A Beginner's Guide to Tibetan Buddhism: Notes from a Practitioner's Journey [Paperback]

Bruce Newman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 13, 2004

This book begins with the very awakening of student's interest in spirituality and their initial encounter with Tibetan Buddhism; then leads them through all the steps necessary for successful proactive in the West.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Bruce Newman has been my close student for almost thirty years. I am confident that he will be able to share his insights with others and help them on the Buddhist Path. --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

From the Inside Flap

As Tibetan Buddhism extends its reach in the West, many practitioners are making strong commitments to this path. The Vajrayana tradition still being new to our culture, however, there remain significant gaps in Western students' education and understanding. These can lead to practical difficulties for new or intermediate students. This book begins with the very awakening of students' interest in spirituality and their initial encounter with Tibetan Buddhism, and then leads them through the steps necessary for successful practice in the West.

A Beginner's Guide to Tibetan Buddhism speaks powerfully and directly to the Western student who is working to integrate this incredibly vast tradition into the realities of daily life. Drawing on his many years of practice and teaching, the author skillfully addresses obstacles, doubts and confusions that every reader will recognize.

"Bruce Newman has been my close student for almost thirty years. I am confident that he will be able to share his insights with others and help them on the Buddhist Path."— Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche, Tibetan Buddhist teacher and meditation master.

"Lama Bruce Newman, my old dharma friend, writes openly and honestly about his love for Buddhism and what the path of dharma has brought to his life as a Westerner. This book is an enjoyable, practical read which will inspire interested seekers and encourage them to bring out their best."— Sangye Khandro, translator of Tibetan Buddhism, Light of Berotsana Translation Group

"Bruce, your friendly Dharma Pal, takes the beginner by the hand to walk through the intricacies of the path, making complex ideas and terminology plain and simple. A solid, down-to-earth book."— Erik Schmidt, Rangjung Yeshe Publications

Bruce Newman has studied and practiced Tibetan Buddhism, mostly in the Kagyu and Nyingma traditions, for almost thirty years. He spent eleven years in India and Nepal studying under his primary teacher, Venerable Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche. Mr. Newman also completed a four-year retreat at Kagyu Samye Ling in Scotland. For the past ten years, he has been practicing and teaching under the guidance of Venerable Gyatrul Rinpoche in Ashland, Oregon.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 212 pages
• Publisher: Snow Lion Publications (May 13, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559392118
• ISBN-13: 978-1559392112
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #927,871 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Words of Advice from an Elder Brother, July 29, 2004

By 

Neal J. King (Munich, Germany) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Beginner's Guide to Tibetan Buddhism: Notes from a Practitioner's Journey (Paperback)

When I was first studying physics, I found that it was sometimes more illuminating to discuss a problem with a teaching assistant than with a professor: Although the TA's level of understanding was greater than mine, he would consider more alternative approaches, and show more hesitation in deciding among them, than would a professor. Watching a graduate student proceed in this way, I felt validated in my own process of learning by exploring and stumbling around.

The author of this book, Bruce Newman, has certainly achieved a higher level of experience and understanding in the Dharma. For thirty years, he has been living the life that most other Dharma students have only day-dreamed about: living as a nearly full-time yogi, with continual guidance from his teachers, both in and out of retreats, in the East and in the West. As a result of his efforts, he has been given authorization, encouragement and continuing support by two highly regarded teachers in the Kagyu and Nyingma lineages to introduce Western students into the Vajrayana and to train them in its meditation.

After teaching other Western students for a decade, and reflecting on his own process of coming to terms with and progressing in the Vajrayana, he has now written a guide to Tibetan Buddhism that explores the issues that arise for Westerners encountering this rather complex system. He is able to explain, in a very down-to-earth way, some of the central issues that we confront: how to deal with the lama most straightforwardly, how to relate to the ritualistic aspects, sexuality (what is "tantric" and what is not?), dealing with other students, fitting practice into your life, and so on. He discusses the detailed relationships among the different types of Vajrayana techniques, why they are done in a certain order, and what they are designed to do; and also some of the difficulties that are likely to arise while doing them.

One of the most important points he makes is that Westerners often have a difficult time with their relationship with the guru: They tend to believe that the lama is somehow aware of all of their issues and confusions, without their being discussed. This attitude leads to a lack of communication on meditational experiences that makes it difficult for the lama to point out the nature of the mind to the student in a definitive way.

He also explores the conceptual difficulties that arise for Westerners: Some of these come from cultural differences with Tibetans, but some are intrinsic to Buddhist thought. Westerners often come to the Dharma with the general idea that Buddhism is a form of super-logic, a kind of science with added spiritual insight; there is then the tendency to disregard aspects that don't fit into this picture. The author explains in specific detail how this conceptual view can limit one's understanding of how the Vajrayana actually works, and therefore one's experience.

The author mentions in general terms, but does not go into detail about, his own experiential phenomena during his career in meditation: This is probably in good taste, as practitioners' phenomena are individual and shouldn't be imitated; but it also means that this book will never serve as the basis for a movie script. He is honest about acknowledging in many cases his own lack of attainment of the lofty goals of the Dharma. (Of course, in the Mahayana tradition, of which Vajrayana is a part, there is, notoriously, no "attainment": It is really the quality of one's "non-attainment" that counts.)

One nit that I would pick: There is a useful discussion near the end of the book concerning the difference between the Western concepts of ego and the ego that Buddhists are always trying to get rid of. They're not the same. I believe this crucial point should be explained much earlier.

