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Tibetan Buddhism

Tibetan Buddhism, form of Buddhism prevailing in the Tibet region of China, Bhutan, the state of Sikkim in India, Mongolia, and parts of Siberia and SW China. It has sometimes been called Lamaism, from the name of the Tibetan monks, the lamas [superior ones]. The religion is derived from the Indian Mahayana form of Buddhism, but much of its ritual is based on the esoteric mysticism of Tantra and on the ancient shamanism and animism of Bon, an older Tibetan religion. It is also called Tantrayana [tantra vehicle] or Vajrayana [vehicle of the thunderbolt].

Beliefs and Practices

The most dedicated Tibetan Buddhists seek nirvana, but for the common people the religion retains shamanistic elements. The worship also includes reciting prayers and intoning hymns, often to the sound of great horns and drums. A protective formula of esoteric significance, Om mani padme hum [Om, the jewel in the lotus], is repeated; it is inscribed on rocks and walls, tallied on prayer wheels, and displayed on banners and streamers. In addition to a large pantheon of spirits, demons, and genii, many Buddhas and bodhisattvas (future Buddhas) are worshiped along with their ferocious consorts, or Taras. The monastic orders include abbots, ordained religious mendicants, novices (candidates), and neophytes (children on probation). The standing of nuns is inferior.

Early History

The traditional account of its origin is that Buddhism was introduced into Tibet by a Nepali and a Chinese princess, devout Buddhists, who became (7th cent. A.D.) the wives of the Tibetan king Srongtsen Gampo. The new religion was actually established, however, by one of the successors of that king when he called from India the Padmasambhava, a Tantric mystic and teacher who founded (c.750) a Buddhist monastery near Lhasa. Buddhist writings were later translated from Sanskrit in two sections: the Kanjur [translated word], a collection of sacred texts, and the Tanjur [translated treatises], a collection of commentaries (see Buddhist literature).

The early lamas and their successors, constituting the so-called Red Hat sects, rapidly built up power. The Bon shamans, however, fought back successfully, and for over a century the new faith was suppressed. In 1042 a reformer, Atisa (982-1054), a monk from India, arrived in Tibet, unified the priesthood, improved the moral tone by enforcing monastic rules, and tried to eliminate any vestiges of Bon ritual from the religion. He was the founder of the Kadampa sect. Another sect, the Kargyupa, was founded by the translator Marpa (1012-97) and his famous disciple Milarepa.

Tibetan Theocracy

In the 13th cent. Kublai Khan, after his conversion, bestowed temporal rule upon the abbots of the Sakya monastery (and leaders of the Sakyapa sect), who subsequently ruled W Tibet from c.1270 to 1340. The lama Tsong-kha-pa (d. 1419), a great reformer, subsequently reorganized the orders, strengthened monastic discipline, introduced a rigid rule of celibacy, and prescribed rigorous routines for meetings, confessions, and retreats. This reform movement called itself the Gelukpa [virtuous] sect and is generally known as the Yellow Hat sect.

Soon Yellow Hat influence spread to Mongolia, and in 1641 a ruling Mongol prince bestowed temporal and spiritual control of all Tibet upon the fifth grand lama of the order, whose title was Dalai or Ta-lai [ocean-wide] Lama. The Dalai Lama was proclaimed a divine reincarnation of the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, ancestor of the Tibetan people, and was installed in the Potala (palace) in Lhasa. He soon became the temporal leader of Tibet, while spiritual supremacy resided with the chief abbot of the powerful Tashi Lumpo monastery near Xigazě, who is known as the Tashi or Panchen Lama. The Panchen Lama is regarded as a reincarnation of Amitabha, the Buddha of Light.

The succession to grand lama, either Dalai or Panchen, depends on direct reincarnation. Upon the death of either, his spirit is believed to pass into the body of some infant just born. An exacting series of tests and divinations determine the proper boy, who is then carefully trained for his great responsibility.

