The Crystal and the Way of Light: Sutra, Tantra and Dzogchen (Tibetan Buddhist Philosophy) - Softcover

Namkhai Norbu, Chogyal

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1559391359 ISBN 13: 9781559391351

Publisher: Snow Lion Publications, 2000

Synopsis

In The Crystal and the Way of Light, Chogyal Namkhai Norbu examines the spiritual path from the viewpoint of Dzogchen. He discusses the base path and fruit of Dzogchen practice, and describes his education and how he met his principal master who showed him the real meaning of direct introduction to Dzogchen. By interweaving his life story with the teachings, he both sets Dzogchen in its traditional context and reveals its powerful contemporary relevance. The book is richly illustrated with photos of Buddhist masters, meditational deities, and Dzogchen symbols.

About this title

Review:

Within Tibetan Buddhism, there is a little-known discipline called Dzogchen, the turbo path to liberation. In some traditions, the path to liberation extends over lifetimes of diligent practice, but Dzogchen is an accelerated way to self-perfection. After many years of formal study, Chogyal Namkhai Norbu was initiated into this less formal practice, which is one of the highest, and yet most accessible, of Tibetan Buddhist teachings. Namkhai Norbu eventually made his way to Italy to teach, where John Shane transcribed and translated Namkhai Norbu's lectures, putting together what is now one of the most popular books on Dzogchen. Namkhai Norbu makes it clear that these teachings are not a handbook for practice but are instead an overview of dzogchen, notably, its three divisions--the base, the path and the fruit. The ultimate and immediate goal is to achieve the primordial state of non-dual awareness, the one taste, and to maintain it. With colourful anecdotes from his own experience (finding an ancient text manifest from a dream, for example, and visiting eccentric cave yogis), Namkhai Norbu's talks illustrate that dzogchen is not just theory but the way to a new, and almost incomprehensible, way of being. --Brian Bruya

Review:

"One of the most significant contributions to the understanding of Tibetan Buddhism to have appeared in recent years."--The Middle Way

About this edition

• Publisher: Snow Lion Publications
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 1559391359
• ISBN 13: 9781559391351
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 216
• Editor: Shane John