist monasteries, and another twelve years alone in a cave in the Himalayas, Tenzin Palmo indeed has something to say. Our good fortune is that she is a talented orator and expresses herself with dazzling clarity and wit. Her persective on life (before, here and after) is deeply wise, casting welcome perspective on what It All is truly about. In the West we are proud of how many books we consume. In the East, the intense study of one magnificent book is revered. This is one such book.
A lifetime of meditation, retreat, and learning.......2002-09-07
Reflections On A Mountain Lake: Teachings On Practical Buddhism is a compilation of the wisdom and Dharma teachings of Ani Tenzin Palmo, who was born in London in 1943 and become one of the first Western women to be ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist nun. Her writings comprising Reflections On A Mountain Lake, gathered from a lifetime of meditation, retreat, and learning, wonderfully communicate her understanding of holistic and profound principles relevant to Buddhism and to the commonplace struggles of daily life. Reflections On A Mountain Lake is a welcome and very highly recommended addition for Buddhist Studies reference collections and reading lists.
Average customer rating:
- Read the Book!
- interesting journey
- Heinrich Harrer's Journeys in Tibet.
- Very interesting adventure story
- Live Life to its Fullest
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Seven Years in Tibet
Heinrich Harrer
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Seven Years in Tibet
ASIN: 0874778883 |
Amazon.com
Originally published in 1953, this adventure classic recounts Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer's 1943 escape from a British internment camp in India, his daring trek across the Himalayas, and his happy sojourn in Tibet, then, as now, a remote land little visited by foreigners. Warmly welcomed, he eventually became tutor to the Dalai Lama, teenaged god-king of the theocratic nation. The author's vivid descriptions of Tibetan rites and customs capture its unique traditions before the Chinese invasion in 1950, which prompted Harrer's departure. A 1996 epilogue details the genocidal havoc wrought over the past half-century.
Book Description
In a motion picture starring Brad Pitt, SEVEN YEARS IN TIBET is the autobiographical account of a young Austrian adventurer and the escape from an internment camp that changed his life forever. In 1943, Heinrich Harrer, a noted mountain climber and skier, slipped out of captivity in India and made his way through the Himalayan passes to the Forbidden City of Lhasa in Tibet. From destitute vagabond, he rose to the position of tutor and confidant to the fourteen-year-old Dalai Lama. Until their parting in 1950, when the Chinese Communists overran the country, his close relationship with the revered holy man profoundly altered his way of living, even his way of thinking.
Customer Reviews:
Read the Book!.......2007-10-10
I'm about half way through this book and I am amazed! I've not seen the movie yet so I really didn't know what the book was going to be about. What brave men these were! It's like a diary into these mens lives for a short time when the whole world was in turmoil. Definately read this book!
interesting journey.......2007-08-31
I enjoyed reading about the author's travels over the mountains and the challenges along the way. Then, upon finally reaching Tibet it was intersting to read about life there. However, after awhile I left like I was reading the book for 7 years as the book started to drag on.
Heinrich Harrer's Journeys in Tibet........2007-08-09
_Seven Years in Tibet_, originally published in 1953 by Austrian adventurer and mountaineer Heinrich Harrer is a fascinating account of Harrer's seven years spent in Tibet, his journey to Tibet through the Himalayas, and his interaction and friendship with Tibetans in Lhasa and the Dalai Lama. This book includes a foreword by the Dalai Lama and includes an epilogue showing the brutality of the Chinese communists towards the Tibetan people. The book has been made into a movie by the same name. Heinrich Harrer (1912 - 2006) was an Austrian mountaineer and sportsman who was an Olympic athlete. In 1939, he traveled to India as part of a Himalayan Expedition with fellow Austrian Peter Aufschnaiter. However, since Harrer was officially part of the Nazi party of Germany and a war was going on he was imprisoned by the British in an internment camp. This book tells of his repeated escapes from that camp and his adventures in the mountains until he eventually reached Lhasa and lived in Tibet. The book also tells of his interaction with the noble Tibetan people (including His Holiness the Dalai Lama) until they were eventually overtaken by the Chinese communists in 1950. Harrer makes a plea for the Tibetan people and hopes that they may someday be made free once again from the communists who currently occupy their noble land.
The book begins with Harrer's reflections on his childhood and early years of adventure. As part of his adventurous spirit and love of sport, Harrer took part in a Himalayan expedition with his fellow Austrians. However, since the Germans had fought the British in the First World War and since the Second World War loomed ahead, Harrer was taken as a prisoner of war (along with fellow Austrian Peter Aufschnaiter) by the British in India. The book focuses on Harrer's experiences in the internment camp and his attempts to escape. During his various attempts he was accompanied by Austrians and Italians and frequently had to resort to various wiles (such as painting his face dark to appear as an Indian) while attempting his escapes. He was caught several times and had to be returned to the camp. Harrer (who had read of the Swedish explorer Sven Hedin's adventures) planned to escape into Tibet. After he had managed his escape, the book follows his adventures in the mountainous regions of Tibet. Frequently Harrer was forced to meet up with hostile Indians and Tibetans who viewed foreigners as a threat. Since he did not have official papers allowing him to make his way through Tibet, he had to resort to various means to escape these hostile officials. Tibet had remained in a position of neutrality throughout the war and intended to maintain such neutrality. However, overall his journeys through Tibet were always accompanied by a humorous sense among the people who tended to overlook many of the "official" channels necessary for his stay in Tibet. Eventually Harrer made his way across the mountains through the various villages along the way and into the "Forbidden City", Lhasa, at the Roof of the World, accompanied by fellow Austrian Peter Aufschnaiter. Along the way, Harrer notes the various odd customs of the Tibetan people, including their views on punishment, their strange views on marriage (including polygamy and polyandry), the role of the yak among their people, their respect for all living things, and their religious traditions, emphasizing especially Buddhism but also noting the relationships between Buddhists and various other foreign religious such as Muslims. At the Forbidden City, Harrer was greeted with a surprisingly warm welcome and was given asylum by the Dalai Lama. The book then tells of Harrer's life in Lhasa and his attempts to seek work until he eventually was able to buy a house. The Dalai Lama, through his mother, sought out Harrer as a foreigner and had him construct a theater for him as well as becoming involved in other public works for the government of Tibet. Harrer makes note of the importance of religion for the Tibetan people, emphasizing the role of Buddhist monks and nuns in their religious traditions. Harrer also notes the superstitiousness of these people, noting their belief in various deities, reincarnation, and omens of various sorts. The Dalai Lama, who was a young boy at the time, was believed to be the reincarnation of Chenrezi. He was found as a young boy and was recognized as the Dalai Lama. He is the Fourteenth Dalai Lama and was considered the God-King of Tibet. Harrer was to serve as a tutor to the Dalai Lama, informing him on the facts of geography, science, languages, and events outside of Tibet. At the same time, the Dalai Lama instructed him in Tibetan tradition and Buddhism. Harrer notes the Dalai Lama's liking for mechanical devices and his eagerness to learn new things. Harrer and the Dalai Lama became close friends and their friendship continued to grow even after the Dalai Lama was forced to leave Tibet. In 1950, the Chinese communists invaded Tibet and the Dalai Lama was forced to leave. At the same time, Harrer left and thus ends his journey through Tibet. The book ends with Harrer's comments on events in Tibet since this book was published, noting the brutality inflicted on the Tibetan people by the Chinese communists. Harrer makes an eloquent plea to free Tibet from oppression and notes the fact that since then the Dalai Lama has been viewed positively by many in the West. In fact, the Dalai Lama was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 and remains a widely read philosophical influence for many in the West who view Tibetan Buddhism in a positive light.
