The Black Hat Eccentric

The Black Hat Eccentric PDF

Author: Karl Debreczeny

Publisher:

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780977213108

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This catalog is published in conjunction with an exhibition organized and presented by the Rubin Museum of Art, New York, March 2 through July 30, 2012, and curated by Karl Debreczeny.

A Golden Swan in Turbulent Waters

A Golden Swan in Turbulent Waters PDF

Author: Shamar Rinpoche

Publisher: Rabsel Editions

Published: 2021-05-01

Total Pages: 282

ISBN-13: 2360170260

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The Tenth Karmapa (1604&– 1674) lived through dramatic changes in Tibet, including the rise to political supremacy of the Fifth Dalai Lama and the Gelug sect following a Mongol invasion. Regarded as a remarkable bodhisattva and artist, the Karmapa has largely escaped the close attention of modern scholars.In this book, Shamar Rinpoche, the Fourteenth Shamarpa, introduces the Tenth Karmapa through his translations of the Karmapa' s autobiographical writings and an eighteenth century biography of him. As a direct lineage-descendant from the Sixth Shamarpa— the Karmapa' s guru— the Shamar Rinpoche shares his unique knowledge and experience through extensive annotations and a historical overview of Tibet from the thirteenth through seventeenth century.The text of A Golden Swan in Turbulent Waters: The Life and Times of the Tenth Karmapa Choying Dorje is complemented by maps and color illustrations depicting places where the Karmapa lived and his prolific artistic work, with some object images being published for the first time.

Jewels, Jewelry, and Other Shiny Things in the Buddhist Imaginary

Jewels, Jewelry, and Other Shiny Things in the Buddhist Imaginary PDF

Author: Vanessa R. Sasson

Publisher: University of Hawaii Press

Published: 2021-09-30

Total Pages: 383

ISBN-13: 0824889525

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Renunciation is a core value in the Buddhist tradition, but Buddhism is not necessarily austere. Jewels—along with heavenly flowers, rays of rainbow light, and dazzling deities—shape the literature and the material reality of the tradition. They decorate temples, fill reliquaries, are used as metaphors, and sprout out of imagined Buddha fields. Moreover, jewels reflect a particular type of currency often used to make the Buddhist world go round: merit in exchange for wealth. Regardless of whether the Buddhist community has theoretically transcended the need for them or not, jewels—and the paradox they represent—are everywhere. Scholarship has often looked past this splendor, favoring the theory of renunciation instead, but in this volume, scholars from a wide range of disciplines consider the role jewels play in the Buddhist imaginary, putting them front and center for the first time. Following an introduction that relates the colorful story of the Emerald Buddha, one of the most famous jewels in the world, chapters explore the function of jewels as personal identifiers in Buddhist and other Indian religious traditions; Buddhaghosa’s commentary on the Jewel Sutta; the paradox of the Buddha’s bejeweled status before and after renunciation; and the connection in early Buddhism between jewels, magnificence, and virtue. The Newars of Nepal are the focus of a chapter that looks at their gemology and associations between gems and celestial deities. Contributors analyze the Fifth Dalai Lama’s reliquary, known as the “sole ornament of the world”; the transformation of relic jewels into precious substances and their connection to the Piprahwa stupa in Northern India and the Nanjing Porcelain Pagoda. Final chapters offer detailed studies of ritual engagement with the deity known as Wish-Fulfilling Jewel Avalokiteśvara and its role in the new Japanese lay Buddhist religious movement Shinnyo-en. Engaging and accessible, Jewels, Jewelry, and Other Shiny Things in the Buddhist Imaginary will provide readers with an opportunity to look beyond a common misconception about Buddhism and bring its lived tradition into wider discussion.

Reincarnation in Tibetan Buddhism

Reincarnation in Tibetan Buddhism PDF

Author: Ruth Gamble

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2018-07-09

Total Pages: 384

ISBN-13: 019069078X

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Reincarnation in Tibetan Buddhism examines how the third Karmapa hierarch, Rangjung Dorjé (1284-1339) transformed reincarnation from a belief into a lasting Tibetan institution. Born the son of an itinerant, low-caste potter, Rangjung Dorjé went on to become a foundational figure in Tibetan Buddhism and a teacher of the last Mongolian emperor. He became renowned for his contributions to Buddhist philosophy, literature, astrology, medicine, architecture, sacred geography and manuscript production. But, as Ruth Gamble demonstrates, his most important legacy was the transformation of the Karmapa reincarnation lineage to ensure that, after his death, subsequent Karmapas were able to assume power in the religious institutions he had led. The inheritance model of reincarnation instituted by Rangjung Dorjé changed the Tibetan Plateau's power relations, which until that time had been based on family associations, and created a precedent for later reincarnate institutions, including that of the Dalai Lamas. Drawing on Rangjung Dorjé's hitherto un-translated autobiographies and autobiographical songs, this book shows that his reinvention of reincarnation was a self-conscious and multi-faceted project, made possible by Rangjung Dorjé's cultural, social, and political standing and specific historical and geographical circumstances. Exploring this combination of agency and historical coincidence, this is the first full-length study of the development of the reincarnation institution.

Reasons and Lives in Buddhist Traditions

Reasons and Lives in Buddhist Traditions PDF

Author: Dan Arnold

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2019-12-10

Total Pages: 432

ISBN-13: 1614295506

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The celebrated career of a venerated scholar inspires incisive new contributions to the field of Indian and Tibetan Buddhism. Particularly known for his groundbreaking and influential work in Tibetan studies, Matthew Kapstein is a true polymath in Buddhist and Asian studies more generally; possessing unsurpassed knowledge of Tibetan culture and civilization, he is also deeply grounded in Sanskrit and Indology, and his highly accomplished work in these cultural and civilizational areas has exemplified a whole range of disciplinary perspectives. Reflecting something of the astonishing range of Matthew Kapstein’s work and interests, this collection of essays pays tribute to a luminary in the field by exemplifying some of the diverse work in Buddhist and Asian studies that has been impacted by his scholarship and teaching. Engaging matters as diverse as the legal foundations of Tibetan religious thought, the teaching careers of modern Chinese Buddhists, the history of Bhutan, and the hermeneutical insights of Vasubandhu, these essays by students and colleagues of Matthew Kapstein are offered as testament to a singular scholar and teacher whose wide-ranging work is unified by a rare intellectual selflessness.

Historical Dictionary of Tibet

Historical Dictionary of Tibet PDF

Author: John Powers

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2020-10-22

Total Pages: 881

ISBN-13: 153813022X

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Historical Dictionary of Tibet, Second Edition is a comprehensive resource for Tibetan history, politics, religion, major figures, prehistory and paleontology, with a primary emphasis on the modern period. It also covers the surrounding areas influenced by Tibetan religion and culture, including India, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Central Asia, and Russia. It contains a chronology, a glossary, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 500 cross-referenced entries on important personalities as well as aspects of the country’s politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Tibet.

I Wear the Black Hat

I Wear the Black Hat PDF

Author: Chuck Klosterman

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2013-07-09

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 1439184518

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One-of-a-kind cultural critic and New York Times bestselling author Chuck Klosterman “offers up great facts, interesting cultural insights, and thought-provoking moral calculations in this look at our love affair with the anti-hero” (New York magazine). Chuck Klosterman, “The Ethicist” for The New York Times Magazine, has walked into the darkness. In I Wear the Black Hat, he questions the modern understanding of villainy. When we classify someone as a bad person, what are we really saying, and why are we so obsessed with saying it? How does the culture of malevolence operate? What was so Machiavellian about Machiavelli? Why don’t we see Bernhard Goetz the same way we see Batman? Who is more worthy of our vitriol—Bill Clinton or Don Henley? What was O.J. Simpson’s second-worst decision? And why is Klosterman still haunted by some kid he knew for one week in 1985? Masterfully blending cultural analysis with self-interrogation and imaginative hypotheticals, I Wear the Black Hat delivers perceptive observations on the complexity of the antihero (seemingly the only kind of hero America still creates). As the Los Angeles Times notes: “By underscoring the contradictory, often knee-jerk ways we encounter the heroes and villains of our culture, Klosterman illustrates the passionate but incomplete computations that have come to define American culture—and maybe even American morality.” I Wear the Black Hat is a rare example of serious criticism that’s instantly accessible and really, really funny.

The Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje

The Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje PDF

Author: Ruth Gamble

Publisher: Shambhala Publications

Published: 2020-11-10

Total Pages: 297

ISBN-13: 0834843277

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The first comprehensive overview of the life and writings of the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje, a revolutionary figure in the Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. Known for his mastery of teachings across sectarian lines, his treatises on medicine and astrology, and his work as spiritual advisor to the last Yuan emperor of China, Rangjung Dorje (1284-1339) is considered one of the most important and influential figures in Tibetan Buddhist history. First recognized as a tulku, or reincarnated Buddhist master, at the age of five, Rangjung Dorje became the Karma Kagyu lineage holder and instituted the reincarnation-based inheritance structure within Tibetan Buddhism that led to the formation of important lineages of tulkus such as the Dalai Lamas. In this groundbreaking work, Ruth Gamble synthesizes her extensive research on Rangjung Dorje into a sweeping biography covering his life, legacy, and important selected writings. Included in her discussions are Rangjung Dorje's synthesis of Dzogchen and Mahamudra in his writings, his devotion to spreading the teachings of Buddha nature, and several works never before translated into English. As the most comprehensive work available on Rangjung Dorje, this book is an indispensable resource for scholars and Buddhist practitioners alike.