Guru Rinpoche: His Life and Times (Tsadra Foundation Series) [Hardcover]

Ngawang Zangpo (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 16, 2002 | Series: Tsadra Foundation Series

This book recounts Guru Rinpoche's historical visit to Tibet and explains his continuing significance to Buddhists. Three different accounts are presented: one Buddhist; one according to the pre-Buddhist Tibetan religion, Bon; and one based on Indian and early Tibetan historical documents.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

A selection of translations and commentary by Zangpo (the Tibetan name of Hugh Leslie Thompson), the translator of other key Buddhist texts, this book attempts to afford Westerners some glimpse of the importance of Guru Rinpoch to Tibetan Buddhist practitioners. Guru Rinpoche is revered by many as a Buddha and is credited with bringing from India the form of Buddhism that flourished and became Tibetan Buddhism as it is known today. The core of the book is a translation of four separate historical works dealing with the life of Guru Rinpoche. Zangpo outlines the historical context in which Guru Rinpoche's Buddhism was functioning and prepares the Western reader for the nature of the writings, which move freely between the concrete and the fantastic. The book also offers translations of supplications, a series of visualizations, and useful appendixes. Readers expecting a straightforward biography will be puzzled by the various texts, but the book will find an enthusiastic audience in those with some background and a demonstrated interest in Tibetan Buddhism. An important contribution to the understanding of a central figure, this volume is recommended primarily for academic libraries supporting the study of religion and Asian studies and for larger public libraries.
Mark Woodhouse, Elmira Coll. Lib., NY
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Publisher

Soonafter I encountered Tibetan Buddhism, I became convinced that my teacher Kalu Rinpoche', was Guru Rinpoche' incarnate. This did not represent a thoughtful conclusion on my part; it was an emotional response to what I perceived to be his character and impact on my life. Such impressions are entirely personab others felt his presence more evocative of bodhisattvas such as Great Compassion or Tara, whose meditations he taught worldwide; or of the great yogis Milarepa or Tang-Tong Gyalpo, whose lives he emulated. There is no right or wrong in these perceptions; they inform and enliven our faith. My appreciation of my teacher as Guru Rinpoche', while an entirely personal and perhaps unreasonable conclusion, has stayed with me to the present day and explains much of this book. During periods of retreat, I searched for prayers to Guru Rinpoche' and found the text of Sup plications to Guru Rinpoche' in Seven Chapters, which quickly became a treasured companion, as have many diverse versions of Guru Rinpoche's life story. My discovery that Tibetan accounts of their first major Buddhist master are not free from contradictions has not dampened my enjoyment of them. If nothing else, my life with Tibetan lamas has proved to be a rich education in de-structuring and widening my imagination of enlightenment or enlightened beings, beginning with Guru Rinpoche'. I am pleased to have the opportunity to share with non-Tibetan readers these stories and supplications. To them I have added some information concerning the Buddhist view of history, and a few relevant details of India, China, and Tibet's life during that era. I have lived in India for five years and in Taiwan for three, and I am always immersed in the Tibetan world, which no longer has borders to restrict it. I deeply appreciate all three cultures and hope to show how they intersected in surprising ways before and during Guru Rinpoche's fateful visit to Tibet. Finally, I observe with immense happiness the coming of Guru Rinpoche' to new lands, particularly the wild West, my birthplace. Buddhism is still in its infancy outside Asia, yet it has already had a major impact on many people's lives. We cannot measure Buddhism's development in new environments by its acquisition of land, bricks, and mortai, but by changes in our minds, lifestyle, and deathstyle. Such changes take time. Yet where once Guru Rinpoche' seemed an impossibly inscrutable foreigner, he is now coming into clear focus. I hope that this book will contribute to this process.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 360 pages
• Publisher: Snow Lion Publications; First Edition edition (September 16, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 155939174X
• ISBN-13: 978-1559391740
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,003,494 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One teacher, many points of view, November 21, 2007

By 

John Foley (Yorkshire UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Guru Rinpoche: His Life and Times (Tsadra Foundation Series) (Hardcover)

This is a wonderful collection of quite diverse biographies of the the great teacher Padmasambhava. The traditional "namthar" of such figures are often overwhelmed with dubious"larger than life" episodes and epithets. That type of biography is represented in this collection, but it also includes several that are more "down to earth" that provide a cultural and historical context for his amazing story. A description of Tibet as an early "rogue state" is eye opening as is a good objective recounting of Buddhism's early rising and falling fortunes in that land of snows.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Guru Rinpoche: His Life and Times, August 24, 2008

By 

Brandon Stocks - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Guru Rinpoche: His Life and Times (Tsadra Foundation Series) (Hardcover)

"Guru Rinpoche: His Life and Times" is an academic style book about the legacy of Padmasambhava, A.K.A. Guru Rinpoche. I love this book and find it quite helpful. The author, Zangpo, says there hasn't been much written in English about Guru Rinpoche, and as far as I can tell that is true. Padmasambhava was a tantric master who brought Buddhism from India to Tibet during the 8th century. He is considered by many in Tibet, Nepal, and Bhutan to be a fully enlightened buddha.

The first three chapters are devoted to history and concepts of history. Zangpo makes a distinction between scholarly, academic history, and history as it has been conceived of for centuries in Buddhist tradition and in Tibetan tradition. This distinction prepares the reader for the differences between the written accounts of Guru Rinpoche's life and the oddities of his legend. Some historical information about Tibet before Buddhism is given, and I was surprised by what I read. For example Zangpo says that a Tibetan army captured and briefly held the capitol city of China during the 8th century. The next two chapters concern Guru Rinpoche in modern Buddhism.

Then four different biographies of the Guru are given, including an Indian biography and a Bon biography. I was pleased to find this diversity of information about the legend of the Guru. These are followed by chapters detailing tantric-style rituals, called supplications, supposedly designed by Guru Rinpoche. These supplications do not require any equipment or elaborate ritual, they are prayers with accompanying visualizations.

Appendix 2 discusses Buddhist poetry and the difficulties in translating poetry. The name Padmasambhava means "lotus-born" and he is often referred to as "lotus-born master." Appendix 3 tells the story of a female lotus-born master before Padmasambhava. I know of two other lotus-born masters from Indian tradition. The stories of these four lotus-born masters all share common elements but are far from identical, so they constitute an ancient tradition.

All the stories about Guru Rinpoche read more like mythology than what most modern people think of as history. If this appeals to you then you will probably like this book. Most certainly Guru Rinpoche is important to the history of religion in Tibet and is important in modern Tibetan religion, so even a hard-nosed student of history might find something useful in this book. Also if you are interested in tantric Buddhism you will probably like this book.

Brandon Stocks