This book provides a fascinating account of one man's journey through Tibet. It also provides interesting details of a lost traditional culture and the religion of Tibetan Buddhism. Unfortunately today, the Chinese communists retain control over the people of Tibet and have caused a great deal of harm to their traditional way of life. However, as more Westerners become aware of the plight of the Tibetan people it may be possible to restore once again the majesty of this lost culture and tradition.
Very interesting adventure story.......2007-07-03
This is the story of a German-Austrian mountain climber who was interred in India during World War II, escaped (twice), and fled into Tibet, a country closed to foreigners. Through determination and luck, he and his partner are allowed to stay, where their Western handyman skills make them useful to the government as "engineers" and repairmen. They learn Tibetan and become part of the local elite, including high-level government service and friendship with the young Dalai Lama. He eventually flees when the Chinese invade the country.
This is a well-written page turner that tells a story of a very different time and place. You'll be amazed at Harrer's mountaineering and survival skills, and you'll gradually learn about Tibet in much the way that he did.
The style of the book is dated in two respects. First, Harrer has the attitudes of a European of his time, moderately condescending toward the peoples of developing nations. There has been some controversy about his membership in the Nazi Party; though it's plausible that he was simply an ambitious young man who joined the party only to get ahead, it's also true that he shared the routine racism of the day. This is present, but not salient, in the book. It is also muted by his fondness for Tibetans.
Second, Harrer writes in a matter-of-fact way that focuses on actions, and to a lesser extent on decisions - - and certainly not feelings. For example, the story will be moving along when he announces, "And then I decided to . . ." This is certainly not the modernist or post-modernist sensibility, but you may or may not care about that. You won't learn much about people's interior lives, but the story moves crisply along because it focuses on actions.
Overall, this is a lively adventure story that also documents a distinctive culture at the moment before it was forever changed by conquest.
Live Life to its Fullest.......2007-04-12
This novel of history and adventure will pull at your heartstrings while it teaches you lessons about living a fulfilling life.
Book Description
The Heart of the World recounts an extraordinary journey into one of the most inaccessible places on earth, and a pilgrimage to the heart of Tibetan Buddhism. Tibetan prophecies proclaim that the greatest of beyul, or mystical sanctuaries, lies at the eastern edge of the Himalayas, veiled by a colossal waterfall in the forbidding Tsangpo gorge. After years of investigation, world-class climber and Buddhist scholar Ian Baker and his National Geographic-sponsored team made worldwide news by finding a magnificent 108-foot-high waterfall—the legendary grail of both Western explorers and Tibetan pilgrims.
Customer Reviews:
Good Lord, how did this book get so many glowing reviews.......2007-10-10
...coz when you strip out all the mystical nonsense about sages and esoteric texts and the like, it's just another bush bash into an admitteddly remote part of Tibet that's hard to travel through. But not worth the tedious descriptions of every rock and puddle and leech that the author encounters. There's nothing mystical about the Tsangpo Gorge, it's just remote, tough to get to, tough to travel through, sparsely inhabited and it has a few Tibetan monastries and villages. Whoop-de-doo. What's different to the rest of Tibet. I suspect this guy toked up a bit to much in Kathmandu. Which is admittedly a good place to do it...
Anyhow, if you like crystals, mystical navel gazing and Lopsang Rampa, this book is for you. If you're an outdoors kind of a person who enjoys travelling the wilder parts of the world in person rather than vicariously (as it appears all reviewers to date do...), then give this book a miss. The guys a poser making a big song and dance out of a fairly routine kind of a trek into a remote and admittedly hard to travel destination.
Haven't tried getting into the Tsangpo myself yet but it's on my list of places to go and having done quite a bit of trekking in the Himalaya's (and not on guided treks with porters I might add), I know something about the area and what its like. Mystical my a**. More like poor, dirty, leech-infested and physically demanding. And as for esoteric texts and sages in the mountains back of Kathmandu - I've trekked in back of Kathmandu for a couple of months - way way back of Kathmandu - and sages there ain't - poor mountain villages there are, yaks there are, illiterate villages there are in plenty, the sages may be there but it sounds to me more like this guys spinning a line....a good one mind you, but nevertheless....
Anyhow, you have been warned, If you like this kind of made-up mystical nonsense, you'll love this book. If you're into hard trekking, forget it. Although the trip down the Tsangpo is interesting if you can ignore the nonsense this guy spouts.
High Adventure and Impeccable Scholarship.......2007-09-30
Ian Baker, explorer and Buddhist scholar, narrates a sequence of incredible journeys to the Tsango Gorge in Tibet, the hidden and inaccessible Beyul Pemako.
The book can be read on many levels: as an engrossing adventure; the depiction of a man's passion, determination and endurance to achieve a goal in the face of incredible hardships; rarely described Tibetan customs; and the contrast between the spirituality of the Tibetans and the materialism of the Chinese who were penetrating the area at the same time as the author.
The thread that weaves the narrative together is the inner journey that unfolds as Baker traverses the sacred geography of the area as revealed by Buddhist texts, Tibetan lamas and the experiences of the author and his team. Backed by historical textural references and oral traditions, the author encounters the living, pulsing presence of this landscape in the form of the body of the dakini goddess Dorje Pagmo and her energy centers or chakras. He and his team successfully access the throat of the goddess, the hidden gorge with its long-sought waterfall.
After his arrival at the waterfall, his journey culminates in a visit to the sacred site of Gompe Ne on the banks of the Tsampo River where he enacted, as countless pilgrims before him have, a birth-death-resurrection using the sacred geography of the site.
I was constantly reminded of experiences in the Andes, especially Peru and the Andean Path, where the exchange of energies between man and the natural world and its sacred landscapes create spiritual alchemy and inner spiritual transformation.
The non-fiction and Eastern version of the da Vinci Code.......2007-07-02
A fantastic book for readers who are interested in learning about Tibetan Buddhism, the Tibetan culture and the Tibetan way of living, and readers who enjoy visiting and / or reading about exotic places on earth.
I picked up this book right after a trip to Tibet with my 4-year old son and truly enjoyed reading it. It took me deeper into the land that I had just visited by illuminating a bit about its history, its incredible natural beauty, its people's belief system and, most importantly, the interconnectedness of all. It is a well written book and Ian Baker has done an outstanding job of getting the reader very close to the actual experience.
