Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism

by John Powers

The expanded edition of the classic reference, one of Snow Lion's top ten bestsellers. Thorough coverage of Tibetan Buddhism from its Indian origins to the present day; includes new information on the four schools of Tibetan Buddhism, religious practices and festivals, and the current political situation.

Genres: Buddhism, Religion, Nonfiction, Spirituality, History, Philosophy, Academic

592 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

John Powers is Professor of Asian Studies in the School of Culture, History and Language, College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Humanities.

Reviews

[John]

John Powers's Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism meets a genuine need in providing nonspecialist students of religion or Asian studies with an overview of this distinctive form of Buddhist belief and practice. In clear and readable language, the book mostly achieves its stated goal of being "a systematic and wonderfully clear presentation of Tibetan Buddhist views and practices."

Powers begins with a survey of Buddhist history and doctrine, with a focus on Mahāyāna philosophy. This whole opening section of the book is very useful, allowing as it does a reader new to Buddhism to pick up the work and be introduced to the tradition as a whole before moving on to consider its Tibetan manifestation. What follows is a brief but informative survey of Tibetan history and a look at some of the holy days, ceremonies, and architectural settings of Tibetan Buddhist practice.

Part Three is, it seems to me, the heart of the book, as it engages the distinctive teachings and practices of Tibetan Buddhism, both in the context of wider Mahāyāna and in contradistinction to it. Powers admirably clarifies the Tibetan understanding of the place of tantra in Buddhism and provides a very easily-understood description of the major forms of tantric practice. Chapter 10, "Death and Dying in Tibetan Buddhism," is admirable for the vividness with which it portrays the Tibetan Buddhist understanding of death in its metaphysical, ontological, and soteriological aspects.

Part Four turns to the major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Here I think the book gets a bit bogged down in a surfeit of detail. Brevity is not one of this section's virtues; indeed, the author occasionally seems to repeat himself from chapter to chapter, restating conceptions or doctrines already associated with one of the previously-discussed schools.

This Introduction is highly recommended to undergraduates in Religious Studies or Asian Studies, to general readers with an interest in Asian religions, or to academics needing a primer on Tibetan Buddhism.

[Michele]

Ommmm, I want to immerse myself in the robed peace of the Tibetan monks. Here's a paraphrased excerpt from the Introduction of this book: A lotus is born in the muck and mud at the bottom of a swamp, but when it emerges on the surface of the water and opens its petals, a beautiful flower appears, unstained by the mud from which it arose.
Similarly, genuine compassion arises from the muck of the ordinary world, which is characterized by fighting, hatred, distrust, anxiety, and other negative emotions. These emotions tend to cause people to become self-centered and lead to suffering and negative thoughts and actions. But just as the world is the locus of negative emotions, it is also the place in which we can become buddhas, enlightened beings who have awakened from the sleep of ignorance and who perceive reality as it is, with absolute clarity and with profound compassion for suffering living beings.

Just as the lotus arises from the mud of the swamp, buddhas were formerly human beings, immersed in the negative thoughts and actions in which all ordinary beings engage: strife, wars, petty jealousies, and hatreds. Through meditative training, however, buddhas transcend such things, and, like the lotus, they rise above their murky origins and are unsullied by the mud and mire below. Like the lotus, there are still roots that connect with the mud at the bottom, for buddhas continue to act in the world for the benefit of others.

[Rong Wu]

"Emptiness: that is the fundamental nature of mind and phenomena"

[Majormarmot]

Un excelente libro para aprender sobre historia y cultura Tibetana, la historia enfocada a eventos religiosos obviamente. Lamentablemente el tema del budismo se ve de una forma muy superficial, enfocándose en la tradición tibetana sobre la filosofía en si,

En vez de citar sutras o analizar el darma, como hacen la mayoría de los libros budistas, John Powers analiza en forma objetiva los rituales y costumbres de las 4 principales escuelas budistas en Tibet, incluyendo una sección completa sobre el Bön, una religión shamanista con gran influencia del Budismo.

Además, se introduce al concepto budista mediante la explicación del avance histórico y geográfico de la filosofía desde India, hasta llegar al Tibet, y la posterior influencia sobre el imperio Mongol y Chino.

Este libro seguramente será apreciado por los amantes de la historia y filosofía por igual.

[Sabio]

I loved this book, but I am partial to Tibetan Buddhism.
DO NOT read this if you want an intro to Buddhism.
This is a scholastic introduction and in particular, to Tibetan.
Tibetan Buddhism comes with tons of myths and cultural baggage.
But I still love it. Not sure why.
The Dalai Lama is my favorite Buddhist author.

[Liquidlasagna]

The Mild Ama-Tone

A biased and perfunctory account

I am quite surprised by all the five-star reviews here. I believe that the book suffers from a few serious defects. Let me list three that appear to be the most consequential.

