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Secret of the Vajra World: The Tantirc Buddhism of Tibet

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Despite its unfortunate title, this is one of the most readable and informative books I've read about Tibetan Tantra. It's not a "first book" -- not one of those books that makes converts, like Walpola Rahula's "What the Buddha Taught," or the Dalai Lama's "Art of Living," or Suzuki Roshi's "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind." Those books distill the Buddhism into a single powerful, moving message, leaving behind everything distracting or extraneous -- they're basically the Four Noble Truths, told again, told new. If you want a simple introduction to Buddhism, read one of those, not this.

This is a completely different kind of book. It's full of details and byways. What's the difference between Nyingma, Gelugpa, Kagyu, and Sakya? What are the four different Ngondro practices? What's a Yidam? What's Tummo? What are all those Kayas, and how do they signify? How is Mahamudra different from Dzogchen?

If you're not already a Tibetan Buddhist, you probably don't want to know these things. If you just became one, don't mess with all that stuff yet: find a good teacher, listen to what he or she says, ask a lot of questions, and meditate a lot.

This is, however, a great book for a year or two down the road, when you've settled down to some practice and are starting to get irritated by all the terminology you still don't know, and all the references to persons, places, practices, and things that everyone seems to think you'd just magically already know about. This book is sort of like that trusted friend you sidle up to after puja to ask, "so just what *is* a Bhumi, anyway?"

Not that The Secret of the Vajra World doesn't have its inspiring moments. The story of the 16th Karmapa's death in a Western hospital is very moving, as are the stories of various Westerners on retreat. Ray's own commitment and inspiration come through very clearly. But the book's main virtues are accuracy and detail. There's simply a lot of information here, easy to find, easy to digest, about what people who practice Tibetan Buddhism actually do, how they do it, and why they do it.

I read Reginald Ray's "Indestructable Truth", the first volume in his "World of Tibetan Buddhism" series, last summer while camping in the Sierras. I was fascinated by the account of the various masters, lineages, stories and practices of the Tibetan Buddhist religion, and was left wanting more.

With "Secret of the Vajra World: The Tantric Buddhism of Tibet", I got what I wanted.

Here Ray has delivered exactly what someone who holds the title "senior teacher" (Acharya) should- he shows the reader the history and philosophy of the Tantric path in as much detail as a single book can allow. He discusses the Vajrayana lineages of Tibet, with special emphasis on the Nyingma and Kagyu. He tells us tales of the Mahasiddhas- individuals like Padmasambhava, Tilopa, Marpa, and (my favorite), Milarepa. He discusses the institutionalization of the Tantra as the Vajrayana, the "third yana" of Buddhism (along with the Hinayana and Mahayana).

Ray then goes on to discuss the philosophy behind the Vajrayana and how it developed out of Nagarjuna's Madhyamika philosophy and the work of "forest adepts" (siddhas) in Northern India in the 7th-8th centuries. He discusses the sadhanas that make up the basis of Tantric practices, as well as the six internal yogas of Naropa, the Mahamudra, and the Dzokchen teachings. He then concludes the book with a discussion of the Tulku tradition, death practices, reincarnation, and the peculiar events surrounding the death of the Karmapa in 1981, as well as the peculiar events surrounding the birth of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche (I was also happy to hear that a new Trungpa Tulku has been discovered and is in training). Ray doesn't even shy away from discussing the Dzokchen "Rainbow Body" and the passing of realized masters into the samboghakaya, no matter how much this seems to conflict with modern materialist beliefs.

The Siddhas weren't just mythical adepts who lived many centuries ago- it's just as possible to become one today. In a world sorely in need of transcendental aspirations beyond insipid materialism and potential-denying Christianity, Tibetan Buddhism, mysteriously enough, provides a vision that takes us beyond the modern, postmodern, and premodern world- and into a world of unlimited spiritual possibilities. Read Ray's "World of Tibetan Buddhism" series, and you'll understand why.

Reginald Ray (or "Reggie," as his students call him) is a Professor of Buddhist Studies at Naropa University and at the University of Colorado here in Boulder. He was a student of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, and is now a senior teacher (or "acharya") in that lineage. He is also a frequent contributor to the "Shambhala Sun" magazine. Reggie recently led a weekend meditation retreat at Naropa, in which he demonstrated his ability as a teacher to give practical application to Tibetan Buddhism in the modern world. It is his same remarkable ability to give ordinary meaning to the otherwise esoteric teachings and practices of Tibetan Buddhism that makes Reggie's SECRET OF THE VAJRA WORLD such a compelling book.

