Religions of Tibet in Practice

By Donald S. Lopez Jr.

Book Overview

Religions of Tibet in Practice is a landmark work, the first major anthology on the topic ever produced. It presents a stunning array of works (hagiographies, pilgrimage guides, prayers, accounts of visits to hell, epics, consecration manuals, sermons, and exorcism texts) that together offer an unparalleled view of the realities of those who have inhabited the Tibetan cultural domain over the centuries. The volume provides a wealth of voices that together lead to a new and more nuanced understanding of the religions of Tibet. The thirty-six chapters are testimony to the vast scope of religious practice in the Tibetan world, past and present, offering works heretofore unknown. The chapters are organized thematically under five headings: Accounts of Time and Place, Remarkable Lives, Rites and Techniques, Prayers and Sermons, and Dealing with Death and Other Demons. They juxtapose materials from different sects, historical periods, and geographical regions in an attempt to broaden the range of what we understand the religious practices of Tibet to encompass. Each chapter contains a translation and a substantial yet accessible introduction by a leading scholar of Tibetan religions. Religions of Tibet in Practice represents the largest sourcebook on Tibetan religions ever assembled, a work of great value to scholars, students, and general readers.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0691011834
• ISBN13: 9780691011837
• Release Date: March 1997
• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Length: 576 Pages
• Weight: 1.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.0" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Excellent contributors of Tibetan Buddhism

This book is a collection of articles from excellent contributors of Tibetan Buddhism.Read books by contributors like David Germano,Yael Bentor and Richard Kohn.

A splendid, varied collection of translations from Tibetan.

Donald S. Lopez, Jr.'s newest volume in the Princeton Series is Religions of Tibet in Practice. It includes translations of all sorts of interesting texts in the Tibetan tradition from bits of Gesar of Ling to a Gelug vinaya-type text. Contributions are by various scholars including Shambhala's Nalanda Translation Committee, and others such as Matthew Kapstein, Per Kvaerne, Toni Huber and Janet Gyatso. The introductions by Lopez, Norma E. Levine, Francoise Pommaret and others from around the world, provide a clear context for all readers ranging from the merely curious to students of history, religion and the humanities, and, of course, to inquiring Buddhists. These introductory essays serve to explain the purpose or use of each selected text and so do much to dispel the prevalent notion that the religious practices of Tibetans, educated or not, Buddhist or not, are a confused, though gorgeously exotic mish-mash of animism/shamanism lightly touched with sexual imagery from Tantric yoga and incursions from the Graeco-Roman, even Christian,West.I found this volume to be like a walk through a scented market. There are booths and stalls to appeal to every taste, yet they are not laid out in random fashion. Lopez has carefully arranged the selections around various themes. There are items to please the connoisseur as well as the tourist. The stroll, itself, is delightful whether one intends to buy or not. There are tasty samples here and there: The introduction makes a good argument against the prevalent contemporary notion that the Bon tradition is but a mere reaction to Buddhism derived from ancient "primitive" beliefs. Since the selections range over a thousand years, I was reminded of the changing fortunes of the various sects, as this or that monastery found favour in the eyes of the Mongolian or Chinese, Indian or local Tibetan kings and princes.One can enjoy Tibetan culture and daily life seen as the life-journey as we all experience it, the bodhisattva's path, the mystical experience, the lama-student relationship or the worship of and devotion to specific deities. In fact, it ends splendidly with a new translation of the 21 Praises to Tara.