Connecting with nature is certainly a powerful way to get connected in life and, once connected, the ultimate discoveries are often of the hidden secrets in one's soul.
If you are not convinced about reading this book, I highly recommend viewing the related photos on hollot's site (find the site by doing a search on "hollot + sardar" since amazon does not allow posting URL's).
Great reading >The Heart of the World: A Journey to Tibet's Lost Paradise.......2007-03-31
The Heart of the World: A Journey to Tibet's Lost Paradise takes you on a journey into canyons when no one as recorded before...breath taking..
stumbling among leeches, logs, bogs and Tibetan hermitages.......2007-03-27
The Tsangpo river cuts the eastern Himalayas to join Brahmaputra in the jungles of Assam. Intrepid British explorers have chartered most of its course during the glorious days of the Raj - leaving unexplored ~10 mile stretch of an inaccessible 'Tsangpo gorge'. Because the altitude difference between Tibet and India cannot be accounted for by the known flow of Tsangpo, the Brits hypothesized that this stretch of the river contains a large waterfall (or a series of them). This book describes several expeditions undertaken 1990-2000 by Baker and his colleague Hamid Sardar to solve this geogrpahical enigma.
Both adventurers speak Tibetan and have a working knowledge of Tibetan tantra, both completed silent meditation retreats in isolated caves and both practiced with 'tantric consorts', Tibetan & Indian women placed on special diets (consisting of rose leaves and gold) trained to help men achieve a 'union of male and female principles in order to recognize the ultimate Emptiness of all phenomena." While Baker tittilates the reader here, he never delivers real information.
Baler obtained a number of esoteric texts from lamas familiar with the Tsangpo territory - the texts detailed magical places throughout the gorge, incantation 'keys' necessary to 'open' those places, the nature of 'deities' residing in them and the value of their help to realization of the fact that 'nothing inherently exists on its own'. Heh. These texts, as well as subsequent Baker's narrative, reveal that the valley has ALWAYS been known to and lived in by Tibetans and local Monpa & Lopa tribes; it was never unknown, never had to be discovered and the rivalries driving American and Chinese expeditions to chart the river portrayed in the book seem pointless and even slightly comical. As well as poignant: expeditions (including Baker's own) were quite content leaving ailing and weak members behind to fend for themselves. Personally, I found the obsession with 'discovering' and 'exploring' a bit disconcerting. Why do we have to document, photograph, chart etc. every nook and cranny on this planet? Why can't we let it be? let local people be? What is the confusticated point?
Baker insists on describing every single leech-infested forest and swamp on their way, every impassable boulder, pass, rivulet, stone or log which, with 500 pages, merge into a general picture of hardship, malaise, effort, hunger, leaking tents and, above all, sheer survival luck. There were so many cases where the 'pilgrims' appeared to wander aimlessly, in the dark or fog, having lost their native guides only to find them at the end of the day, against all odds huddling around a fire, that one is forced to contemplate the possibility of divine guidance.
I would mention the fascinating account of 'poison cults' in local villages, and of small Tibetan monasteries and hermitages, scattered throughout the most inaccesible parts of the valley..., the gift of psychedelic mushrooms to a Tibetan hermit monk, and the touching relationship that developed between the Chinese liason officer, 'Mr. Gunn', and Occidental adventurers. Between the lines we can also read about havoc that local Monpas wreak upon local fauna (with mass-killing of rare animals such as the takin buffalo and tigers) and the much more serious Chinese depredation consisting of systematic mechanized exploitation of Tibetan natural resources and destruction of the environment (not to mention cutural genocide). Perhaps understandably, Baker wants to preserve his future access to Tibet.
The greatest weakness of the book is that we learn little about Baker's own practices and realizations. We learn a lot about leeches and orchids, but what was going on with the lama's daughter mentioned early in the book? what about the tantric consorts? what (if any) spiritual realizations and benefits did Baker and Sardar derive from obsessive backpacking along the Tsangpo...? We also don't learn who financed these expensive yearly expeditions. Why are there no photo's of the supposedly discovered waterfall? Why can't the waterfall be seen from sallites or googleEarth? The apparent fear of personal disclosure detracts from the value of the book.
Nevertheless, the book is well written and I enjoyed reading it. One cannot escape the notion that Baker and Sardar exemplify some of the best traits of 'man' - courage, resourcefulnes, commitment to spiritual growth and to having a good time.
Book Description
The first Tibetan ever to attain enlightenment was in all probability a woman: Yeshe Tsogyal, closest disciple of Padmasambhava, the master who introduced the Buddhist teachings to Tibet in the eighth century. This book is not only her biography; it is a colorful and intriguing picture of Tibet at the beginning of the Buddhist eraâa time of upheaval, when royal patronage was striving to foster the new teachings in the face of powerful opposition. It gives a kaleidoscopic picture of a vanished world, the heart of which is still alive today. It also presents an archetypal description of the teacher-disciple relationship, showing how Yeshe Tsogyal attained enlightenment in following the complete Buddhist path, including the Dzogchen teachings. Passages of profound teachings are offset by episodes of exploit and adventure, spiritual endeavor, court intrigue, and personal encounters. The dramatic story, full of beauty and song, is narrated largely in the first person and offers an intimate glimpse of Tsogyal's feelings, aspirations, hardships, and triumphs. Lady of the Lotus-Born is a terma, a Dharma treasure written and concealed for future generations by the accomplished masters Gyalwa Changchub and Namkhai Nyingpo, disciples of Padmasambhava and Yeshe Tsogyal.
Customer Reviews:
Life of a Female Living Buddha.......2000-08-15
Yeshe Tsogyal, or White Tara, was a rare example of a female buddha. She has walked the earth many times but her 200+ years here with Padmasambhava left a legacy for all mankind that we are still learning from. She left behind many treasures and teachings for us to use as we grow. Some treasures are still to be found.
To understand Yeshe Tsogyal is to understand the true meaning of compassion and detached giving. These are lessons for all time.
hear her roar.......2000-08-04
it seems the tradition of retelling life-stories in tibet was largely for teaching purposes. this book does that part well. a valuable support for the depressed yogini.
Book Description
Where was Jesus and what was he doing from ages 12-30? Why does the Bible leave out this important information? Is there any truth to the myths and legends that proclaim that Jesus visited many other countries?
This book contains amazing accounts of Jesus' missing years based on an old manuscript that was found by the author in a Tibetan lamasery in the 1890's.
You will read about the author's dangerous journey to Tibet as you uncover the mystery of the "lost years" of Jesus' life.
Complete with maps, commentaries, and references. Oversized, 81/2" X 11".