This is the companion volume to Ray's previous book, INDESTRUCTIBLE TRUTH (2000). Whereas his earlier book examined the Hinayana (the "lesser vehicle") and Mahayana (the "great vehicle") traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, this book focuses on the Vajrayana ("adamantine") vehicle. In Buddhism, one's spiritual life is viewed as a progressive journey through these three "yanas," or stages. (p. 66). When read together, these two volumes provide us with a broad survey of Tibetan Buddhism.

The Hinayana vehicle consists of entering the path of Buddhism by taking refuge, and then training oneself in ethics, meditation, and wisdom. The Mahayana vehicle involves taking the bodhisattva vow to liberate all beings from suffering (p. 67). The "indestructible vehicle" of Vajrayana is a more advanced level of bodhisattva practice, in which the tantric practitioner works to fulfill his bodhisattva vow through yoga, meditation, and retreat practices (p. 68). The Vajrayana practice examines the nature of reality "beyond emptiness" (p. 87). The vajra practitioner, Trungpa Rinpoche taught, "is extremely sharp, intellectual, analytical" and relates with things precisely . . . "precisely open and clear, analytically cool, cold, possibly unfriendly, but always on the dot. Seeing all the highlights of things as they are" (p. 135).

Reggie's SECRET OF THE VAJRA WORLD is organized into four parts: the first, an overview of the history, philosophy, and training supporting Vajrayana Buddhism; the second, an examination of the special role of a teacher, "guru," or tantric mentor; the third, an exploration of the mahamudra and dzokchen culminating practices; and the fourth, a fascinating look at the tulku tradition surrounding reincarnation.

Whether he is teaching his students how to meditate in the ancient traditions of Tibetan Buddhism in the modern world, or giving everyday meaning to the esoteric teachings and practices of Tibetan Buddism in his books, Reggie Ray is a trusted teacher who knows his subject. And for anyone interested in exploring Tibetan Buddhism, the SECRET OF THE VAJRA WORLD and its earlier companion, INDESTRUCTIBLE TRUTH, are the books to read.

