Sources Of Tibetan Tradition

Cole, Thomas: Dream Weavers, Textile Art from the Tibetan Plateau, 2004 Singapore ISBN: 9812329412

9.5 x 11 Hardback in dustjacket in Very Good condition Illustrated by 68 Full Page Color Plates With Details; Signed by the author.; 2.5; 188 pp.; Tom Cole takes readers through the tribal tradition of the Tibetan weaving aesthetic. The tribal tradition, on which he speculated more than 10 years ago, is validated through the interesting synthesis of ideas and sources, and is discussed in a well-documented historical text that reads like an unfolding narrative. This perceptive text establishes a fascinating new light in which the Tibetan people and their traditions should be viewed. Accompanying the text are complete descriptions and technical analyses of 68 eye-dazzling rugs from the collection of Shirin and Giuseppe De Giosa. The weavings presented here not only reflect the inner warmth of a very soulful people, they represent a cross-section of the breadth of design as seen in the mind's eye of the Tibetan weavers.

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Lhalungpa, Lobsang P. (Photographer): Tibet, the Sacred Realm: Photographs, 1880-1950, New York and Philadelphia Aperture in association with the Philadelphia Museum of Art 1983
ISBN: 0893811203 Very Good

159 pp., illus.; 24 cm. Preface by Tenzin Gyatsho, His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Photographs from the archives of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, et al. Catalogue of an exhibition presented at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, March 20 - May 22, 1983. Near fine. Tight, clean copy. Light edgewear to wraps. "Ever since the first European travelers reached Tibet six centuries ago, Westerners have been fascinated and tantalized by tales of that legendary, remote mountain civilization. Today, Tibet 's peaceful , integrated way of life deeply felt Buddhist tradition and its culture rich in art, architecture, dance and music have all but disappeared, gradually replaced by the trappings of life introduced since the Chinese take-over of the 1950s. Most of the 3,000 monasteries and temples that once dotted the Tibetan countryside have been destroyed or converted into museums. Only in a few scattered emigre communities, in the treasures hastily smuggled out by 100,000 refugees who fled Tibet in 1959, and in a handful of photographs, is the old Tibet remembered and preserved. Tibet: The Sacred Realm brings together for the first time a selection of more than 140 of these rare photographs, taken from 1880 to 1950 by more than twenty intrepid adventurers, naturalists, explorers, scientists, and missionaries, who were among the very few in the West to travel to Tibet. In this valuable visual record the forward-looking thirteenth Dalai Lama sits in exile in India surrounded by his high officials one of Tibet's wealthiest families poses in their Western-style dining room the artificial lake of Lhasa reflects the imposing gilded roofs of the Potala Palace Buddhist monks perform sacred dances in ornate animal masks pilgrims circumambulate the holy city and monks and sheepskin-bundled nomads gather on the vast northern plains to listen for the first time to a visitor's gramophone. Selected from the collections of twenty-three institutions' archives and private sources in Europe and the United States, the photographs represent the finest work of the explorer-photographers Alexandra David-Neel, Brooke Dolan, George Taylor, Ilya Tolstoy, and Claude White, among others, including the Tibetan photographer Sinam Wangfel Laden-La. Facing inclement weather, the threats of bandits, the objections of the lamas, the countless other hardships, these photographers still managed to distill the essence of Tibet's mystery and fascination. Recalling his early years in Tibet, Buddhist scholar, translator, and son of the former chief state oracle of Tibet, Lobsang P. Lhalungpa adds another dimension to the story revealed in the photographs. He shares his recollections of a boyhood in Lhasa, his training under the most revered Tibetan lamas, his life as a monk official in the Dalai Lama's government, and his sorrowful departure from his native land: 'I mounted my favorite gelding, which had been saddled with its finest saddle cover. As I bent down to tuck the folds of my clothes under one leg, my round, fur-and-brocade-trimmed hat slipped off my head and fell to the ground. I remember feeling instant apprehension. Was this a sign that I would never see Lhasa again?' As the technological age threatens to swallow, one by one, the unique civilizations of the world, the lessons to be learned from the age-old traditions of Tibet become all the more valuable. Tibet's past, illuminated here by glimpses of special vision, offers profound spiritual insight and a majestic feast for the eye. The photographs are introduced by a preface by his Holiness the Dalai Lama. / Lobsang P. Lhalungpa was born in Lhasa in 1924 and passed through the disciplines of the major branches of Tibetan Buddhism under many of its greatest masters. Assigned to India at the time the Chinese took over Tibet in the 1950s, he has since lived in India and the West. His life has drawn him into all aspects of the effort to maintain the Tibetan tradition by bringing it into relationship to Western needs. A consulting editor and contributor to the quarterly journal Parabola and consultant to the American Museum of Natural History in New York, he is also a former teacher of Tibetan Buddhist classics at the University of British Columbia. As a translator, he has rendered important Buddhist texts into English, including The Life of Milarepa, and his translation of Mahamudra: The Quintessence of Mind and Meditation." - Publisher. Soft Cover 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall Exhibition Catalogue

[SW: Photography::General Photography::Subjects & Themes::Architectural Photography::Subjects & Themes::Landscapes]

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Templeman, David: TARANATHA'S LIFE OF KRSNACARYA KANHA, Dharamsala Library of Tibetan Works & Archive 1989
ISBN: 8185102708 Very Good

xv+176pp, notes, bibliography, index. This biography of one of the charismatic Indian siddhas, or tantric adepts, prominent in the tantric lineage that were conveyed to tibet, particularly those concerning Cakrasamvara and Vajravarahi, was compiled by the renowed Tibetan historian jinang Taranatha from both written and oral sources. He describes Krsnacarya's training with his own guru, Jalandharipa, his exploits in various parts of India, which included discovery of the Samputatilaka Tantra, and his eventual untimely death. His life, which is interesting as much for its setbacks as for its successes, is typical of the siddha tradition to which he belonged. Of the various yogic tradition which flourished in the different regions of India, Krsnacarya was largely responsible for propagating the Carya tradition in the East. Summarized accounts of Krsnacarya's main male and female disciples, as well as sundry other stories concerning the order of the Caryapa yogis, are also recounted here. Soft Cover 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall

[SW: YOGIS TANTRA CARYA TIBET TARANATHA CAKRASAMVARA VAJRAVARAHITantra Tibet]

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Geshe Wangyal: The Door of Liberation: Essential Teachings of the Tibetan Buddhist Tradition, Boston, USA Wisdom Publications 1995
ISBN: 0-86171-032-0 New

This book contains seven fundamental Buddhist texts considered essential to Western students by Geshe Wangyal, who first brought Tibetan Buddhism to America. Ranging from early scriptural sources to meditation and visualization guides of Tibetan Buddhist practice, this is indispensible reading for those interested in opening the door to the highest realms of freedom, wisdom, and compassion. Printed Pages: 264. First Edition New Paperback 6 x 9 Inches

[SW: Indian Buddhism Buddha Buddhist]

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