|
|
Studies in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism
This series was conceived to provide a forum for publishing outstanding new contributions to scholarship on Indian and Tibetan Buddhism and also to make accessible seminal research not widely known outside a narrow specialist audience, including translations of appropriate monographs and collections of articles from other languages. The series strives to shed light on the Indic Buddhist traditions by exposing them to historical-critical inquiry, illuminating through contextualization and analysis these traditions' unique heritage and the signifcance of their contribution to the world's religious and philosophical achievements. We are pleased to make available to scholars and the intellectually curious some of the best contemporary research in the Indian and Tibetan traditions.
The SITB Series Editorial Board:
Tom Tillemans, Co-chair
Jose Cabezon, Co-chair
Georges Dreyfus
Janet Gyatso
Paul Harrison
Toni Huber
Thupten Jinpa Langri
Shoryu Katsura
Frank Reynolds
Cristina Scherrer-Schaub
Ernst Steinkellner
Leonard van der Kuijp
|
|
A Direct Path to the Buddha Within
Go Lotsawa’s Mahamudra Interpretation of the Ratnagotravibhaga
Klaus-Dieter Mathes, Author
Maitreya's Ratnagotravibhaga, also known as the Uttaratantra, is the main Indian treatise on buddha nature, a concept that is heavily debated in Tibetan Buddhist philosophy. In A Direct Path to the Buddha Within, Klaus-Dieter Mathes looks at a pivotal Tibetan commentary on this text by Go Lotsawa Zhonu Pal, best known as the author of the Blue Annals. Go Lotsawa, whose teachers spanned the spectrum of Tibetan schools, developed a highly nuanced understanding of buddha nature, tying it in with mainstream Mahayana thought while avoiding contested aspects of the so-called empty-of-other (zhentong) approach. In addition to translating key portions of Go Lotsawa's commentary, Mathes provides an in-depth historical context, evaluating Go’s position against those of other Kagyü, Nyingma, and Jonang masters, and examining how Go Lotsawa's view affects his understanding of the buddha qualities, the concept of emptiness, and the practice of mahamudra.
Click here to return to the complete Studies in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism Series
ISBN:0-86171-528-4_|_624_|_Our Price: $26.36 (20% OFF)_|_More Info
|
|
|
Among Tibetan Texts
History and Literature of the Himalayan Plateau
E. Gene Smith, Author
Jeffrey Hopkins, Foreword_|_Kurtis Schaeffer, Editor
For three decades, E. Gene Smith ran the Library of Congress's Tibetan Text Publication Project of the United States Public Law 480 (PL480)—an effort to salvage and reprint the Tibetan literature that had been collected by the exile community or by members of the Bhotia communities of Sikkim, Bhutan, India, and Nepal.
Smith wrote prefaces to these reprinted books to help clarify and contextualize the particular Tibetan texts: the prefaces served as rough orientations to a poorly understood body of foreign literature. Originally produced in print quantities of 20, these prefaces quickly became legendary, and soon photocopied collections were handed from scholar to scholar, achieving an almost cult status.
These essays are collected here for the first time. The impact of Smith's research on the academic study of Tibetan literature has been tremendous, both for his remarkable ability to synthesize diverse materials into coherent accounts of Tibetan literature, history, and religious thought, and for the exemplary critical scholarship he brought to this field.
Click here to return to the complete Studies in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism Series
ISBN:0-86171-179-3_|_352 pp_|_Our Price: $31.96 (20% OFF)_|_More Info
|
|
|
Freedom from Extremes
Gorampa's "Distinguishing the Views" and the Polemics of Emptiness
José I. Cabezón, Author
Geshe Lobsang Dargyay, Author
What is emptiness? This question at the heart of Buddhist philosophy has preoccupied the greatest minds of India and Tibet for two millennia, producing hundreds of volumes. Distinguishing the Views, by the fifteenth-century Sakya scholar Gorampa Sönam Sengé, is one of the most important of those works, esteemed for its conciseness, lucidity, and profundity.
Gorampa’s text is polemical, and his targets are two of Tibet’s greatest thinkers: Tsongkhapa, founder of the Gelug school, and Dölpopa, one of the founding figures of the Jonang school. Distinguishing the Views argues that Dolpopa has fallen into an eternalistic extreme, whereas Tsongkhapa has fallen into nihilism, and that only the mainstream Sakya view—what Gorampa calls “freedom from extremes”—represents the true middle way, the correct view of emptiness. Suppressed for years in Tibet, this seminal work today is widely regarded and is studied in some of Tibet’s greatest academic institutions.
Gorampa’s treatise has been masterfully translated and annotated here by two leading scholars of Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, and a critical edition of the Tibetan text on facing pages gives students and scholars direct access to Gorampa’s own words. José Cabezón’s extended introduction provides a thorough overview of Tibetan polemical literature and contextualizes the life and work of Gorampa both historically and intellectually. Freedom from Extremes will be indispensable for serious students of Madhyamaka thought.
Related Downloads:
The Tibetan Script of Gorampa’s Text
ISBN:0-86171-523-3_|_432_|_Our Price: $26.36 (20% OFF)_|_More Info
|
|
|
Luminous Lives
The Story of the Early Masters of the Lam ‘bras in Tibet
Cyrus Stearns, Author
In this seminal work of Tibetan Buddhist studies, Cyrus Stearns has translated a text recounting the masters in the transmission line of the Lam 'bras or "Path with the Result" teachings in Tibet. The book contains a detailed description of the Lam 'bras teachings and the text of the masters' biographies in English and Tibetan.
For those interested in the Sakyapa tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, this will be an essential reference work.
