Indo-Tibetan Buddhism: Indian Buddhists & Their Tibetan Successors (Volume 2) [Paperback]

David Snellgrove (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 12, 1987

This volume provides a comprehensive survey of Indian Buddhism and its subsequent establishment in Tibet. It concentrates on the tantric period of Buddhist theory and practice, from the eighth to the thirteenth centuries, when the Tibetans were actively engaged in absorbing all they could find of Buddhist culture and religion into their own country. Snellgrove emphasizes the significant role played by the Central Asian kingdoms along the ancient Silk Route in the gradual process of Tibetan conversion. He draws convincingly upon documents of the time to illustrate the cultural changes that swept Tibet as a result of its rule over an extensive empire from the seventh to the ninth centuries—a period of history largely forgotten by the Tibetans themselves when they later embarked upon the wholesale importation of Buddhism directly from Northern India. Throughout, the author quotes extensively from numerous original sources, many of which have never before been translated into English. The illustrations include iconographic art as well as photographs of historical interest.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

This volume provides a comprehensive survey of Indian Buddhism and its subsequent establishment in Tibet. It concentrates on the tantric period of Buddhist theory and practice, from the eighth to the thirteenth centuries, when the Tibetans were actively engaged in absorbing all they could find of Buddhist culture and religion into their own country. Snellgrove emphasizes on the significant role played by the Central Asian kingdoms along the ancient Silk Route in the gradual process of Tibetan conversion. He draws convincingly upon documents of the time to illustrate the cultural changes that swept Tibet as a result of its rule over an extensive empire from the seventh to the ninth centuries?a period of history largely forgotten by the Tibetans themselves when they later embarked upon the wholesale importation of Buddhism directly from Northern India.
Throughout, the author quotes extensively from numerous original sources, many of which have never before been translated into English. The illustrations include iconographic art as well as photographs of historical interest. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

David Snellgrove is renowned for his ability to convey the spirit as well as the textual interpretation of Sanskrit and Tibetan texts relating to the history of Buddhism. Since his retirement from teaching commitments in 1982, he has expanded his interests to South Asia, primarily Indonesia, and now Cambodia. He is a Doctor of Literature at the University of Cambridge, Professor Emeritus of the University of London, and a Fellow of the British Academy. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 640 pages
• Publisher: Shambhala (January 12, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0877733791
• ISBN-13: 978-0877733799
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #661,534 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptionally good work by a true expert on Buddhist tantra, August 4, 2006

By 

Timothy Conway "Ph.D." (Santa Barbara, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Indo-Tibetan Buddhism: Indian Buddhists & Their Tibetan Successors (Hardcover)

This is a stupendously good book for those with any interest in the 3 phases of Buddhist development--the early period of the Buddha and his disciples and the so-called "Old Wisdom" phase of Buddhism, the Mahayana phase, and, especially, the rise of Vajrayana/Tantrayana/Mantrayana. This last phase is what Snellgrove specializes in and he has done an impressive job of presenting his vast erudition to the reader.

Many people will come to Snellgrove's Indo-Tibetan Buddhism specifically due to their interest in and perhaps practice of Vajrayana Buddhism of the Tibetan variety and will be most drawn to the book's Part V on Buddhism's introduction to Tibet and its flourishing in that land.

But many of us, interested in the precise details and mysterious enigmas of the formative period of Tantric (Vajrayana) Buddhism as it arose in India, will find Snellgrove's very long Part III on the rise and complex development of Vajrayana to be SUPERLATIVE--probably the best overall treatment of this multi-faceted topic in the English language. (Note: Part III is pp. 117-303 in the Shambhala 2002 revised, single-volume edition, and so, at over 180 pages, not including many other references to tantra elsewhere, and maps, footnotes [so much easier to read than endnotes!], etc., represents a book-length treatise on just this one topic.)

Snellgrove knows **many** of the few dozen most important of the early, middle, and late Buddhist tantras in their original languages, and offers lengthy quotes from the most relevant passages in each of these tantras to illustrate or back up a point he is making in his text. He is, truly, one of the world's experts on Buddhist tantra, and explores interesting themes and discrepancies I've not seen with any other writers on the topic, even the prodigious Alex Wayman (not to mention younger writers like Thurman, Hopkins, et al.).

Moreover, he brings a candor to the topics at hand, showing how the Buddhist tantras diverge on important topics, such as the specific Deities in the 3- and 5- and 6-Buddha families, and on the controversies over whether sexual yoga and the offering of "foul" sacramental ingredients are to be literally enacted or performed only symbolically. He also demolishes the later Tibetan idea that any of these tantras can really be hierarchically ordered according the the well-known (but dubiously based) "four classes" (Action Class, Performance Class, Yoga Class, and Highest Yoga Class tantras).

I could go on and on about this wonderful Part III, which is so filled with delightful surprises and riveting insights. If one has ANY interest in Buddhist tantra and likes a writer who doesn't "dumb down" his subject matter but goes into the rich details on a wide array of topics connected with tantra, then just this Part III alone is worth the price of the book.

But then one also gets with this book all its other parts, such as Part IV's information-rich treatment of Buddhism as it developed in Central Asia and Nepal, and Part V on the schools of Buddhism in Tibet.

Get the book and learn something from an expert (and non-apologist) about the crucial set of developments in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism.

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Reference Book on Tibetan Buddhism, May 29, 2004

By 

Ma Josephine - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Indo-Tibetan Buddhism: Indian Buddhists & Their Tibetan Successors (Hardcover)

I recommand this book for one who want a good reference book on Tibetan Buddhism. This book is imformative and has a reasonably comprehensive coverage on all the most important areas in Tibetan Buddhism. This book is certainly a good bargain and has a good "useful information per dollar" ratio, especially when compared to many other books in the market.
This book has also been referred to and cited by many other scholars and is a respected authority in this area.