Orientalist tropes are pervasive in current tibetological work published in China, including articles in purportedly scholarly journals. This work is closely connected with government propaganda, and it is often explicitly directed by members of the government to further agendas of suppression.

Equally importantly, the article examines the ways in which Tibetans are presented with a version of their religion that bears little or no resemblance to how they traditionally have understood it; but it is also an image that Tibetans are increasingly being coerced to endorse.

It is difficult to overestimate the role that The Life of Milarepa has played in shaping the way Buddhism developed in Tibet and later came to be understood in the West. The present version, composed by Tsangnyön Heruka in the late fifteenth century, almost four hundred years after Milarepa, draws upon these early works. But the resulting narrative eclipsed them all, serving as the canonical record of Milarepa’s life ever since. It is now famous for its themes of sin and redemption, faith and devotion to the guru, perseverance in the face of hardship, dedication to meditative mastery, and the possibility of liberation in a single life.

An alternate English translation by Lobsang Lhalungpa (1982) can be found here.

Seemingly, we might have boundless knowledge, all derived from study and reflection, but if our fundamental character is not attuned to the Dharma, we will not tame the enemy, the destructive emotions.

Longchen Rabjam urges practitioners to go beyond mere study and rituals, to rest in pure awareness free of grasping, dedicate all virtue to others, and thereby realize the ultimate meaning of the Dharma.

Early texts, like the Vimalaprabhā or the Lam yig of Man luṅ pa, do not describe Śambhala as a paradise on earth. They rather stress the spiritual qualities of the country and its inhabitants. Later works, especially the smon lam, the most popular texts on Śambhala among the Tibetan and Mongolian Buddhist lay people, concentrate on the paradisiac nature of the hidden kingdom.

The paper explores how the Tibetan Buddhist vision of Śambhala functions as both a utopian ideal and political symbolism. It traces the myth’s evolution from spiritual paradise to political metaphor, compares it with European utopian traditions, and cites key Tibetan and Mongolian sources.

Tantra is an important part of the path to liberation in the Geluk tradition. It is a path to liberation that is held to involve distinct, esoteric methods, but without diverging from the philosophical view of emptiness, which is indispensable.

Known for its rigorous academic approach, the Gelukpa school integrates philosophy, ethics, meditation, and tantric practices according to the 14th century principles outlined by Je Tsongkhapa.

This encyclopedia entry gives a brief overview of the school with a special focus on putting its philosophical stances into context.

Conflating religious practice with ethnic culture is considered to carry the risk of breeding “splittism” – especially in Tibet and Xinjiang. While in the post-Mao era the outright hostility against religion has given way to a religious revival, keeping religion and politics separate has remained a major concern for the Chinese Communist Party. Religion is supposed to be a private matter that does not interfere with politics. Against this backdrop, a recent phenomenon in the Tibet Autonomous Region is all the more remarkable: the (re-)fusion of ethnicity and religion under the label of cultural heritage and its protection.

I argue that endorsing religion as an attribute of Tibetan heritage corresponds to the concept of defining public spaces and events in which religious practice is legitimate and expected. Simultaneously, religious practices outside these dedicated spaces and events become even more problematic, leading to everyday Buddhist practices, such as circumambulation, being seen as (and performed as) political acts.

This article presents research on one traditionalist group, Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT). It describes FPMT’s engagement, identifies its motivations, objectives, and activities, and examines the possibility that it represents a type of engagement that can be called “traditionalist.”

This article builds on Beyond Queen and King’s theoretical work by considering one such under-studied “traditionalist, engaged” Buddhist organization.

It’s the same vows, but the volume is turned up, if I may say so.

An anthropologist and Buddhist practitioner discusses her field work at the meditation center of Lapchi in Kham ཁམས (Yushu ཡུལ་ཤུལ་ Prefecture, Qinghai 青海). She discusses how the strict ascetic practices of Master Tsultrim Tarchen are inspiring a new generation of Tibetan Buddhists, touching on the role of charisma in perpetuating the Dharma and on the paradoxically social nature of renunciation.

