I'm not going to babble on and on about this book. I'ts an excellent reference material. I only wish it had color schemes.

This book is not only an incredible collection of art, it is also wonderfully explanitory. R. Beer tells the mythos and history behind each set of images in a logical and easy to read format. I only wish that it was in full color (rather than just black and white); however, the author gives full details of how each image is traditionally coloured.

I -highly- recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Tibetan culture.

This is a great book, a customer brought it in to me to show what she wanted for a tattoo and I was amazed at all the rad stuff in it. Lots of cool stuffs for tattoos and whatnot- I did a big ol' snake headed deity on her arm, it was so killer looking- thanks to this book, I am going to sleeve out her whole arm now with images from this tome. Thats how well the art translated into tattoo designs...A must for any tattooer (or regular artist) interested in this style or japanese/ asian motifs.

The Lamrim is the "Graduated Path to Enlightenment." It is a total map of the Buddhist Path. And it is distilled, without any loss of flavor or potency, into these 21 meditations. I
completed these meditations in 1997. I made more progress than
I ever had in any spiritual or psychological program. So I naturally started to do the meditations for a second 21-days.
I treated my family as myself or better. I felt that life had meaning. I felt part of you, the reader of this review, as well.
That there was a connection to everything else. Then my brother
asked me what program I was doing. I told him that it was the
Lamrim meditations of Geshe Kelsang Gyatso. He told me that the
Dali Lama was angry at him for worshipping a protector deity named Dorje Shugden. So I quit. Until now. I did a one month exhaustive investigation of this affair. I have found Geshe Kelsang Gyatso blameless. And the Dali Lama was trying to keep his country intact because a book titled "The Yellow Book" was
dividing it. This book portrayed Dorje Shugden as a hero entity that was protecting Tibet and driving away the Nyingma influences. I am back. And this book is the best. It may not be the best for you. But it is the best for me. The 21 meditations are a concise psychological map for mental health. I have known lamas and swamis who are quite mean-spirited. But how
can you be mean if you are meditating on love? The mind takes the form of whatever it is paying attention to. After you have this book, you will see that the first meditation involves meditating on your Spiritual Guide. Don't be frightened. You can meditate on Geshe Kelsang Gyatso. Or you can meditate on the Dali Lama.
Pick one of them as your Spititual Guide if you don't have a teacher of somekind. The next problem that you might encounter is the meditation on Tranquil Abiding. I just called The NKT
Center in Los Angeles to get an answer. You can achieve tranquil abiding (the ninth stage) at home and in the evenings.
Students have done so. This book is such a tremendous achievement. You will have such great joy. I am sorry that I quit. And I wish you the very best of happiness.

This book is essential for anyone who wishes to quiet his or her mind, reduce stress, and cutivate a peaceful frame of mind. Easy to read, written in plain English, this book provides you with evrything you need to know and is presented to you in a way you can quickly absorb and use immediatly. I LOVE THIS BOOK!

This book helps us Western people to focus on the important things while meditating. In a very clear and easy speach it explains us step by step how we get a clear view beyond all our daily activities through to what really makes our life as human beings so very precious. I can recommend this book to anyone trying to approach meditation or trying to get further into meditating on a regular basis.

Phil Borges presents, through the medium of photography, a project that brings attention to the situation in Tibet. Both stylish and yet sensitive, Borges uses an extensive cross section of subjects to accomplish this. He brings to the project, like I mentioned above, an extensive cross section not just of subjects but locations as well that exemplify the phenomenal complexity and diversity in that country. An example is the portrait of Yama, which caught my eye, who could be any child in any place in the world. I might be waxing "noble savage" here but does she not deserve a childhood just like any child in the globe? With text from such notables as Nobel Peace Laureates like Elie Wiesel and His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso - the book is a sure hit and a must for every home. Not to be outdone are other contributors who themselves are "heavy hitters" in the discourse of Tibet and Tibetan issues - Robert F. Thurman and the late Galen Rowell. Phil Borges presents us with nothing less than a tour de force of visual stimulation coupled with profound text and a stylish presentation. A keeper that will stand the test of time.

Miguel Llora

Each of these faces is pure incarnation of a human feeling...from joy to worriness, from amazement to pride.Some of these people will haunt you for long after you turn the last page (See little 4 year old Pemba's eyes...) Sent the book to friends overseas...just the kind of work you want to share with your closest ones.