The 14th Dalai Lama was installed in 1940 and the 10th Panchen Lama in 1944. In 1959, following the Tibetan revolt against Chinese rule (see Tibet), the Dalai Lama went into exile in India, and the Chinese installed the Panchen Lama (d. 1989) in his place as ruler. Until the Chinese repression of Buddhism in Tibet in the 1960s, nearly a fifth of the population resided in lamaseries.

Since the 1980s there has been greater tolerance of religious practice in Tibet, although the Chinese government has attempted to exercise control over the religion. In 1995 China rejected the boy who was confirmed by the Dalai Lama as the new Panchen Lama and forced the selection of a different boy, and in Jan., 2000, the head lama of the Karmapa order fled Tibet for India. China subsequently announced (2007) that it would approve any future reincarnation of a Buddha and that only monasteries within China could apply for approval, a move clearly intended to assert China's control over the Dalai Lama's successor.

Bibliography

See W. Y. Evans-Wentz, Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrine (1935, repr. 1958); P. H. Pott, God and Demon in Buddhism (1962); L. A. Waddell, Buddhism of Tibet (2d ed. 1939, repr. 1973); C. Bell, The Religion of Tibet (1931, repr. 1987); I. Hilton, The Search for the Panchen Lama (2000).

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Tibetan Buddhism

Form of Mahayana Buddhism that evolved from the 7th century in Tibet. Based on Madhyamika and Yogacara philosophies, it incorporates the rituals of Vajrayana, the monastic disciplines of early Theravada, and the shamanistic features of Bon. The predominant Tibetan sect for the past three centuries has been Dge-lugs-pa. Its spiritual head is the Dalai Lama. The Tibetan canon is divided into the Bka'-'gyur (“Translation of the Word”), consisting of canonical texts translated mostly from Sanskrit, and Bstan-'gyur (“Transmitted Word”), consisting of commentaries by Indian masters. Tibetan Buddhism has become better known worldwide since 1959, when the 14th Dalai Lama went into exile in India.

Learn more about Tibetan Buddhism with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.

Tibetan Buddhism

Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including northern Nepal, Bhutan, and India (Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh and Sikkim). It is also practiced in Mongolia and parts of Russia (Kalmykia, Buryatia, and Tuva) and Northeast China. Tibetan Buddhism comprises many distinct schools, but is primarily divided into four main traditions: Nyingma, Kagyu, Gelug, and Sakya. All schools are said to include the teachings of the three vehicles of Buddhism: the Foundational Vehicle, Mahayana, and Vajrayana, although some schools, the Gelug for example, consider Vajrayana a part of Mahayana.

The land reform of the Tibetan region by the People's Republic of China beginning in mid-1950s led to armed conflicts later in the decade. The failed rebellion resulted in the exile of about eighty thousand Tibetans, many of them Buddhist clergy members, to India. Some of them went further to the west, which in turn eventually led to the spread of Tibetan Buddhism to many Western countries, where the tradition has gained some popularity.

The Tibetan Buddha Ideal

The ideal goal of spiritual development in Tibetan Buddhism, a Mahayana tradition, is to achieve the enlightenment (Buddhahood) in order to most efficiently help all other sentient beings attain this state.

Buddhahood is sometimes partially defined as a state of omniscience. "Omniscience" relates to the Buddhist principle that all things derive from mind.

When, in Buddhahood, one is freed from all mental obscurations, one is said to attain a state of continuous bliss, mixed with a simultaneous cognition of emptiness, the true nature of reality. In this state, all limitations on one's ability to help other living beings are removed.

It is said that there are countless beings who have attained Buddhahood. Buddhas spontaneously, naturally and continuously perform activities to benefit all sentient beings. However it is believed that sentient beings' karmas limit the ability of the Buddhas to help them. Thus, although Buddhas possess no limitation from their side on their ability to help others, sentient beings continue to experience suffering as a result of the limitations of their own former negative actions.

Tibetan definitions of “Buddhist”

Introspection as the mark of a Buddhist is embodied in the Tibetan term for Buddhist: literally, "internalist".

More precisely, Tibetans specify two alternative criteria for being Buddhist: a) formal: having taken refuge and b) in belief: acceptance of the Three marks of existence.

