36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ancient but useful., October 23, 2000
This review is from: Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines: Seven Books of Wisdom of the Great Path, According to the Late Lama Kazi Dawa-Samdup's English Rendering (Paperback)
W.Y.Evans-Wentz travelled extensively in the far east and wrote several books about Tibetan Buddhism. He writes with a great combination of scholarship and passion for the religion. Having met 'remarkable men' throughout India and elsewhere, he has a tendency to blend Buddhism and Hinduism together. Those who have travelled to India or Nepal have seen this blending, and a student of history notes Buddhism's firm roots in Hinduism. In this book, Evans Wentz gives good translations of exotic Tibetan Buddhist texts. Anyone looking for the roots of modern mystical fiction like Carlos Castaneda will find them here. Explained are the procedures of producing 'Psychic Heat', projecting consciousness into animals, and being aware of the dream state. This is a great book to inspire the cautious beginner or to come back to after practicing seated meditation for several years, because there is practical advice on how to breath and keep your back straight,as well as deeper meditations. One might ask, "How did the powers that be ever let this kind of information be put into print?", as a lot of it is extremely esoteric and possibly unadvisable for beginning practitioners.
Be sure to read the author's wonderful introduction and extensive footnotes, which help to weave a story about spirituality, both Eastern and Western.
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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
a classic source, September 19, 2005
This review is from: Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines: Seven Books of Wisdom of the Great Path, According to the Late Lama Kazi Dawa-Samdup's English Rendering (Paperback)
Along with the companion volumes making up the Tibetan Series edited by W.Y. Evans-Wentz, this book broke new ground when first published in 1935,effectively placing the first, full length translations of authentic Tibetan Buddhist teachings within our reach. Despite the passage of time and a prolific increase in the number of such translations, the material made available by W.Y. Evans-Wentz and his mentors remains some of the most lucid at our disposal. As W.Y. Evans-Wentz put it: ". . .my aim has been to place on record not only a catena of carefuly made translations of texts . . .but also a body of orally transmitted traditions and teachings relating to the texts, which I received from the late Lama@Kazi Dawa Samdup, who was my Tibetan Guru. . ." - hence, the emphasis throughout is essentially practical. In fact, W.Y. Evans-Wentz hinted that the present volume may well be found to be the most valuable, inasmuch as it gives the very texts of some of the principal yogas and meditations which many of the most illustrious Tibetan and Indian philosophers, including Tilopa, Naropa, Marpa and Milarepa, employed in attaining Right Knowledge " (i.e. samyak sambodhi).
The shortened titles of these seven texts are as follows:
(1) Gampopa's Supreme Path, called 'The Precious Rosary. '
(2) The Epitome of the Great Symbol.
(3) The Epitome of the Six Doctrines
(4) The Transference of Consciousness
(5) The Method of Eradicating the Lower Self.
(6) The Fivefold Wisdom of the Long Hum
(7) The Essence of the Transcendental Wisdom.
Briefly summed up as 'Seven Books of Wisdom of the Great Path' - what we actually find here is a compendium of all the major doctrines and practices known to Tibetan Buddhism, as rooted in the Mahayana- although some practices, such as 'Pho-wa' (transference of consciousness) seem to be peculiarly Tibetan - even though utilised in an orthodox Buddhist context. Special commentaries precede each carefully rendered text, a wealth of information at the reader's disposal.
In recent years, some critics have questioned the approach taken by W.Y. Evans-Wentz. It is worth quoting W.Y. E-W again: " this volume is meant at once for the exact scholar and for the general reader. The former will note that the original textual sources, which are sevenfold, are authentic, and that nothing has been incoporated into the texts or presented in the introductions and annotations which has not had doctrinal sanction. "
Earlier editions of this text had a preface and tribute by Prof Chen Chi Chang, a Chinese Buddhist scholar who not only practiced Tibetan Buddhism with leading Lamas, but also had an honorary Tibetan title bestowed upon him - Cha-gyur Khan-po (Master interpreter/translator). W.Y. Evans Wentz was Rhodes scholar with impeccable qualifications. However, he was no dry-as-dust academic. Something of a scholar-gypsy-cum-pilgrim, W-Y Evans-Wentz wandered around N. India, Sikkhim, Tibetan communities etc., sitting at the feet of genuine Buddhist teachers, before that world was turned upside down by political upheaval. These are valuable sources.
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20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The 3rd book in the Tibetan series from W.Y.Evans-Wentz, November 26, 2003
This review is from: Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines: Seven Books of Wisdom of the Great Path, According to the Late Lama Kazi Dawa-Samdup's English Rendering (Paperback)
This is the third book in the Tibetan series from W.Y.Evans-Wentz. Although this book can be used as a stand-alone yoga book it is certainly not best read that way. Basically this is part of a developing series. The first book in the Tibetan series - The Tibetan Book of the Dead, is the fundamental book of the series which describes Buddhist philosophy, psychology and metaphysics. It is the best translation out there and the original! The second book in the series is called Tibets Greatest Yogi Milarepa is the story of a great yogi who puts into practice most of what we learn from The Tibetan Book of the Dead. It is through the story of Milarepa that we learn more about The Tibetan Book of the Dead. In the story of Milarepa the yogi studies the Seven Books of Wisdom of the Great Path as taught to him by his gurus. THIS BOOK is an expansion that explains those wisdoms and describes the yoga that is used to achieve them. When you understand that, then this book becomes invaluable to anybody who is looking for right yoga path. IT IS HERE!
These texts are ancient and old but have served millions since their inception. The work that Evans-Wentz has done here is substantial if not some of the most important yoga concepts ever seen by the occident. You will probably need a guru of some kind to help you get started in any form of yoga but this book is plain sailing once you learn the basics right. Most of the major yoga practices are covered in this book. Most new books on yoga are indebted to this mans work on the subject, all directly brought back from the orient by master gurus whom which Dr. W.Y.Evans-Wentz was a student for years.
There is lots of philosophy to go through and lots of text and this may put a lot of readers off, or those what to get straight into the practice but there is lots of philosophy and mental orientation to get right first. It is all here... all 434 pages of it! Mostly text! There is nothing else like it! The original is here!
*** The other books in the series are - The Tibetan Book of the dead and Tibets Greatest Yogi Milarepa - before this one. The final book in the series is The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation. ***
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