Phil Borges amazing photography, accompanied by words from the Dalai Lama make this book not only beautiful to look at, but inspiring as well.

The following is an article that appeared in the National Post, Toronto, May 11, 2000

(Headline: Photography book award, by Finbarr O'Reilly, National Post)

Vancouver-based photographer Art Perry has won the second Roloff Beny Photography Book Award for The Tibetans. The country's top photography book award, presented last night in Toronto, earns Perry a cash prize of $30,000. His American publisher, Viking Studio/Penguin Putnam, also gets $20,000, while two runners-up, Courtney Milne and Linda Rutenberg, get $5,000 each. Perry, who is a lecturer at the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, spent five years travelling throughout Tibet and the exiled Tibetan communities in India and Nepal, documenting with a camera the people he met along the way - monks, nomads, city dwellers. Through the Dalai Lama, Perry gained access to seldom-visited monasteries in remote regions where he captured a traditional way of life that is being threatened by the Chinese occupation of Tibet. In a current project, the Ottawa-born Perry has been documenting in both writing and photographs the fractured cultures of Northern and Southern Ireland. The project, which he began in 1998, is a lifelong dream of Perry, whose family is from Belfast. The award was created in memory of Roloff Beny, a world-renowned photographer who was born in Medicine Hat, Alta., and is intended to encourage excellence in photograph publishing.

The following is a review of Art Perry The Tibetans: Photographs that appeared in The Toronto Globe and Mail, April 8, 2000.

(Headline:"Turning the spotlight on photography books," by Martin Levin.) For many years, B.C. writer and photographer Art Perry has documented threatened cultures, including the Nubians and the Mayans. Here he turns his attention, and his fine black-and-white photographic sensibility, on Tibetans, the world's most famous enigmatic people. Perry takes us to remote monasteries, up the Chang Tang Plateau and to the Tibetan exile communities in India and Nepal. The whole conveys a powerful sense of meaning - and loss.

The following article appeared in The Vancouver Sun, May 10, 2000

'Tibetan images snag major prize for local photographer' by Michael Scott, Sun Visual Art Critic

Vancouver photographer Art Perry has won a major international award for his large-format photographic book The Tibetans: Photographs. Perry, an instructor at Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, becomes the second winner of the $30,000 Roloff Beny Photography Book Award at a ceremony in Toronto. (Magnum photographer Larry Towell received the first Beny Award for his book El Salvador.) The publisher of Perry's 1999 book, Viking Studio (an imprint of Penguin Books), will share in the award, receiving a $20,000 prize of its own. Perry spent five years collecting images of Buddhist societies in the Himalayas, working primarily in Tibet, but travelling also to Ladakh and Nepal. Last year, the Washington Post named his book one of the year's 10 best. A Vancouver Sun reviewer wrote: "Perry takes us from the slightly familiar markets and brothels of Lhasa clear through to the monasteries and mountaintops that have not been otherwise documented. The text is as clear-eyed as the pictures, but the message it contains is not entirely pretty. Though Buddhism practiced by the Tibetans will certainly endure, Tibetan Buddhist culture is very much under attack, perhaps by we western cultural imperialists, certainly by the country's Chinese occupiers. Read it, or just look at the pictures, and those Free Tibet bumper stickers will seem a lot more immediate." Here in Vancouver, Perry teaches a multi-disciplinary course at Emily Carr on the history of bohemianism - a course that covers film, punk rock and jazz as well as visual art. (I start by telling my students to stay up all night before coming to class," he jokes.) Perry also teaches a course in contemporary literature, a field that has sparked his interest in his own Irish roots. He says he will spend part of the Beny prize money on a sabbatical year in County Monaghan in northern Ireland. Perry plans to pursue both writing and photography during this time. "I have to say I am very, very honoured to be receiving this award," he says. "My father had some of Roloff Beny's big books and I grew up handling those incredible pages. There aren't people in those images, but they were lush and magnificent." Expatriate Canadian photographer Roloff Beny made an international name for himself in the 1970s and early 1980s chronicling a world of sensual beauty, with major large-format books on subjects such as pre-revolutionary Iran and Italy. He died in 1984.

I'm from Brazil, and here we have only few notices about the situation in Tibet. It's not easy to me to read in english, but it's the only way to be aware of the terrible situation on Tibet. Sky Burial is one of these books that bring us some conscience and desire to make something to help those people and that country. Since I read this excellent book , I don't buy chinese goods anymore and I do the possible to talk about the tibetans reality with my family and my friends. We, all the people of the world must help Tibet from the chinese hands, before it's to late.

Add this book to Tears of Blood By Mary Craig and In Exile From the Land of Snows by John Avedon and Whispered Prayers by Steven Harrison. It is important to understand the brutal nature of China and what buying the "Made in China" label supports in both the government and those who control manufacturing and trade. Read, understand and act. This and other books will break your heart that the U.S. wants to become a business partner with the horror that is the government of China.

i recomend this book to everyone and if you are a tibetan you must read it. this is one of the best books i have read on tibet and it gives you a very vivid picture of the october 1,1987 uprising in Lahsa and the events that followed. it inspired me and it reminded me as a tibetan that there are thousands of tibetans right now as we go about our daily lives, that are imprisoned and being tortured mercilessly in a dark, damp cell in some corner of tibet. it reminded me that i have a responsibility as a tibetan towards the freedom of tibet. i constantly sobbed throughout the book as i learned more and more how the chinese relentlessy killed tibetans and tortured them with cattle prods, riffle butts, electric batons and all kinds of horrifying instruments. the book also includes numerous interviews with tibetan refugees who have escaped the tyranny of the red star. Blake Kerr later travels to Dharamsala and meets the Dalai Lama. the book is very well written and i enjoyed reading it and the scant humur used in it. go read it...

This book will fill you with love, compassion, warmth and dreams.It will take you on an unforgettable journey through Tibet and this in turn will urge you to follow your dreams and not just your ambitions.Its written from the heart and written beauifully.I will be reading it again and again.Having been on a 21 day journey through Ladakh, I could almost relate to the author's experience.Its a truly wonderful and I urge all of you to partake in it.Tholing and Tsaparang, here I come..

"The Way of the White Clouds" is a truly wonderful piece of art. On my own path this has been the most significant book to open my mind and heart to what is beyond the obvious.

Govinda writes from the heart with an openness and clarity which is rare in this world. Combine this with a description of a journey of Tibet just prior to it's invasion, and you can nearly grasp the Heart of tibetan spiritual culture.

Highly recommended, I truly hope Rider/Random House get enough requests for this literary gem to be printed again.

You'll need your reading glasses, for sure, when you pick up Lama Govinda's The Way of the White Clouds because you won't want to miss one word of this marvelous text. Travel log, personal diary, and spiritual pilgrimage - I have read this book twice and will read it again. I have only loaned it out once - and only to a family member. It is that previous to me. Govinda's images of Tibet of the 40's are vivid - he takes you there. Another - much more modern - book that shares a similar place of importance on my shelf is The Blessings Already Are by John Morton. You may have to ask for it at your favorite book store as it was just recently published this year. Peace, fellow travelers.

~
Despite its unfortunate title, this is one of the most readable and informative books I've read about Tibetan Tantra. It's not a "first book" -- not one of those books that makes converts, like Walpola Rahula's "What the Buddha Taught," or the Dalai Lama's "Art of Living," or Suzuki Roshi's "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind." Those books distill the Buddhism into a single powerful, moving message, leaving behind everything distracting or extraneous -- they're basically the Four Noble Truths, told again, told new. If you want a simple introduction to Buddhism, read one of those, not this.

This is a completely different kind of book. It's full of details and byways. What's the difference between Nyingma, Gelugpa, Kagyu, and Sakya? What are the four different Ngondro practices? What's a Yidam? What's Tummo? What are all those Kayas, and how do they signify? How is Mahamudra different from Dzogchen?

If you're not already a Tibetan Buddhist, you probably don't want to know these things. If you just became one, don't mess with all that stuff yet: find a good teacher, listen to what he or she says, ask a lot of questions, and meditate a lot.

This is, however, a great book for a year or two down the road, when you've settled down to some practice and are starting to get irritated by all the terminology you still don't know, and all the references to persons, places, practices, and things that everyone seems to think you'd just magically already know about. This book is sort of like that trusted friend you sidle up to after puja to ask, "so just what *is* a Bhumi, anyway?"

Not that The Secret of the Vajra World doesn't have its inspiring moments. The story of the 16th Karmapa's death in a Western hospital is very moving, as are the stories of various Westerners on retreat. Ray's own commitment and inspiration come through very clearly. But the book's main virtues are accuracy and detail. There's simply a lot of information here, easy to find, easy to digest, about what people who practice Tibetan Buddhism actually do, how they do it, and why they do it.

Secret Of The Vajra World: The Tantric Buddhism Of Tibet by Reginald A. Ray (Professor of Buddhist Studies, Naropa University, Boulder, Colorado) is the second and final volume of "The World of Tantric Buddhism" series from Shambhala Publications. A straightforward presentation written in plain accessible terms for readers at all Buddhist studies and experience levels, Secret Of The Vajra World deftly explores the foundations of Vajrayana, the essence of Tantric Buddhist philosophies, and applications of Buddhist principles and insights to one's own personal life, bodhisattvas in the world, and a great deal more. Secret Of The Vajra Worlds is a very welcome, superbly presented, truly comprehensive introduction focusing upon a unique and profoundly important aspect of Buddhist spiritual practice.

Reginald Ray (or "Reggie," as his students call him) is a Professor of Buddhist Studies at Naropa University and at the University of Colorado here in Boulder. He was a student of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, and is now a senior teacher (or "acharya") in that lineage. He is also a frequent contributor to the "Shambhala Sun" magazine. Reggie recently led a weekend meditation retreat at Naropa, in which he demonstrated his ability as a teacher to give practical application to Tibetan Buddhism in the modern world. It is his same remarkable ability to give ordinary meaning to the otherwise esoteric teachings and practices of Tibetan Buddhism that makes Reggie's SECRET OF THE VAJRA WORLD such a compelling book.

This is the companion volume to Ray's previous book, INDESTRUCTIBLE TRUTH (2000). Whereas his earlier book examined the Hinayana (the "lesser vehicle") and Mahayana (the "great vehicle") traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, this book focuses on the Vajrayana ("adamantine") vehicle. In Buddhism, one's spiritual life is viewed as a progressive journey through these three "yanas," or stages. (p. 66). When read together, these two volumes provide us with a broad survey of Tibetan Buddhism.

The Hinayana vehicle consists of entering the path of Buddhism by taking refuge, and then training oneself in ethics, meditation, and wisdom. The Mahayana vehicle involves taking the bodhisattva vow to liberate all beings from suffering (p. 67). The "indestructible vehicle" of Vajrayana is a more advanced level of bodhisattva practice, in which the tantric practitioner works to fulfill his bodhisattva vow through yoga, meditation, and retreat practices (p. 68). The Vajrayana practice examines the nature of reality "beyond emptiness" (p. 87). The vajra practitioner, Trungpa Rinpoche taught, "is extremely sharp, intellectual, analytical" and relates with things precisely . . . "precisely open and clear, analytically cool, cold, possibly unfriendly, but always on the dot. Seeing all the highlights of things as they are" (p. 135).

Reggie's SECRET OF THE VAJRA WORLD is organized into four parts: the first, an overview of the history, philosophy, and training supporting Vajrayana Buddhism; the second, an examination of the special role of a teacher, "guru," or tantric mentor; the third, an exploration of the mahamudra and dzokchen culminating practices; and the fourth, a fascinating look at the tulku tradition surrounding reincarnation.

Whether he is teaching his students how to meditate in the ancient traditions of Tibetan Buddhism in the modern world, or giving everyday meaning to the esoteric teachings and practices of Tibetan Buddism in his books, Reggie Ray is a trusted teacher who knows his subject. And for anyone interested in exploring Tibetan Buddhism, the SECRET OF THE VAJRA WORLD and its earlier companion, INDESTRUCTIBLE TRUTH, are the books to read.

G. Merritt

Garma C.C. Chang created a fluid and readable translation of this classic work, which is useful to any student of religion and folk tales. Central to the translation is the message of transforming human frailty into buddhahood. As a poet and musician, Milarepa chose to guide through song. Milarepa was both radical and loving to all whom he encountered. Mila, too, amply revealed his human frailty during the process of enlightenment. He not only overcame a series of personal tragedies, but also evolved into the consummate example of mastering the poisons of anger and revenge - transforming enemies into friends and bringing many to the dharma.

Milarepa is highlighted as an example of how anyone can achieve enlightenment through hard work and perserverance despite his or her past. He shows us that we can all transform our hearts.