General Methods of Practice

Transmission and Realisation (lungtok, lung-rtogs)

An emphasis on oral transmission as more important than the printed word derives from the earliest period of Indian Buddhism, when it allowed teachings to be kept from those who should not hear them. Hearing a teaching (transmission) readies the hearer for realisation based on it. The person from whom one hears the teaching should have heard it as one link in a succession of listeners going back to the original speaker: the Buddha in the case of a sutra or the author in the case of a book. Then the hearing constitutes an authentic lineage of transmission. Authenticity of the oral lineage is a prerequisite for realisation, hence the importance of lineages.

Merely reading about a teaching is helpful but no substitute for receiving a transmission on it. Having a text recited aloud by someone who holds the lineage for transmission of that text makes oneself also a holder of that lineage and the more ready for realisation of the teaching in it. Oral transmissions by lineage holders traditionally can take place in small groups or mass gatherings of listeners and may last for seconds (in the case of a mantra, for example) or months (in the case of a section of the canon, etc). A transmission can even occur without actually hearing, as in Asanga's visions of Maitreya.

Analytic Meditation and Focussed/ Fixation Meditation

Spontaneous realisation on the basis of transmission is possible but rare. Normally an intermediate step is needed in the form of analytic meditation, i.e., thinking about what one has heard. As part of this process, entertaining doubts and engaging in internal debate over them is encouraged in some traditions particularly. When analytic meditation achieves the quality of realisation, one is encouraged to switch to "focussed" or "fixation" meditation. In this the mind is stabilised on that realisation for periods long enough to gradually habituate it to it. A person's capacity for analytic meditation can be trained with logic and that for successful focussed meditation through mental quiescenece. A meditation routine may involve alternating sessions of analytic meditation to achieve deeper levels of realisation and focussed meditation to consolidate them. The deepest level of realisation is Buddhahood.

Skepticism and Guru Devotion

Of all aspects of Tibetan Buddhism, none receive more skepticism than the guru devotion have led it into conflict with Chinese socialism and so invited the genocide of the Tibetan intelligentsia under Mao. An attitude of critical skepticism is encouraged to promote abilities in analytic meditation. However, as in other Buddhist traditions, an attitude of reverence for the teacher is also highly prized.

In favour of skepticism towards Buddhist doctrines in general, Tibetans are fond of quoting sutra to the effect that one should test the Buddha's words as one would the quality of a coin. On the other hand, at the beginning of a public teaching, a lama will do prostrations to the throne on which he will teach due to its symbolism, or to an image of the Buddha behind that throne, then students will do prostrations to the lama after he is seated. Merit accrues when ones interactions with the teacher are imbued with such reverence in the form of guru devotion, a code of practices governing it that derives from Indian sources. By such things as avoiding disturbance to the peace of mind of one's teacher and wholeheartedly following his prescriptions, much merit accrues and promotes ones practice.

There is a general sense in which any Tibetan Buddhist teacher is called a lama. A student may have taken teachings from many authorities and revere them all as lamas in this general sense. However, they will typically have one held in special esteem as their own root guru and is encouraged to view the other teachers who are less dear to them, however more exalted their status, as embodied in and subsumed by the root guru. Often the teacher the student sees as root guru is simply the one who first introduced them to Buddhism.

The opposing principles of skepticism and guru devotion are reconciled with the Tibetan injunction to scrutinise a prospective guru thoroughly before finally adopting them as such without reservation. A Buddhist may study with a lama for decades before finally accepting them as their own teacher.

Preliminary Practices and the Tibetan Approach to Vajrayana

Vajrayana is said to be the fastest method for attaining Buddhahood but it carries the caution that for unqualified practitioners it can be dangerous. Even for a qualified advanced practitioner, to engage in Vajrayana without having received the appropriate initiation (also known as an "empowerment") from a lama who is fully qualified to give it is to court controversy. From the time one has resolved to accept a Vajrayana initiation, skepticism towards the person giving that initiation as guru is suspended and the utmost sustained effort in guru devotion towards them is essential.

