Snow Lion's Turquoise Mane

by Das, Lama Surya

• ISBN13: 9780062508492
• ISBN10: 0062508490
• Format: Paperback
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publications

Summary

This remarkable book brings together more than 150 authentic Buddhist teaching tales from the Hidden Kingdom of Tibet - most never before translated into English. These captivating stories, legends and yarns - passed orally from teacher to student - capture the vibrant wisdom of an ancient and still-living oral tradition. Magical, whimsical, witty and ribald, The Snow Lion's Turquoise Mane unfolds a luminous vision of a universe where basic goodness, harmony, and hope prevails.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xi
Inscription	xiii
Benediction by His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche	xv
Introduction by His Holiness the Dalai Lama	xvii
Foreword	xix
Daniel Goleman
Preface	xxi
The Mani Man	3	(2)
Milarepa's Last Word	5	(2)
Better Seek Yourself	7	(1)
Crossing to the Other Shore	7	(2)
The Miraculous Tooth	9	(2)
A Statue Speaks	11	(3)
Glue Stew	14	(1)
Liberating Creatures	14	(3)
Prostrations to an Enlightened Vagabond	17	(1)
Perfecting Patience	18	(1)
Clairvoyant Compassion	19	(1)
``Old Dog''	20	(1)
The Oral Teachings of the Primordial Buddha	21	(3)
Three Men in a Tree	24	(1)
Geshe Ben Steals	25	(1)
Tibet's Best Offering	25	(1)
Geshe Ben's Conscience	26	(1)
The Best Spiritual Practice	27	(1)
The Dalai Lama and the Sheep-Dung Offering	27	(3)
Horseface and the Copper-Colored Mountain	30	(2)
Flagpole Sitting	32	(1)
An Enlightened Cook	33	(1)
A Thief Is Converted	34	(1)
Rabjyor and the Old Woman	35	(2)
A Henpecked Husband's Three Wishes	37	(1)
Fine-Tune Yourself	38	(1)
A God Is Punished	39	(2)
A Debate About Rebirth	41	(1)
Clinging Binds Us	42	(3)
Greatness of Heart Is What Counts	45	(4)
Nyoshul's Introduction to Things as They Are	49	(2)
Anonymous Lamas	51	(2)
Why Didn't I See It Before?	53	(1)
A Rude Awakening	54	(1)
Patrul Rinpoche's Woman	55	(3)
An Indian Pandit in Tibet	58	(3)
Make Your Own Offerings	61	(2)
A Basket Weaver	63	(1)
Beyond Poison	64	(3)
A Thief Takes Refuge Under a Bridge	67	(1)
Cow Karma	68	(1)
Two Evil Spirits	69	(2)
Nagarjuna's Goddess	71	(1)
Crocodile Treasure	72	(1)
A Monk's Dream	73	(2)
Upagupta Meets the Evil One	75	(2)
Dhitika Ends a Sacrifice	77	(2)
Milarepa Sleeps Late	79	(2)
A Lake of Gold Coins	81	(2)
Visualizations	83	(1)
Young Dodrup Chen Reads and Recites	84	(1)
Drukpa Kunley Blesses an Image	85	(1)
The Evil Eye	86	(1)
A Horse Race for Sages Only	87	(2)
Embracing Tara	89	(1)
Don't Take Anything to Heart: An Old Lady's Advice	90	(1)
The Sage, the Lady, and the Fish	91	(1)
Wisdom Can Be Contagious	92	(1)
A Haunted Fortress	93	(1)
A Donkey Leads the Chanting	94	(1)
Two Sages Debate	95	(2)
Shantideva's Teaching	97	(1)
Midway Founds Kashmir	98	(3)
Raksha-Bead Nose	101	(5)
A Lama's Mother	106	(1)