“As the tulku tradition developed, there was a lot of corruption. There were wars, and all sorts of things went on. But there was also a social structure that developed to contain that privilege.”

A short clip from Ruth Gamble’s New Books Network interview, discussing the challenges of the Tulku system in Tibetan Buddhism.

The Sakya Tradition has the distinction of having a close connection with the other three major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The Vajrakila lineage, which the Sakyapas follow, originates from Guru Padmasambhava, the founding master of the Nyingma school. The Kagyu and the Sakya schools originated almost at the same time, and both received important lineages from Naropa.

This brief essay outlines the origins and development of the Sakya Tradition, which began in the eleventh century and has been closely associated with Tibet’s Khon family.

In the evening I crossed the river and started for home. Then I saw the corpse running on the other side of the river. It was completely naked, but carried its belt in one hand and its boots in the other. Then I saw a wolf coming after it, felling it to the ground.

Four stories from the Ro-langs narrative tradition explore the Tibetan belief in reanimated corpses—Ro-langs—brought back through sorcery or spirit possession, embodying the intersection of Tibetan folklore and religious beliefs of death and the supernatural.

It is through the generosity of King Trisong Detsen, the monastic ordinations given by the abbot Shantarakshita, and the spiritual transmissions given by Guru Padmasambhava, that the Buddhist tradition was able to spread and flourish in Tibet from early times up to the present.

A brief introduction to the Nyingma (Ancient Translation) school of Tibetan Buddhism, founded on the tantric and terma traditions of Guru Padmasambhava and Śāntarakṣita in the 8th century, written by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, who was head of the Nyingma school from 1988 to 1991, and one of its most revered modern masters.

Thus, the particular feature of the Kagyu lineage is that the teacher, having mastered the instructions, clears away defects - relating to intellectual understanding, meditation experience and the various levels of realisation.

A brief introduction to the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism, rooted in the tantric transmissions of Tilopa and Naropa, passed through Marpa to Milarepa, and emphasizing the experiential path of Mahāmudrā and guru devotion as keys to realization.

Tsongkhapa saw the study and practice of such Indian classics as the Bodhisattvacaryavatara of Shantideva and the Ratnavali (Precious Garland) of Nagarjuna as highly supportive to an individual’s path to Buddhahood.

A brief introduction to the 14th-century Tibetan Buddhist school founded by the philosopher and saint Tsongkhapa.

Language is dealt with in Tibetan epistemological treatises in terms of the relationship between “what expresses” (rjod byed) and “what is expressed” (brjod bya)—two notions that come quite close to the Saussurian distinction between “signifier” and “signified.”

The Tibetan tradition of epistemology and philosophy of language focuses on how knowledge is defined, validated, and expressed. This article explains the rich tradition and examines key concepts like “reliable cognition” and the influence of Indian Buddhist thinkers such as Dignāga and Dharmakīrti on Tibetan thought.

These Buddhist traditions are often labeled as “Tibetan,” as they are believed to have originated historically from Tibet, to share narrative traditions with Tibetan Buddhism, and to use Classical Tibetan as the language of their recorded canons. The organization of these traditions into what we might call “orders” is, however, complex in the Tibetan cultural world.

Shakya Shri’s students and patrons chose to adopt and promote his lineage in the Himalayan region. It explores how new Buddhist lineages were integrated into existing religious frameworks without causing disruption, focusing on the cultural and ritual continuity that facilitated this process. these new transmissions were accepted smoothly because they utilized familiar Buddhist forms, rituals, and cosmological ideas, making them appear as extensions of established traditions.

We meditate on ordinary mind by recognizing it as ordinary mind. We know it for what it is—empty and luminous.

A wonderful collection of key texts in the Mahāmudrā tradition.

A second volume of even more selections can be found can be found here.

The prospect of embodied divinity was not uncommon in Tibetan discourse and practice in general. The point is that this choice of terms forces the issue. To assert a human god’s ongoing karmic dependency is to define divinity and mortality in terms that are direct inversions of one another.

In this final part of a two-part study the 5th Dalai Lama’s divine kingship, the author explores how the concept of residual karma explains the Dalai Lama’s mortality despite his spiritual perfection. Drawing on scriptural sources and the writings of the Desi—a secular regent in Tibetan governance—the essay shows how this concept helped reconcile divine kingship with the human realities of suffering and death.

Part one of this study can be found here

Among the nature-deities the tale under discussion depicts as confronting Padmasambhava, two (see below) are among the nine deities known as bod kyi srid pa chags pa’i lha, meaning the original deities of Tibet, whose function is to protect the land and people of Tibet.

This paper analyzes the depiction of nature-deities in the 14th-century Padma bka’thang, focusing on the supernatural conflict between Padmasambhava and Tibetan deities resisting his arrival. It interprets this confrontation as a reflection of deeper cultural and religious dynamics during Tibet’s early Buddhist era.

For those great beings who desire
Supreme enlightenment
I shall explain the perfect methods
That the gurus taught

Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment, written by Atīśa Dīpaṃkara, is a key text in the Kadampa tradition and respected across all Tibetan Buddhist lineages. It provides a concise outline of the full Buddhist path, covering both sutra and tantra. This edition includes a new translation along with a commentary by Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Thaye, which presents the main points in a clear and practical manner.

Some experts think Beijing wants to bring Buddhist holy sites, like Tawang, under its control to cement its authority over Tibet. When the current Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959, he reached Tawang first after crossing mountains by foot.

Tawang, home to India’s largest Buddhist monastery, has been claimed by China as part of its ‘Southern Tibet.’ The region remains a hotspot for India-China tensions, with recent clashes near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) underscoring ongoing border disputes

The way of the Vajrayāna is the Way of Power that leads to the mastery of good and evil. It is also the Way of Transformation, whereby inward and outward circumstances are transmuted into weapons by the power of mind.

Originally published in 1970, John Blofeld’s work explains the techniques, purpose, and underlying theory of Tantric forms of meditation commonly practiced in Vajrayana Buddhism. In this revised edition, Sanskrit terms have been added, and new material has been incorporated from various sources, along with explanatory footnotes and editorial comments.

Since this is an extraordinary method for completing the transcendent perfections and pacifying obstacles anyone and everyone should take it to heart.

The Sur offering within Tibetan Buddhism involves the burning of fragrant substances to aid beings in other realms and dispel the obstacles they can cause. In this text, Mipham Rinpoche presents a concise and powerful version of the ritual, complete with its accompanying chants.

One of Alak’s disciples, a 73-year-old ngakpa, explained in an interview the traditional (and previously pervasive) view about caterpillar fungus. He stated that the problem with collecting caterpillar fungus, from the Buddhist point of view, is that one cannot be sure when digging whether the caterpillar is actually dead or not. By killing the caterpillar, a collector may entail a breach of his or her vow to not kill any sentient being.

Tibetan villagers in Amdo balance their tantric Buddhist commitments—particularly the vow against taking animal life—with livelihood practices like caterpillar fungus collection that often involve killing insects. Through fieldwork and interviews, the author highlights the villagers’ religious lives, especially of women, and the moral negotiations they navigate in their daily survival.

In the teaching of my Guru, my mind is always happy.
Singing songs of inspiration, my mouth is always happy.
Wearing cotton from Nepal, my body’s always happy.
In delight I accomplish all and everything—
To me there is but cheer and joy.

This work is a collection of 60 songs by Milarepa, Tibet’s revered 11th-century yogi and saint. Translated by Garma C.C. Chang, the work displays Milarepa’s spiritual insights in accessible verses, covering themes like impermanence, renunciation, and the nature of suffering.

One of the distinguishing features of Himalayan Buddhism is that it has accommodated within itself a good number of elements and traits of the pre-Buddhist indigenous religions and folk traditions.

This paper explores how practices from Tibetan indigenous religions, particularly the use of spirit mediums and oracles, have been incorporated into Himalayan Buddhism. It argues that these pre-Buddhist elements continue to exist within Tibetan Buddhist institutions, highlighting a syncretism between the two.

Generally, even if we are attached to our own tradition, it is important that we have no antipathy towards other traditions.

A humorous, but insightful, analysis of Tibetan Buddhism’s four schools.

