Tibetan Tradition Research Articles

Buddhism and Psychiatry: Confluence and Conflict

Objective: To describe the relationship between Buddhism and psychiatry, from a personal perspective. Conclusions: The present paper introduces Buddhist thought for those unfamiliar with it, then describes some of the sites of confluence and conflict between this tradition and those of Western mental health care. It does so from the perspective of a Westerner who has made some exploration of Buddhism, mainly within one of the Tibetan traditions.

Tantric Buddhism, Degeneration or Enhancement: The Viewpoint of a Tibetan Tradition

Tantric practices are often considered a degenerate development of Buddhism; there is a widespread notion that in Tantric ritual the deeply altruistic motivation and penetrative insight of Great Vehicle Buddhism were discarded in favor of expression of baser instincts. As these notions take no account of the presence of more prevalent, high traditions of tantra that are preserved in Tibetan and Japanese Buddhism, they create great stumbling blocks to meaningful dialogue between Tantric Buddhists and Christians. Therefore, in this article I present the basic principles of tantra as these are described in one of the high Tibetan traditions, the Ge-luk-ba1 order. My emphasis will be on how the Tantric path is an enhanced embodiment of the teachings on compassion and wisdom basic to Great Vehicle Buddhism.

Death and Dying; the Tibetan Tradition. Glenn H. Mullin. and Death, Intermediate State and Rebirth in Tibetan Buddhism. Lati Rinpoche and Jeffrey Hopkins.

Death and Dying; the Tibetan Tradition. Glenn H. Mullin. Arkana (Routledge), London 1986. xvi, 251 pp. £5.95.
 
 Death, Intermediate State and Rebirth in Tibetan Buddhism. Lati Rinpoche and Jeffrey Hopkins. Rider (Century Hutchinson), London 1980; repr. Snow Lion, Ithaca (New York) 1985. 86 pp. $6.95.

Buddhism in the Tibetan tradition: a guide. By Geshe Kelsang Gyatso with a foreword by H.H. The Dalai Lama. pp. xi, 132, 5 illustrations, glossary. London etc., Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1984. £4.95.

Buddhism in the Tibetan tradition: a guide. By Geshe Kelsang Gyatso with a foreword by H.H. The Dalai Lama. pp. xi, 132, 5 illustrations, glossary. London etc., Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1984. £4.95.

Essai pour une typologie de la cloche tibétaine dril-bu

The ritual sceptre rdo-rje and the handbell dril-bu — with an internal clapper and a handle in the shape of half a rdo-rje — are indispensable accessories for the ritual celebration of Tibetan Buddhism. They appear among the attributes which iconography gives to a number of Buddhas, bodhisattvas, protective deities and spiritual teachers. Since the beginning of the XIth century, numerous canonical and extra -canonical texts have described precisely the characteristics of the rdo-rje and dril-bu, and simultaneously explained the symbolical value which could be attributed to each part of the two objects. A comparison between the textual prescriptions and a sample of some fifty bells kept in various museums and monasteries has showed how faithful was the treatment of the ritual bells till the contemporary period. This allows to put forward a typology of the Tibetan dril-bu which takes into consideration the criteria offered by the Tibetan tradition itself. Two tables — one concerning the handle of the bell, the other the various symbolical decorations of the skirt of the bell - show the various correlations which have laid to the available types of bells.

Art. XV.—Buddha's Secret from a Sixth Century Pictorial Commentary and Tibetan Tradition

Apart from its importance as an illustration of the earlier intellectual life of humanity, the Buddhist Ontology, the most wonderful, perhaps, the world has seen, possesses a paramount interest for all who would arrive at a right understanding of the religion and ethics with which, it is associated.