Silver Is Poison	107	(2)
Naked Tara	109	(1)
A Great Dharma Lady	110	(2)
Trulshik Rinpoche's Dream	112	(1)
Consciousness Transference	113	(1)
An Auspicious Incense Offering	114	(1)
Yahden Tulku Meets Manjusri	115	(1)
An Enlightened Nun	116	(4)
The Sheep, the Ox, the Goat, and the Great Vegetarian Debate	120	(2)
A Bard's Cure	122	(1)
Atisha's Awakening	123	(3)
A Forest of Taras	126	(2)
Ashoka's Son Opens His Wisdom Eye	128	(1)
Karmapa's Blue Sheep	129	(1)
Manjusrimitra Meets a King on an Elephant	130	(1)
A Rainbow Body in Manikengo	131	(2)
A Feast Offering	133	(3)
The Musket Master	136	(1)
A Long-Life Empowerment	137	(4)
Bride-to-Be	141	(1)
The Master Known as ``Every Form''	142	(1)
The Lepers' Stupa	143	(1)
The Guru Is Supreme Among All	144	(1)
A Rat's Corpse and a Ring	145	(3)
The Vulture Man	148	(1)
Chogyur Lingpa and the Wolves	149	(1)
Karma Pakshi's Troubles	150	(2)
Rain of Flowers	152	(1)
Dodrup Chen Shows How to Die	153	(2)
Dodrup Chen Gets Enlightened	155	(1)
Transubstantiation	155	(2)
A Monk's Golden Elephant	157	(3)
A Lama Meets Manjusri	160	(1)
A Guru Stones His Disciple	161	(1)
A Poor Student Becomes a Great Master	162	(2)
Tibetan Dentistry	164	(1)
The Black Yogi and the Dog Master	165	(3)
The Scripture of Transcendental Wisdom Is Transmitted	168	(1)
Resurrection	169	(2)
The Kingly Treasure Master	171	(2)
Kumaradza Passes Away	173	(1)
The Cuckoo's Cry of Awareness	174	(3)
Yogi Dzeng and the Vajra Bridge	177	(3)
Jomo Manmo, the Sleeping Dakini	180	(3)
Inside Out	183	(2)
Non-Meditation, Non-Distraction	185	(1)
Offerings to Jigme Lingpa	186	(1)
Gampopa's Great Void	187	(1)
Gotsangpa's Vajra Feast	188	(2)
A Yogi Outfoxes Kublai Khan	190	(1)
The Blanket Master and the Witches	191	(2)
A Dove and Tara of the Beans	193	(1)
Dignaga's Cave	194	(2)
Atisha Meets Rinchen Zangpo	196	(1)
Buddhaguhya's Meditation	197	(2)
The King Barks Like a Dog	199	(1)
Shabkar's Female Yak	200	(1)
The Equality of All That Lives	201	(1)
Tantric Travels	202	(1)
The Dakinis' Rainbow Bridge	203	(3)
``Not a Damned Thing''	206	(1)
The King of Ghosts	206	(3)
Holy Hair Relics	209	(1)
Name and Fame	210	(1)
Grains of Rice	211	(1)
Two Masters and a Crystal	212	(2)
Gampopa's Business Advice	214	(1)
Beyond Discipline	215	(1)
A Dying Monk's Bird	216	(1)
A Frog Enters the Stream of Reality	217	(1)
Anyone Can Get There	217	(2)
Yeshe Tsogyal Liberates a Consort	219	(3)
No Mustard Seeds for Buddha	222	(2)
Patrul's Past Lives	224	(1)
A Saint Cannibalizes Padampa Sangyay's Relics	225	(1)
A Great Feast	226	(2)
A Tibetan Tea Ceremony	228	(1)
A Yogi Meets a Yeti	229	(3)
Perfect Generosity	232	(1)
A Young Woman's Offering	233	(1)
Self-Sacrifice	234	(1)
A Going-Away Party	235	(1)
Saraha's Radish Curry	236	(1)
A Singing Yogi Achieves Flight	237	(2)
Going to Paradise	239	(2)
He Died Singing	241	(1)
A Scowl Turns into a Smile	242	(1)
Where All Prayers Are Granted	243	(2)
Epilogue	245