G. Merritt

Indestructible Truth: The Living Spirituality of Tibetan Buddhism by Reginald A. Ray (Shambhala) Secret of the Vajra World: The Tantric Buddhism of Tibet by Reginald A. Ray (Shambhala) are companion volumes that can be read together or apart. It is approaching 30 years or so that authentic Tibetan Buddhist teachings became generally available in America for Americans. Ray is a Buddhist scholar who is also a disciple of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, the founder of Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado; where Ray now teaches. These two books represent a brilliant synthesis of the general outlines and assumptions, degrees and types of Buddhist practice within the Tibetan American tradition as it has become popular in American religious practice and thought. Ray is pretty clear about the narrow scope of his writing. It is not Tibetan religion per se that is being described but the uniquely evolving hybrid that is adapting to American spiritual needs. Seen baldly in such a light, the volumes might be seen as a product of this synthesis, but that does not mean what Ray writes is inaccurate, quite the contrary. Learning Tibetan Buddhism can be an overwhelming emotional intellectual whirlwind of strange demonesque gods and bodhisattvas, complex, time-consuming rituals, complex and simple meditations, and mountains of scriptures with even more massive commentaries. In Indestructible Truth: The Living Spirituality of Tibetan Buddhism, Ray not only provides an accessible new introduction to the history, the religion, and the philosophy of Tibetan Buddhism, which may quell the concerns friends and relatives of new practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism. Ray provides important relevant context to what Tibetan Buddhism is trying to do and historical and religious explanations that makes intelligible these practices to outsiders and neophytes alike. The information presented in these volumes gives a Tibetan overview of the whole of Buddhist tradition with some special pleading toward a new emerging nonsectarian ecumenical Buddhist practice that attempts to embrace and transcend postmodernisms so that a devout Catholic or Jew can remain within their own tradition and still seek enlightenment from a Tibetan guru. Even if one is not so blithe to such a pluralistic eventuality these volumes come close to explaining what Tibetan Buddhists are up to and what one is likely to be challenged to do if one is persuaded toward Buddhist practice. And as popular marketing these books should work wonders. They are likely to attract many newcomers to experiment with Buddhist practice and at the same time calm the fears of people who do not understand what all the fuss is about. It is unlikely that those of serious narrow religious conviction will actually be tolerant enough to read these volumes, but for parents and friends concerned about a youth's choice to practice Buddhism, they provide a reasonably honest portrait of what Tibetan Buddhism has been coming to meaning within America and Western Europe today. With meticulous care and poignant specify, Ray tells how Buddhism ended up in Tibet from the great universities of Mahayana teachings in India. We are regaled with fantastic tales of scholar monk saints pioneering into the Tibetan frontier, laying the foundation for various schools of Buddhist practice that developed over the centuries. Ray is neither popularizing nor secularizing the images and history of Tibetan Buddhism, nor does he diminish its magical and mythical elements. Ray introduces to a shamanic cosmos populated gods and demons, an animistic cosmos that also integrates the major agnostic and antimetaphysical tenets of Buddhism, highlighting the resulting practices and their schools. Ending Indestructible Truth, Ray shows how the various schools of Madhyamika, Buddhist centrist philosophy, developed to current consensual particle and debate today. It is fare to say that Indestructible Truth offers a fine introduction to Tibetan Buddhism as Mahayana practice. The recently published Secret of the Vajra World continues to unveil the meaning of Tantric practice within Tibetan Buddhist American context. Many fine points are offered,explaining rationales for teacher worship (not the zombie mind-control so common in the media but a sort of high ethical introject, or transference for personal maturation), visualization of gods and goddesses, the meaning of mahamudra and dzogchen, and the importance of retreat. Both Indestructible Truth and Secret of the Vajra World represent important landmarks for explaining how Tibetan Buddhism is becoming Americanized and how Buddhism is appealing to those with spiritual longings. If you want to get a good idea about what Tibetanism Buddhism is in America then these two books provide a grand roadmap. Highly recommended

This two-volume introduction to Tibetan Buddhism was written primarily for the author's students at the University of Colorado and at Naropa University (North America's only accredited Buddhist university). Across both books professor Reginald A Ray provides a thorough modern grounding in the history, philosophy and practice of Tibetan Buddhism.

The first volume, Indestructible Truth, begins with a rather dry recitation of the principle names, dates, and trends in the history of Buddhism as it came from India to Tibet and as it developed in the latter over the past two millennia. A more lively middle section covers assumptions common to all schools of Buddhism, warmly and wittily illustrated with anecdotes from the lives of Buddhist saints as well as the author's personal and professional life. The book closes with a rushed overview of Buddhist philosophy that is often more confusing than enlightening. This is partly made up for in the second volume with more detailed explanations and examples.

Secrets of the Vajra World is much heavier reading than the first, if only because Ray has a wider canvas, including the minutiae of Mahamudra and Dzokchen, the two primary schools of Tibetan meditation. The volume concludes with chapters on the lives of tulkus, the reincarnated Buddhist masters, and a riveting recounting of the miraculous passing of one such master (the 16th Karmapa) in an American hospital.

Despite the title of the second volume, very few "secrets" are revealed. Besides being a well-read scholar, Ray is also a committed Buddhist and meditation instructor unwilling to disclose tantric methods. Unfortunately, he also seems unwilling to challenge assumptions. To his credit, Ray acknowledges the difficulties western practitioners and students have with ideas such as reincarnation, the worship of deities, the guru-student relationship, karma and free will. He often provides alternate conceptualizations, such as the Six Realms of Existence (in the Wheel of Life) as psychological states, but never once makes clear that he accepts anything but the orthodox teaching.

Read these books to know what has come before. To see where Buddhism is headed, including Tibetan Buddhism in North America, you might like to sample the three volumes of Shambala Sun's series, Best Buddhist Writing, or have a look at Stephen Batchelor's Buddhism Without Beliefs.

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While I was attracted to this book by the gorgeous graphic design and illustration, I was more than a bit intimidated. As interested as I am in this topic, I assumed this book would be way over my head. At best, I hoped this 2-volume set of 500-page books might replace Hegel's "Phenomenology of Spirit" as my bathroom doorstop.

