Lady of the Lotus-Born (eBook)

Gyalwa Changchub, Namkhai Nyingpo, Yeshe Tsogyal (Autoren)

eBook Download: EPUB

2002 | 1. Auflage
304 Seiten
Shambhala (Verlag)
978-0-8348-2462-1 (ISBN)

Infos

Thefirst Tibetan to attain complete enlightenment was in all probability the womanYeshe Tsogyal, the closest disciple of Padmasambhava, the master who broughtBuddhism to Tibet in the eighth century. This classical text is not only abiography but also an inspiring example of how the Buddha's teaching can be putinto practice. Ladyof the Lotus-Borninterweaves profound Buddhist teachings with a colorful narrative that includesepisodes of adventure, court intrigue, and personal searching. The book willappeal to students of Tibetan Buddhism and readers interested in the role ofwomen in Buddhism and world religions.

Textauszug

Fromthe Introduction

Thetext translated in these pages is the life story of one of the founders of theTibetan Buddhist tradition and without a doubt one of the most extraordinarywomen in the history of world religion. She lived during the heroic age of theTibetan kings whose empire, then at the peak of its strength, extended far tothe east into present-day China and to the north and west into the remoteregions of Central Asia, and dominated the entire Himalayan region to thesouth. Her life unfolded at a crucial moment in the history of her country whenthe rich and fully developed Buddhist tradition of the sutras and the tantraswas being introduced from India and propagated under royal patronage. It was atime of great events and powerful personalities.

Ladyof the Lotus-Born isby any standards a masterpiece of literature. Its colorful and livelynarrative, the lyrical beauty of its poetry, the profundity of its doctrinalteaching, and its absorbing historical and cultural interest are perfectlybalanced and arranged with artistry and finesse. As such, it is easilyaccessible, and even readers who know little of Tibet or the Buddhist path willbe intrigued and charmed by it. The storyline indeed is so well handled and thecharacterization so vivid and convincing that at times itisnot difficult to overlook the fact that this is a text of great antiquity. Inpoint of fact, the life of Yeshe Tsogyal has a peculiar modernity of its own,although not in the ordinary sense of the word. The reason for saying this isthat, however exotic and remote certain aspects of the text may appear to themajority of modern readers, Ladyof the Lotus-Born belongsto a spiritual and cultural tradition that is still vibrantly alive. Itexpresses ideas and values that for practitioners of the Buddhist path remainliving issues of great relevance.

Incontrast with the history of Europe and America, the pace of political andsocial change in Tibet was, until the upheavals of the second half of thetwentieth century, extremely slow, allowing the study and practice of Buddhismto proceed steadily, undisturbed by extraneous circumstances and in anatmosphere of almost perfect stability. This gave rise to a cultural continuitythat the West has never known, and it may be said without exaggeration that inTibet virtually the entire range of Buddhist doctrines, as they were extant inmedieval India, have been completely and perfectly preserved until the presenttime. The Tibetan Buddhist tradition embodies to this day teachings andpractices that were current and assiduously pursued at a time long before thecultures and even the languages of the modern West existed. So seamless is thetradition of Tibetan Buddhism that if one were to take a lama writing orcommenting on a scripture at the end of the twentieth century and place himalongside one of his forebears of the tenth, one would discover a similarity ofthought, expression, and attitude that renders them virtual contemporaries.

Itis thus that Ladyof the Lotus-Born hasa timeless relevance. However mysterious certain parts of itmayseem to the unfamiliar reader, the world described in its pages is stillinstantly recognizable to twentieth-century Tibetans. And to Tibetan Buddhistpractitioners, the story of Yeshe Tsogyal's life and the teachings containedtherein are still as pertinent and topical as they were in the eighth century.The same instructions given by Guru Rinpoche to Yeshe Tsogyal, and by YesheTsogyal to her own disciples, are imparted by Tibetan lamas to this day. Thesame meditation and yogas are still practiced and their extraordinary...

Produkt-Details

• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Biografien / Erfahrungsberichte
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Romane / Erzählungen
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Religion / Theologie ► Buddhismus
• ISBN-10: 0-8348-2462-0 / 0834824620
• ISBN-13: 978-0-8348-2462-1 / 9780834824621