Just as Sutrayana preceded Vajrayana historically in India, so sutra practices constitute those that are preliminary to tantric ones. Preliminary practices include all Sutrayana activities that yield merit like hearing teachings, prostrations, offerings, prayers and acts of kindness and compassion, but chief among the preliminary practices are realisations through meditation on the three principle stages of the path: renunciation, the altruistic bodhicitta will for enlightenment and the wisdom realising emptiness. For a person without the basis of these three in particular to practise Vajrayana can be like a small child trying to ride an unbroken horse.

While the hathayoga-like practices of Vajrayana are not known in Sutrayana, all Sutrayana practices are common to Vajrayana. Without training in the preliminary practices, the ubiquity of allusions to them in Vajrayana is meaningless and even successful Vajrayana initiation becomes impossible.

The merit acquired in the preliminary practices facilitates progress in Vajrayana. While many Buddhists may spend a lifetime exclusively on sutra practices, however, an amalgam of the two to some degree is common. For, example, in order to train in mental quiescence, one might use a tantric visualisation as the meditation object.

Esotericism

In Vajrayana particularly, Tibetan Buddhists subscribe to a voluntary code of self-censorship, whereby the uninitiated do not seek and are not provided with information about it. This self-censorship may be applied more or less strictly depending on circumstances such as the material involved. A depiction of a mandala may be less public than that of a deity. That of a higher tantric deity may be less public than that of a lower. The degree to which information on Vajrayana is now public in western languages is controversial among Tibetan Buddhists.

Buddhism has always had a taste for esotericism since its earliest period in India. Tibetans today maintain greater or lesser degrees of confidentiality also with information on the Vinaya and emptiness specifically. In Buddhist teachings generally, too, there is caution about revealing information to people who may be unready for it. Esoteric values in Buddhism have made it at odds with the values of Christian missionary activity, for example in contemporary Mongolia.

Native Tibetan developments

Some commentators have emphasised minor Tibetan innovations such as the system of incarnate lamas, but such genuine innovations have been few. True to its roots in the Pala system of North India, however, Tibetan Buddhism carried on a tradition of eclectic accumulation and systematisation of diverse Buddhist elements, and pursued their synthesis. Prominent among these achievements are the Stages of the Path (lamrim, lam-rim) and motivational training (lojong, blo-sbyong).

Schools of Tibetan Buddhism

Tibetan Buddhism has four main traditions:

Nyingma(pa), The Ancient Ones. This is the oldest, the original order founded by Padmasambhava.

Kagyu(pa), Lineage of the (Buddha's) Word. This contains one major subsect and one minor subsect. The first, the Dagpo Kagyu, encompasses those Kagyu schools that trace back to Gampopa. In turn, the Dagpo Kagyu consists of four major sub-sects: the Karma Kagyu, headed by a Karmapa, the Tsalpa Kagyu, the Barom Kagyu, and Pagtru Kagyu. There are further eight minor sub-sects, all of which trace their root to Pagtru Kagyu. Among the eight sub-sects the most notable of are the Drikung Kagyu and the Drukpa Kagyu. The once-obscure Shangpa Kagyu, which was famously represented by the 20th century teacher Kalu Rinpoche, traces its history back to the Indian master Niguma, sister of Kagyu lineage holder Naropa. This is an oral tradition which is very much concerned with the experiential dimension of meditation. Its most famous exponent was Milarepa, an eleventh century mystic.

Sakya(pa), Grey Earth, headed by the Sakya Trizin, founded by Khon Konchog Gyalpo, a disciple of the great translator Drokmi Lotsawa. Sakya Pandita 1182–1251CE was the great grandson of Khon Konchog Gyalpo. This school very much represents the scholarly tradition.

Gelug(pa), Way of Virtue, whose spiritual head is the Ganden Tripa and whose temporal, the Dalai Lama. Successive Dalai Lamas ruled Tibet from the mid-17th to mid-20th centuries. This order was founded in the 14th to 15th century by Je Tsongkhapa, based on the foundations of the Kadampa tradition. Tsongkhapa was renowned for both his scholasticism and his virtue. The Dalai Lama belongs to the Gelugpa school, and is regarded as the embodiment of the Bodhisattva of Compassion.