Click here to return to the complete Studies in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism Series
ISBN:0-86171-307-9_|_320 pp_|_Our Price: $27.96 (20% OFF)_|_More Info
|
|
|
Mipham’s Beacon of Certainty
Illuminating the View of Dzogchen, the Great Perfection
John W. Pettit, Author
John W. Pettit, Translator_|_Penor Rinpoche, Foreword
For centuries, Dzogchen--a special meditative practice to achieve spontaneous enlightenment--has been misinterpreted by both critics and malinformed meditators as being purely mystical and anti-rational. In the grand spirit of Buddhist debate, 19th century Buddhist philosopher Mipham wrote Beacon of Certainty, a compelling defense of Dzogchen that employs the very logic it was criticized as lacking. Through lucid and accessible textural translation and penetrating analysis, Pettit presents Mipham as one of Tibet's greatest thinkers.
Click here to return to the complete Studies in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism Series
ISBN:0-86171-157-2_|_592 pp_|_Our Price: $23.16 (20% OFF)_|_More Info
|
|
|
Reason’s Traces
Identity and Interpretation in Indian and Tibetan Buddhist Thought
Matthew Kapstein, Author
Part of the Studies in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism series.
"Only Matthew Kapstein could present such a collection of essays. He brings
to his exploration of Buddhist philosophy and hermeneutics an unmatched
range of scholarly skills. He is an insightful and acutely analytic
philosopher with a sure command of the Western philosophical canon and
method; he has an encyclopedic knowledge of the Indian and Tibetan
philosophical literature; his Sanskrit and Tibetan philology is superb; he
is a lucid translator; he is completely at home in the living tradition of
Tibetan Buddhism and has close working relationships with many eminent
Tibetan scholars and access to a wealth of oral textual material and
rarely-studied texts. He has also thought deeply about the enterprise of
Buddhist Studies and cross-cultural scholarship. Kapstein brings his
unique set of abilities to bear in this set of linked essays that together
explore with great precision, insight and masterful scholarship a range of
important issues in Indian and Tibetan philosophy, drawing on Western
philosophical ideas, texts and techniques where appropriate, and shedding
light not only on these philosophical traditions and the problems they
address, but also on the study of Buddhist philosophy itself, and the place
of this project philosophy as a whole." —Jay L Garfield, Professor of Philosophy, Smith College, Director, Five Colleges Tibetan Studies in India Program
Click here to return to the complete Studies in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism Series
ISBN:0-86171-239-0_|_496 pp_|_Our Price: $27.96 (20% OFF)_|_More Info
|
|
|
Scripture, Logic, Language
Essays on Dharmakirti and his Tibetan Successors
Tom J.F. Tillemans, Author
Dharmakirti, an Indian Buddhist philosopher of the 7th century, explored the nature, limits and justifications of rationality within the context of Buddhist religious and metaphysical concerns. While Dharmakirti is widely recognized for his crucial innovations in Indian logic and semantic theory, his notoriously difficult thought nonetheless remains poorly understood.
In this volume, one of the world's leading scholars of Buddhist philosophy sheds light on the interrelated topics of scripture, logic and language in the works of Dharmakirti and his philosophical heirs, both Indian and Tibetan. Professor Tillemans' knowledgeable explanations of such technical subjects as the apoha theory of reference and the problem of entailment (vyàpti) are coupled throughout with insightful reflections on how best to evaluate Dharmakirti's theories in light of contemporary philosophical thought. Scripture, Logic, Language is an informative and thought-provoking study for students of Buddhism as well as for those in the wider field of philosophy.
Click here to return to the complete Studies in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism Series
ISBN:0-86171-156-4_|_320 pp_|_Our Price: $26.36 (20% OFF)_|_More Info
|
|
|
Svatantrika-Prasangika Distinction, The
What Difference Does a Difference Make?
Georges B.J. Dreyfus, Editor
Sara L. McClintock, Editor
Madhyamaka, or "Middle Way," philosophy came to Tibet from India and became the basis of all of Tibetan Buddhism. The Tibetans, however, differentiated two streams of Madhyamaka philosophy—Svatantrika and Prasangika. In this collection, leading scholars in the field address the distinction on various levels, including the philosophical import for both Indian and Tibetan Madhyamaka and the historical development of the distinction.
Click here to return to the complete Studies in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism Series
ISBN:0-86171-324-9_|_416 pp_|_Our Price: $27.96 (20% OFF)_|_More Info
|
|
|
Vajrayogini
Her Visualization, Rituals, and Forms
Elizabeth English, Author
Vajrayogini is a tantric goddess from the highest class of Buddhist tantras who manifests the ultimate development of wisdom and compassion. Her practice is prevalent today among practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism. This ground-breaking book delves into the origins of Vajrayogin_, charting her evolution in India and examining her roots in the Cakrasamvara tantra and in Indian tradition relating to Shiva.
The focus of this work is the Guhyasamayasadhanamala, a collection of forty-six sadhanas, or practice texts. Written on palm leaves in Sanskrit and preserved since the twelfth century, this diverse collection, composed by various authors, reveals a multitude of forms of the goddess, each of which is described and illustrated here. One of the sadhanas, the Vajravarahi Sadhana by Umapatideva, depicts Vajrayogini at the center of a mandala of thirty-seven different goddesses, and is here presented in full translation alongside a Sanskrit edition. Elizabeth English provides extensive explanation and annotation of this representative text. Sixteen pages of stunning color plates not only enhance the study but bring the goddess to life.
Click here to return to the complete Studies in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism Series
ISBN:0-86171-329-X_|_608 pp_|_Our Price: $27.96 (20% OFF)_|_More Info
|
|
Return to top
|