This book is a treasure. I humbly suggest to readers with any kind of spiritual inclination that reading this book with care, attention, and some willingness to learn will earn one a lifetime companion. The nature of that companion (oneself, God, the Buddha-mind...) I leave to the scholars.

Milarepa is interested in practice and real work in the phenomenal world, even as he abandons the imperatives of that world order. Meher Baba asserted that Milarepa had attained the highest state of consciousness (or being, if you prefer) possible for one in human form to attain. Milarepa is important. His teaching style and emphasis on nondualism bears useful comparison to Sri Ramakrishna (see The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna) and Meher Baba (see God Speaks).

Good stuff. Enjoy!

In May 1992 I discovered Volume Two of this title on a shelf at Border's in Philadelphia. I opened the book and saw these lines: "The woes of life succeed one another Like the sea's incessent waves -- One has barely passed, before The next one takes its place. Until you are liberated, pain And pleasure come and go at random Like passers-by encountered in the street." (page 635) I felt in love with the text. I read the book from cover to cover and spent three months to track down Volume One and read it. If there is ever a marriage between Passion and Devotion, this book is an example. I wish Garma were still alive.

I love the way Ms. Cameron crafted Karma & Happiness--writing as if I am there with her, having a conversation. I'm fascinated with how her husband Mike joins in and adds insight with his different perspectives.
Ms. Cameron, who is a bio-ethicist, questions everything and tries to balance it on an ethical scale, which might vary according to the issues around a given problem. I love it! As she is learning, so am I. She describes Tibet so clearly that I almost feel as if I am traveling with her. Five Stars!

Miriam Cameron shares her journey to inner peace through various paradigms--both religious and secular. And as she comes closer to her center, she prepares for a trip to seek the perspectives of the Tibetan people. Fortunately, Ms.Cameron takes the reader with her and her spouse, Mike, on breath taking (literally) mountain bus rides to the center of Tibet. The reader listens in as they speak to Tibetan monks and nuns who fear the demise of their culture. However,the Tibetan people whose lives are committed to positiveness and compassion transcend the Chinese desecration and provide direct guidance for all who encounter these beautiful people. Reflective of their peace, along with Miriam, I was touched in a very personal and profound way.

Namaste! Beautifully written....I can't describe how wonderful it was to journey to Tibet and a variety of other geographical spots around the world. The Tibetan perspective provided insight, angst, and pleasure....and.... to revisit the Kathmandu temples (Bodnath, Pashupatinath, and Swayambu) evoked vivid memories that included sights, sounds, and smells! Nepal is unique and wondrous, and now I have a much better picture of Tibet. Thank you for such a deeply moving book!"

This book is one of the best children's books I have ever read. It is also a wonderful, thoughtful book for adults to read. It has many messages - not the least of which is that the woodcutter thought he wanted to go different places while he was alive, but when given the choice he choose to live his life over again, but as a girl. His life had been happy. This message is important in today's world of always wanting more than you have. Although this book deals with the concept of re-incarnation it really does not exclude what a Christian child has been taught. I read this to my 6 year old last night and she had a lot of questions. I was able to explain to her that no one knows exactly what happens after you die, but these are some possibilities. He could have gone to heaven (Christian) or could come back to live another life (Buddist). This is a wonderful way to introduce Buddism to children. As another reader pointed out, the concept of having your loved ones around you in a different form is very comforting. The illustrations are also wonderful.

I heard this book from my child's psychologist. This book helps my daughter trememdously in the time in dealing with her father's tragic death. My daughter found it extremely comforting to know that not only her daddy was not in any pain, but also he got to make all those wonderful choices. She likes the endling that the main character comes back as a girl and still got to keep some sort of memory from previous life (love to fly a kite). Now she talks about her daddy could come back to earth as a seed to become a maple tree or a catepillar, then change into a most beautiful butterfly. She vows to be kind to all living things for they might be her daddy or some one she knows from the sky. In short, this book opens a great way to bring compassion and kindness into a child'd world. It transformed a tragic incident to a defining moment for my family. This book also comforts me dealing with my loss.

This book might be simple to read, but the meaning goes very deep. Like one of the readers said, the kids will get different meaning out of it at different ages. I read the book with my kids when they were very young, and this has been one of our favorite books. My kids are 14 and 15 now, and we are still talking and discussing about what the book teaches us about our lives.