An introduction to Tibetan Buddhism written specifically for people with little or no previous exposure to the tradition.

A thorough introductory textbook covering the history, practice, beliefs, and schools of Buddhism in Tibet.

I especially appreciate the book’s organization: the chapters are arranged as the tradition often explains itself and each chapter is further subdivided into short sections, making it easy to pick and choose from or to reference later. Each chapter ends with reflection questions and pointers to additional reading, making this a perfect teaching resource.

Bless me, so everything that obstructs the attainment of enlightenment may be pacified

A short hymn, praising Padmasambhava, a central figure in the transmission of Buddhism to Tibet.

May he free the kind ones immersed in misery’s ocean
So that all may come to resemble Mañjughoṣa himself.

A hymn of praise to the great Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī, written by the 12th century Tibetan monk, philosopher, and yogi Je Tsongkhapa.

There are thus a great many systems of Dharma teaching in Tibet,
But aside from their nominal variations,
There is really no significant difference between them
All share the crucial point of seeking ultimate awakening.

In this concise work, Chökyi Lodrö offers a clear and accessible overview of the four major Tibetan Buddhist traditions—Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakya, and Gelug—highlighting their unique lineages, practices, and shared objectives. He emphasizes the universal path to enlightenment through ethical discipline, meditation, and wisdom, providing practical guidance on cultivating virtues and accumulating merit to achieve lasting happiness.

mGur (pronounced gur) denotes a specific type of religious poetry that has played an important role in the expression and transmission of Buddhism across the Tibetan cultural world. The term mgur is usually translated as ‘song’ and it has been used to refer to a wide variety of oral and literary creations.

Tibetan Buddhism has historically included non-monastic practitioners who used religious poetry (mGur) to share their spiritual teachings. Through the life and works of Milarepa and Tsangnyön Heruka, this work explores how wandering yogins revitalized Buddhism by presenting it in accessible, creative ways beyond traditional institutions.

Milarepa spent the rest of his adult life practicing meditation in seclusion and teaching groups of disciples mainly through spontaneous songs of realization (mgur).

The life of the great Tibetan yogi Milarepa, beginning with the story of his parents and birth, then tracing his journey from sorcery to spiritual awakening, highlighting his devotion to Marpa, solitary meditation, and legendary songs.

The inconceivable qualities of this sacred place
I have sung in the form of a joyful song.
I have spoken of them as an oral instruction.

A song by Milarepa, praising the sacred place Kyangpen Namkha Dzong.

These days, however, if you consult followers of Mahāmudrā, Dzogchen and the like, they will not make even the slightest acknowledgement of instructions that suit people’s actual capacity, such as the way to progress in tranquillity and insight taught in the scriptural approach of the great pioneers.

In this work, Dongak Chökyi Gyatso emphasizes that advanced teachings like Mahāmudrā and Dzogchen are most effective when tailored to an individual’s capacity, distinguishing between general instructions and those suited for exceptional practitioners. He critiques the indiscriminate application of these profound methods, advocating for a gradual approach rooted in scriptural tradition to ensure proper understanding and avoid potential misapplication.

As long as one remains with a tenet system that accepts outer [objects], it is not tenable for the object and the [apprehending] consciousness to be of a single substance. In that case, the [object that is] the cause that casts an aspect [upon the consciousness] is called the apprehended object.

In this excerpt from “The Word-By-Word Commentary on the Treasury of Valid Reasoning,” Jamyang Loter Wangpo, an important Rime Sakya master, explains that knowable objects are those that can be apprehended by the mind. He distinguishes between object generalities and non-existent clear appearances, arguing that while both can appear to the mind, they lack substantial existence and are not valid objects of cognition. Though a non-sectarian thinker, he respectfully examines competing views from other schools, critiquing their reasoning to clarify and strengthen the Prāsaṅgika-Madhyamaka position.

Single embodiment of all the buddhas’ compassion,
Lotus King, chief of all sky-faring ḍākas and ḍākinīs,
Miraculously born nirmāṇakāya, untainted by a womb —
To this great eternal bearer of the lotus, I bow down!

