Covering the social, cultural, and political development of Tibet from the seventh century to the modern period, this resource reproduces essential, hard-to-find essays from the past fifty years of Tibetan studies, along with several new contributions. Beginning with Tibet's emergence as a regional power and concluding with its profound contemporary transformations, the collection is both a general and specific history, connecting the actions of individuals, communities, and institutions to broader historical trends shaping Asia and the world. With contributions from American, French, German, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, and Tibetan scholars, the anthology reflects the international character of Tibetan studies and its multiple, interdisciplinary perspectives. By far the most concise scholarly anthology on Tibetan civilization in any Western language, this reader draws a clear portrait of Tibet's history, its relation to its neighbors, and its role in world affairs.

In 1927, Oxford University Press published the first western-language translation of a collection of Tibetan funerary texts (the Great Liberation upon Hearing in the Bardo) under the title The Tibetan Book of the Dead. Since that time, the work has established a powerful hold on the western popular imagination, and is now considered a classic of spiritual literature. Over the years, The Tibetan Book of the Dead has inspired numerous commentaries, an illustrated edition, a play, a video series, and even an opera. Translators, scholars, and popular devotees of the book have claimed to explain its esoteric ideas and reveal its hidden meaning. Few, however, have uttered a word about its history. Bryan J. Cuevas seeks to fill this gap in our knowledge by offering the first comprehensive historical study of the Great Liberation upon Hearing in the Bardo, and by grounding it firmly in the context of Tibetan history and culture. He begins by discussing the many ways the texts have been understood (and misunderstood) by westerners, beginning with its first editor, the Oxford-educated anthropologist Walter Y. Evans-Wentz, and continuing through the present day. The remarkable fame of the book in the west, Cuevas argues, is strikingly disproportionate to how the original Tibetan texts were perceived in their own country. Cuevas tells the story of how The Tibetan Book of the Dead was compiled in Tibet, of the lives of those who preserved and transmitted it, and explores the history of the rituals through which the life of the dead is imagined in Tibetan society. This book provides not only a fascinating look at a popular and enduring spiritual work, but also a much-needed corrective to the proliferation of ahistorical scholarship surrounding The Tibetan Book of the Dead.

The most comprehensive collection of classic Tibetan works in any Western language.

Presents a comprehensive history of the country, from its beginnings in the seventh century, to its rise as a Buddhist empire in medieval times, to its conquest by China in 1950, and subsequent rule by the Chinese.

A Classical Tibetan Reader answers a long-standing need for well chosen readings to accompany courses in classical Tibetan language. Professor Bentor has built her Tibetan reader out of time-tested selections from texts that she has worked with while teaching classical Tibetan over the past twenty years. She has assembled here a selection of Tibetan narratives, organized to introduce students of the language to complex material gradually, and to arm them with ample reference materials in the form of glossaries customized to individual readings. Instructors will find this reader an invaluable tool for preparing lesson plans and providing high-quality reading material to their students. Students, too, will find the selections contained in the reader engaging. Even novice readers of Tibetan will feel welcomed and encouraged, thanks to the author's astute judgment of student capacity.

This book provides a clear and comprehensive introduction to Tibet, its culture and history. A clear and comprehensive overview of Tibet, its culture and history. Responds to current interest in Tibet due to continuing publicity about Chinese rule and growing interest in Tibetan Buddhism. Explains recent events within the context of Tibetan history. Situates Tibet in relation to other Asian civilizations through the ages. Draws on the most recent scholarly and archaeological research. Introduces Tibetan culture – particularly social institutions, religious and political traditions, the arts and medical lore. An epilogue considers the fragile position of Tibetan civilization in the modern world.

"A historically isolated people, the Tibetans have now indeed come to the land of the red man, and nearly every other country on earth. When the Chinese invaded the country in 1959 and proceeded to destroy the ancient-wisdom culture as well as nearly a sixth of the population, hundreds of thousands of Tibetans fled to India and parts west. In the 1980s, the prophecy was fulfilled, and the Dalai Lama, exiled leader of Tibet, met with Hopi and other American Indian elders in an effort to reunite the brothers." "Tibet's spiritual elders are dying off, and it is with them that so many of the secrets of survival lie. They are the ones who can find by touching someone's wrist what our medicine cannot detect; they saw the empty spaces of the atom before science considered the concept of subatomic particles; they know how to realign even severe emotional imbalances without drugs or therapy; they know what plants heal us (they have catalogued more than two thousand) and how to save them from destruction; they predicted the demise of their own country at the hands of the Chinese; they saw the coming of AIDS almost ten centuries ago. These people are dying off, and with them, the wisdom we need to make it through the next century and beyond." "After the Chinese occupation of their country, many Tibetan elders were killed in reeducation camps. Many survived, however, to escape what has now become a brutally oppressive environment. Sandy Johnson traveled around the world gathering the life stories and teachings of Tibetan doctors, the state oracle, the previous Dalai Lama's tailor, the great women masters - the entire range of the culture. An astrologer offers to produce Sandy's chart, including the date of her death; a stone carver shows her the rocks with prayers painted on them that he places in the river at the end of every day so that the water may carry blessings to everything it touches; Johnson meets a woman of indeterminate age who lives her life in a cave praying that people might be less distracted by material things and learn to care for each other again. At the same time, Johnson herself is on a spiritual quest, and interwoven with the stories of the elders comes her own physical healing as well as a long-awaited reconciliation with her family. The book is filled with predictions made by the Tibetan elders about the course of Johnson's life - most of which have already come true."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved