Outstanding book on Tibetan Buddhism. A bit long, especially with the history of it, but one can always skim through it. The part about the actual philosophy/religion was truly enlightening for me. I came away with knowing about the subject then I ever imagined. The author clearly has a passion for Tibetan Buddhism and some of the personal anecdotes really moved me. High quality book, written with an effective prose, tremendous content.

This is the first volume in Reginald Ray's two-volume introduction to Tibetan Buddhism. It focuses on the more conventional aspects of the tradition while the second volume (Secret of the Vajra World) deals with the more esoteric tantric components. Ray begins with a description of Buddhist Cosmology and he explains how Tibetans view that cosmology and integrate it into their daily lives. This helps to eliminate some of the dry scholasticism so often found in various introductions to religions. The fact that Ray has been a Buddhist practitioner for many years as well as a Western academic allows him approach the subject sometimes as an insider, a Buddhist who has participated in rituals and meditated on teachings, and sometimes as an outsider, a professor who can describe Tibetan history and Buddhist teachings in the more conventional academic way. I found this approach to be very effective, and Ray is able to maintain a balance somewhere between writing a love letter to his personal religious tradition and writing about Tibetan Buddhism as though it were a mysterious phenomenon from an alien world.

I thought this book was organized very well. After the introduction on cosmology, it begins with a section on the history of the spread of Buddhism to Tibet, including a short discussion of the forms of Buddhism in India during the times leading up to both the early and later transmissions of Buddhism to Tibet. There are sections on the various "schools" of Tibetan Buddhism, the Nyingma, Kadam, Sakya, Kagyu, Gelug, as well as a section on the Ri-me (nonsectarian) movement of the 19th century. Ray stresses two trajectories within Tibetan Buddhist practice, scholarly monastic traditions and non-monastic tantric lineages, and compares the emphasis on each within each of the schools of Tibetan Buddhism. In fact, this dichotomy undergirds his entire discussion of Buddhist history.

The next section contains a detailed discussion of the view and practice of Hinayana and Mahayana Buddhism, respectively. Ray describes the view that is cultivated in each of the vehicles and then describes how that view influences one's meditation and ethical activities. It is important to note that Ray emphasizes that this division is merely a didactic convention and that, within Tibetan Buddhism, "Hinayana" does not necessarily refer to "Theravada" Buddhism. The final section introduces the gradual development of Buddhist philosophy by using the traditional framework of the "Three Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma." These three turnings are the Abhidharma system, Madhyamaka philosophy, and teachings on the Buddha-nature. This is likely the most difficult section of the book for those relatively unfamiliar with Buddhism, but Ray does an admirable job succinctly presenting the tenets of each system. He also briefly summarizes the debate among some Tibetan schools as to whether the second or third turning constitutes the final, ultimate teaching of the Buddha.

Again, this book is a comprehensive introduction to Tibetan religious thought, both its history and practice. It does not focus so much on Tibetan culture, but that is not its aim. Whether you want to learn about Tibetan Buddhism from scratch or wish to augment what you already know, I highly recommend this book. Perhaps the best praise I can give is that I plan to read the companion volume, Secret of the Vajra World, another 400+ page book, very soon.

This is volume one of a two part work on Tibetan Buddhism by Reginald Ray. It is well-written, extremely comprehensive and thoroughly researched. There is an overwhelming amount of detail for most beginners, however.

If you are looking for a detailed scholarly work or a good reference to contextualize other reading, this will meet your needs. However, you may want to try an "Introduction to Tantra" by Lama Yeshe for a more accessible introduction to Vajrayana.

If you are completely new to Buddhism, then I would recommend Huston Smith's "The World's Religions" for an excellent, but short overview. If you purchase this book, you will have added the bonus of being able to read a similar introduction to Hinduism which I think is important for understanding Buddhist thought in a similar way that grasping the essentials of Judaism are important for a full understanding of the origin and development of Christianity.

It is very difficult to "get" Tibetan Buddhism without understanding the unfolding of the Hinayana, Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions. While this volume does an excellent job of doing this, it is also HUGE. The disadvantage of some of the short books on Tibetan Buddhism is that they sometimes don't do a great job of contextualizing the various Buddhist traditions and how they unfolded in time and/or geographically.

If you merely want a taste of Tibetan Buddhist thought, then you may want to look at the book "The Art of Happiness" by Howard Cutler and the Dalai Lama. This presents some Tibetan ideas on everyday issues along with some commentary by a western psychiatrist. This book is not an introduction to Tibetan Buddhism as such, however.

If you click on my name, you can read my reviews for the books I mentioned above or scroll down to them if you look up the books. There are also other books on these topics listed under my profile, but I haven't assembled a listmania list yet.

This is the best book I have ever read as far as each and every Tibetan tradition of Buddhism goes.

This book offers insight into the major traditions and various branches of Buddhism and also a small look into the lives of various Buddhist saints and how they were able to become who they became.

A great read and very very informative.

Contains pretty much everything one would first want to know about exoteric Tibetan Buddhism than can be said clearly in under 600 pages: descriptions of the major schools, biographies of their most influential figures, explanations of the relevant teachings from each of the three turnings of the wheel of dharma, Tibetan cosmology, the importance of the Bodhisattva vow, etc. I personally came away feeling like all the right decisions were made on what to include and what to keep out, and all done in a very readable manner without ever seeming to become bogged down in detail. The author also uses some descriptions of personal experiences to great effect, and I got the impression that he's a highly committed practitioner who's really seeking to benefit others with this book.

This book was very informative. I wish I'd read it a couple of years ago as it would have saved me a lot of time and $ for other books on Buddhism I've bought and read that didn't lay it out in such an understandable way as Reggie Ray did. I'm awaiting the mail today for his next book.

Wish I could just sit down and read it as a little bit of reading makes it very appealing. Soon...

Wonderful book for quick reference and regular reading.