In this devotional poem, Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö praises Tso Pema (Lotus Lake), a sacred site in Rewalsar, India, associated with Guru Padmasambhava. The poem extols the miraculous transformation of a funeral pyre into a lotus-filled lake and praises Padmasambhava’s enlightened qualities and compassionate activities

Gelugpas, on the other hand, were antagonistic to other-emptiness, and in their Mahamudra system, the emptiness of mind that must be discovered through insight meditation is a negation pure and simple, without any implication that mind’s ultimate nature includes positive qualities, not even luminosity

Roger R. Jackson explores how Dzogchen and Mahamudra, two prominent Tibetan Buddhist traditions, approach the nature of mind. Both traditions emphasize the recognition of the mind’s inherent qualities—emptiness, purity, luminosity, and awareness—as essential for spiritual liberation. While Dzogchen focuses on direct recognition of the primordial mind, Mahamudra offers a more gradual path, blending meditative practices with philosophical insights. Despite differences in methodology, both traditions ultimately aim to uncover the same underlying reality, highlighting a profound unity within Tibetan Buddhism.

So, like children of the same father and same mother,
Cultivate mutual accord, devotion, and pure perception,
And, while focusing on your own tradition, avoid belittling others.

A brief poem on the four schools of Tibetan Buddhism.

the vows of a bhikṣu,
The root of the teachings,
guard them as you would your very own eyes.

Some life advice to an unnamed Tulku.

In Buddhist traditions, mindfulness is not limited to meditation; it applies to the entire path. Moreover, mindfulness cannot be regarded as something purely instrumental…

Mindfulness functions as a foundational ethical practice in Patrul Rinpoche’s Words of My Perfect Teacher. Sustained mindfulness, meta-awareness, and self-examination are essential to cultivating moral agency and embodying the ethos of the Great Perfection, ultimately leading to the realization of Dzogchen’s “instantaneous awareness.”

Therefore, since it is extremely incongruous to kill and offer up sentient beings to pure gods who are kind and caring, it is only right and proper that you renounce such practices and worship these deities with abundant clean offerings instead.

In addressing Hindu worshippers who engage in animal sacrifice, Jamyang Khyentse highlights the karmic repercussions of taking life and challenges the notion that compassionate deities would ever endorse such a practice.

the abbot Shadeu Trulshik wrote down whatever came to mind and offered it from Māratika cave.

Four simple, but direct, instructions on cultivating the Dharma.

In Tibet sounds can heal, make ill, protect, challenge, appease, defile, purify, seduce or even liberate from worldly attachments. Sounds of the natural environment merge with human-made music and chanting in soundscapes that are intimately interconnected. While the spiritual features and healing powers of Buddhist ritual music have been often described, what is perhaps less known is the kaleidoscope of natural and human sounds against which it has been developed and performed for centuries. In this portfolio we explore some of these sacred soundscapes, their history and impacts.

Tibetan Buddhism has long argued for the sanctity of life, condemning the killing of humans and animals alike. For just as long, however, meat has been a staple of the Tibetan diet. Individual religious leaders have dealt with this tension in different ways, but few have done so as revealingly as the eighteenth century master Jigmé Lingpa (‘jigs med gling pa, 1730-1798).

In his religious and autobiographical writings, Jigmé Lingpa draws on Buddhist ideals promoting compassion towards all beings and his own unusually strong love of animals to praise vegetarianism and condemn the killing of animals for meat. Jigmé Lingpa also recognizes, however, that vegetarianism is a difficult ideal. Rather than insisting on vegetarianism, therefore, he offers his students a variety of means through which to moderate the negativity of eating meat without fully abandoning it.

On the basis of initial observations [at Sera Jey Monastic University], we propose that successful debating requires skills that include reasoning and critical thinking, attentional focus, working memory, emotion regulation, confidence in your own reasoning skills, and social connectedness.