Customer Reviews:
Douglas and Max Müller's View.......2007-03-01
Archibald Douglas and Max Müller recognized Notovich's work as fraudulent, although it was not immediately clear (to Müller, at least) what the source of the fraud was. Perhaps the best thing is to read excerpts from the original, absolutely scathing account, from the Nineteenth Century academic journal itself (long out of copyright):
(from The Nineteenth Century, 39 (January-June 1896) pp. 667-677
THE CHIEF LAMA OF HIMIS ON THE ALLEGED 'UNKNOWN LIFE OF CHRIST')
"I was resident in Madras during the whole of last year, and did not expect to have an opportunity of investigating the facts respecting the Unknown Life of Christ at so early a date. Removing to the North-West Provinces in the early part of the present year, I |668 found that it would be practicable during the three months of the University vacation to travel through Kashmir to Ladakh, following the route taken by M. Notovitch, and to spend sufficient time at the monastery at Himis to learn the truth on this important question. I may here mention, en passant, that I did not find it necessary to break even a little finger, much less a leg, in order to gain admittance to Himis Monastery, where I am now staying for a few days, enjoying the kind hospitality of the Chief Lama (or Abbot), the same gentleman who, according to M. Notovitch, nursed him so kindly under the painful circumstances connected with his memorable visit.
Coming to Himis with an entirely open mind on the question, and in no way biassed by the formation of a previous judgment, I was fully prepared to find that M. Notovitch's narrative was correct, and to congratulate him on his marvellous discovery. One matter of detail, entirely unconnected with the genuineness of the Russian traveller's literary discovery, shook my faith slightly in the general veracity of the discoverer....
...I will now call attention to several leading statements in M. Notovitch's book, all of which will be found to be definitely contradicted in the document signed by the Chief Superior of Himis Monastery, and sealed with his official seal. This statement I have sent to Professor Max Müller for inspection, together with the subjoined declaration of Mr. Joldan, an educated Tibetan gentleman, to whose able assistance I am deeply indebted.
A more patient and painstaking interpreter could not be found, nor one better fitted for the task.
The extracts from M. Notovitch's book were slowly translated to the Lama, and were thoroughly understood by him. The questions and answers were fully discussed at two lengthy interviews before being prepared as a document for signature, and when so prepared were carefully translated again to the Lama by Mr. Joldan, and discussed by him with that gentleman, and with a venerable monk who appeared to act as the Lama's private secretary.
I may here say that I have the fullest confidence in the veracity and honesty of this old and respected Chief Lama, who appears to be held in the highest esteem, not only among Buddhists, but by all Europeans who have made his acquaintance. As he says, he has nothing whatever to gain by the concealment of facts, or by any departure from the truth.
His indignation at the manner in which he has been travestied by the ingenious author was of far too genuine a character to be feigned, and I was much interested when, in our final interview, he asked me if in Europe there existed no means of punishing a person |670 who told such untruths. I could only reply that literary honesty is taken for granted to such an extent in Europe, that literary forgery of the nature committed by M. Notovitch could not, I believed, be punished by our criminal law.
With reference to M. Notovitch's declaration that he is going to Himis to verify the statements made in his book, I would take the liberty of earnestly advising him, if he does so, to disguise himself at least as effectually as on the occasion of his former visit. M. Notovitch will not find himself popular at Himis, and might not gain admittance, even on the pretext of having another broken leg.
The following extracts have been carefully selected from the Unknown Life of Christ, and are such that on their truth or falsehood may be said to depend the value of M. Notovitch's story.
After describing at length the details of a dramatic performance, said to have been witnessed in the courtyard of Himis Monastery, M. Notovitch writes:
A fter having crossed the courtyard and ascended a staircase lined with prayer-wheels, we passed through two rooms encumbered with idols, and came out upon the terrace, where I seated myself on a bench opposite the venerable Lama, whose eyes flashed with intelligence (p. 110).
(This extract is important as bearing on the question of identification; see Answers 1 and 2 of the Lama's statement: and it may here be remarked that the author's account of the approach to the Chief Lama's reception room and balcony is accurate.) Then follows a long résumé of a conversation on religious matters, in the course of which the Abbot is said to have made the following observations amongst others:
We have a striking example of this (Nature-worship) in the ancient Egyptians, who worshipped animals, trees, and stones, the winds and the rain (p. 114).
The Assyrians, in seeking the way which should lead them to the feet of the Creator, turned their eyes to the stars (p. 115).
Perhaps the people of Israel have demonstrated in a more flagrant manner than any other, man's love for the concrete (p. 115).
The name of Issa is held in great respect by the Buddhists, but little is known about him save by the Chief Lamas who have read the scrolls relating to his life (p. 120).
The documents brought from India to Nepal, and from Nepal to Tibet, concerning Issa's existence, are written in the Pâli language, and are now in Lassa; but a copy in our language----that is, the Tibetan----exists in this convent (p. 123).
Two days later I sent by a messenger to the Chief Lama a present comprising an alarum, a watch, and a thermometer (p. 125).
We will now pass on to the description given by the author of his re-entry into the monastery with a broken leg:
I was carried with great care to the best of their chambers, and placed on a bed of soft materials, near to which stood a prayer-wheel. All this took place under the immediate surveillance of the Superior, who affectionately pressed the hand I offered him in gratitude for his kindness (p. 127).
While a youth of the convent kept in motion the prayer-wheel near my bed, |671 the venerable Superior entertained me with endless stories, constantly taking my alarum and watch from their cases, and putting me questions as to their uses, and the way they should be worked. At last, acceding to my earnest entreaties, he ended by bringing me two large bound volumes, with leaves yellowed by time, and from them he read to me, in the Tibetan language, the biography of Issa, which I carefully noted in my carnet de voyage, as my interpreter translated what he said (p. 128).
This last extract is in a sense the most important of all, as will be seen when it is compared with Answers 3, 4, and 5 in the statement of the Chief Superior of Himis Monastery. That statement I now append. The original is in the hands of Professor Max Müller, as I have said, as also is the appended declaration of Mr. Joldan, of Leh.
The statement of the Lama, if true----and there is every reason to believe it to be so----disposes once and for ever of M. Notovitch's claim to have discovered a Life of Issa among the Buddhists of Ladakh. My questions to the Lama were framed briefly, and with as much simplicity as possible, so that there might be no room for any mistake or doubt respecting the meaning of these questions.
My interpreter. Mr. Joldan, tells me that he was most careful to translate the Lama's answers verbally and literally, to avoid all possible misapprehension. The statement is as follows:
Question 1. You are the Chief Lama (or Abbot) of Himis Monastery?
Answer 1. Yes.
Question 2. For how long have you acted continuously in that capacity?
Answer 2. For fifteen years.
Question 3. Have you or any of the Buddhist monks in this monastery ever seen here a European with an injured leg?
Answer 3. No, not during the last fifteen years. If any sahib suffering from serious injury had stayed in this monastery it would have been my duty to report the matter to the Wazir of Leh. I have never had occasion to do so.
Question 4. Have you or any of your monks ever shown any Life of Issa to any sahib, and allowed him to copy and translate the same?
Answer 4. There is no such book in the monastery, and during my term of office no sahib has been allowed to copy or translate any of the manuscripts in the monastery.
Question 5. Are you aware of the existence of any book in any of the Buddhist monasteries of Tibet bearing on the life of Issa?
