Tibetan Meditation: Practical Teachings and Step-By-Step Exercises on How to Live in Harmony, Peace, and Happiness

by Tarthang Tulku

Meditation is something you do for yourself- for your own balance and health. All I can do is direct, point, and give advice, challenging your assumptions or pointing out more productive ways to proceed. -Tarthang Tulku color photos, art details

Genres: Meditation, Buddhism, Health, Spirituality

160 pages, Paperback

First published April 25, 2005

About the author

Tarthang Tulku Rinpoche (དར་ཐན་སྤྲུལ་སྐུ་རིན་པོ་ཆེ dar-than sprul-sku rin-po-che) is a Tibetan teacher ("lama") in the Nyingma ("old translation") tradition. Having received a complete Buddhist education in pre-diaspora Tibet, he taught philosophy at Sanskrit University in India from 1962 to 1968, and emigrated to America in 1969, where he settled in Berkeley, CA. He is often credited as having introduced the Tibetan medicine practice of Kum Nye (སྐུ་མཉེ sku mnye་, "subtle-body massage") to the West.

In 1963, he founded Dharma Publishing in Varanasi, India, moving it to California in 1971. The main purpose of the publishing house is to preserve and distribute Tibetan Buddhist teachings and to bring these teachings to the West.

Neither Rinpoche nor Tulku are surnames; the former is an honorific applied to respected teachers meaning "Precious One," while the latter is a title given to those who have be recognized an the reincarnation of a previous lama.

Reviews

[Tami · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are looking for a good overall book on meditation, I highly suggest Tibetan Mediation. Over the years, I have a read a lot of books on mediation. Usually, these books are extremely narrow in the knowledge that they provide and the methods that they teach. In this way, many authors will either focus on meditation as part of a spiritual journey or a more worldly technique for focus, awareness, or stress relief. In almost all cases, the master illustrates a single, very precise way to undertake meditation. For the most part, these resources leave the reader feeling talked at and frustrated that they can't replicate the instructions perfectly.

Tibetan Mediation actually explains the benefits of meditation for use in our daily world as well as for spiritual questing. Instead of a single method of practice, this book included twenty very different exercises ranging from visualization and the practice of mindfulness through breathing exercise and simple yoga postures to the use of mantras and mandalas. Each section was actually part of a whole package of explanation, a story, and a practice. I really liked this format. It seemed extremely well thought out and complete.

Another aspect of this book that I really appreciated was the author's voice. As I read the text, I felt like the author was sitting with me, trying to help me find what I needed in my meditation practice- part wise master and part really good friend. This feeling made it easier to the exercises, almost like experiments to see what worked best for me.

[C. Varn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interweaving traditional Buddhist and Tibetan fables and 20 meditation practices, Tarthang Tulku gives many introductory meditation practices as well as the rationale. Written without assuming extensive knowledge of Vajrayana Buddhism, it is definitely rooted in Nyingma practice of Tarthang Tulku's tradition. While it is not substituted for a teacher, this will introduce very useful meditation practices.

[Will Kendal jones]

Enlightening rather splendidly. Thoughtful and cleanseing.

[John Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Insightful. Good stories and practices

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clear, interesting writing describing meditation methods and the mindset and attitude one should have in order to live in harmony, peace, and happiness. Incorporates interesting stories along the way. There are also exercises introduced with each main point, but I didn't find any of them particularly helpful or interesting.