Overall, I believe that even for many Dharma students who have been around for awhile, this book, written in an informal style by someone a bit ahead on the path, will shed some light: validating some intuitions on how to proceed in the Dharma, while disabusing one of others. For newer students, it could be an eye-opener that can save years of orientation to a very complex system of spiritual development.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent practical guide for Westerners, July 26, 2004

By 

Jan Derksen (Northern California, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Beginner's Guide to Tibetan Buddhism: Notes from a Practitioner's Journey (Paperback)

The following review is written by Jan and Linda Derksen.

Tibetan Buddhism has a steep learning curve. In this thoughtful, intelligent introduction, Bruce Newman's years of experience as a lama, serious practitioner, and Dharma teacher help us recognize and avoid many of the pitfalls that Western practitioners commonly stumble into.

His book is a gem for any newcomer who feels intimidated and overwhelmed by the multitude of details that we need to sift through when we set out on this path.

The book is equally helpful to practitioners with years of experience who are confronting increasingly subtle difficulties that are hard to uproot or even to recognize.

Bruce's book is not like other books about Buddhism available today. He assumes we have some interest in Buddhism and will seek out lectures or read books about Buddha's life and teachings. He focuses his attention on guiding us through the practical considerations that Western students confront.

Let's say we are serious enough to want to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings. Now what? Do we really need a Guru? How can devotion and trust function in the heart and mind of a well educated, scientifically minded Westerner? At the university Bruce's field of study was theoretical chemistry and quantum mechanics. Thus, we can relate to his tough-minded scientific mind and the effort he had to put into learning about devotion and trust first hand with Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche in Nepal and Gyatrul Rinpoche in California. Over the years Bruce also learned about devotion and trust by answering questions from his students. His book gives us many of the details as well as a broad perspective on the Guru-devotion discussion so that if we follow his advice, we won't get hurt, and neither will our Guru.

Without the proper understanding, doing 100,000 prostrations looks like an enormous waste of time. Or, what exactly are we trying to do when we sit on our cushions and meditate? Bruce warns us about perfecting our outward performance and entirely missing out on the emotion-changing heart of the practice. He also cautions us about the dangers of getting competitive with our Dharma brothers and sisters.

Lets say we've taken the step of volunteering at a Dharma Center and feel like tearing our hair out because our fellow volunteers are so annoying. Bruce spends an entire chapter on all the emotional ups and downs that are inevitable when we practice in a pressured situation with many people, and he shows us how to use the difficulties as part of our spiritual training.

Bruce is the only author we've found who thoroughly and clearly explains the various lineages and stages one encounters. For example, he explains that Nyingma style practice has the following stages: (1.) Pointing-out Instructions->Ngondro->Deity Practice->Tsalung->Dzogchen/Mahamudra/Formless Practice, or the alternate possibility (2.) Pointing-out Instructions ->Ngondro->Shinay->Lhagtong->Dzogchen/Mahamudra/Formless Practice.

Bruce's honest, sometimes painful, self-revelations, especially about drugs, are there to help us confront our own emotional baggage. How does one go about removing the obscurations? Sometimes it can feel like we have all 84,000 of them at once, and life can get pretty discouraging. Other times we can fool ourselves by serenely shoving them aside and finding comfort in quiet meditation while our obscurations quietly fester and make our lives needlessly complicated. It's easy to spend years on the wrong track if we don't recognize what it is we're doing wrong.

No matter what level of practice we're at, troubles will arise, and with this book we have the comfort of a spiritual friend who's been there and his genuine, heart-felt guidance about how best to proceed. We can be very grateful to Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche for insisting that Bruce write this book for us all.

---Jan and Linda Derksen

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not easy sledding for the beginner..., August 5, 2005

By 

Too many movies, too little time (Washington state, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Beginner's Guide to Tibetan Buddhism: Notes from a Practitioner's Journey (Paperback)

The earlier reviews of the book are written by people who have been practicing Tibetan Buddhism for several years. I read this book after studying Zen for several years. I read it to prepare for a journey to Dharamsala, India, to attend a teaching by His Holiness, the Dalai Lama.

Much of the difficulty in understanding all of Buddhism is its interlocking structure, and this book reflects it. To a newcomer to Tibetan Buddhism, this book does not offer a straightforward explanation of what to expect or to know. Admittedly, it would be difficult to provide one. However, the book was difficult to understand, and only after visiting Dharamsala and immersing myself in the Tibetan environment could I start to make sense of it.

If you're approaching Buddhism for the first time, Zen can be more attractive because it's much more stripped down, while there is much more complexity (and in the long run, I believe, more richness) to Tibetan Buddhism. The best western analogy I can think of is comparing Presbyterianism (probably the most straightforward Christian sect) vs. Roman Catholicism (with its saints and rituals and intensive symbolism). If you were new to Christianity, Presbyterianism would be probably easier to start with, but the volume of information available to a practitioner (regardless of the philosophy behind it) is greater in Catholicism. Now imagine trying to explain hundreds of years of Catholicism in a single 200-page book, including all of the mystic traditions, history, artwork, differences in monastic traditions, etc.! In this book, that's what Newman is trying to do with Tibetan Buddhism, and it's a difficult task at best.

If you're just starting to learn about Buddhism, I can't say I'd recommend this book; it's rather technical to start with. But if you've stuck your big toe in the water for a while and need some clarification, it's worth reading.