Masters of Mahamudra: Songs and Histories of the Eighty-Four Buddhist Siddhas

by Keith Dowman, Abhayadatta, Hugh Downs (Illustrator)

In Tibetan Buddhism, Mahamudra represents a perfected level of meditative realization: it is the inseparable union of wisdom and compassion, of emptiness and skillful means. These eighty-four masters, some historical, some archetypal, accomplished this practice in India where they lived between the eighth and twelfth centuries. Leading unconventional lives, the siddhas include some of the greatest Buddhist teachers; Tilopa, Naropa, and Marpa among them. Through many years of study, Keith Dowman has collected and translated their songs of realization and the legends about them. In consultation with contemporary teachers, he gives a commentary on each of the Great Adepts and culls from available resources what we can know of their history.

Dowman's extensive Introduction traces the development of tantra and discusses the key concepts of the Mahamudra. In a lively and illuminating style, he unfolds the deeper understandings of mind that the texts encode. His treatment of the many parallels to contemporary psychology and experience makes a valualbe contribution to our understanding of human nature.

Genres: Buddhism

472 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1986

Reviews

[Jkl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book for what it is. A description of the siddhas and some of their known possible factual information behind the stories told about them. Interesting read. A good introduction to the Mahamudra masters without specifically focusing on practice today.

[Don Flynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A re-read. Love the twists in the stories and relating practice to everyday life.

[Scott Rennie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really looking forward to this book, hoping to pick out some insights into the ways in which the Mahasiddhas practised. Of course I learned a lot, but it really felt like a haphazard jumble of tales, some with pretty much no point to them. I would have thought that some sort of chronological order might be sensible, and appreciate that ins't entirely possible due to doubts over some of their dates, but still it seemed funny to first read about one Mahasiddha being the teacher in someone else's story and later read their full story.

The biggest thing I took from this book was the variety of different ways of practising and the degree of adaptation of practice to the individual student.

[Brian Gilman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best overview the 84 Mahasiddhas available. Superior to "Buddha's Lions - The Tales of the Eighty-Four Siddhas". Splitting each Mahasiddha into a story, practice commentary, and historiography makes each section easy to read and parse.

A good introduction to the Buddhist Tantric literature.

[Marsha Altman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thorough but repetitive, though I suppose the stories are supposed to be that way, because they're all more or less the same story. The historical bits are laughable, but I suppose there's nothing you can really do about that. If any of these stories were true then India should be nothing but Dakini paradises right now.