MA

Let me preface this by stating that of course this is an important book, and a translator's job is never easy.

That said, this book benefits from having the original Tibetan available, but suffers from a overly wordy phenomenologically influenced style of translation. Frankly, I have to read the Tibetan to understand what the translator is trying to convey in English

In general, a problem endemic with translations of Dzogchen texts is that the translators often unncessarily make what is relatively straight forward language in Tibetan a conceptual mess in English in their attempt to convey the meaning of Dzogchen into English.

This is a text usually reserved for those with years of personal guidance under a master, who would then explain the basically esoteric statements and explanations. However, those who do have some experience in Tantric Buddhism, especially Dzogchen, will likely benefit from studying this. As Chagdud Tulku explains at the start of the book, this text should be regarded as a holy object of veneration, and even to keep this on one's altar until transmission is received will bring blessings. The text is a compilation of visionary experiences had by Dudjom Lingpa, a famous lama-yogi of the 19th century. His next reincarnation, Jigdral Yeshe Dorje (Dudjom Rinpoche) edited them into the present format, and created a helpful outline of topics, appended to the translation.

Keep your mind in the sky, feet on the ground! Remain in the primordial state, even when you walk around!

Firstly I would say the book was well written and well presented.
This book is written with the express intention of proving that Josemaria Escriva was a saint(in my view). Thus any incidents which could be read ambivalently are usually followed with a paragraph to show why Josemaria demonstrated holiness here.
One example occurred where a fellow seminarian gave Josemaria a hug. He responded by saying something to the effect "just because you do not wash does not make you more of a man", casting aspersions of his fellow seminarians manhood and hygeine. I have no problem with even a saint making a slip like this, but the book continually presents such slips are evidence of sanctity ! In presenting such instances as examples of Josemaria's sanctity, the author , and by implication the movement, appear to believe that the work of God can sometimes be achieved through dissimulation, something they would likely label 'Holy Shamelessness'!
In many ways the book reads like a typical hagiography of a traditional saint - it would great if the world was black and white like that , but ...
I must say I have no quibble that Blessed Josemaria sincerely strove to serve God, and that he sincerely believed he was doing God's will. I have no problem with his being canonised, I just happen to believe that canonisations show the great depths of God's mercy, rather than the great heights of sanctity God raised the particular saint to .
I would actually recommend reading this book , to get a handle on Opus Dei as they would see themselves. I would also
recommend reading a more critical volume , such as Maria Carmen del Tapia's book Beyond the Threshold : A life in Opus Dei.
My advice is hear both sides and make your own mind up.
PS I would add that John Coverdale's book Uncommon Faith
is less hagiographical and presents more of the complexities of the political stuation in Spain at the time of the Civil war. So if one was keenly interested , I would recommend reading this too.

Several biographies of the founder of Opus Dei have been published in the past. None, however, provides as complete a picture as this one. Its author, Vasquez de Prada, in addition to having personnally known Blessed Josemaria, was able to tap sources that became accessible only recently. This new biography will eventually include 3 volumes. Volume II is to be published in 2002.

Volume I relates the story of Josemaria from his birth in January 2002 to 1936, when the Spanish Civil War broke out. A remarkable feature of the book is the way in which the author has managed to develop two distinct ideas about Blessed Josemaria and the Work (as he use to call Opus Dei before he gave it that name)without really separating them. The first is that his life was one of total dedication to the birth and development of Opus Dei. The second is that the origin of Opus Dei cannot be explained in strictly natural terms: it clearly involves a supernatural element.

But the most interesting aspect of this biography is the additional light it sheds on the spiritual life of Blessed Josemaria. The extensive quotes from his diary and personal notes reveal some of the most intimate aspects of his interior life. There now is probably more information about the personal life of Blessed Josemaria than almost any other well-known figure of the 20th century.

Blessed Josemaria dedicated his whole life to proclaiming the message that there is real grandeur in ordinary life if we offer it to God. In doing so, he probably exerted more influence on the day to day life of modern Christians than any other figure of the XXth Century.

One final point. Although translated from Spanish, the English edition reads as if it had been written in American English.