Texts recognized as scripture and commentary are fixed by the Tibetan Buddhist canon.

These major schools are sometimes classified into Nyingma ("Old Translation") and Sarma ("New Translation") traditions according to translations and lineages of various Tantric texts. Another common way of classification is the differentiation into "Red Hat" and "Yellow Hat" schools:

Nyingma	Kagyu	Sakya	Gelug
Old Translation	New Translation	New Translation	New Translation
Red Hat	Red Hat	Red Hat	Yellow Hat

Besides these major schools, there are a number of minor ones like Jonang. The Jonangpa were suppressed by the rival Gelugpa in the 1600s and were once thought extinct, but are now known to survive in Eastern Tibet.

There is also an ecumenical movement known as Rimé.

Study of tenet systems in Tibetan Buddhism

Tibetan Buddhists practise one or more understandings of the true nature of reality, the emptiness of all things. Emptiness is propounded according to four classical Indian schools of philosophical tenets.

Two belong to the older Hinayana path (Skt. for Lesser Vehicle, Tib. theg dman). (Hinayana is sometimes referred to as Śravakayāna (Skt. Vehicle of Hearers) because "lesser" may be considered derogatory):

Vaibhashika (Tib. bye-brag smra-ba)
Sautrantika (Tib. mdo-sde-pa)

The primary source for the former is the Abhidharmakosha by Vasubandhu and commentaries. The Abhidharmakosha is also an important source for the Sautrantikas. Dignaga and Dharmakirti are the most prominent exponents.

The other two are Mahayana (Skt. Greater Vehicle) (Tib. theg-chen):

Yogacara, also called Cittamatra (Tib. sems-tsam-pa), Mind-Only
Madhyamaka (Tib. dbu-ma-pa)

Yogacarin base their views on texts from Maitreya, Asanga and Vasubandhu, Madhyamikas on Nagarjuna and Aryadeva. There is a further classification of Madhyamaka into Svatantrika-Madhyamaka and Prasangika-Madhyamaka. The former stems from Bhavaviveka, Santaraksita and Kamalashila, and the latter from Buddhapalita and Chandrakirti.

The tenet system is used in the monasteries and colleges to teach Buddhist philosophy in a systematic and progressive fashion, each philosophical view being more subtle than its predecessor. Therefore the four schools can be seen as a gradual path from a rather easy-to-grasp, "realistic" philosophical point of view, to more and more complex and subtle views on the ultimate nature of reality, that is on emptiness and dependent arising, culminating in the philosophy of the Madhyamikas, which is widely believed to present the most sophisticated point of view.

Monasticism

Although there were many householder-yogis in Tibet, monasticism was the foundation of Buddhism in Tibet. There were thousands of monasteries in Tibet, and nearly all were ransacked and destroyed by the Chinese communists (many of them young ethnic Tibetan Red Guards), mainly during the Cultural Revolution. Most of the major ones have been at least partially re-established.

In Mongolia during the 1920s, approximately one third of the male population were monks, though many lived outside monasteries. These monasteries were largely dismantled during Communist rule, but many have been reestablished during the Buddhist revival in Mongolia which followed the fall of Communism.

Monasteries generally adhere to one particular school. Some of the major centers in each tradition are as follows:

Nyingma

The Nyingma lineage is said to have "six mother monasteries," although the composition of the six has changed over time:

Also of note is

Samye — the first monastery in Tibet, established by Padmasambhava and Shantarakshita

Kagyu

Many Kagyu monasteries are in Kham, eastern Tibet. Tsurphu, one of the most important, is in central Tibet, as is Ralung.