Answer 5. I have been for forty-two years a Lama, and am well acquainted with all the well-known Buddhist books and manuscripts, and I have never heard of one which mentions the name of Issa, and it is my firm and honest belief that none such exists. I have inquired of our principal Lamas in other monasteries of Tibet, and they are not acquainted with any books or manuscripts which mention the name of Issa.
Question 6. M. Nicolas Notovitch, a Russian gentleman who visited |672 your monastery between seven and eight years ago, states that you discussed with him the religions of the ancient Egyptians, Assyrians, and the people of Israel.
Answer 6. I know nothing whatever about the Egyptians, Assyrians, and the people of Israel, and do not know anything of their religions whatsoever. I have never mentioned these peoples to any sahib.
[I was reading M. Notovitch's book to the Lama at the time, and he burst out with, 'Sun, sun, sun, manna mi dug!' which is Tibetan for, 'Lies, lies, lies, nothing but lies!' I have read this to him as part of the statement which he is to sign----as his deliberate opinion of M. Notovitch's book. He appears perfectly satisfied on the matter. J. A. D.]...
Regarded, then, in the light of a work of the imagination, M. Notovitch's book fails to please, because it does not present that most fascinating feature of fiction, a close semblance of probability.
And yet, if I am rightly informed, the French version has gone through eleven editions; so M. Notovitch's effort of imagination has found, doubtless, a substantial reward. In face of the evidence adduced, we must reject the theory generously put forward by Professor Max Müller, that M. Notovitch was the victim of a cunning 'hoax ' on the part of the Buddhist monks of Himis.
...I do not believe that the venerable monk who presides over Himis Monastery would have consented to the practice of such a deception, and I do not think that any of the monks are capable of carrying out such a deception successfully. The departures from truth, on other points, which can be proved against M. Notovitch render such a solution highly improbable....
...I have visited Himis, and have endeavoured by patient and impartial inquiry to find out the truth respecting M. Notovitch's remarkable story, with the result that, while I have not found one single fact to support his statements, all the weight of evidence goes to disprove them beyond all shadow of doubt. It is certain that no such passages as M. Notovitch pretends to have translated exist in the monastery of Himis, and therefore it is impossible that he could have 'faithfully reproduced' the same.
The following "postscript" was amended to the article by Max Müller himself:
"...After having read, however, the foregoing article by Professor Douglas, I feel bound most humbly to apologise to the excellent Lamas of that monastery for having thought them capable of such frivolity. After the conrplete refutation, or, I should rather say, annihilation, of M. Notovitch by Professor A. Douglas, there does not seem to be any further necessity----nay, any excuse----for trying to spare the feelings of that venturesome Russian traveller. He was not hoaxed, but he tried to hoax us. Mr. Douglas has sent me the original papers, containing the depositions of the Chief Priest of the Monastery of Him is and of his interpreter, and I gladly testify that they entirely agree with the extracts given in the article, and are-signed and sealed by the Chief Lama and by Mr. Joldan, formerly Postmaster of Ladakh, who acted as interpreter between the priests and Professor A. Douglas. The papers are dated Himis Monastery, Little Tibet, June 3, 1894.
I ought perhaps to add that I cannot claim any particular merit in having proved the Vie inconnue de Jésus-Christ----that is, the Life of Christ taken from MSS. in the monasteries of Tibet----to be a mere fiction. I doubt whether any Sanskrit or Pâli scholar, in fact any serious student of Buddhism, was taken in by M. Notovitch. One might as well look for the waters of Jordan in the Brahmaputra as. for a Life of Christ in Tibet.
F. Max Müller.
November 15, 1895."
From a Buddhist perspective.......2006-12-23
In this book, Nicolas Notovitch includes discussions he held with Tibetan Buddhist lamas. The discussions make the Tibetan lamas appear to be monotheistic, which Tibetan Buddhism is not. The book also makes it appear that Isa (Jesus) is an important saint for Tibetan Buddhists, but I have never heard or read about Isa from any Tibetan Buddhist source. The quotes of Jesus in the book don't resemble his Biblical quotes, nor his quotes from the Nag Hammadi. I don't believe Notovitch's story is true.
If you want to learn more about Jesus in the East, a book I would recommend instead of this one is "Christ in Kashmir", by Aziz Kashmiri. It is broader in scope (e.g., it also deals with Moses and the possible Jewish origins of Kashmiris) and has actual facts to back it up.
The New Testament challenged by Indian Scrolls.......2006-09-06
Much has been made of Dead Sea Scrolls uncovered in Qumran during the late 40s to mid 50's. Little has been noted however about scrolls located within Buddhist monasteries and convents in Kashmir, Tibet and India.
There is much that will cause the reader to be challenged as they read through this short book. Brevity in the number of pages in this manuscript diminishs the amount of time that the reader might find themselves questioning longstanding beliefs.
The author, Nicolas Notovich was on an expedition in 1887 when first mention was made of Issa (Jesus) having been in India during his teenage and young adulthood years. Intrigued, the author relentlessly attempted to track down the documents that would support these claims. Gaining the trust of monks not accustomed to westerners was an amazing feat. Subsequently,Nicolas broke his leg during that trip and found himself being cared for by Buddhist monks in the very convent that possessed a manuscript that challenges many of the basic facts contained within the canonical gospels. The author took extensive notes and eventually came back to the west to publish the manuscript.
What is in it? Some startling facts. You may feel like history is being re-written. It may have been; by the early church several hundred years later. This document is purported to be written much earlier.
I found myself having many "aha" moments as I read this fascinating book. The travel narrative in the beginning was a bit boring for me. But as Nicolas laid down some historical contexts in which to undertstand this document and detailed the religious practices of the Buddhists in which he came into contact with, I was unable to put this down.
I had always questioned the so-called missing years of Jesus' life. Now, the reader is provided with explanations. A couple of other facts in this document which are contradictory to what I was taught as a child, had me wondering why I hadn't questioned these things before.
I won't comment on the historical accuracy of these supposed scrolls. Nor will I do so on the basis of scriptural accuracy. I am neither historian nor biblical scholar.
But does the material within resonate with me? Yes.
Does it make for an interesting read? Yes.
That's enough for me.
Enjoy.
--.......2005-05-19
The book is very rich in details on the author's journey through Asia. Basically half the book is about his journey to the Tibetan monastery. I was expecting more details on his findings. He simply cites the findings in a chronological order he made, which are interesting by the way (e.g saying that Pilate was the one to condemn Christ), but I'd like more exploitaion into the findings.
Overall it's good with very different perceptions from the Catholic Bible.
THE EVIDENCE IS COMING !.......2001-08-18
The Unknown life of Jesus Christ is a surprise and a shock only to those who are still under the influence of their cultural programming. And the assumtion that there is only one path to God.
This work is just the beginning of more records from India that will help verify why the New testament concepts are the same as those of the Sanatana Dharma (or "Hinduism" to the uneducated).
These unifying spiritual principles were brought out very cleraly in both the "Autobiography of a Yogi" & God Talks With Arjuna" by Paramahansa Yogananda. Who by the way, also attests that Jesus was in India. The difference here of course is that Yogananda did not have to rely on Other spirits to tell Him so, He did not dabble in those methods.