No so. This is a terrific book, even for non-specialists. Ray articulates his goals for this "circumscribed, nontechnical introduction to Tibetan Buddhism" as follows: to "(1) provide an outline to the subject in relatively short compass; (2) not be overly technical or burdened with the myriad details of Tibetan Buddhist history; (3) address the spirituality or "practice" of the tradition, rather than focus primarily on philosophy, dogma, institutional life, or political history; (4) give due attention to the "Practice Lineage" traditions such as the Nyingma and the Kagyu, which are often underplayed in this story; and (5) try to strike a balance between my own Western perspective and that of Tibetans speaking about their own traditions in their own voices." He achieves each of these admirably.

Of course, it's not an easy read; this book and its companion are densely packed with information. But most the terminology is layed out in logical sequence, without discontinuity or digressions. This ethereal topic has a strange way of escaping the student's intellectual grasp. Authors in this area use terms (e.g. "emptiness") that -while apparently crystal clear to accomplished meditators- are largely inaccessible to "book students." I understand the teachers' hesitance to reduce Buddhist concepts to abstract defintions, but non-answers like "Zen is three pounds of flax" can be pretty infuriating for the newbee. That's why I was pleasantly surprised to find that Ray just goes ahead and defines terms without a bunch of qualifications.

Finally, the author comes up with some really poetic langauage like: "Old Tibet [...] lay close upon the incandescent sea [of the] turbulent burning wisdom of reality."

This is a book to study - to be read and re-read.

Reginald Ray's "Secret of the Vajra World" is the second volume of a two volume set put out by Shambhala Publications on Tibetan Buddhism. The other companion book is called "Indestructible Truth." Together, these books present a comprehensive and scholarly overview of Tibetan Buddhism.

While these books are very interesting, they present a lot of detail and are difficult to enjoy if you don't already have a good foundation knowledge of the topic. For those who are just starting out, I recommend "Introduction to Tantra" by Lama Yeshe or one of the many other excellent books referred to in some of the reviews below.

If you are a serious student of Tibetan Buddhism, these two volumes are an excellent reference. Although I have read them through once, I primarily use them to look up questions that I have or to establish context when I am reading other books on the topic.

If you are very new to Tibetan Buddhism and you want something that is much less esoteric or intimidating, then I would consider "The Art of Happiness" by the Dalai Lama. While this is not a book on Tibetan Buddhism as such, it presents a lot of the important principles in a way that is understandable to almost anyone. It is co-authored by Dr. Howard Cutler who is a psychiatrist. I found his commentary helps bridge the gap between East and West for people who are completely new to this worldview.

This book goes well with its companion volume, Indestructible Truth. Archayra Ray is a wonderful writer. He has a knack for relating the sometimes complex ideas of Tibetan Buddhism to a western reader. I had read books about the Vajrayana before this one, but I think I will reread them as Archayra Ray has provided a wonderful framework by which a westerner new to Tibetan Buddhism can understand the esoteric aspects of the Dharma. I am a new student of Tibetan Buddhism (until 8 months ago I had no idea of the wonders of Tibetan Buddhism) and this book, and its companion, has provided such valuable insight into creating a sense of spirtuality in our fast paced society.

Secret Of The Vajra World: The Tantric Buddhism Of Tibet by Reginald A. Ray (Professor of Buddhist Studies, Naropa University, Boulder, Colorado) is the second and final volume of "The World of Tantric Buddhism" series from Shambhala Publications. A straightforward presentation written in plain accessible terms for readers at all Buddhist studies and experience levels, Secret Of The Vajra World deftly explores the foundations of Vajrayana, the essence of Tantric Buddhist philosophies, and applications of Buddhist principles and insights to one's own personal life, bodhisattvas in the world, and a great deal more. Secret Of The Vajra Worlds is a very welcome, superbly presented, truly comprehensive introduction focusing upon a unique and profoundly important aspect of Buddhist spiritual practice.

This is an excellent scholarly presentation, despite the somewhat sensational Kamma sutra cover.
It containes many insightful gems and elicited a number of "AH HA!" or "Satori moments" for me, even after my many decades of study and interest in esoteric spirituality.