Shambala Books

(Snow Lion Books Imprints)

Shambhala Publications is a philosophical and Buddistic publishing company based in Boulder, Colorado. According to the company, it specializes in “books that present creative and conscious ways of transforming the individual, the society, and the planet”. This company has many books that teach Buddhism, philosophy, meditations and similar topics.

In the year 2012, Shambala acquired Snow Lion Publications. Snow Lion Publications carried many Tiben Buddhism books with them into the fold of the Shambala Books.

Snow Lion Publications was inspired by a meeting with the Dalai Lama, and devoted to the preservation of Tibetan Buddhism and culture. Snow Lion is publishing translations from all the schools of Tibetan Buddhism, academic as well as popular titles, particularly monastic textbooks from the various traditions.

Below are great books from Shamabala Books under their Snow Lion Imprints we recommend > Next Page


LUMINOUS HEART:
The Third Karmapa on Consciousness, Wisdom, and Buddha Nature
by Karl Brunnhölzl

This superb collection of writings on buddha nature by the Third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje (1284-1339), focuses on the transition from ordinary deluded consciousness to enlightened wisdom, the characteristics of buddhahood, and a buddha’s enlightened activity. These materials, most of them never before translated, comprehensively represent the Third Karmapa’s unique and well-balanced view which synthesizes Yogacara, Madhyamaka, and the classical teachings on buddha nature. The Third Karmapa’s view is more accurately described as one in which the two categories of Rangtong (“self-empty”) and Shentong (“other-empty”) are not regarded as mutually exclusive but are combined in a creative synthesis. In addition, though relying strictly on classical Indian sources, the Karmapa’s texts are not mere scholarly documents. For those practicing the Sutrayana and the Vajrayana in the Kagyu tradition, what these texts describe can be transformed into living experience.

Cloth. 484 pp.


AS LONG AS SPACE ENDURES:
Ed. by Edward A. Arnold

The Kalacakra Tantra – Kalacakra means “wheel of time” – is a tradition of Buddhist theory and practice whose root text treats a fantastic expanse of knowledge ranging from observations of the cosmos to investigations of meditative states and vital bodily energies. In the Tibetan-speaking world, a public Kalacakra initiation remains the most sought-after event in the life of a devout Buddhist. The Fourteenth Dalai Lama has long had a strong connection with the Kalacakra Tantra; he brought the initiation to the West in 1981, performing it in the U.S., Switzerland, Spain, and Australia. This volume has been created to celebrate his long involvement with the Kalacakra teachings.

Paperback. 480 pages, 8-page color insert with 16 photos.


 

THE DARK RED AMULET:
Oral Instructions on the Practice of Vajrakilaya
Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche and Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche

The Dark Red Amulet presents the Vajrayana practice of Vajrakilaya according to the oral transmission lineage of the great seventeenth-century treasure-revealer Tsasum Lingpa. Vajrakilaya embodies the enlightened activity of all the buddhas that subjugates delusion and negativity in order to clear obstacles to spiritual practice. The essential purpose of Vajrakilaya practice is to “discover the absolute vajra nature that will transform every duality hindrance into clear wisdom and compassion.” In this text, the renowned scholars present the history of this lineage and the miraculous story of how Tsasum Lingpa revealed this terma teaching. Their line-by-line commentary on the short and condensed sadhanas provides an invaluable guide for practitioners to combine the skillful means of compassion and wisdom that are the foundation of Tibetan Buddhism.”

235 pp., 20 b&w photos and images; includes sadhanas in Tibetan and English.


 

LIVING IN THE FACE OF DEATH:
The Tibetan Tradition
by Glenn H. Mullin

Whereas Western society views death as the last taboo, the Tibetan tradition incorporates meditation on death into everyday life. Tibetan Buddhists believe that a conscious awareness of one’s own impermanence allows a person to live a happy, fulfilled life. Over the centuries the Tibetans have developed a wide-ranging literature on death, including inspirational poetry and prose, prayers, and practical works on caring for the dying. This fascinating book presents nine short Tibetan texts. Important writings by the Second, Seventh, and Thirteenth Dalai Lamas, and by Karma Lingpa, author of The Tibetan Book of the Dead, are included. It covers topics such as meditation techniques to prepare for death, inspirational accounts of the deaths of saints and yogis, and methods for training the mind in the transference of consciousness at the time of death.

240 pages, paper.


 

NATURAL GREAT PERFECTION:
Dzogchen Teachings and Vajra Songs
by Nyoshul Khenpo Rinpoche and Lama Surya Das.

Yantra Yoga, the Buddhist parallel to the Hathayoga of the Hindu tradition, is a system of practice entailing bodily movements, breathing exercises and visualizations. Originally transmitted by the mahasiddhas of India and Oddiyana, its practice is nowadays found in all schools of Tibetan Buddhism in relation to the Anuttaratantras, more generally known under the Tibetan term Trulkhor, whose Sanskrit equivalent is Yantra. The Union of the Sun and Moon Yantra (‘Phrul ‘khor nyi zla kha sbyor), orally transmitted in Tibet in the eighth century by the great master Padmasambhava to the Tibetan translator and Dzogchen master Vairochana, can be considered the most ancient of all the systems of Yantra and its peculiarity is that it contains also numerous positions which are also found in the classic Yoga tradition.

406 pages, 45 b&w photographs, 838 line drawings, paper.


THE KARMAPA’S MIDDLE WAY:
Feast For The Fortunate
by the Ninth Karmapa, Wangchuk Dorje, trans. by Tyler Dewar
arked by eloquent poetry, vigorous and extensive analysis, and heart instructions on breaking through the veils of confusion to independently experience the true nature of things, The Karmapa’s Middle Way contains the Ninth Karmapa, Wangchuk Dorje’s comprehensive commentary on the Indian master Chandrakirti’s seminal text, the Madhyamakavatara, or Entrance to the Middle Way. This commentary, Feast for the Fortunate, is the Ninth Karmapa’s abridgement of the Eighth Karmapa, Mikyo Dorje’s masterpiece, the Chariot of the Takpo Kagyu Siddhas. In it readers will find previously unavailable material on the Karmapa’s Middle Way view and a rare window into a philosophically charged era of Middle Way exposition in Tibetan Buddhism. In this book, Chandrakirti and the Karmapa present in precise detail the vital Buddhist concept of emptiness, through which the Mahayana path of compassionate altruism becomes complete.

Cloth. 794 pp.


TIBETAN COOKING:
Recipes for Daily Living, Celebration, and Ceremony
by Elizabeth Esther Kelly
There is no better way to experience the flavor of an exotic culture than through its food – and no better guide to the recipes and gustatory culture of Tibet than Elizabeth Kelly, long-time cook for lamas and other Tibetans. Her remarkable array of easy-to-follow recipes use ingredients readily available in the West. You will find serving suggestions, meal planning, traditional foods, and numerous vegetarian dishes: everything needed to make a complete Tibetan dinner or just to try something different. Tibetan Cooking also offers a personal look into the little known aspects of Tibetan cuisine: its adaptation to modern times, and its preservation and connection with Tibetan holidays and religious ceremonies. Beautifully illustrated and well designed, as a gift or for everyday practical use, this book is a gem.

108 pp., 15 color and 33 b&w photos, 12 drawings, 8″ x 9″, paper edition.


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