Secret of the Vajra World: The Tantric Buddhism of Tibet

Amazon.com's Best of 2001
Move over, Robert Thurman--Tibetan Buddhism has a new secular prophet. Learned, articulate, and devoted to his subject, Reginald Ray writes about Tibetan Buddhism as an insider and as a teacher who gets his point across quickly and clearly, without dross or hyperbole. Following the success of Indestructible Truth, his general introduction to the history, sects, and forms of Tibetan Buddhism, Ray now tackles the more subtle and esoteric side of vajra, or indestructibility. Divided into four parts, the first section sets the historical stage. In the second, we enter the unique universe of tantra--the limitations of thought, the use of mandalas, the devotion to a teacher. Here Ray also introduces practice with personal deities and the inner yogas that explore the "subtle, energetic dimensions of the body." Part 3 is devoted the twin pinnacles of Tibetan Buddhism, mahamudra and dzogchen, which ultimately both teach the complete ordinariness of enlightened existence. In Part 4, Ray explains a variety of practices related to dying, incarnate lamas, and the retreat. Throughout, the reader gets the sense that Ray is a teacher with the priceless ability to transmit his vast knowledge to outsiders. --Brian Bruya


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