The Essence of the Heart Sutra: The Dalai Lama's Heart of Wisdom Teachings - Couverture souple

Dalai Lama, His Holiness The

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0861712846 ISBN 13 : 9780861712847

Editeur : Wisdom Publications, 2005

Synopsis

For more than 2,000 years, the Heart Sutra has been of central importance to millions of Buddhists. Whether memorized, chanted, or studied, this sacred text is often looked to for inspiration. Based on talks the Dalai Lama gave in the spring of 2001, "Essence of the Heart Sutra is a masterful translation of the Dalai Lama's teachings and reflections on the Heart Sutra, teachings that provide fresh insights on a mainstay of Buddhist practice. In addition to providing the words of the Dalai Lama, this book also brings together an overview of Buddhism, background material, and complete commentaries to elucidate the teachings and place them in their proper context. These bonus materials make "Essence of the Heart Sutra a book that can be valued by beginners as well as one that provides seasoned Buddhists with many delightful new facts and ideas. A deeply profound and powerful book, "Essence of the Heart Sutra provides precious thoughts on how to appreciate life's endeavor.

A propos du livre

Biographie de l'auteur

Tenzin Gyatso, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, is the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people. He frequently describes himself as a simple Buddhist monk. Born in northeastern Tibet in 1935, he was as a toddler recognized as the incarnation of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama and brought to Tibet's capital, Lhasa. In 1950, Mao Zedong's Communist forces made their first incursions into eastern Tibet, shortly after which the young Dalai Lama assumed the political leadership of his country. He passed his scholastic examinations with honors at the Great Prayer Festival in Lhasa in 1959, the same year Chinese forces occupied the city, forcing His Holiness to escape to India. There he set up the Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharamsala, working to secure the welfare of the more than 100,000 Tibetan exiles and prevent the destruction of Tibetan culture. In his capacity as a spiritual and political leader, he has traveled to more than sixty-two countries on six continents and met with presidents, popes, and leading scientists to foster dialogue and create a better world. In recognition of his tireless work for the nonviolent liberation of Tibet, the Dalai Lama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. In 2012, he relinquished political authority in his exile government and turned it over to democratically elected representatives.

His Holiness frequently states that his life is guided by three major commitments: the promotion of basic human values or secular ethics in the interest of human happiness, the fostering of interreligious harmony, and securing the welfare of the Tibetan people, focusing on the survival of their identity, culture, and religion. As a superior scholar trained in the classical texts of the Nalanda tradition of Indian Buddhism, he is able to distill the central tenets of Buddhist philosophy in clear and inspiring language, his gift for pedagogy imbued with his infectious joy. Connecting scientists with Buddhist scholars, he helps unite contemplative and modern modes of investigation, bringing ancient tools and insights to bear on the acute problems facing the contemporary world. His efforts to foster dialogue among leaders of the world's faiths envision a future where people of different beliefs can share the planet in harmony. Wisdom Publications is proud to be the premier publisher of the Dalai Lama's more serious and in-depth works.

Thupten Jinpa Langri was educated in the classical Tibetan monastic academia and received the highest academic degree of Geshe Lharam (equivalent to a doctorate in divinity). Jinpa also holds a BA in philosophy and a PhD in religious studies, both from the University of Cambridge, England. Since 1985, he has been the principal translator to the Dalai Lama, accompanying him to the United States, Canada, and Europe. He has translated and edited many books by the Dalai Lama, including The World of Tibetan Buddhism, Essence of the Heart Sutra, and the New York Times bestseller Ethics for the New Millennium.

Jinpa has published scholarly articles on various aspects of Tibetan culture, Buddhism, and philosophy, and books such as Songs of Spiritual Experience: Tibetan Poems of Awakening and Insight (co-authored) and Self, Reality and Reason in Tibetan Thought. He serves on the advisory board of numerous educational and cultural organizations in North America, Europe, and India. He is currently the president and the editor-in-chief of the Institute of Tibetan Classics, a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to translating key Tibetan classics into contemporary languages. He also currently chairs the Mind and Life Institute.

Revue de presse

"Lovingly and wisely edited by Jinpa, the bulk of the book is consumed with a fairly meaty exploration of the Heart of Wisdom sutra, a classical Mahayana text, and as such will be useful to established practitioners as well as neophytes." (Publishers Weekly)

"In this volume, the Dalai Lama demonstrates how the core teachings of Buddhism and other major schools of thought are contained within the text of the Heart Sutra. [In fact,] the worldview in these ancient teachings has an eerie resemblance to the world as described by 20th-century quantum physics. ... With his usual penetrating intelligence, simple humanity, humor and compassion, he advocates that we should maintain our own spiritual traditions (Hindu, Christian, etc) while learning from others. 'In family life, social life, working life, and political life, inner disarmament is, above all, what humanity needs.'" (NAPRA ReVIEW)

"In the spring of 2001, the Dalai Lama spoke to an audience of 8,000 people in California. This book is a translation of that teaching. He begins with a morally stirring defense of the spiritual practice of unity saying that we are not strangers--all of us are human beings: 'Differences in belief, just like differences in experience, are minor compared to our common humanity. The essential thing is that we are all the same in being human--thinking, feeling and being aware. We all share this one planet and we are all members of one big human family.' Courageous words from a spiritual leader in exile. Stirring words from a wisdom teacher who refuses to give in to tribal hatreds and violence afoot all around the world. The Dalai Lama believes that all the world's religions must speak out in support of compassion, forgiveness, brotherhood, and sisterhood. That is why he also calls for global participation in inner disarmament by individuals and communities. In the second half of this volume, the Dalai Lama talks about the Heart Sutra and its emphasis upon emptiness as a prelude to compassion." (Spirituality and Health)

"In Essence of the Heart Sutra, the Dalai Lama translates and interprets a central teaching of Buddhism with his trademark precision and straight talk. In the Heart Sutra, the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara describes how to train in the perfection of wisdom by seeing through the illusions of all things. The Dalai Lama goes through the text passage by passage, after an extensive introduction to the basics of Buddhism and the Mahayana tradition's emphasis on emptiness, and shows how understanding emptiness is a key to happiness and liberation from suffering. Who better to explain it than the man reported to be the present-day incarnation of Avalokiteshvara himself?"-- (Brian Bruya)

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: Wisdom Publications
• Date d'édition: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0861712846
• ISBN 13: 9780861712847
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 192
• Éditeur: Jinpa Ph.D. Ph.D. Thupten