Some writers claim that eastern sages try to make Jesus words fit into their own molds. This is not in the least way true or necessary. they are the same! When I was a youth and studying the New Testament for the first time, the later the Bhagavad Gita, it was clear to me then (without any other influence)that it was the same teaching in both sacred books.
Since there presently are no records that contradict the records in India re Jesus visited there for many years, and since persons in that part of the world do not have the goal of world domination (exclusivism). I accept the findings of Notavich and those great ones who state that Jesus was in India.
Amazon.com
It sounds like a legend out of medieval Tibet: the ascetic who leaves home to join the Buddhist order, then spends 12 years in a cave, 15 hours a day in a meditation box. This is no legend, but you could call Tenzin Palmo legendary in her single-minded pursuit of higher realizations. From the East End of London to halfway up the Himalayas, she is now back in society, attempting to pull medieval Tibetan Buddhism into the modern era--women's rights and all. As biographer Vickie Mackenzie says by way of background, a group of elite women practitioners called "Togdemnas" still existed just decades ago. Tenzin Palmo, having studied with her male counterparts, is now canvassing the planet, welcoming women into full participation in Tibetan Buddhism and building support for an academy of Togdemnas that she plans to establish in the Himalayas. Mackenzie helps raise awareness for women's roles in Tibetan Buddhism by going into some detail about obstacles still faced by women as well as heroines who have overcome those obstacles, such as Yeshe Tsogyel (Sky Dancer) and Machig Lapdron, a mother who started her own lineage. If Mackenzie has it her way, it won't be long before Tenzin Palmo joins that list of heroines. --Brian Bruya
Book Description
Dianne Perry led an average childhood in London's East End until, in her teens, she became convinced there must be a spiritual dimension to life of a kind unavailable to her. After reading a book on Buddhism she realized that this was what she had been seeking and left England for India at the age of twenty.
After considerable searching she entered a monastery. The only woman among hundreds of men, she grew determined to break down the prejudices that had excluded women from the path to enlightenment for thousands of years. She left after six years, set on attaining enlightenment in the body of a woman; a totally radical objective. She decided to seclude herself in a remote cave, 12,00 feet up in the Himalayas. For twelve years she faced unimaginable cold, wild animals, floods and rockfalls, grew her own food and slept in a traditional wooden meditation box, three feet square---she never lay down.
In 1988 she emerged from the cave determined to build a convent in northern India, and to revive the Togdenma lineage, a long-forgotten female spiritual elite. From living as a mendicant of $80 a year, she became a globe-trotting fundraiser. Tenzin Palmo has agreed to tell her story only to Vicki Mackenzie.
Customer Reviews:
True Tale of a Bodhisattva-to-Be.......2007-06-21
In 1961, a 21 year-old English girl named Diane Perry embarked on an extraordinary journey towards becoming only the second Western woman ever ordained as a Buddhist nun. Adopting the Tibetan name Tenzin Palmo, this young Cockney girl, daughter of a poor single mother working as a cleaning woman in south London, went on to transform herself into a cross-cultural spiritual pioneer, devoting her next 20 years to steeping herself in the rarefied higher teachings of Tibetan Buddhism, and bridging enormous barriers of culture and gender to pursue a deeply felt spiritual calling.
For most of the next two decades, Palmo lived among the exiled Tibetan monastic communities in India, at one point spending twelve years - yes, that's twelve years - in solitary retreat in a Himalayan cave. Since then, she has become a leading advocate for women in Buddhism, and a widely respected teacher leading Buddhist meditation retreats worldwide and working towards completing her convent for Tibetan nuns.
In the years since her long Himalayan solitude, Palmo has also taken a solemn vow - one that non-Buddhists may find outlandish, but that Palmo herself undoubtedly takes quite seriously - to dedicate her current and future lifetimes (as Tibetan Buddhists believe) towards attaining enlightenment in the female form, transforming herself into a full-fledged female bodhisattva.
Mackenzie, a former Times of London journalist, has written a captivating account of this remarkable womanýs life, including fascinating vignettes about her early encounters with Tibetan luminaries such as the great meditation master Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, a young Dalai Lama, and her lifelong teacher and guru Kamtrul Rinpoche, who recognized her immediately upon their first meeting as a reincarnated Tibetan lama in the Kargyu tradition.
A reluctant biography subject (agreeing to the project only after much heartfelt persuading by Mackenzie, an unabashed admirer), Palmo comes across as a deeply humble, holy figure, possessed of a profound inner wisdom and much practical sense.
This book is that rare find of a biography, in which we meet a remarkable but hitherto uncelebrated figure, whose life story provides an object lesson in moral virtue and grace.
I would recommend this book to men, women, Buddhists, non-Buddhists, and others.
how to destroy a good story.......2007-05-21
This is the story of an extraordinary woman who strives for enlightenment, and in her quest she trundles off to live in a cave for years. Quite amazing.
Unfortunately, despite the fact that the story is fascinating, this book is so staggeringly badly written that every page made me wince and in the end I gave up and haven't finished it. Despite the authors fairly prolific output in matters of buddhism/spirituality I found the content bland, trite, rambling and uninspiring.
I am not normally so critical of a book, and this is my first review, but this book incensed me because it completely mangled a fantastic story.
It's only worth reading if you are particularly interested in Tenzin Palmo, I would never bother reading it for anything other than gleaning the facts.
Alone on a Mountaintop.......2006-06-12
Cave in the Snow is an Intelligent and Insightful book. Tenzin Palmo helps us to Realize that we as Humans are open to unimaginable Possibilities. Her Journey is one of Integrity and Truthfulness. She battles the Elements , a male dominated Faith and her own upbringing in an attempt to find True Enlightenment. Her Cultivation of Higher Values and Moral Essence are a Testament to the Strength and Courage of not only herself but of all Women. I was Deeply moved by the Wisdom and Accomplishment of Tenzin Palmo.
Vicki Mackenzie - the author of this incredible book - should be applauded for presenting such a Fascinating and Balanced book. Tenzin Palmo takes us along a Path of Spiritual Transformation. She is truly in Union with the True Self. I am a Better person for having read this book.
Cave in the snow is a Faciltator of Awareness. We as readers are are Inspred by Tenzin Palmos Knowledge and Confidence. She proves that Divinity is your Birthright. Enhance your Experience of today by reading the Tapestry of the Soul which is Cave in the Snow.
A Woman Apart.......2006-03-19
This book exceeded my high expectations.
First off it is a well told life story of a western woman drawn to Buddhism. That spiritual attraction is not so unusual, but her subseqent move to India, and the related discomforts she overcame long before starting her years of seclusion were truly inspiring.
Then came the chapters on her actual life in her cave. Since "the cave" is in the title of the book one reads with great anticipation until that part of her life begins. And the author does not shortchange you. You get detail and wholeness. Your curiosities are satisfied and you get a feeling for the spiritual evolution she was achieving herself.