If you ever wondered how a man work his heart out in a good cause during his life and would like to do as well, read this book, and see how you can do God's will santificating your work, as blessed Josemaria said: "Remember that, in the service of God, there are no jobs of little value: all are very important. The value of a task depends on the personal conditions of the one who exercises it, on the love of God that is put into it. The job of a farm laborer who sanctifies himself cultivating the land is a noble one, and so is that of a university professor who unites culture and faith. And so is the task of an artisan who works in his own home; and of a banker who makes money become fruitful for the benefit of the community; and of a politician who sees in his work a service for the good of all; and of the laborer who offers God the work of his hands".

We have here a short guide to traditional Tibetan methods for developing what Americans know as the Power of Positive Thinking. The idea seems to be that one or more of these many techniques will work for you. The style is vigorous and very enthusiastic, with some of the charm of a foreign way of speaking. You can read through the whole book very fast, but it is an instruction manual, so you really need to try a few of the methods and see how you do. Worth a look!

What is the first noble truth set forth by the Buddha Shakyamuni? That we all suffer! We face trials and tribulations all throughout this human experience. Lama Zopa Rinpoche shows us how to successfully deal with such adversity, and as the title suggests, transform this into joyful experience.

It's essential, Rinpoche highlights, to be prepared for unhappy situations before they ever occur. Having the capacity to use these afflictions as a basis for cultivation of wisdom and happiness is a pretty difficult task. Lama Zopa makes no secret of it. But with previous training we can all straightforwardly apply the teachings of the Buddha to transform these afflictions via our practice. We must in a concrete way realize that our life's problems, beyond any doubt, are the necessary conditions required for a quality life and meaningful practice. The only way we can receive continuous happiness in our lives is from our misgivings and misfortune.

Lama Zopa points out that the idea the problem is an affliction is the one and only boundary holding your confines in misery, looking wan tingly into the field of joy and happiness. In that sort of state, there is no way we can transform the affliction into practice. So acknowledging that these problems are a true friend in our Buddhist practice, is the first essential step towards liberation. This book really helped me through some rough points not so long ago. Even though I knew what Lama Zopa was expressing long before reading this work, it was a bright and gentle reminder to employ what I knew to be the medicine into actual practice. When I did, I experienced vast relief. Buy this book, it can do wonders for you in your practice.

This brilliant, powerful book is not the sort that's just to be read once. If you keep this book with you like a companion in your journey through life then it will serve as a great support and comfort. When you're going through good times, it will remind you to enjoy them without attachments or illusions. And, especially during difficult times, if you listen to its wise counsel, then it will comfort you and help you to find great strength, confidence and even joy!

Concise overview of regional anatomy with emphasis on key relationships and clinical relevance. Not a comprehensive or detailed oriented anatomy but useful for quick review in the clinical setting.

In this compact text clinical anatomist and professor of surgery Harold Ellis has produced another excellent text (like Lecture Notes on General Surgery).

This "pocket-sized" (big pockets) book is portable and practical. It is well laid out by sections and each body area is examined in terms of systems. A clear explanation of superficial anatomy allows one to learn/revise on oneself (or a slim/muscular friend) the bony landmarks, muscular attachments and pulses. Bones, joints, vessels and nerves are dissected in a similar manner. Best of all, at each stage, common clinical applications are explained in clear language, so that it becomes easy to remember which nerve may be damaged by a dislocated shoulder, or structures are encountered in the various approaches for a hemiarthroplasty. The lucid (though never condescending) prose is well complemented by clear diagrams and imaging.

Some people will find this book is not detailed enough for them, and it does not claim to be a definitive anatomy text covering everything down to the vein supplying the rhubarb gland, but many more students will find it perfectly adequate for their requirements. Certainly as someone who learned lists of anatomy for first year exams, passed them, and -- I'm not alone here -- promptly forgot it afterwards, the old comprehensive parrot-fashion approach to learning was ineffective.

If you can read and recall all of the information in this book, you will be well prepared for most casual clinical requirements in many specialities. I find that information presented in this manner is easy, even pleasurable, to read and, I expect, more likely to lead to retention than traditional dry anatomy texts.

