Mind over Matter: Reflections on Buddhism in the West

by Tarthang Tulku

Addressing issues important to everyone interested in the transmission of Buddhism to the West, the essays describe, in clear direct language, differences between traditional and Western views of Dharma study and practice, academic and therapeutic approaches to Buddhism, and ingrained patterns that challenge successful transmission of the teachings. Addressing questions, doubts, and considerations of many Western Buddhist practitioners, the author explores such topics as karma and rebirth, the Tibetan tradition of Tulkus or reincarnate lamas, the place of initiations and rituals, and the power of prayer. The question arises, will the Dharma take hold deeply enough for a genuine transmission to take place? Or will Western students accept only some aspects of the Dharma, failing to comprehend that all the elements of the tradition work together to support a more enlightened understanding? While offering some penetrating, perhaps painful insights, these reflections convey a depth of compassion that should encourage serious students to renew their efforts and engage the teachings with energy and focus.
As a multi-faceted overview of approaches to the Dharma common in the West, Mind over Matter can be used in any course dealing with issues of Dharma transmission and the history of Buddhism in the West.

Genres: Buddhism

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Tarthang Tulku Rinpoche (དར་ཐན་སྤྲུལ་སྐུ་རིན་པོ་ཆེ dar-than sprul-sku rin-po-che) is a Tibetan teacher ("lama") in the Nyingma ("old translation") tradition. Having received a complete Buddhist education in pre-diaspora Tibet, he taught philosophy at Sanskrit University in India from 1962 to 1968, and emigrated to America in 1969, where he settled in Berkeley, CA. He is often credited as having introduced the Tibetan medicine practice of Kum Nye (སྐུ་མཉེ sku mnye་, "subtle-body massage") to the West.

In 1963, he founded Dharma Publishing in Varanasi, India, moving it to California in 1971. The main purpose of the publishing house is to preserve and distribute Tibetan Buddhist teachings and to bring these teachings to the West.

Neither Rinpoche nor Tulku are surnames; the former is an honorific applied to respected teachers meaning "Precious One," while the latter is a title given to those who have be recognized an the reincarnation of a previous lama.