See larger photo
| Journey to Enlightenment: The Life and World of Khyentse Rinpoche, Spiritual Teacher From Tibet
     
[Click on the appropriate flag to buy the book] | Product Details
Hardcover
152 pages
Aperture
Published 1996
From Library Journal
Ortner's astonishing photographs portray his love and devotion for the Asian countries he has traversed over a 20-year period. This grand tour of spiritual lands includes natural and architectural sites in Nepal, India, Cambodia, Java, and Bali. The artist's fascination with majestic mountains and remote temples is beautifully captured throughout the book. In his best work, he portrays bizarre Hindu and Buddhist statuary and the faces of disheveled religious mendicants. The only shortcoming is the text, which is factual, dry, and almost superfluous to the images. On the other hand, Journey to Enlightenment, though not as grand visually, is an excellent photographic and biographical treatment of a single holy man and his life in the realm of the ancient ritual traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. A Buddhist monk and Rinpoche's assistant, Ricard has flawlessly woven his narrative with excerpts from Rinpoche's autobiography to create not only a readable biography but also an intriguing introduction to the religion itself. Both books are recommended for general collections in public libraries and for all spiritual collections.?Terry McMaster, Onondaga Cty. Mental Health Svcs., Syracuse, N.Y.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
"Matthieu's spiritual life and his camera are one, from which spring these images, fleeting and eternal."--Henri Cartier-Bresson
Book Description
Poet, scholar, philosopher, and master of Vajrayana (Tibetan) Buddhism, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche led a life of profound dedication to spiritual enlightenment and teaching. During the final fourteen years of his life his personal assistant was Matthieu Ricard. Together they traveled throughout Tibet, Bhutan, India, and Nepal, returning to the places of Khyentse Rinpoche's youth: his birthplace in Eastern Tibet; the monastery of Shechen which he had entered at the age of eleven; and the retreats where he spent years in meditation and study. At every stop on his journey, Khyentse Rinpoche was welcomed with elaborate ceremonies and outpourings of devotion.
Ricard's deeply personal photographs of this journey are enhance by a biographical narrative that is interspersed with extensive passages from the writings and teachings of Khyentse Rinpoche. Together, these images and texts form an inspiring portrait of one of the great spiritual leaders and teachers of our time. Many masters of Tibetan Buddhism studied with Khyentse Rinpoche, including His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who regarded him as his principal instructor in the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.
Journey to Enlightenment brings us the color and pageantry of the spiritual life and cultures of Tibet, Nepal, India, and Bhutan-- the countries where Khyentse Rinpoche taught and traveled. The story imparts a rare view of a spiritual leader's journey to enlightenment, against a backdrop of a land whose traditions are both ancient and remarkably relevant to our times.
"Khyentse Rinpoche was a model for all other holders of the teachings. We should not only admire his inconceivable knowledge, wisdom, and accomplishment, but, more importantly, we should follow his example and emulate those qualities ourselves. The Buddha's teachings are of enormous value for everyone, not only to dedicated practitioners but to lay people, too, and we must all try our best to practice and implement them, and to emulate the great teachers who have followed him."--His Holiness the Dalai Lama |
|
LuminousLint 
@LuminousLint