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Civilized Shamans: Buddhism in Tibetan Societies

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Samuel's erudite and comprehensive review is fast becoming an indispenable tool to any serious student of Tibetan religious life (of whatever hue). Encompassing a breathtaking range of literature and information, the author's forte lies in his ability to convey the sheer vastness of extant scholarly material on Tibet, without at the same time getting bogged down in an excessively scholastic vocabulary and style. Readers should take note that this is certainly NOT a book for uncommitted beginners, or for those that want a feel-good dip into Buddhism (although the determined reader could reasonably treat it as introductory), but rather represents a comprehensive and in-depth guide for those who seek to become truly well-informed about one of the world's deepest and most facinating religious civilizations.

Samuel may have set a standard with this book for Buddhist studies. It is not an easy book, for example because of its thoroughness and the difficult issues it tackles, but it is well-presented and seems convincing. I, at any rate, would not want to debate Samuel on its positions.

When looking at Buddhist books, it seems many provide only a superficial context for the deep concepts they present. Introductory works on Buddhism or teachings by a modern teacher may assume or disregard your knowledge of key cultures and a vast history of development. It may be that the writer or teacher is him/herself unaware of that background. Of course, that "background" may be so big as to make it impossible to focus on any present teaching.

What is key to Samuel's study is his correction to the mistaken assumption that Tibetan religion consists almost entirely of the Dalai Lama and the clerical orders. That's not to deny their importance but Samuels puts them into perspective. That Tibetan religion can be as complex as it is is staggering: one wonders how any Tibetan can make use of it. Perhaps having grown up in that culture, it seems natural. Samuels, at any rate, for the non-Tibetan reader, shows how far Buddhism in Tibet has moved from Theravada Buddhism and clerical Tibetan Buddhism into shamanism, Tantra, Bon and Dzogchen ...

After reading this study, I'd expect any individual seeking to practice Buddhist will still be left wondering how to make use of such a rich spiritual tradition (or whether that richness hadn't become excessive). But "Civilized Shamans" suggests a great deal of creative religious activity, at least some of which may fascinate you.

This is a fantastic and monumental book. Too bad it seems to be out of print or otherwise unavailable for some reason. I supposed the academic tone and 700+ pages results in few readers. If you are seriously interested in Tibetan Buddhism, however, and not just in accumulating as many blessings as possible but in really understanding where it came from and how it developed, this is an excellent book. After reading something this huge and detailed, you might think you'd then have a fair grasp of what's going on, but the effect is exactly the opposite: you realize just how ignorant you are of the vast panoply of practices, roles, techniques, and so forth Tibetan Buddhism offers, or has offered, over the last 1500 or so years.

The first part is 'anthropological' and kind of drags, unless you're really into who ruled who and who had more yak-power in various areas of Tibet pre-Buddhism. It picks up in the middle portion, where Samuel gives a massive overview of the many 'roles' (monk, yogin, lama, etc.) one might play in Tibetan Buddhism and traces his major clerical (monastic) vs. shamanic (yogic) thesis re. Tibetan Buddhism.

The last part is I think the best, tracing the history of Tantra from India into Tibet, and here insight follows insight on almost every page. There may be other books which trace the co-mingling of tantra, shamanism, Tibet and India, but I don't know of them; in either case, this is the most insightful book about tantra and its connections with shamanism that I have yet read.

One other thing is that Samuel considers several times the origins of the tantras themselves. Tibetans of course insist these were the true words of the Buddha, held 'Elsewhere' until humans were prepared for them, and then transmitted via various deities and/or ecstatic visions to adepts and written down for our benefit. Most scholars wave their hands and say, clearly these are later works, there is no possible way they really have any connection to the historical Buddha. Samuel's take on the whole thing - basically, that tantric visions are a variation on the tried and true practice of shamanic revelation - provides the only plausible, not to mention interesting, resolution of I have ever come across to this debate. He also points out how the Buddha's own revelations are highly shamanic in nature, which I found interesting.

In short, this enormous and scholarly book (the bibliography alone is a very interesting 60+ pages) has much to offer in terms of just pure information and insightful commentary, at least in the final two-thirds. Very highly recommended to anyone with a serious interest in Tibetan Buddhism.

Following is some reflection directly inspired by "Civilized Shamans" by Geoffrey Samuel --

The Tibetan cultural region is the last major area to be penetrated by modernist materialist forces. So, the Land of the Snow Lion has kept alive the pre-modernist pre-materialist Zeitgeist -- until recently. Indeed, circa-Tibet is the last remaining major shamanic civilization -- and one of the most wide and deep ever. Old Tibet has some unusual major aspects to re-enforce its shamanic civilization -- especially the semi-isolation of stark mountains around an icy dry desert plateau as the setting for a semi-Theocracy with much local variation. Old Egypt had a similar overall combination of semi-isolation and a semi-Theocracy -- sea barriers from other major civilizations and additional hot dry desert isolating the central Nile river -- all re-enforcing a semi-Theocracy with much local variation. Medieval Europe and Japan likewise had similar semi-isolated semi-Theocracy settings with much local variation. But, only circa-Tibet remains [if barely] out of the Old Religion Zeitgeist. In the Modern Material Zeitgeist, Ancient Spirit barely survives -- so circa-Tibet is a precious exemplar of old rich shamanic religious variety -- that may not be seen again for some long time if ever. Such wide and deep Tradition and Creativity has been greatly re-enforced by the particular situation of circa-Tibet.

"Civilized Shamans" by Geoffrey Samuel is one of the best works ever on religous tradition and creativity -- perhaps even a great approach to a cultural anthropology of the wide and deep realm of Buddhism in Tibetan Societies -- with wide and deep research and presentation that is quite readable by strongly willing seekers of the Traditional Creativity of Old Tibet +++