Knowledge of Freedom: Time to Change

Nyingma Psychology Series #7

by Tarthang Tulku

"Is there something wrong with our knowledge?" With this provocative question, Tarthang Tulku opens up a penetrating examination of the nature of knowledge, the conditioning of experience, and the fundamental operations of mind that limit our potential as human beings. Knowledge of Freedom engages the reader in a direct, personal inquiry into the human situation that encourages the questioning of all aspects of experience. This book raises fundamental questions about the dynamics of modern life and the mental habits that determine what we can think and do. It engages the currents of life on a visceral level, moving from the sweep of history to an intimate analysis of self and the notion of I. We discover that the knowledge that binds us can also be the knowledge that opens the path to freedom. A must read for all people interested in psychology and how to integrate knowledge into daily life.

Genres: Buddhism, Philosophy

404 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

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.