Palpung Monastery — the seat of the Tai Situpa and Jamgon Kongtrul
Ralung Monastery -- the seat of the Gyalwang Drukpa
Surmang Monastery — the seat of the Trungpa tülkus
Tsurphu Monastery — the seat of H.H. the Gyalwa Karmapa

Sakya

Sakya Monastery — the seat of H.H. the Sakya Trizin

Gelug

The three most important centers of the Gelugpa lineage are Ganden, Sera and Drepung Monasteries, near Lhasa:

Ganden Monastery — the seat of the Ganden Tripa
Drepung Monastery — the home monastery of the Dalai Lama
Sera Monastery

Three other monasteries have particularly important regional influence:

Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse — founded by the first Dalai Lama, this monastery is now the seat of the Panchen Lama
Labrang Monastery in eastern Amdo
Kumbum Jampaling in central Amdo

Great spiritual and historical importance is also placed on:

Jokhang Temple in Lhasa — said to have been built by King Songtsen Gampo in 647 AD, a major pilgrimage site

History of Tibetan Buddhism

According to a Tibetan legendary tradition, Buddhist scriptures (among them the Karandavyuha Sutra) and relics (among them the Cintamani) arrived in southern Tibet during the reign of Lha Thothori Nyantsen, the 28th "king of Tibet" (fifth century), who was probably just a local chief in the Yarlung valley. The tale is miraculous (the objects fell from the sky on the roof of the king's palace), but it may have an historical background (the arrival of Buddhist missionaries).

The earliest well-documented influence of Buddhism in Tibet dates from the reign of king Songtsän Gampo, who died in 650. He married a Chinese Tang Dynasty Buddhist princess, Wencheng, who came to Tibet with a statue of Shakyamuni Buddha. According to a Tibetan legendary tradition, Songtsän Gampo also married a Nepalese Buddhist princess, Bhrikuti; but Bhrikuti, who bears the name of a goddess, is not mentioned in reliable sources. Songtsän Gampo founded the first Buddhist temples. By the second half of the 8th century he was already regarded as an embodiment of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara.

The successors of Songtsän Gampo seem to have been less enthusiastic about the propagation of Buddhism. But in the 8th century, King Trisong Detsen (755-797) established Buddhism as the official religion of the state. He invited Indian Buddhist scholars to his court. In his age the famous tantric mystic Padmasambhava arrived in Tibet according to the Tibetan tradition. In addition to writing a number of important scriptures (some of which he hid for future tertons to find), Padmasambhava established the Nyingma school ("the old school")from which all schools of Tibetan Buddhism are said to have derived.

Tibetan Buddhism exerted a strong influence from the 11th century CE among the peoples of Central Asia, especially in Mongolia and Manchuria. It was adopted as an official state religion by the Mongol Yuan dynasty and the Manchu Qing dynasty that ruled China.

Transmission of Chan to the Nyingmapa

According to A. W. Barber of the University of Calgary, Chan Buddhism was introduced to the Nyingmapa in three principal streams: the teachings of Master Kim, Kim Ho-shang, (Chin ho shang) 金和尚 transmitted by Sang Shi in ca. 750 CE; the lineage of Master Wu Chu (無住禪師) of the Pao T'ang School was transmitted within Tibet by Ye shes dbang po; and the teaching from Mo Ho Yen, 和尚摩訶衍 (Tibetan: Hwa shang Mahayana) that were a synthesis of the Northern School of Chan and the Pao T'ang School.

Tibetan king Khri srong lde btsan (742–797) invited the Ch’an master Mo-ho-yen (whose name consists of the same Chinese characters used to transliterate “Mahayana”) to transmit the Dharma at Samye Monastery. Mo-ho-yen had been disseminating Dharma in the Tun-huang locale, but, according to Tibetan sources, lost an important philosophical debate on the nature of emptiness from the Indian master Kamalashila, and the king declared Kamalashila's philosophy should form the basis for Tibetan Buddhism. However, a Chinese source says their side won, and some scholars conclude that the entire episode is fictitious.

