Tibetan Buddhism

Reason and Revelation

Edited by Steven D. Goodman & Ronald M. Davidson

Subjects: Buddhism
Series: SUNY series in Buddhist Studies
Paperback : 9780791407868, 227 pages, August 1992
Hardcover : 9780791407851, 227 pages, August 1992

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Table of contents

Editors' Preface

Introduction

Part One: Philosophical Explorations

1. Some Aspects of rDzogs-chen Thought
Herbert V. Guenther

2. What is Buddhist Logic?: Some Tibetan Developments of Pramana Theory
Kennard Lipman

3. A Dialogue on Death: Tibetan Commentators on the First Chapter of Aryadeva's Catuhsataka
Karen Lang

Part Two: Visionary Explorations

4. A Ch'an Text from Tun-huang: Implications for Ch'an Influence on Tibetan Buddhism
Kenneth K. Tanaka and Raymond E. Robertson

5. Remarks on the Mani bKa'-'bum and the Cult of Avalokitesvara in Tibet
Matthew Kapstein

6. Genre, Authorship, and Transmission in Visionary Buddhism: The Literary Traditions of Thang-stong rGyal-po
Janet Gyatso

7. Preliminary Studies on Hevajra's Abhisamaya and the Lam-'bras Tshogs-bshad
Ronald M. Davidson

8. Rig-'dzin 'Jigs-med gling-pa and the kLong-Chen sNying-Thig
Steven D. Goodman

Notes

Contributors

Index of Personal Names

Description

This volume consists of eight studies, each one bringing to light new material of use to comparative religionists and historians of religion, as well as to students of Tibetan Buddhism. These studies are based on critical scrutiny of indigenous sources and, in many cases, the learned opinion of native Tibetan scholars. The studies are organized around two dominant themes in Tibetan religious life — the quest for clarity and insight via visionary exploration and philosophical exploration.

Steven D. Goodman is Professor of Tibetan Studies at the Institute of Buddhist Studies, Graduate Theological Union. Ronald M. Davidson is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies and Director of the Program in Asian Studies at Fairfield University.

Reviews

"Contains some of the best work that has been done in Tibetan studies in the past decade." — Lewis Lancaster

"This is an important collection, because Tibetan Buddhist studies are becoming increasingly important and sophisticated, and this brings together the work of many of the best young Tibetologists in North America. Many of the areas covered in the essays, e.g., the Mani bKa' 'bum, Sa skya meditational systems, Tibetan sacred biography, and the evolution of deities, are important topics that have received little scholarly attention. Here, they are presented authoritatively with careful contextualization of Tibetan Buddhist doctrines within historical context." — Roger R. Jackson