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Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines: Seven Books of Wisdom of the Great Path, According to the Late Lama Kazi Dawa-Samdup's English Rendering

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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.

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.

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. ***

This book is a compendium of diverse Tibetan Buddhist works, translated, extensively annotated with footnotes, introductions, & addenda. For most, if not all, this was their original translation & publication in English. Evans-Wentz (E-W) adopted a scientific/anthropological view (per his training); per p. xii: R. R. Marett-"He meant to do his best to look through the window without being baffled by his own reflection in the glass." His critics (Donald Lopez in his preface & John Reynolds in his "Self-Liberation") emphasize E-W's history of Theosophy & Hindu yoga. However, as a scientist, I disagree. As George MacDonald said in "Lilith," "What do they know of England who only England know?" It's like trying to see a polar bear in a snow storm or a black cat in a moonless night! E-W non-dogmatically uses information from many sources e.g. Sufism, Christianity, Greek & modern philosophy, etc. to provide contrast & context with the text. Such background material is essential in order to comprehend meaning (knowledge) vs. mere information (dogma). Interestingly, Chen-Chi Cheng's "Yogic Commentary" points out further correspondences between Mahamudra (MM) & Zen, saying that p. xlii: "A knowledge of Tantric yoga contributes greatly to an understanding of all aspects of Buddhist enlightenment, including difficult & obscure Zen koans." As the "Yogic Precepts" in Book I point out, p. 79: "A philosophy comprehensive enough to embrace the whole of knowledge is indispensable," & per E-W, p. 322 note 1: "The one mind of man in its workings transcends the superficial barriers of clime, & race, & creed." The wide range of these 7 documents & the lack of readers' prior training necessitated very extensive background. Nevertheless, this book, even today, is not for the squeamish; it requires perseverance, reflection, meditation, etc., but can be extremely rewarding to discerning readers. It includes both theory/wisdom & practices: MM, Naropa's 6 yogas, chöd (see Edou's wonderful book on the MM of Machig Labdron), powa (transference of consciousness), the 5 Dyani Buddhas & their wisdoms, & a short Perfection of Wisdom sutra. Some of these topics are addressed in more modern works, but some are not-or not in the detail given here or with the extensive explanatory material in Western terminology & embedded multi-cultural analogies. A few of the book's more interesting/controversial statements include: p. 88: "If the empty nature of the mind be realized, no longer is it necessary to listen to or meditate upon religious teachings," p. 310: "Externally mine our thought-creations which have risen up against me as enemies in the shape of deities & demons," & p. 349: As modern scholars have noted, those great thinkers of ancient India taught, as Kant did 17 centuries afterwards, that the world is will & representation...phenomenal appearances." This is a phenomenal work even today.

Ancient wisdom transmuted through the modern, clear perception of Evans-Wentz and delivered in a highly readable and beautifully designed book.

Cannot go wrong here.

Evan-Wentz was one of the first Westerners to meet with authentic tantric Buddhist teachings and probably the first to perform a systematic and accurate study of the Tibetan texts with the invaluable help of the late Lama Kazi Dawa-Samdup. The book contains the original texts superbly translated from the Tibetan by the lama and Evans-Wentz own exposition on some of the central practices, such as 'tummo' and 'phowa' (two of the Six Doctriones of Naropa).

Evans-Wentz was remarkably gifted and applied something akin to sublime linguistic flair in writing this book. His greatest achievement perhaps is his invention of a manner of English tantric language to effectively convey Buddhism's rarest and most inaccessible teachings to Western readers. This makes this book not only an accurate and virtually flawless account of tantric Buddhism, but also a delight to read.

Despite dating from the 1950s this book is still one of the finest and most comprehensive renderings of some of the most important tantric practices.

Anyone who is interested in the six yogas of Naropa should read this book. It is skillfully translated from real sources. Some may say that the info is incomplete... but then, there is no single book that provides complete information regarding the practices---which is one of the reasons why looking for a guru who truly in the lineage and received initiations and oral teachings from previous practitioners is essential.

This book is a good look at esoteric Buddhism. One of my favorites.

I picked up this book because of the title alone. I was interested in learning yoga, and this book seemed to be a good place to start. Boy, was I wrong. If you are new to the world of yoga and meditation, I do not recommend this book. The first reviewer of this was correct in calling this book "ancient." This writing is from another world. Foot notes on top of foot notes. Definitions of words and phrases cram the pages, sometimes taking up half the page. This book is written more like a text book than a how to book. The author is more interested in presenting his research findings of the work, than helping to explain the text in language we can understand. And you can not read straight through any of the so called instructions given in this book. You get to a certain step, and you are told to turn to another page in the book, which in turn points you toward a footnote, which gives you a definition of a word from the original page. The author was to busy trying to show all the research he did, he forgot to enlighten us as to the conclusions of his work. Check out "Integral Yoga Hatha" for a much more clear and easy to understand way to practice yoga.