Tibetan Buddhism in the contemporary world

Today, Tibetan Buddhism is adhered to widely in the Tibetan Plateau, Nepal, Bhutan, Mongolia, Kalmykia (on the north-west shore of the Caspian), Siberia (central Russia, specifically Buryatia and Chita Oblast), and the Russian Far East (concentrated in Tyva). The Indian regions of Sikkim and Ladakh, both formerly independent kingdoms, are also home to significant Tibetan Buddhist populations. In the wake of the Tibetan diaspora, Tibetan Buddhism has gained adherents in the West and throughout the world; there are estimated to be tens of thousands of practitioners in Europe and the Americas. Celebrity Tibetan Buddhism practitioners include Richard Gere, Paris Hilton, Adam Yauch, Jet Li, Sharon Stone, Allen Ginsberg, Angelina Jolie, Philip Glass, and Steven Seagal (who has been proclaimed the reincarnation of the tulku Chungdrag Dorje).

Notes

References

Coleman, Graham, ed. (1993). A Handbook of Tibetan Culture. Boston: Shambhala Publications, Inc.. ISBN 1-57062-002-4.
Conze, Edward (1993). A Short History of Buddhism. Oneworld.

Dhargyey, Geshe Ngawang; ed. Alexander Berzin, based on oral trans. by Sharpa Tulku (3rd edn, 1978). Tibetan Tradition of Mental Development. Dharmsala: Library of Tibetan Works and Archives. [A pithy lam-rim by a geshe appointed in 1973 by His Holiness the Dalai Lama as head of the translation team at the Tibetan Library.]

Dhargyey, Geshe Ngawang; ed. Alexander Berzin, based on oral trans. by Sharpa Tulku (1982). An Anthology of Well-Spoken Advice on the Graded Paths of the Mind, Vol. I. Dharmsala: Library of Tibetan Works and Archives. [The first part of a more extensive lam-rim by a geshe appointed in 1973 by His Holiness the Dalai Lama as head of the translation team at the Tibetan Library. The language of this publication is very different from that of the 1978 work by the same lama due to widespread changes in choice of English terminology by the translators.]

Hopkins, Jeffrey (1996). Meditation on Emptiness. Boston: Wisdom. [Definitive treatment of emptiness according to the Prasangika-Madhyamika school.]

; trans. & ed.: Elizabeth Napper (1980). Mind in Tibetan Buddhism: Oral Commentary on Ge-shay Jam-bel-sam-pel’s “Presentation of Awareness and Knowledge Composite of All the Important Points Opener of the Eye of New Intelligence. Valois, NY: Snow Lion.

(1965). The Heart of Buddhist Meditation. Boston: Weiser.

; Ed. Trijang Rinpoche, transl. Michael Richards (3rd edn. 2006). Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand, A Concise Discourse on the Path to Enlightenment. Somerville, MA: Wisdom. [This famous lam-rim text was written from notes on an extended discourse by the Gelugpa geshe, Pabongka Rinpoche in 1921 and translated through extensive consultation with Achok Rinpoche (Library of Tibetan Works and Archives).]

Powers, John. History as Propaganda: Tibetan Exiles versus the People's Republic of China (2004) Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195174267

The Ri-Me Philosophy of Jamgon Kongtrul the Great: A Study of the Buddhist Lineages of Tibet. Shambhala.

Smith, E. Gene (2001). Among Tibetan Texts: History and Literature of the Himalayan Plateau. Boston: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-179-3

Sopa, Geshe Lhundup; Jeffrey Hopkins (1977). Practice and Theory of Tibetan Buddhism. New Delhi: B.I. Publications. [Part Two of this book, ‘’Theory: Systems of Tenets’’ is an annotated translation of ‘’Precious Garland of Tenets (Grub-mtha’ rin-chhen phreng-ba)’’ by Kön-chok-jik-may-wang-po (1728-1791).]

; the Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee; Joshua Cutler, ed. in chief; Guy Newland, ed. (2000). The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment, Volume I. Canada: Snow Lion.

; the Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee; Joshua Cutler, ed. in chief; Guy Newland, ed. (2002). The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment, Volume II. Canada: Snow Lion.

; the Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee; Joshua Cutler, ed. in chief; Guy Newland, ed. (2004). The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment, Volume III. Canada: Snow Lion.

Wallace, B. Alan (1999), "The Buddhist Tradition of Samatha: Methods for Refining and Examining Consciousness", Journal of Consciousness Studies 6 (2-3): 175-187 .