Excerpts

The Snow Lion's Turquoise Mane

Preface

Since time immemorial, spiritual truths have been woven into stories, whether as folktale, fable, legend, parable, historical anecdote, or yarn. With wit and candor, insight and delight, picturesque tales that captivate the imagination have brought a bountiful harvest to countless generations of young and old.

The piquant cornucopia of tales that follows draws on stories still being told today by the living lamas of Tibet in the course of their spiritual teachings. Transmitted through the ancient oral tradition of Tibetan Mahayana Buddhism, which is an inexhaustible repository of sacred lore as well as of Buddhist law, most have never before been committed to writing. Some of these tales date from the time of the historical Buddha himself, twenty-five hundred years ago; others retell interesting incidents from more recent times.

All these tantalizing stories share one thing in common: they are teaching tales, meant to edify, instruct, admonish -- and entertain. They are for scholars and sages as well as neophytes, nomads, shepherds, and farmers. As charming as fairy tales yet as pointed as biblical parables, these stories are replete with Himalayan folklore, magic, ribaldry, and the exotic marvels of Oriental culture, while they are also full of uncommon spiritual wisdom and common sense, providing myths to live by. Recorded, translated, gathered, and retold in the same generous spirit in which they have traditionally been received -- as spoken instructions from teacher to student, at the feet of contemporary Tibetan masters -- these small gifts of love are like ferries to that far shore of genuine inner experience, truth itself. Tales are clues in the search for truth, the universal panacea, as fabulous as the philosophers' stone. Yet truth must be genuinely and intuitively experienced, not merely heard.

As everyone knows, truth is often stranger than fiction, and certainly it is more entertaining. It was a legitimate function of the venerable Tibetan lama to transform ordinary phenomena and perceptions through magical means, thus transforming his listeners' vision. These fantabulous tales, imbued with spiritual significance, evoke the atmosphere of peace, carefree ease, and whimsy that bespeaks the freedom and transcendence of the high Himalayas. They record lessons learned and blessings earned, deeds done and realizations won, as well as things that could, and should, have happened. Intent on restoring faith in the fact that authentic enlightenment, spiritual transformation, visionary experiences, and miracles of all kinds can and do still happen, the inspired Tibetan storyteller unfolds a luminous vision of a universe where basic goodness, universal responsibility, inner fulfillment, love and harmony, humor and hope, perfection, freedom and redemption, greatness of heart, and spiritual illumination still prevail. An enchanted world is revealed -- not only in the world of remote Tibet but in the presence of the extraordinary within the ordinary routines of daily existence -- right here and now -- the miracle of the present moment.

Life is full of contradictions. These tales are not merely descriptions of how certain events unfolded but of how things should and can be. Full of illusions and insights, the magical and the mysterious, with profound echoes of timeless questions, eternal verities, and mythic archetypes, these stories offer models of humane behavior -- the kind of behavior that lends value, meaning, and significance to life -- at the same time that they irreverently expose the spectacle that is human nature. Such teaching tales are calculated to inculcate specific values, unveil preconceived notions and underlying assumptions, and cut through selfdeception. They provoke a wry smile, an inner chuckle, helping us to laugh at ourselves and fly free of the so-called burdens of being; moreover, they intentionally inspire particular states of mind.

Here are trenchant perspectives laid bare before our eyes: the pared-down core of reality in all its immediacy, penetrating insights into fundamental issues of existence, daring flights of fancy, as well as sudden awakenings, ethical lessons, and quaint Himalayan homilies.

The Tibetan raconteur invites his or her listeners into a lighthearted, illumined world -- at times plausible, at times astounding. Through truth delightfully disguised, embellished by both fact and fancy, one is transported to a realm in which delights are legion. How long the listener or reader chooses to inhabit such an alluring realm depends for the most part on the artist's magic. To the poet, everything is luminous; to the dull, nothing is remarkable.

More than two dozen categories of stories appear in this collection of ancient and modern tales. Here you will find Himalayan folktales, fairy tales, yarns about fabulous creatures, myths to live by, and legends; records of the historical Buddha and his immediate disciples; doctrinal teaching tales, moral homilies, paradise and rebirth stories; tales of goddesses and muses, of Brahmins, scholars, and lepers; justice stories unveiling karmic concatenation, the law of cause and effect; monastery stories, children's stories, nomad tales, prison tales, devil stories, spirit stories; tales of pilgrims and sacred power places, of saints, relics and talismans, psychic powers, curses, cures, and resurrections; historical anecdotes; records of interaction between masters and disciples in the lineage transmission (the passing of spiritual teachings from onegeneration to the next); tales of monks and nuns as well as of layfolk, animals, and dreams; trickster tales and humorous stories; tales of treasures lost and found; stories of sudden awakenings and other enlightenment experiences; poems, songs of enlightenment, unadulterated wisdom tales, descriptions of spiritual events, and meditation instructions for followers and practitioners; tales of enlightened men and women; philosophical musings, psychological insights and inquiries; ribald tales, legends, visions of gods and demigods, deities, hungry ghosts, and titans; tales of poets and yogis, sages and sinners, of Dalai Lamas, Abominable Snowmen, blue Himalayan sheep, yaks, faithful animals, and others....All tumble forth like the endless courses at a sumptuous feast.

Shrouded in myth and protected by the snow-capped Himalayas, Tibet has long been known as Shangri-la, a lost world, the forbidden kingdom, the "roof of the world," the Land of Snow....

The Snow Lion's Turquoise Mane. Copyright © by Surya Das. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.

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Excerpted from The Snow Lion's Turquoise Mane: Wisdom Tales from Tibet by Surya Das
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.