Sư Tử Tuyết Bờm Xanh là bản dịch Việt ngữ của cuốn “The Snow Lion’s Turquoise Mane”. Cuốn sách do Surya Das tập hợp các mẩu chuyện do các vị Lạt-ma Tây Tạng kể lại, được xuất bản năm 1992 tại Mỹ.
Các mẩu chuyện ngắn nhắc nhở những chuyện liên quan đến các vị đạo sư, từ đức Thích Ca cho đến các vị hiện nay còn sống như Đạt-lai Lạt-ma. Phần lớn các mẩu chuyện toát ra nhiều đạo vị, nhất là gián tiếp chỉ cho người đọc thấy triết lý của toàn bộ đạo Phật, nhận chân ra rằng mọi hiện tượng muôn hình muôn vẻ của tâm vật chẳng qua đều là biến hiện của tự tính trong tâm thức mọi loài. Đó là tự tính vô thủy vô chung, bất sinh bất diệt, lại không hề rời xa con người, nhưng trực nhận ra điều đó là một quá trình tu học gian nan mà các mẩu chuyện này cũng có nhắc đến.
Mặc dù mang nội dung phức tạp, các mẩu chuyện này lại hấp dẫn người đọc vì chúng nói về những nhân vật lịch sử, về những con người đã sống thật trên trái đất này. Các mẩu chuyện này cũng thú vị ở chỗ chúng không giống các mẩu chuyện Thiền tông Trung Quốc vốn sâu thẳm nhưng đầy tính nghịch lý khắc khổ, còn ở đây nó mang đầy sự hóm hỉnh, tỏa ra một tấm lòng vô cùng nhân hậu. Nếu nhìn sâu xa, các mẩu chuyện này biểu lộ tính cách của Phật giáo Tây Tạng, mang nặng tính chất Mật tông, hay nói đúng hơn là Kim Cương thừa. Các mẩu chuyện nhắc nhiều đến những phép tu học kỳ bí, đến các vị đạo sư lạ lùng, các loại trì chú đặc biệt hay các thần thông khó tin. Thế nhưng tất cả những phép tu đó đều là cách tu học của Dzogchen (Đại Thành) hay Mahamudra (Đại Thủ Ấn), đó là phép tu truyền tâm nhằm trực nhận Phật tính trong tâm thức, nếu so với Thiền tông Trung Quốc thì không hề khác. Vì những lẽ đó, các mẩu chuyện này vừa mang tính chính thống của đạo Phật, vừa thú vị với người đọc. Qua tập truyện này, người đọc sẽ hiểu pháp môn thì thật vô vàn khác nhau nhưng chúng chỉ muốn chỉ đến một tuệ giác duy nhất, thứ tri kiến nằm ngoài mọi ngôn từ, đó là chỗ đồng quy của mọi môn phái Phật giáo.
Lama Surya Das is one of the foremost Western Buddhist meditation teachers and scholars, one of the main interpreters of Tibetan Buddhism in the West, and a leading spokesperson for the emerging American Buddhism. The Dalai Lama affectionately calls him “The Western Lama.”
His most recent book is Make Me One with Everything: Buddhist Meditations to Awaken from the Illusion of Separation. He is well known for his internationally bestselling Awakening the Buddha Within: Tibetan Wisdom for the Western World and the sequels in the “Awakening” trilogy, Awakening to the Sacred: Creating a Spiritual Life from Scratch and Awakening the Buddhist Heart: Integrating Love, Meaning and Connection into Every Part of Your Life. His other books include:
Buddha Standard Time: Awakening to the Infinite Possibilities of Now The Mind Is Mightier Than the Sword: Enlightening the Mind, Opening the Heart Natural Radiance: Awakening to Your Great Perfection Buddha Is as Buddha Does: The Ten Transformative Practices of Enlightened Living The Big Questions: How to Find Your Own Answers to Life’s Essential Mysteries Letting Go of the Person You Used to Be Awakening the Buddhist Heart: Integrating Love, Meaning, Natural Great Perfection: Dzogchen Teachings and Vajra Songs, with Nyoshul Khenpo The Snow Lion’s Turquoise Mane: Wisdom Tales from Tibet
Lama Surya Das has spent over forty years studying Zen, Vipassana, yoga, and Tibetan Buddhism with the great masters of Asia, including the Dalai Lama’s own teachers. He is an authorized lama and lineage holder in the Nyingmapa School of Tibetan Buddhism, and a personal disciple of the leading grand lamas of that tradition. He is the founder of the Dzogchen Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts and its branch centers around the United States. Surya has brought many Tibetan lamas to this country to teach and start centers and retreats over the years. As founder of the Western Buddhist Teachers Network with the Dalai Lama, he regularly helps organize its international Buddhist Teachers Conferences. He is also active in interfaith dialogue and charitable projects in the Third World, and has recently turned his efforts towards youth and contemplative education initiatives, what he calls “True higher education and wisdom for life training.”
As a sought after speaker, Lama Surya Das teaches and lectures around the world, conducting meditation retreats and workshops. He is also a published poet, translator, and chant master. His blog, “Ask the Lama,” can be found at www.askthelama.com and his lecture and retreat schedule are listed on his website www.surya.org. Follow him on Facebook--Lama Surya Das--and Twitter--@LamaSuryaDas.
This collection of "Wisdom Tales from Tibet" is a barrel of wisdom that can never be exhausted. Most stories are only a page or two, perfect for a moment's inspiration.
Fascinating little tales of all nature. Some realistic, some supernatural, some like fairy tales or folk tales from another culture. I enjoyed everything, including the illustrations.
"A Yogi Meets a Yeti" would not have been out of place in Grimm's or Anderson's fairy tales — that is, of course, if Grimm and Anderson had compiled their tales in the Himalayas.
This is one of my most cherished books. I go back to it a couple times a year and read the beautiful translations of Tibetan tales. The stories are visual, sweet and epic.
This is a very interesting, diverse collection. I would not call it a collection of Tibetan folktales, although it certainly contains a lot of those; I'd rather say it is a unique selection of Tibetan Buddhist teaching tales, handed down through the oral tradition. Some of them are folktales, some are legends, some are historical anecdotes or religious stories. All in all, they paint a very interesting, intriguing picture of the teaching power of entertaining stories. Each story came with an introduction that explained some of the characters, customs, and religious concepts represented in it. Sometimes even these explanations were a little hazy for someone not versed in Buddhism ("XY, from the XY tradition of the XY school..." did not say much to me), but I was glad that we got some background on the stories. All in all, an entertaining read, and a lot of short, poignant stories that go way beyond religious teachings.
This book is composed by short stories about Tibetan Buddhism, if you are not a Buddhist believer it helps to enrich your knowledge of Tibet. I took some good inspiration from some of the stories and helped me to analyze different situations of my life. If you don't practice Buddhism like me, I don't recommend to read it from cover to end but to read story by story slowly otherwise you might feel bored at times.
In conclusion if you want to understand how Tibetans think and more about their culture, you should give this book a chance.
I read some of these tales every night before bed. They ranged from mildly amusing to hilarious, and left me with the kind of emotion that those smiling buddha statues have. :D Super interesting to compare this set of tales with others from other parts of the world. I saw echoes of familiar tales from my own christian background, and loved seeing the Tibetan version of the "happily ever after" ending show up over and over again. Now I want to read a lot more about Tibetan history and culture!
I found reading stories in wakeful mind helped with wakefulness. I have also read these stories took adults and children and found doing so was at that time helpful as a sedative. Go figure!
Tibet of old was really an amazing world... Fairy tale or true stories? It seems the everyday person wouldn't think too much of flying yogis and statues that talk and save you from calamities.
I found this collection a pretty fun read. Watch out, you might need a dictionary unless you're happy to let archaic or otherwise little-used adjectives and nouns to just hint at meaning from context! I don't know where the author pulls these oddities from: "a swarthy, bellicose woman" "irascible yogi" "purloined horses" ...
Anyway, expand your vocab. In some way, it kind of adds to the mystery of these tales from a world where things look ordinary, but just beyond the surface...
I've been told there are many pith instructions to the nature of mind hidden in the pages... So read with a clear and unhindered perception and who knows? Enlightenment could be yours. ; )