Buddhist Symbols in Tibetan Culture: An Investigation of the Nine Best-Known Groups of Symbols

by Loden Sherap Dagyab Rinpoche, Maurice Walshe (Translator), Robert Thurman (Foreword by)

Overview

 

In this fascinating study, Dagyab Rinpoche not only explains the nine best-known groups of Tibetan Buddhist symbols but also shows how they serve as bridges between our inner and outer worlds. As such, they can be used to point the way to ultimate reality and to transmit a reservoir of deep knowledge formed over thousands of years.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780861718108
Publisher:	Wisdom Publications MA
Publication date:	03/29/2016
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	160
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Robert Thurman is the Jey Tsong Khapa Professor Emeritus of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University. After his education at Philips Exeter and Harvard, he studied Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism for fifty years as a personal student of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He has written both scholarly and popular books, and has lectured widely all over the world. As president of the American Institute of Buddhist Studies, he convened the first “inner science” conference with His Holiness the Dalai Lama at Amherst College in 1984. He is also founding trustee and president of Tibet House US, and co-founder of Tibet House’s Menla retreat center in the Catskills. Recipient of the president of India’s Padma Shri award, he has dedicated his recent efforts to translate into English the unique Tibetan treasures of ancient Indic scientific and spiritual resources in order to heighten the scholarly and general awareness of India’s ancient Sanskrit Buddhist heritage.

Editorial Reviews

"Symbolism is the language of the human spirit and this book is the most systematic study of its Tibetan idiom that has yet appeared."

Huston Smith

"This timely book preserves something very valuable-symbols as the visual manifestation of the psyche. The author deserves our thanks. Highly recommended."

Herbert Guenther

"Dagyab Rinpoche is an extraordinary person who combines Western scholarship with the depth of the wisdom of being a Tibetan lama."

Martin Kalff

"As Dagyab Rinpoche defines each symbol, he further illuminates the concepts inherent in Tibetan Buddhism which is, in its earthly manifestation, voluptuously visible."

Booklist

"Fills a long felt gap in the study of Tibetan art and symbols in English."

The Tibet Journal

"Interesting for both the specialist and any interested reader."

Himalayan Research Bulletin