A concise introduction to Tibetan Buddhism / John Powers.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Powers, John, 1957-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Buddhism--China--Tibet Autonomous Region.

Buddhism.

China--Tibet Autonomous Region.

Tibet Autonomous Region (China)--Religion.

Tibet Autonomous Region (China).

Physical Description:

165 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Ithaca, N.Y. : Snow Lion Publications, [2008]

Summary:

Lucid and economical, this introductory text delivers a brisk, fast-moving survey of Tibetan Buddhism. For many years Powers' nearly six hundred-page Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism has served as the field's most authoritative and comprehensive overview of Tibet's distinctive Buddhist tradition. A Concise Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism explains the core Buddhist doctrines and the practices of meditation and tantra and provides a survey of the four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism.

Contents:

The Indian background

Origins of Tibetan Buddhism

The Buddha

The Buddha's teaching career

Mahāyāna

Origins

Mahāyāna doctrines

The bodhisattva path

Some important Buddhist doctrines

Karma and rebirth

Dependent arising

Meditation

The role of meditation in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism

Stabilizing and analytical meditation

The five Buddhist paths

Tantra

The place of the Tantras in Buddhist literature

Tantra as a branch of Mahāyāna

Tantric symbols

Entering Tantric practice

The four classes of Tantra

The preliminary practices

Death and dying in Tibetan Buddhism

The four orders

Similarities and differences

The nonsectarian movement

Nyingma

Kagyu

Sakya

Géluk.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [149]-151) and index.

ISBN:

9781559392969

1559392967

OCLC:

179813882