The Practice of Tibetan Meditation: Exercises, Visualizations and Mantras for Health and Well-Being [Paperback]

I felt uncomfortable when I read the negative reviews on this book and the CD that accompany this volume. Took me a bit before deciding to express my feelings.

First, the writer had passed away and there would be no new title from this author.

Secondly, the CD instructing on the proper pronunciations of the mantra is meant to inform, and the following chanting is the way that mantra been used for centuries in Tibet. It is hard to find, listen, and much less to able to learn from a session of mantra chanting. The daughter of the author is a recording artist, and her album "Universal Healing Power Of Tibetan Mantras" is wonderful.

The author did not hold the hands of the readers and point out every detail that one would encounter in this journey to the inner self, much to the dismay of some western educated readers. For those who seek instant gratification, it won't help them in this journey. Not able to achieve the results and realization of the author within a time period, the impatient would simply place the blame on the writer's inadequacy.

Artisha's Lamp is a simple reading, and so is the Heart Sutra, but mountainous volumes have yet finish explaining them. Simple and yet concise instructions are given and the realizations of the results are left to the readers.

I guess writing this review is contrary to Buddha's teaching, but not commenting on the negative reviews would be unfair to those who have place effort in benefiting others.

Dagsay Tulku Rinpoche was an esteemed Lama at a secluded Tibetan monastery. In 1959, Political unrest tore him from his illustrious religious position and threw him first into the bamboo barracks of a refugee camp in India, and then into the materialistic western world. In the capitalist and haste ridden environment of the Western world, he found that the ancient spiritual practices he had mastered in Tibet took on even greater necessity in the tumult of 9 to 5 jobs and making ends meet. The author did not forget his spirituality, but realized how important the practices of Tibetan Buddhism are to a world stricken with greed, ignorance and hate.
Commonly, we associate books with reading. This book, however, is a book of doing. Within its pages, the author unfolds dozens of meditative exercises based on the Tibetan system of spirituality. Dagsay Tulku Rinpoche provides excellent foundations of meditative breathing, posture, visualization, and vocalization. Preliminary sections detail preparation for meditation, correct posture, mental focus, and breathing technique. The majority of the book is composed of two sections, the first is concerned with relieving suffering and bringing about happiness, the second section is devoted to overcoming the origins of suffering. Within each section are comprehensive instructions detailing how to perform a plethora of meditative purifications and visualizations that, when employed together with specific vocalizations, or mantras, yield extremely powerful psychological-physiological results. The book covers a wide spectrum of needs ranging from a chapter on massage to meditative preparation for death.
The simple, unembellished approach of the book is a true shining point. Throughout the book, each exercise begins with a brief and easily comprehensible discussion of the theory and functions of the exercise, followed by easy to follow step by step instruction, with diagrams of various postures, and suggestions of variations to accommodate greater flexibility in the technological age.
Each exercise is related to a mantra that intensifies the effects of each practice. The author was kind enough to provide a CD of each mantra with the book. The mantra CD is 58 minutes long, and contains 19 mantras. This CD is invaluable, as proper pronunciation of each Sanskrit syllable of a mantra is ultimately important to its functioning in meditative practices. As an avid student of both Tibetan and Hindu mantras, I have long been at a loss when it came to reciting the words since I have no training in speaking Sanskrit. Thanks to the CD in that accompanies this book, I have 19 very powerful mantras perfectly spoken so that I can practice the proper pronunciation. The CD alone is worth the price of the book. On the way to work in the morning, with the sun climbing over the horizon, I focus on enjoying the calming influence of the peaceful female voice that sings each mantra in the most beautiful Sanskrit dialect.
The power of this work is greatly diminished if the book is digested solely on an intellectual basis, without performing even the introductory exercises. For many of us, finding the courage to try something new is a battle against procrastination, anxiety, and a lack of creative energy. Find the time to make the exercises in this book part of your life, and enjoy increased peacefulness, awareness, and happiness, regardless of what events arise in your life.

Not the best book I've ever read, but a lot more useful than most. As the title says, it is about the PRACTICE of Tibetan Meditation. If you just want to look at pictures or read about Buddhism there are a lot of better books. The reason I gave it five stars is because you will only truly find the dharma within you and your own experience. The practices in the book are effective and if utilized might even be sufficient. What more could you reasonable ask for?

If you don't want to do the work, by a book about cooking. Of course you won't get any more out of that one if you don't use the recipes, but the pictures will be better.