One - Strong Political Bias
It seems to me that about 20 to 30% of this book is a political pamphlet. It presents premodern Tibet as a kind of perfect fairy-tale land destroyed by those "evil" and "unenlightened" Chinese. Needless to say, any serious historian would scoff at such an interpretation, but Powers seems to fully believe in it. His over-reliance on "native informants" from the diaspora and, dare I say, some kind of visceral Sinophobia make this book hard to read for someone interested in a dispassionate analysis.

Two - Lack of Balance
You may be surprised to hear that over 200 pages of the book have little to do with Tibetan Buddhism as a religion and a system pf practice. Rather, they are dedicated to the history of Buddhism in India, some very basic Buddhist concepts, and--of course--the history of Tibet in the 20th century. For a monograph of some 500 pages, this is a disproportionately large "introduction" to the Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism. To be honest, it feels like padding.

Three - Lack of Focus and Depth
The rest of Powers narrative is surprisingly desultory. I am quite familiar with scholarly literature on other forms of Buddhism as well as Indian and East Asian tantra, and it seems to me that his explanations are a bit ... banal. His discussion of the different schools, forms of tantric practice, and the Bon tradition is meandering. It feels like a smattering of Wikipedia pages have been published as a book.

Mike

[A. M. Faisal]

First things first. I didn't finish the book. The fourth chapter describing the divisions of Vajrayana seemed a re-narration of the first few chapters. Not a complaint though. That's an integral part of the Tibetan stream of Buddhism and without dividing these, the book couldn't be completed.
For the Tibetan inclined readers, I repeat, Tibetan inclined readers will enjoy the book immensely. Being said that, it should be popular in American Neo-Buddhist loving trend. I found it soothing in the sense that it quite nicely captures the essence of the tantric or esoteric purview of the Indian Buddhism. Also, it sheds a highlight on the simple and peace-lover Tibetans as the writer attempts to capture their history and culture in an affectionate manner. The amazing thing is John Powers doesn't try to be objective, always and hence makes the whole book enjoyable to a certain extent.
A good read for the overview of the currently most popular schools of Buddhism.

[Michael Nguyen]

A fantastic and comprehensive read. I will definitely be studying more about the Geluk order, the most interesting one by far to me, due to their scholarly approach to Vajrayana. Everything is fascinating, long, deep, interweaving. Extremely interweaving with the sects. I would love to re-read this book, particularly the parts on the four sects, to outline more notes. This one was the first read through. Very informative. Much more helpful than maybe asking from a sectarian or religious perspective online.

[kista]

As someone so very interested in Tibetan Buddhism then this is the most academically thorough introduction to Tibetan Buddhism I have read so far. Recommended if you are interested, especially on an academic level.

[Lobsang Gyaltsen Negi]

Very good book written by author ...well explained

[Sean Brown]

So, so comprehensive! Overall a thorough read into the practice, lineages and history

[Joseph Wickland]

Solid and educational

[Joanna K]

Finally I understand something….

[Hanh]

mất đúng 1 năm ạ!

[Alex Rhea]

A decent introduction to Tibetan Buddhism and it's main schools. However, Powers is not a historian, but a researcher on meditation (all which he admits upfront). Thus, the history sections are a bit lacking and the descriptions of meditation are much too thorough unless you are a tibetologist.

[A.B. McFarland]

I thought this 400+ page tome would be a total snooze, but it was extremely fascinating. Everything from butter sculptures, to bas-ass buddhas like Padmasambhava, it's all here and more. There's even a chapter on Bön. I was especially happy to read the descriptions of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism (Guleg, Sakya, Nyigma and Kagyu) because I'd always puzzled about what the differences between them might be. HIghly recommended for anyone with an interest in this topic.

[Danie]

An amazing look into the history of Buddhism, followed by an indepth look at the Tibetan Buddhist schools. Invaluable for a beginning practitioner, or anyone who would like to know more about Tibetan Buddhist history, culture, and ritual.

[Nick Mather]

A very nice introduction to Tibetan Buddhism. This would be great for an undergraduate course or for anyone who is interested in the religion. It is nicely written with solid research and an excellent bibliography, but yet also very easy to read.

[Sarah]

A fascinating and informative book that provides background for the history, culture and varieties of Tibetan Buddhism. I'd recommend for readers who already have general, practical knowledge of Tibetan Buddhist teachings, otherwise some parts of this book might lack context.

[Chris Lemig]

Very thorough and readable introduction.

[Joshua]

Beautiful!

[Tom]

Pretty good. Informative, but could have been better edited and the writing could have been more polished.

[Enrico Guala]

Bello e completo...