In Ulan-Ude, the multi-ethnic, multi-religious capital of Buryatia, most laypeople make use of “Buddhist counseling” (Rus. priyom u lamy ), or various ritual, medical and other services that ameliorate illness and misfortune. Laypeople consult lamas about a range of issues from economic to familial matters, from imp attacks to joblessness. Such Buddhist counseling is one of the most common kind of interactions with Buddhist institutions and practices in Buryatia. At the same time, it is a deeply contested practice, as local critiques refer to the rise of “consumerist”, “commercialized”, “utilitarian” or “bad” Buddhism.

female renunciation is a form of resistance to the norm which is household life, and a celibate jomo represents renunciation better than typically non-celibate Kinnauri male lamas do.

This essay explores the image-text relationship between the ca. 12-century monumental Maitreya bodhisattva sculpture within a narrow tower in the village of Mangyu and passages from the Gaṇḍavyūha Sūtra.

The Tibetan term for mandala, kyinkor, means ‘center and surrounding environment.’ The center with its surrounding geometric designs, its doors, its guardians, and its gods—all become charged with the order and the energy of the whole cosmos.

The fact that narratives have the potential to be an “act of social imagination” and serve as the foundation for moral agency fits well into Shabkar’s own understandings of the functions of Buddhist life stories.

This essay explores how Shabkar’s autobiography makes an indirect case for vegetarianism and ethical treatment of animals. By portraying animals as important participants in his stories, Shabkar shifts the focus from a human-centered view to one of impartiality. This approach, an example of the “act of social imagination,”  subtly encourages a vegetarian lifestyle and stands out from other Tibetan Buddhist arguments for vegetarianism. Shabkar’s storytelling invites readers to imagine a more ethical way of living, which helps build the foundation for moral choices.

You can also watch a post-film interview with the director here courtesy of the Ho Center for Buddhist Studies.

We are all backlit by completeness.

Consistent with the idea that analytical meditation helps to train concentration, we observed that over the course of the debate, mid-frontal theta oscillations—a correlate of absorption—increased significantly. This increase was stronger for more experienced monks as compared to monks at the beginning of their education. In addition, we found evidence for increases in synchrony in frontal alpha oscillations between paired debaters during moments of agreement as compared to disagreement on a set of premises.

What is Tibetan Buddhism? What distinguishes it from other Buddhist traditions? Where do its unique practices and concepts come from?

… multiple ethical systems are vying for recognition regarding the self-immolations, and a certain Buddhist ambivalence around extreme acts of devotion complicate any easy designations of the act

Christina of Saint-Trond (1150–1224) experienced what we would nowadays call a “near-death experience.”

Tantric Buddhist art helps people to imagine a world they do not yet experience and to jolt them out of their habitual experience of the world

An introduction to Tantric Buddhist art and how tantric practices connect to the Buddhist path.

on the eighth and full and new moon days,
I shall abandon killing, stealing, sexual misconduct,
Lying, intoxicants; singing, dancing and wearing jewellery;
Sitting on high seats and eating after midday—
These eight branches I shall maintain.
May the enemies, destructive emotions, be destroyed!

Genuine dharma practice is not separate from life. Generally, when everything is going well, anyone can appear to be a good dharma practitioner. However, when things go wrong, when adversity strikes, that is the real test

I’m giving advice as a remedy.
This will help you long, so listen!

… the case of “youth Buddhism” in Ladakh highlights how youth play a vital role in the revitalization and reformation of [modern] Buddhism.

To witness the eerie spectacle of a medium entering a trance state and being possessed by the Oracle is to confront profound questions

What is the “otherwise” of modernism in Mongolia and Inner-Asia?

A sketch of the life and works of Zawa Damdin: a prolific, Mongolian historian who lived through—and theorized—the destruction of his tradition.

This is thousands and thousands of times more important than my own life.

A Tibetan monk searches for his beloved master’s reincarnation.

Even the most bizarre propaganda claims [about Tibet] are accepted by Hans [without] any apparent qualms about them. But on the part of Tibetans, the messages are completely counter-productive. The more the propaganda is imposed on them, the more resolute they become in their rejection of that propaganda.

… how the art world’s hunger for ancient artifacts is destroying a culture

Reading monastic legal texts, Brenton Sullivan contends that it was the standardization of Gelugpa discipline, liturgy, and scholarship as much as their evangelism which won them such wide respect and support.

