Following the fall of the Tibetan empire and the ensuing "period of fragmentation;" the twelfth and thirteenth centuries saw tremendous religious efflorescence in Tibet. Although the Tibetan scholars and adepts of this period continued to draw from the texts and practices of Indian Buddhism; they also began to craft distinctly Tibetan intellectual and spiritual traditions. Hundreds of important masters lived and worked during this time; some of whom founded institutions that still exist today. Equally important were the scholars who lived on the margins of institutionalized Buddhism; teachers and meditators whose works; despite their great creativity; have been largely forgotten. José Cabezón offers a study of the life and most important extant work of one such figure; Rog Bande Sherab; also known as Rogben (1166-1244). Rogben studied under some of the greatest teachers of his day. An itinerant scholar and yogi; he devoted his life to collecting important textual cycles and meditation techniques. Rogben's most important work; The Lamp of the Teachings; cuts across the genres of history; doctrinal studies; and doxography. It is one of the earliest philosophically robust explanations of the "nine vehicle" system of the Ancient or Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. The Buddha's Doctrine and the Nine Vehicles is the first scholarly study of Rog Bande Sherab; a pivotal figure in both the Pacification (Zhiché) and Ancient traditions of Tibet; and one of the most original thinkers in Tibetan intellectual history.
#332636 in Books Oxford University Press; USA 2012-06-12 2012-06-12Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 6.10 x .90 x 9.20l; 1.25 #File Name: 0199929068402 pages
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. A good readBy PeteBalanced and thoughtful. It's been a long time since I read something as unbiased and factual. Thank God.......1 of 3 people found the following review helpful. very goodBy christos LeounakisA very good and very comprehensive study on the american christian roght that you can read it as a novel. It is so well written that you would swallow it during a weekend. It lays down the whole passage of the Christian Right; from a small group to a major group affecting the Republican Party and the political situation in the USA. Sad to discover that the power of the the holly principles and values of the Christian Right are not attracting the same support as it used to be durin the R.Reagan years and it seems that it is fading away.. What a pitty that Reagan administration failed to re-impose school prayer due to a few republican senators in 1983..0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Scary stuffBy TeemacsAs someone born and raised in Northern Ireland; I have observed at first hand the dreadful things that can happen when fanatical religious beliefs are combined with fanatical political beliefs. The fact that it might happen on a much larger scale on the far side of the Atlantic is a worry. When one KNOWS that one is right and one then acquires the ability to enforce this on others; the result is not good. This is the possibility with the Religious Right takeover of the Republican Party.While the situation will not (one hopes) result in another Inquisition (although some of the wilder fundamentalist shores demand Old Testament punishments such as death for homosexuals; adulterers; astrologers; boilers of young goats in their mother's milk; etc.); the desire to return to the Middle Ages appears strong. This is largely based not on the Bible; but; as this book points out; on a sort of US civic religion; in which the USA is seen as God's instrument on earth; and it is suffering because it has left the path of righteousness; as did Old Testament Israel; leading to the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem - remember how Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson said that 9/11 was God's punishment for homosexuality and abortion?The scary thing about this book is that it is not a polemic against the Religious Right. It is a scholarly but easy read; even-tempered and even-handed; setting forth the facts; often in the protagonists' own words. It starts at the beginning; with Billy Graham's seeking to influence the Eisenhower and Nixon White Houses; and it ends with the Barack Obama's first election; pointing out that the McCain/Palin ticket got the lion's share of the evangelical vote; and that the Religious Right was far from dead. We have just seen how accurate this was; and we see how correct was the civic religion bit; with evangelicals voting en mass for the narcissistic; misogynistic travesty of what appears at best an agnostic who now inhabits the White House. Yet he has the enthusiastic support of the likes of the founder of Focus on the James Dobson. American Christianity has won a political party; but lost its soul in the process; thus ignoring completely what the Man it supposedly reveres said in Matt.16:26. He; of course; would probably address them in the words of Luke 6:46 - and they would of course ignore Him. I fear there is worse to come. I hope not.