It saved my life when I did my 1st MB exam, my final MB exam and my FRCS exam. The best investment in my life.

Although this book is meticulously detailed and masterfully edited and translated, I was disappointed by it. Contrary to the book's title, it is not a history of the Nyingma school nor a presentation of its doctrines. Rather, it is a fairly commonplace history of the dharma and overview of the path from the perspective of the Nyingma school. Much of the book is presented as a history, but it is simply a series of biographies of different lineage masters and it does not comprise a 'history' by any contemporary Western standard.

For anyone who is already fairly versed in Tibetan materials, you will have to read quite a bit before you find anything new or interesting. There is some information burried in the usual "divisions of the vehicles" and "different types of motivations" kind of material, and the many accounts of the miraculous lives of the Nying-thig saints.

I'm not sure who will find this material useful, as on the one hand it is too long and academic to be of interest to the general reader, while on the other hand it is too sparse of information or details for the scholar.

The book of His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche gives a full account of Nyingma lineage of Tibetan Buddhism.

The two volumes are both extremely useful for anyone seriously interested in Buddhist philosophy in general and Tibetan Buddhism in particular. Dudjom Rinpoche gives a thorough, encyclopedic overview of all Buddhist schools, seen from the Nyingma (i.e. The Great Perfection, or Dzogchen) perspective, and an account of the history of the Nyingma lineage is given. The reference volume contains amongst other items a brilliant bibliography. Dudjom Rinpoche's work is not easy reading, but demonstrates the complexity of Buddhist thinking and practice. Gyurme Dorje's translation is annotated and is in itself a remarkable feat in buddhology and tibetology.

This is a well written book but I have since I first read it, become disillusioned about the enlightenment of the author. Bhagwan Ra Afrika is absolutely NOT enlightened and is NOT speaking from a realized condition as he claims to be. This book could be best received if the author removed his intentions to misrepresent himself as being someone he is not, a realized master of spirituality. He simply has an exceptional ability to articulate the teachings of the sages but even in his instances of doing this, he is clearly NOT presenting revelations that has sprung from the wells of his own living experience.

I have personally been of student of Bhagwan Ra Afrika for nearly ten years and was present during the satsangs (talks) that this book, "Who Am I" is based on. And it is my opinion that Bhagwan Ra Afrika personally exemplify those qualities (and knowledge) historically and traditionally associated with "enlightened" beings although in the nearly ten years I have been his student, NOT ONCE has he made any claim to be "enlightened". Quite the contary, instead of making claims for his own glorification, he has consistently pointed to his own Master (and those of the past) as being the source and origin of everything he teaches others. The reviewer in Chicago sounds like a "disguntled" ex-student who probably became disillusion (and angry) because Bhagwan, like any "real" spiritual teacher did not console and "stroke" this person ego. the history (and biographies) of spiritual teachers is filled with examples of the exploits of the amgry and "wounded" disciples who have gone to great lenght to "hurt" their teacher reputation and sometimes....even physically ( i.e. Buddha and Devadatta). In any case, the reviewer seems to presumed they (personally) are in a position to "know" who (and who is not) "enlightened". Of couse, that would make THEM "enlightened" and that seems to be his/her underlying "moative" for their attack on Bhagwan's character and spiritual status. Read the book for yourself and make up your own mind. I am confident that you will "see" the truth.

This is THE book for all sincere seekers of an authentic spiritual path. In it you will find a treasure of knowledge and esoteric wisdom that is beyond measure! Bhagwan Ra Afrika is truly incomparable in his insightful way of giving discourses on the nature of "ego" and the way to be free of its entrapment. It was not until I read this book that I for the first time really grasped the true nature and genesis of "egoity" and the suffering that ensues. "Who AM I?" has always been the ultimate question since time immemoriable. It is a question that if lefted unanswered, would leave all of us with a feeling of having lived a life unfulfilled. This book leaves no "stone unturned" in its manner of answering such a question. It reveals the ONLY way that this question can be answered and is a MUST for all who are in search of "self-knowledge" both,in a conventional sense as well as a "spiritual" sense. I often revisit its contents because it encompasses too much to be absorbed in a single reading. I also do this simply for the "awe" and "majestic" feelings I get from reading a book by someone who is truly enlightened!

