The Religions of Tibet

Rating:
Summary: Ian Myles Slater on: A Gold Standard in Tibetan Studies
Review: I came to this elegantly-translated survey of Tibetan religions after occasionally reading about Tibet for twenty years or so. I was in the midst of some research on Himalayan cultures in general. I put that project on hold while I finished Tucci's exposition of the varieties and development of religions (Buddhist and other) in Tibet. It was not easy reading, but it gave reasonable answers to questions that I had puzzled over for years, and suggested new problems. I consider it a must-read for the serious student, although a more basic introduction, such as Snellgrove and Richardson's "Cultural History of Tibet" (now going into its third edition) would be a much better place to start.

Although the book was somewhat obsolete when the English translation (itself a revision) appeared, this fact is a measure of the rapid progress being made in Tibetan studies in the West. (A result of Chinese attempts to destroy Tibetan culture, this illustrates the Iron Law of Unintended Consequences, a secular version of karma.) Major advances have been made, for example, in publication of materials related to Bon, the "other" religion of Tibet. Tucci, however, lays a solid foundation for understanding what the new information means.

This is the sort of book I hoped for when, years ago, I gave up on the recently-issued Dover edition of Waddell's "Lamaism" (as "Tibetan Buddhism"), the standard work in English at the beginning of the Twentieth Century. "Religions of Tibet" is based on critical scholarship, but respects the religious traditions it describes and analyses. It will probably not please the devoted Buddhist who reads it, but it does not assume a standpoint of superiority grounded in a rival religion, or in some secular substitute.