The latter chapters of the book were an added bonus. You gain a rich feeling for Tenzin Palmo's inner peace and stand in awe as she travels the globe fulfilling her goal of starting a Buddhist monastery for women.
Let me leave you with a quote of Palmo's that I found very satisfying: '...taking time to be still and think is often a better investment for future productivity than cramming every waking moment with feverish activity."
All in all a book of growth, wisdom, adventure and a bonus of personal reflection.
disappointed.......2005-11-01
Am I the only person who found this book to be shallow? I actually couldn't finish it! I got about halfway through and got tremendously irritated with two things: the first one is the author's focus on apparently gossipy details - like Tenzin Palmo's early love conquests. It seemed an awful lot like the undertone was "Look at this woman! She became a nun, and it's not because she was socially shunned by men!" This introduced a note of melodrama that really doesn't suit the subject matter.
Now, the second part that really bothered me: The title of the book is "Cave in the Snow" not "Small cottage in the mountains". I had to put the book down when I read the sentence about the DOUBLE GLAZED WINDOWS that were installed in her "cave" COME ON! It is amazing what she did, living in the himilayas on her own (except for those annual shipments of goods to last her the year). I would have been interested to read about that. But the author had to create melodrama and insinuate that Tenzin Palmo lived in a cave - the cave was bricked in, repaved, installed with a window with DOUBLE GLAZING, there was a patio out front, and a terraced garden.
I'm not saying that Tenzin Palmo doesn't deserve all the credit that she has received - she has truly blazed a trail for all women in buddhism, however the author's attempts to create interest border on melodrama and significant inaccuracy.
Product Description
A Marvelous Garland of Rare Gems: Biographies of Masters of Awareness in the Dzogchen Lineage is the only comprehensive history of the Nyingtik lineage, which forms the core of the body of teachings known as Dzogchen (Great Perfection) in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. It was written by the late Nyoshul Khen Rinpoché, Jamyang Dorjé (1931-1999), one of the most outstanding and knowledgeable exponents of Dzogchen. In this work, framed as a series of biographical accounts, Nyoshul Khenpo provides a wealth of information invaluable to spiritual practitioners as well as to historians studying the cultures of central Asia. In his introduction, Sogyal Rinpoche underscores the importance of this work: There could come a time in the future, [Nyoshul Khenpo] wrote, when holders of the lineage would profess to transmit the lineage without being able to recall even the names of its masters. This is why he considered this history to be as indispensable as our eyes or our life force, providing all the grounds and inspiration ever needed for total conviction. He compared the life stories of the vidyadhara masters in this lineage to a fine chain of gold or a garland of rare gems.
With immense attention to detail, Nyoshul Khenpo maps out the ultimate lineage of direct transmission, the heart of all the lines of transmission of Dzogpachenpo from the primordial buddha to the present day, showing the connection between masters and students in an unbroken line of succession. His work stands out because of its completeness, for it includes all of the distinct lineages, along with the lives of the students of the great masters, stories from the oral tradition, and the different teaching styles. Anyone who matters is represented here, every link in the chain, including masters of our time.
It is a milestone, and I do not feel that it will ever be equaled.
Customer Reviews:
Invaluable grace-filled translation of a key text.......2006-01-09
Together with Dudjom Rinpoche's history of the Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism this book by Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche is an essential source for information on the lineages of the Dzogchen transmission from Garab Dorje to the present. Since those lineages are so widespread, of necessity Nyoshul Khenpo has concentrated on his own, which derives from Rigdzin Jigme Lingpa to Jigme Gyalwai Nyugu and thence through his successors, especially Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo and Patrul Rinpoche. The lineages which come through those two are by far the most often met with in the West.
For example, if one were a student of the matchless Rigdzin Trinley Ozer (Lama Gonpo Tsedan), who was Panchen Vimalamitra in person, through Nyoshul Khen's book one can easily trace his lineage of transmission through his root teacher, Patrul Rinpoche of Tso, to Adzom Drukpa, to Khyentse Wango, and so forth all the way back to Garab Dorje, the source of the teachings.
Filled with inspiring biographies of innumerable great teachers, "A Marvelous Garland" also, for the discerning, is an important book showing forth the essence of the Dzogpa Chenpo itself, through the lives of the Lineage Holders, and in many cases their words and poetry.
Admirably translated by Lochen Chokyi Nyima (Lama Richard Barron), this book is a labor of love. I only have one teeny criticism: there is no glossary to make clear exactly what certain extremely important Tibetan words are being translated. And example of this (which I found frustrating) is his use of the terms "utter lucidity" and "timeless awareness". Are they the same? Subtly distinct from one another? Rigpa? Yeshe? Dzogpa Chenpo? I don't know. If there had been a short glossary the "Marvelous Garland" would have been perfect.
But then, this is just my quibbling and doesn't mean much in the face of this great and sublime work. I've met Chokyi Nyima. He very kindly and for gratis translated a unique Sakyapa text which had fallen into my hands (briefly, for I passed it on to someone who could care for it better than I). For that help alone I am eternally grateful to him. But much, much more, all students of the Dzogpa Chenpo in the future will be grateful for the work of Nyoshul Khen and his translator for making this "Marvelous Garland" available to us pygmies who have the temerity to attempt to stand on the shoulders of giants.
Average customer rating:
- a cute insight into the life of a 6 yr old Tibetan monk
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Customer Reviews:
a cute insight into the life of a 6 yr old Tibetan monk.......2001-04-22
A picture book with beautiful photos of the young monk and a few sentences on his life. The author is a former journalist for NY Newsday and The New York Times. The book's inside front and back covers are filled with the Tibetan alphabet and its sounds. Six year old Ling Rinpoche of Dharamsala India is shown at play, studying, eating, and greeting. In one picture, a young reader can read about how he wakes before dawn, in another, read about how he dresses in maroon and gold robes of cotton or wool. We learn what he eats for breakfast, what he studies, what toys he plays with. He meets well wishers, and we see him traveling to Bodh Gaya. The book closes with a map drawing of India, Tibet, and their neighbors.
Amazon.com
Tsultrim Allione is one of the first American women to be ordained a nun in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. But blazing a trail for Buddhist women in the West required models of great women practitioners. In the first book of its kind, Allione brings together the biographies of six women mystics in this strong but little known Tibetan tradition. Make that seven women, as Allione expands her own spiritual autobiography into 80 pages in this new printing. The dakini principle, the principle of feminine transformation, pervades each of these stories. A woman is beaten by her husband and father-in-law and has her son taken from her but later comes face-to-face with the boddhisattva Tara and becomes a great teacher. A wife who has always dreamed of practicing the dharma splits from her husband and travels the land receiving teachings. A poor cow herder is given a long-hidden sacred text and becomes a dakini herself. A spiritual biography embodies a teaching, and these stories enchant while transmitting wisdom. --Brian Bruya
Book Description
Women of Wisdom is an exploration and celebration of the spiritual potential of all women, as exemplified by the lives of six Tibetan female mystics.