Contents:

Introduction by Elizabeth ten Grotenhuis

1. Conversation with Yo-Yo Ma by Ted Levin [music]

2. Melodic Migration in NW China by Bright Sheng [music]

3. Fashioned from Fiber by Elizabeth Barber [textiles]

4. Astrology and a Japanese Star Mandala by Elizabeth ten Grotenhuis [astrology]

5. Sacred Sites along the Silk Road by Kenro Izu [photography]

6. Traveling Technologies by Merton C. Flemings [metallurgy]

7. Iranian Cinema by Hamid Naficy [film]

As the table of contents shows, this introductory work is rather a mixed bag in both quality and content, much of it originally published elsewhere in longer form. Hits include the pieces on music, textiles and metallurgy. The piece on astrology probably won't find a general audience and the pop art chapter on Iranian film seems oddly out of sync with the rest. Photos and illustrations are good. Text is a double-spaced 144 pages with fairly wide margins. There are irritations such as the p. 42 suggestion identifying the ancient Xiong Nu as ancestors of modern Hungarians that show outside review was needed (the common blunder of confusing Huns and the similar sounding Hungarians). Bright Sheng's piece discusses White Mongols and Yellow Mongols without really explaining the terms and one has to wonder why we have the music composer writing about history. Elizabeth Barber's piece shows the influence of the theories of Victor Mair, with whom she has worked. These theories of ancient Iranian influence on China (what Mair terms the "East Asian heartland") are not so universally accepted as the text suggests, or, at least, not everyone discusses them as much as does Mair. One gets the feeling that the book was thrown together fairly quickly and haphazardly in order to have merchandise to sell at the concerts of Yo-Yo Ma's worldwide Silk Road tour. In these circumstances it was probably too much to hope that it would have the same excellent quality as the tour itself.

Even without the essays, ALONG THE SILK ROAD would be a visually fascinating book. The numinous photographs by Kenro Izu are art in themselves, and I looked at all the other pictures, too, before reading the text. The great variety has allowed the designer to create a book that is dynamic on the page, and the pictures themselves show everything from ancient art objects to present-day Uyghur street musicians, from landscape to Buddhist imagery on silk. They catch something of the scope of time, geography, and cultural sweep that the Silk Road Project is addressing in many ways. I thought the variety of articles worked very well, too: interview, personal reflection, travelogue, and sound scholarship with a light touch. The different voices and topics make clear that the project has room for many approaches to exploring the contacts, differences, and fusions of a vast region that has for eons been bound up in all sorts of exchanges and reciprocal influences, most of which I knew nothing about until I read this book. It's a great introduction to what a deeply humane America artist, Yo-yo Ma, has been up to recently, and more importantly to a part of the world that has stimulated him and his fellow artists. As the recent events in Afghanistan and Iraq have demonstrated, our fate is bound up with a part of the world that most of us don't know enough about. The good news is that learning about the region can set you thinking all sorts of new and exciting things.

The world's two largest Buddhist sculptures were once at Bamiyan, Afghanistan. There, travelers found not only lodgings and supplies but also Buddhist instruction. It was one of the stops on the Silk Road, running from E Asia to the Mediterranean cities of Aleppo, Antioch, Sidon and Tyre.

19th-century German explorer Baron Ferdinand von Richthofen thought up the term Silk Road. But the road was much older than that, at its busiest from about 2,200 years ago, until about 600 years ago. It was kept up, for farflung trade in carved ivory cosmetic boxes, cotton, gems, gold ornaments, horses, incense, jade, lacquer ware, linens, Roman glass, silk, spices, tea and woolens. But it also was a way for culture and know-how to be swapped. For example, from the east westward, the road spread knowing how to smelt metal and make cast iron, glass, gunpowder and steel.

