Customer Reviews

Buddhist Symbols in Tibetan Culture : An Investigation of the Nine Best-Known Groups of Symbols

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I'm not a practicing Tibetan Buddhist, but I've acquired a fair amount of knowledge through osmosis: I do volunteer work for a Tibetan refugee relief organization. One slow afternoon in our shop, I picked up this book to improve my knowledge of the iconography in the graphics we sell, and was blown away. Not only has the author written a clear, readable explication of the symbolism, but the book is also a terrific introduction to fundamental Tibetan Buddhist beliefs. The average Tibetan may not be able to elucidate the intricacies of the sacred texts, or practice the stylized form of debate that forms an important part of a monk's training. But the book gives great insight into what this average Tibetan actually believes. Now I feel I have a better understanding of how the Tibetans' Buddhism has sustained them through persecution, exile, and attempts by the Chinese government to stamp out their culture. (And the Fur-Bearing Fish isn't a refugee from a Dr. Seuss book, but a symbol with profound meaning.) This is a great little book, and I recommend it enthusiastically.

I'm 52 years old and was fairly smug about what I had learned after 20 years or so of pretty serious reading. Then into my life, through the miracle of "amazon.comm" comes <Buddist Symbols> by Dagyab Rinpoche: hold on to your beliefs folks: get ready for a roller-coaster ride through Tibetan philosophy as translated from that philosophical language: German. And at the end there are instructions on how to take care of and treat the book and other books of similar nature. Scary

I really was hoping for more with this book. Some background to the symbolism, but very light on the interesting stories. I have better information on my website.