Customer Reviews:
Sustained by the voices of other women.......2006-02-27
There is a hunger among women practitioners for the stories of other women who have gone on before them. Often these stories have been lost or over time turned to silence.
Tsultrim Allione, founder of Tara Mandala, a 600 acree retreat center in South West Colorado, sets out with this book to reclaim some of those lost voices. She was initiated on this journey with the death of her daughter from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Prior to becoming a mother to four children, Tsultrim had been one of the first American women to take vows. For four years she lived in the Himalayas as a nun devoted to in depth practice. Later she returned her vows and became a mother and with the death of one of her twins began the search for stories to sustain her during unbearable times.
In Women of Wisdom she uncovers and chronicles the stories of several of the more well-known women practioners, saints, and delogues, but what is particularly compelling is her own story. She writes openly and honesty with remarkable ease.
It is a must for anyone who wrestles with integrating Buddhist practice with the demands of a modern life.
Fine explanations & elucidations of yogini biographies.......2005-03-12
This is a lovely collection of sacred biographies of Tibetan Buddhist yoginis. The author, a former Buddhist nun, provides an extensive introduction including an autobiographical account-virtually a 7th biography. She provides much valuable information about the Buddha families, biography vs. sacred biography or hagiography, and Tibetan traditions and terminology such as delogs (people who die and come back to life), Togdens (Tibetan yogis), etc. The six sacred biographies included here vary considerably in length (2 are quite long and 4 are rather short) and in nature (some include much more hyperbole and others are more historical). The author states on p. 54 that "Goodness is not necessarily truth." She also provides a prolog and extremely valuable endnotes for each chapter, suggesting that (p. 215) the reason for embedding teachings into a biography is to make them come to life.
She also provides psychological explanations for a number of otherwise fantastic descriptions and activities, frequently based upon the writings of Jung's disciple Esther Harding:
p. 147: "When we think of a demon, we generally think of an external spirit which attacks us, but Machig realized the true nature of demons is the internal functioning of the ego...all four demons are thought-processes which block a state of clear, unattached awareness."
p. 195 note 62: "If we understand the serpentine underwater Nagas as a manifestation of Machig's unconscious, as part of her own mind, this assumption being based on the idea that our environment is a manifestation of our karma and our own projection." Other contemporary books support such a view: Loren Pederson's "Dark Hearts," George Weinberg's "Invisible Masters," & John Sanford's "Invisible Partners."
Further, she also clears up the ambiguity about Tibetan Buddhist practitioners consuming meat:
p. 194 note 54: "the Buddha did not teach strict vegetarianism, but rather that all meat one eats should have passed through at least three hands before a Buddhist should consume it...if a Tantric practitioner eats the meat of an animal with awareness and transcendent insight into the true nature of reality, this creates a connection between the animal and the yogi, and therefore the animal will have a much better chance of reaching a higher rebirth than if it had not been killed and offered to the yogi or yogini. Also...it symbolizes going beyond the limitations of vows and conventional `goodness,' and transformation of poison and dangerous substances into a means for enlightenment. Therefore a big piece of meant would be an appropriate offering for a Tantric initiation." Interestingly, this practice parallels that of Kabbalah where practitioners raise the spiritual level of animals by eating them with proper kavvanah (mystical intention).
Sacred Teachings from Women Buddas.......2005-02-11
There is a time when women shall have names. The time of consciouness rising, when the wisdom of all life perceiving will be received by humankind.
This text will be recognized - by those who sense that they are called - as an entry point to the evolution of consciousness found in the divine feminine; the source of all inspiration to the Buddhas.
Those who feel a hunger for echoes of the great women spiritual leaders of Buddhism will find great inspiration in this book. It is a personal, fascinating, warm, and inspirational book.
The stories are translated by Tsultrim and her Tibetean associates with a tremendous respect for the meaning in the original sacred texts.
I recommend this work highly to anyone who desires to connect with Buddhism's sacred center, the Prajna Paramita. I recommend it to anyone who perceives that Buddhism has misplaced its joyously empty center, and who senses a chance for a more complete knowing of their own divine spirituality.
Book Description
This life story of Milarepa--the important Tibetan religious leader who lived over 800 years ago--is part of a remarkable four-volume series on Tibetan Buddhism produced by the late W.Y. Evans-Wentz, all four of which are being published by Oxford in new editions. While there are many parochial differences among the several sects of Tibetan Buddhism, each holds the Great Yogi Milarepa in the highest reverence and esteem. For exemplified in Milarepa's life, as we discover in these pages, are all of the teachings of the great yogis of India--including those of Gautama the Buddha, the greatest yogi known to history. Amid his detailed introductory and explanatory notes for this text, Evans-Wentz also reveals compelling similarities between the life and thought of Milarepa and those of Jesus, Gandhi, and "saints...in ancient China, or India, or Babylonia, or Egypt, or Rome, or in our own epoch." In composing this translation from the original Tibetan, the late Lama Kazi Dawa-Samdup, who was Evans-Wentz's guru for many years, aimed to show Western readers "one of our great teachers as he actually lived...much of which is couched in the words of his own mouth, and the remainder in the words of his disciple Rechung, who knew him in the flesh." For this third edition, Donald S. Lopez, author of Prisoners of Shangri-La: Tibetan Buddhism and the West, has written a critical foreword that updates and contextualizes this crucial part of Evans-Wentz's scholarship within the yoga tradition.
Customer Reviews:
The 2nd book in the Tibetan Series by Evans-Wentz.......2003-11-26
This is the second book in the Tibetan series from W.Y.Evans-Wentz. If you really want to begin at the start then you should first of all read - The Tibetan Book of the Dead by the same author. Milarepa is essentially the 800 year old story of Tibets greatist yogi told through the eyes of his students Jetsun and Rechung. The story is about a poor wicked boy who eventually turns into a wise old yogi to be held in the highest esteem. It is a wonderful story that can be read as a standalone book or as part of the series.
The most important aspect of this book is that it Milarepa, as a student of Buddhism, needs to practice and cover much of the topics that are explained in The Tibetan Book of the Dead. This is really what is at the heart of the book. So those of you who may want to learn more about The Tibetan Book of the Dead (and you should because it is one of the most important works ever obtained by occident man), can see it put into practice in the story of Milarepa.
There are many footnotes and references for you to read through. Again the story is a wonderful, uplifting one with lots of joy and sorrow to experience. You will certainly gain much metaphysical insight and the morals in this story when put into practice will certainly make you a better person. It is a wonderful journey and I have read the story many times and will read it many more. It really is that spiritually enlightening and certainly a very important text to be translated in English for the occident. This book is a treasure-house of spiritual information.
The other two works in the series are - Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines and The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation in that order.
Cave in the Snow: Tenzin Palmo's Quest for Enlightenment
Women of Wisdom
What Makes You Not a Buddhist
It's Up to You: The Practice of Self-Reflection on the Buddhist Path
No Time to Lose: A Timely Guide to the Way of the Bodhisattva
