Customer Reviews

The Flight of the Garuda: Teachings of the Dzokchen Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism

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1 star:		(1)

 

 

A beautiful and inspiring work, written with precision and poetry. Clearly Keith Dowman knows his subject, and as a student of Tibetan Buddhism, I'm deeply grateful for his work. Unlike the previous reviewer, I believe that the only misunderstanding that this book might provoke is one that the reader brings with him - if you're deeply self-deceptive about where your at, don't read it...yet. But otherwise, the immediacy and poignancy of the view and the language can only enrich. The freshness of the translation, and the fact that Dowman doesn't hesitate to index the Tibetan for purposes of comparison, opened my mind to meanings and associations that had been lost in the works of more tentative and traditional translators. This is one of my favorite books of Tibetan Buddhism.

I usually do not write reviews but I feel that this book especially in the context of one of these other reviews deserves one. Dowman has optioned upon a path different from most other western translators of tibetan literature. There is a "well beaten" path out there but the parameters of this path are often quite limited to old views of what exactly tibetan means in english. The old dictionaries and methods for translating tibetan into english or other european languages are quite far from being perfected. Ask any of your "authentic master translators" and they will unanimously agree upon this point. As far as keith dowman's straying from the beaten path in translation, he deserves the utmost appreciation and respect for it is a rare thing these days for someone willing get wild and spontaneous with their translations as opposed to those who tend not to stray far from the "safe" norm. If westerners truly wish to understand the tibetan dharma, they must be open to new ways of interpretation through the use of the english language, or else the essence of the tradition will be lost in a stagnate structure of unrevised translation and expression. Whether or not this text deserves to be on the market because of its esoteric nature is up to opinion of the judge. Many tibetan Lamas such as Namkhai Norbu do not horde their wisdom of the dzogchen, but share initiation in a manner so that all may come into theirs spontaneously in all walks of life. It is risky to give wisdom to those who know no what it is, but is it not more dangerous to let beings ride the waves of ignorance in these times?

A beautiful and inspiring work, written with precision and poetry. Clearly Keith Dowman knows his subject, and as a student of Tibetan Buddhism, I'm deeply grateful for his work. Unlike the previous reviewer, I believe that the only misunderstanding that this book might provoke is one that the reader brings with him - if you're deeply self-deceptive about where your at, don't read it...yet. But otherwise, the immediacy and poignancy of the view and the language can only enrich. The freshness of the translation, and the fact that Dowman doesn't hesitate to index the Tibetan for purposes of comparison, opened my mind to meanings and associations that had been lost in the works of more tentative and traditional translators. This is one of my favorite books of Tibetan Buddhism.

Having searched for others words to help me understand my expierence. I first read it at a friends. Had to buy it. I have read this prayer so many times the book is falling apart....really. No doubt if one is on the path this is a great contemplation book to remind one of reality.

Dowmans rendition of this Tibetan text is highly misleading. Not only has he misunderstood important elements (even though he is said to supposedly be a scholar of Nyingma thought), but also misleads his readers by presenting them with concepts which are simply wrong. Before attempting to translate and publish a text like this (or read it for that matter), I suggest to first study with an authentic master - then sit down and practice the contents for a few decades, and then think again. This is not a text that should be available to the public at all, because without thorough study and preparation texts like this can only be highly misleading for the reader. To simply publish a work like this and make it available to the public is highly irresponsible !