The Wheel of Time: Kalachakra in Context - Softcover

Sopa, Geshe Lhundub Lhundub; Jackson, Roger R.; Newman, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1559390018 ISBN 13: 9781559390019

Publisher: Shambhala, 1991

Synopsis

The Kalachakra, or "Wheel of Time," is one of the most profound and sublime of the Buddhist tantric systems. It is an intricate interweaving of astrology, eschatology, physiology, and yoga into a meditational path system that embraces the entire material universe and leads to complete, perfect enlightenment. The Kalachakra, with its special connection to the land of Shambhala and a future golden age of Dharma, has a special appeal for people of all levels of learning and practice. Initiation into its practices traditionally have been large public events, especially when granted by the Dalai Lama.

Initiation into the Kalachakra Tantra has been given with increasing frequency in recent years, but information on this complex system and practice remains sparse. The Wheel of Time attempts in part to fill the gap. The book opens with a Foreword by His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama. Then the five articles discuss, respectively, the Buddhist background, history, initiation rites, generation stage sadhana, and completion stage practices of the Kalachakra Tantra.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

The Kalachakra interweaves yoga, astrology, physiology, and mythology into a meditational system embracing the entire universe. Information on Kalachakra has been sparse--The Wheel of Time discusses the Buddhist background, history, initiation rites, generation stage sadhana and completion stage practices.

"A comprehensive placing of the Kalachakra in the context of Buddhism as a whole, with some of the history and procedures through to completion stage described. A nicely balanced reader which is not too scholarly. The different voices of its authors make for lively discussion."--Mandala: A Tibetan Buddhist Journal

About the Author:

Geshe Lhundub Sopa is the main teacher at Deer Park, Abbot of Evam monastery and a Professor of South Asian Studies at the University of Wisconsin. He was born in 1923 in Tsang province in western Tibet, joined Sera Monastery in Lhasa, and attained highest honors in his Geshe exams. Like the Dalai Lama and so many other Tibetans, he fled to India in 1959. In 1962, Geshe Sopa was asked by the Dalai Lama to accompany three young Tulkus (reincarnate lamas) to America, where they would receive both Western and Buddhist education. In 1967, he was invited by Professor Richard Robinson, founder of the Buddhist Studies Program of the University of Wisconsin, to come to the Madison campus to teach.

About this edition

• Publisher: Shambhala
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 1559390018
• ISBN 13: 9781559390019
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 184