Song of the Road

Cyrus Stearns

• 17 december 2012
• 9781614290667

Samenvatting:

In Song of the Road, Tsarchen Losal Gyatso, an unsurpassed sixteenth-century master of the Sakya tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, weaves ecstatic poetry, song, and accounts of visionary experiences into a record of pilgrimage to central Tibet. Translated for the first time here, Tsarchen"s work, a favorite of the Fifth Dalai Lama, brims with strikingly detailed reports of divine and apocalyptic visions, as well as lyrical depictions of Tibetan landscapes that vividly capture the spiritual awe they inspire. The literary flights of Song of the Road are anchored by Tsarchen"s candid observations on the social and political climate of his day, including a rare example in Tibetan literature of open critique of religious power.

In his introduction and copious notes to the translation, Cyrus Stearns unpacks the dimensions of meaning concealed in the text, excavating the history, legends, and lore associated with people and places encountered on the pilgrimage, fully revealing the spiritual topography over which Tsarchen"s long road carried him. The book includes a number of illustrations, including photographs of the region and a traditional hand-drawn map.