Particularly sections on cultural trading in music I found most interesting. Sometimes it's not obvious why we need to know history. But in this case it's long ago, but not long gone. Ancient musical influences still are seen today. For example, qin opera in Shaanxi province has happy tunes, which is common in Chinese music. But it also has sorrowful tunes, which isn't common. They're based on a scale of 8 pitches in the octave. They're also sung in a shouting style. Neither's common in Chinese music. But both are, in the music of Central Asia, where they came from during Silk Road times.

ALONG THE SILK ROAD also brought up a musical mystery. The first town at which east-bound Silk Road travelers stopped inside China was Dunhuang. There, merchants, pilgrims and traders built Buddhist temples inside the rock, in the Mogao caves, about 1,400-1,500 years ago. They also had painted about 45,000 wall paintings. Many dealt with the Western Pure Land, the supposed source of all good music. So some even had music scores, in ancient notation. Modern music scholars feel they know the pitches. They don't agree on rhythm and meter.

However, the money needed for further research may be out there. In 1998 world-famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma founded the Silk Road Project, Inc. The project's a nonprofit foundation to help artists nowadays in Silk Road lands. It's most known, since winter 2001, for paying for music works played in concerts and festivals around the world.

Elizabeth Ten Grotenhuis has edited a clear, nicely illustrated book. She sets the stage for the more in-depth CAVE TEMPLES OF MOGAO by Roderick Whitfield. Her sections on music are invaluable for THE HUNDRED THOUSAND FOOLS OF GOD: MUSICAL TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA by Theodore Levin and CARAVAN TO AMERICA: LIVING ARTS OF THE SILK ROAD by John S Major and Betty J Belanus.

A more accurate title for this book would be "The Spiritual Person's Guide to Coping With Heart Surgery and Bypassing Depression." Although it contains much good (although poorly organized) practical advice, it also contains many of the homilies held so dear by members of that group. Those who share similar beliefs will find it comforting, while others are likely to find it cloying.

Readers of a more practical bent should consider buying instead "Diagnosis: Heart Disease" by John W. Farquhar, MD, and Gene A. Spiller, PdD, which contains excellent advice for people interested in obtaining the latest accurate information on heart disease without the proselytizing contained in this book. It is also significantly better written.

I was fortunate to find a copy of this excellent book which prevented me from being depressed after my triple bypass surgery on August 5, 1999. Having read it, I was prepared for the outcome BEFORE the surgery. It was like having the shop manual for an automobile in your hand. I would recommend it to anyone who will have open heart surgery.

I found this book after my mother underwent valve replacement surgery and was experiencing deep depression. If we had had this book BEFORE the experience we both think things would have gone a great deal better. I cannot recommend it highly enough; the book is very clear on the actual process of heart surgery as well as the aftermath and road to recovery. A beautiful treatment of the psychological issues raised by this experience for both the patient and his or her family.

This is a well-written, well-organized book. It appears to be an attempt to make Dzogchen teaching more accessible, for example, via the episodes from early in Namkhai Norbu's life.

Direct, written teachings of Dzogchen seem to be highly concentrated and mind-blowing, for example "Self-Liberation through Seeing with Naked Awareness", an old text translated by John M. Reynolds and Norbu's own "The Mirror". Each of these texts is accompanied by less terse commentary. It seems to be the expectation that any student of Dzogchen would also receive instruction ("transmission") from a Dzogchen teacher, to account for individual differences between students and, presumably, to help clear up whatever confusion the written texts may have led to. Dzogchen seems to be a substantial challenge, said in not too many words but not unlikely leading to a wealth of questions. A book like this one, "The Crystal and the Way of Light", probably functions to lessen the intensity and make the teaching more comfortable, at least until one is ready to face the challenge of the core teaching.

Despite the formidable challenge of Dzogchen, it is a teaching that emphasizes relaxation and acceptance. I've had no personal instruction in Dzogchen and it may be for those who do it seems substantially less confusing and overwhelming than it has for me. Judging from the number of books by him and in which he has supplied commentary, Norbu seems to be doing a great deal to make Dzogchen more accessible. His Dzogchen Community has chapters around the world.