An interesting case study, it reminds me of some contemporary sects (e.g. Dhammakaya, Ajahn Chah, Fo Guang Shan, etc.) which have also achieved explosive, international growth through “bureaucratization.” Often called “modernization” by insiders and academics alike, Sullivan’s research reminds me that periodic standardization has been a tool of Buddhist expansion (“preservation”) ever since the first council.

With your own mind under control, help others in any way you can,
And take whatever you experience onto the path to liberation.

Therefore, inspect your mind, make it ready now, And consider this: Were you to die now, what would become of you?

Longchen Rabjam emphasizes that a true meditation practitioner must renounce worldly distractions, diligently stabilize the mind, uphold ethical conduct and devote themselves day and night to the profound path of liberation.

“A monastery is a place where equality is preached but not practiced; a gar is a place where equality is practiced but not preached.”

It is no wonder that today a common appellation found haloing Jigme Phuntsok on icons and shrines says his teachings are like “the blissful sun rising in the Snowland as the miserable period of darkness fades (dus ’khrug gi mun nag dbyings su yal/ bod gangs can la bde ba’i nyi ma shar).”

An inspiring overview of the first college in Tibet to offer the highest academic degrees to women, including a summary of the school’s curriculum, exams, and social impact.

I use Weberian definitions of authority, and the modern notion of privilege, to point to the dynamic connection between public persona, gender, and religious authority in the 18th century hagiography of a Buddhist nun.

People are so difficult to be with —
The good ones won’t lead the way, and the bad ones never stop.

The second day is similar to the first, except that you do not consume even the tiniest amount of food or drink

A ceremony from the Tibetan Tradition, focusing on the recollection of Avalokiteśvara.

… the problem with tourism as it manifested itself in places like Kumbum was that it was the kind of tourism which might actually give monasteries a very bad reputation, rather than being something productive

… a history of the future of the Maitreya Project 2.0, a non-existent statue that nonetheless has touched many lives around the world, for better and for worse

Traditional Indian geography was always a strange amalgam of a few facts and a lot of fiction. But facts there are.

A companion book for anyone traveling to Mount Kailash, or just curious about the intersection of sacred and scientific geography in the Himalayas.

… the time for discovering Buddha directly, you must remain alone

A short poem on overcoming our barriers and sticking to the practice.

While many assume Treasure to be innovative, those developed Treasure tradition texts we inspected can, at least in their final published versions, better be described as conservative, and often extremely so.

This is the instruction for confusion dawning as wisdom.

A short poem beautifully summarizing the stages of the path: view, ethics, meditation, and wisdom.

I confess each and every misdeed.
I rejoice in all goodness.
I request and pray to all the buddhas to teach and remain in saṃsāra.
May I attain sublime, supreme, unsurpassed wisdom!

An short excerpt from the “Upāli’s Questions Ascertaining the Vinaya Sūtra” (Toh68 Vinayaviniścayopāli​paripṛcchāsūtra) used as a repentance chant in the Tibetan Nyingma School.

… whenever we practise the bodhisattva’s actions–the trainings in generosity, discipline, patience, diligence, meditation and wisdom–it will cause this bodhicitta that is the union of emptiness and compassion to increase further and further.

A transcript of a short talk on how the Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra is taught in the Tibetan tradition.

… extract the essence of leisure and fortune. To do this you must reflect upon impermanence.

A kind and playful letter to a student on how to meditate in the right direction.

… these delightful mountain solitudes,
Are like the family estate to the supreme guide’s heirs,
And, as the best of protectors himself has said,
To rely on solitude is indeed the pinnacle of joys!

Here I have set down for those who wish to follow the bodhisattva path,
Thirty-seven practices to be adopted by all the buddhas’ heirs

A list of practices which all renunciants would do well to reflect upon again and again.

There are a few English translations of this classic of world literature. Steven Bachelor has a free translation (linked above), but I strongly prefer the Padmakara translation published by Shambhala in 1999 for its unparalleled accuracy and force.

Notice especially how the Westerner philosophers tie themselves into knots trying to classify Buddhist Ethics according to their inferior theories and dogmatic rejection of karma.