Tibetan Renaissance: Tantric Buddhism in the Rebirth of Tibetan Culture [Hardcover]

Ronald M. Davidson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 14, 2005 | ISBN-10: 0231134703 | ISBN-13: 978-0231134705

How did a society on the edge of collapse and dominated by wandering bands of armed men give way to a vibrant Buddhist culture, led by yogins and scholars? Ronald M. Davidson explores how the translation and spread of esoteric Buddhist texts dramatically shaped Tibetan society and led to its rise as the center of Buddhist culture throughout Asia, replacing India as the perceived source of religious ideology and tradition. During the Tibetan Renaissance (950-1200 C.E.), monks and yogins translated an enormous number of Indian Buddhist texts. They employed the evolving literature and practices of esoteric Buddhism as the basis to reconstruct Tibetan religious, cultural, and political institutions. Many translators achieved the de facto status of feudal lords and while not always loyal to their Buddhist vows, these figures helped solidify political power in the hands of religious authorities and began a process that led to the Dalai Lama's theocracy. Davidson's vivid portraits of the monks, priests, popular preachers, yogins, and aristocratic clans who changed Tibetan society and culture further enhance his perspectives on the tensions and transformations that characterized medieval Tibet.

(2/1/2006)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Davidson's book is important for the study of Buddhism and indispensable for Tibetan studies... Highly recommended.

(Choice Vol. 47, No. 4)

Offers a groundbreaking cultural history.

(Benjamin Bogin Buddhadharma )

This truly fascinating book is bound to create something of a storm.

(Martin Boord Journal of The Buddhist Society )

[An] excellent book.

(Nikolay Tsyrempilov Journal of Asian Studies )

In this volume Davidson has produced a noteworthy study of an important theme.

(D. Seyfort Ruegg Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London )

[ Tibetan Renaissance] will influence the reading of Tibetan history for many years to come.

(Sam Van Schaik Journal of the American Oriental Society )

The awesome, generous Mahabharata will reward them all.

(History of Religions )

Review

Ronald Davidson's Tibetan Renaissance marks a real rebirth for the study of Tibetan cultural history. Drawing on an extraordinary range of original sources, most of them previously unstudied, Davidson traces, in convincing detail, the peculiar blend of conservative monasticism, transgressive esotericism, and political and economic interest that characterized the formation of Tibetan Buddhist lineages and institutions during the early second millennium. With Indian Esoteric Buddhism, Davidson's previous book, Tibetan Renaissance completes a duet that substantially transforms our understanding of Buddhism during its last phase in India and its continuation in Tibet, an exemplary contribution to the history of religions.

(Matthew T. Kapstein, University of Chicago, author of Reason's Traces: Identity and Interpretation in Indian and Tibetan Buddhist Thought Vol. 70, No. 3)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 616 pages
• Publisher: Columbia University Press (September 14, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0231134703
• ISBN-13: 978-0231134705
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,093,218 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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