This book seems a good introduction to Dzogchen, which is a curious and perhaps contradictory mix of mindfulness (to the extreme) and magic (e.g. the rainbow body). The teaching seems well-packaged, with an emphasis on amazement. Dzogchen can be found within Buddhism but also within Bon, another Tibetan religion. It's unclear to what extent Dzogchen elements were brought from Buddhism into Bon (and vice versa). Nevertheless, Dzogchen talk of awareness seems to mostly map into Thervada talk of mindfulness, with some "enhancements" in positive imagery like the sky, rainbows, and crystals.

Whether any of Norbu's books or teachings or any other on Dzogchen can help get you to this "magnificent sameness" I don't know. It seems attractive but I seem to need a more step by step approach and wonder about this big wow approach. Although Dzogchen is supposedly beyond institutional and cultural barriers, Norbu's Dzogchen Community seems heavily attached to Tibetan forms.

I recommend this book to anyone sincerely interested in Dzogchen teaching. The author, Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche, is a worlwide renouned teacher, scholar and above all a Dzogchen practitioner. Not only he expounds the theoretical basis of the teaching, he gives us a lot of examples from his own life of practice. WARNING: THIS BOOK IS DANGEROUS FOR YOUR EGO!!!

John Shane compiles and edits The Crystal And The Way Of Light, considering the spiritual path from the viewpoint of Dzogchen. From the foundations of Dzogchen practices and the author's familiarity with its philosophy and spirituality to symbols of Tibetan meditation and photos of Buddhist masters, this is filled with insights.

Many say Geunther is a genius. I might agree. He has some extraordinary, unique perspectives, apparently born from many years of study, in both Tibetan as well as European philosophies. But a translator? It seems he fancies himself more a sort of "decoder," if you will, and his (sometimes lengthy) reasonings behind his peculiar, intense word choices often appear sound. Yet as the years go on, and students of this genre grow in there understanding of key terms, key-term translation is becoming more-and-more standardized, leaving his "translations" less-and-less accessible.

If you work at it, you can squeeze out many of the original Tibetan terms from his indexes, footnotes, etc., and thereby triangulate with the more commonly-used terms. -Somewhat tiresome if what you really want is a more direct translation, for use in a student-teacher situation for example. Furthermore, this book and the other two in the trilogy are much more commentary than translation. This is a shame, since Longchenpa himself wrote an auto-commentary to them.

That said, Guenther IS a great thinker, and if you would like to read Guenther, as opposed (in this case) to Longchenpa, then I'll say, this and all of the books I've read by him (some dozen) are truly fascinating. Very original and thought-provoking.

Maybe look for a translation elsewhere. -no offense, Herb.

...One must realise that dzogchen was developed in a certainculture therefore much is taken for granted in dzogchen works. Oneonly has to look at the four gospels, words that according to Jesus himself are extrinsic to the teachings to his disciples and note the ramified results of that: materialism in a dying world. Herbert Guenther's ramifications of the implications of dzogchen driven through the western mind set are some of the most valuable dzogchen works these days. In the twenties there was the discovery of quantum physics, that really upset the establishment apple cart, it went forward too fast to be suppressed, however they have managed to limit quantum physics to the subatomic level, thus allowing the civilisation to be frozen in accord with their desires to retain power and position. Translations of tibetan works that remain in a taken for granted mindset already commodified in the west maybe ok for lotus eaters, but won't have much impact.

I have been reading wonderful books that help lead one to true emancipation, enlightenment, and self-acutalization.

Tibetan Buddhism expresses many sound psychological and personal paths to a life and death in peace.

This book, written by Longchenpa and translated by Herbert V. Guenther, is an excellent guide along the path of enlightenment introducing to us the mind of meditation. A few lines give you a tiny taste of what is in store for you: You are an individual who has become the site for the realization of limpid clearness and consummate perspicacity ... The main body is about pure awareness, encountered in the experience of Being by means of meditation involving pleasure, radiance, and non-dividedness. As sheer lucency, a pristine cognitiveness, defying any propositions about it; it rises in naturalness and togetherness.

I invite you to read each word; each word is most important; the message comes easy to the expansive mind.