The Tibetan Book of the Dead is one of the texts that, according to legend, Padma-Sambhava was compelled to hide during his visit to Tibet in the late 8th century. The guru hid his books in stones, lakes, and pillars because the Tibetans of that day and age were somehow unprepared for their teachings. Now, in the form of the ever-popular Tibetan Book of the Dead, these teachings are constantly being discovered and rediscovered by Western readers of many different backgrounds--a phenomenon which began in 1927 with Oxford's first edition of Dr. Evans-Wentz's landmark volume. While it is traditionally used as a mortuary text, to be read or recited in the presence of a dead or dying person, this book--which relates the whole experience of death and rebirth in three intermediate states of being--was originally understood as a guide not only for the dead but also for the living. As a contribution to the science of death and dying--not to mention the belief in life after death, or the belief in rebirth--The Tibetan Book of the Dead is unique among the sacred texts of the world, for its socio-cultural influence in this regard is without comparison. This fourth edition features a new foreword, afterword, and suggested further reading list by Donald S. Lopez, author of Prisoners of Shangri-La: Tibetan Buddhism and the West. Lopez traces the whole history of the late Evans-Wentz's three earlier editions of this book, fully considering the work of contributors to previous editions (C. G. Jung among them), the sections that were added by Evans-Wentz along the way, the questions surrounding the book's translation, and finally the volume's profound importance in engendering both popular and academic interest in the religion and culture of Tibet. Another key theme that Lopez addresses is the changing nature of this book's audience--from the prewar theosophists to the beat poets to the hippies to contemporary exponents of the hospice movement--and what these audiences have found (or sought) in its very old pages.

The Tibetan Book of the Dead: Or the After-Death Experiences on the Bardo Plane, according to Lama Kazi Dawa-Samdup's English Rendering

History

W.Y. Evans-Wentz

Karma-Glin-Pa

Donald S. Lopez. Jr.

World

Oxford University Press, U.S.A.

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 L=ama 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.

Tibet's Great Yogi Milarepa: A Biography from the Tibetan

Biographies & Memoirs

Gtsaṅ-smyon He-ru-ka

Zla-Ba-Bsam-'Grub

Leaders & Notable People

Oxford University Press

Books, audiotapes, and classes about yoga are today as familiar as they are widespread, but we in the West have only recently become engaged in the meditative doctrines of the East--only in the last 70 or 80 years, in fact. In the early part of the 20th century, it was the pioneering efforts of keen scholars like W. Y. Evans-Wentz, the late editor of this volume, that triggered our ongoing occidental fascination with such phenomena as yoga, Zen, and meditation. Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines--a companion to the popular Tibetan Book of the Dead, which is also published by Oxford in an authoritative Evans-Wentz edition--is a collection of seven authentic Tibetan yoga texts that first appeared in English in 1935. In these pages, amid useful photographs and reproductions of yoga paintings and manuscripts, readers will encounter some of the principal meditations used by Hindu and Tibetan gurus and philosophers throughout the ages in the attainment of Right Knowledge and Enlightenment. Special commentaries precede each translated text, and a comprehensive introduction contrasts the tenets of Buddhism with European notions of religion, philosophy, and science. Evans-Wentz has also included a body of orally transmitted traditions and teachings that he received firsthand during his fifteen-plus years of study in the Orient, findings that will interest any student of anthropology, psychology, comparative religion, or applied Mah=ay=ana Yoga. These seven distinct but intimately related texts will grant any reader a full and complete view of the spiritual teachings that still inform the life and culture of the East. As with Evans-Wentz's other three Oxford titles on Tibetan religion, which are also appearing in new editions, this third edition of Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines features a new foreword by Donald S. Lopez, author of the recent Prisoners of Shangri-La: Tibetan Buddhism and the West.

Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines: Seven Books of Wisdom of the Great Path, According to the Late Lama Kazi Dawa-Samdup's English Rendering

Religion & Spirituality

The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries, written by legendary author W. Y. Evans-Wentz is widely considered to be one of the greatest classic and historical texts of all time. This great classic will surely attract a whole new generation of readers. For many, The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries is required reading for various courses and curriculums. And for others who simply enjoy reading timeless pieces of classic literature, this gem by W. Y. Evans-Wentz is highly recommended. Published by Classic Books International and beautifully produced, The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries would make an ideal gift and it should be a part of everyone's personal library.

The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

Lemma Pub. Corp

The Diamond Sutra, composed in India in the fourth century CE, is one of the most treasured works of Buddhist literature and the oldest extant printed book in the world. It is known as the Diamond Sutra because its teaching is said to be like a diamond that cuts away all dualistic thought, releasing one from attachment to objects and bringing one to the further shore of enlightenment. The Sutra of Hui-neng, also known as the Platform Sutra, contains the autobiography of this pivotal figure in Zen history and some of the most profound passages in Zen literature. Hui-neng (638–713), the Sixth Patriarch of Zen in China, is often regarded as the true father of the Zen tradition. A poor illiterate woodcutter, he was said to have attained enlightenment upon hearing a recitation of The Diamond Sutra. Taken together, these two scriptures present the central teachings of a major Buddhist tradition and are essential reading for all students of Buddhism.

The Diamond Sutra and the Sutra of Hui-Neng (Shambhala Dragon Editions)

Christmas, Humphreys

A. F. Price

Wong Mou-lam

Buddhism

Shambhala

The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries (Classic Reprint)

Forgotten Books

The Tibetan Book Of The Dead

Arcturus

Synopsis Traditionally read in the presence of a dead or dying person, the Tibetan Book of the Dead has had a profound influence on Western culture-it is arguably the most influential and best known of Tibetan Buddhist writings. The text instructs the recently deceased on how to negotiate the forty-nine day period after death-and before rebirth-a time filled with visions of both serene and terrifying deities. During this "bardo" period, individuals must recognize that these visions are nothing more than the inventions of their own minds. By awakening to this realization, fear can be vanquished. But it is not just a book for the dead; it is also an instruction manual on how to live, and is as relevant today as whenit was written in the eighth century. This edition is lushly illustrated with Buddhist art and images that bring the work dramatically to life. Library Journal Evans-Wentz, an Oxford professor, produced a number of original studies on Tibetan Buddhism from the 1930s to the 1960s, which went through several editions. Oxford here resurrects four of these works, which now include new forewords and afterwords by scholar Donald S. Lopez who also analyzes the earlier editions. More for academic collections. Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information. Biography W. Y. Evans-Wentz (1878-1965), formerly of Jesus College, Oxford, studied occult doctrines extensively in India during the early years of the twentieth century. His tetralogy of works on yoga is a pioneering achievement that contributed to the introduction of Tibetan Buddhism in the West. Gregory Hillis received his Ph.D. in Tibetan Studies from the University of Virginia, where he co-curated an exhibition on the Tibetan Book of the Dead. Presently he is a lecturer in Tibetan and Sanskrit in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. A former Fulbright Fellow, he has lived and studied extensively with traditional scholars in Asia.

Tibetan Book of the Dead

Metro_Books

Literature & Fiction

BiblioBazaar

Fairy-faith In Celtic Countries

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

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