The Classical Tibetan Language (S U N Y Series in Buddhist Studies) [Hardcover]

Stephan V. Beyer (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, Tibetan

Product Details

• Hardcover: 503 pages
• Publisher: State Univ of New York Pr (July 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0791410994
• ISBN-13: 978-0791410998
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,606,369 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Steve Beyer -- scholar, adventurer, and expert on both jungle survival and plant hallucinogens -- is the author of Singing to the Plants, "the best book on ayahuasca yet" and "the most comprehensive examination of Amazonian shamanism ever written." Steve studied wilderness survival among the indigenous peoples of North and South America, and sacred plant medicine with traditional herbalists in North America and curanderos in the Upper Amazon, where he studied the healing plants with doña María Tuesta Flores and received coronación by banco ayahuasquero don Roberto Acho Jurama.

With doctoral degrees in both religious studies and psychology, Steve lived for a year and a half in a Tibetan monastery in the Himalayas, and has undertaken numerous four-day and four-night solo vision fasts in the desert wildernesses of New Mexico. He has studied the use of ayahuasca and other sacred plants in the Amazon, peyote in ceremonies of the Native American Church, and huachuma in Peruvian mesa rituals.

Steve has been described as a bridge between the modern world and the traditional teachings of Amazonian shamanism; he has been a tireless interpreter of the teachings of ayahuasca and advocate for the sacred plants. "I think the plants love us," he told an interviewer. "I have no idea why. We certainly have done nothing -- at least recently -- to deserve it. I think that they want us to be human beings again." And he adds: "All we can do, I think, is to ask ourselves how the sacred plants want us to live, how we can walk this medicine path in a sacred way, in right relationship."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not what you might think, October 21, 2002

By 

Italo Vecchi (Ferrara, Italy) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Classical Tibetan Language (Suny Series in New Social Studies on Alcohol and Drugs) (Paperback)

This book is a work of considerable erudition and depth on the historical dimension of classical Tibetan. It may be of great interest to anyone who already has a sound knowledge of the classical Tibetan language, but any potential buyer should be aware of what it is not. It is NOT an introduction to the classical Tibetan language. It is NOT a Tibetan grammar. As a matter of fact, the only Tibetan characters you will find in this books are in tables reproducing classical texts. All the textual examples are transliterated into Latin characters, which I personally find very irritating. For anyone interested in learning classical Tibetan the most appropriate first buy is, in my opinion, Wilson's "Translating Buddhism from Tibetan".

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-read for anyone interested in Classical Tibetan., June 22, 2000

By 

Valery Ushakov (St.Petersburg, Russia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Classical Tibetan Language (S U N Y Series in Buddhist Studies) (Hardcover)

It's not a typical grammar text. It won't give you prescriptive rules and exercises and it doesn't try to force Tibetan into procrustean bed of grammatical categories of European languages. Instead it aims at helping the reader to develop an intuition about the language and is very successful at that. Abundant examples with clear and thorough explanations lead you through all aspects of the Classical Tibetan from alphabet to poetry. This book will definitely help you crystallize your understanding of Tibetan grammar.