Buddhafly01/04/03 at 19:11:35#1
I make regular trips to the book store to usually read the latest issues of Buddhist magazines and browse.
The one thing I never noticed was anything really comprehensive on Vajrayana Practices/beliefs.
One of the things I am looking for is a comprehensive book
on Mandala's as well as a book on various tantric deities as
well as a "book of sutras" if such a book exists.
Has anyone found any good reading on any of these topics?
Thank you.
Brenda
lian hua dance01/06/03 at 06:01:29#2Re: Books :)
No, not exactly what you are looking for,
and it would be nice to find such a book.
I haven't read of seen this, but it sort of meets the description. It also costs $52! Due out in May 2003 - maybe I haven't gotten to May yet. But it says it is a reprint - maybe it came out before?
Meeting the Buddhas: a guide to the buddhas, bodhisattvas and tantric deities
by Vessantara
ISBN: 0904766535
Format: paperback
Size: 235 x 155 mm
Price: $ 52.5
Availability: reprint due May 2003
Here is another book I don't know - Whoa - these things get pricey!
The Tibetan Iconography of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Other Deities: A Unique Pantheon
by Lokash Chandra, Fredrick W. Bunce
List Price: $400.00
Availability: Special Order
Used & new from $211.76
Hardcover: 784 pages
Publisher: Laurier Books Ltd. /AES; ISBN: 812460178X; (January 2002)
And, one that we can afford and has some enthusiastic reviews on Amazon,
Images of Enlightenment: Tibetan Art in Practice
by Jonathan Landaw, Andy Weber
List Price: $24.95
Amazon Price: $17.47
You Save: $7.48 (30%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Used & new from $13.00
Edition: Paperback
Last edited 03/16/03 at 11:06:33 by lian_hua_dance
dragonflyz01/10/03 at 16:22:05#4Re: BooksI was looking for books on Buddhist deities a couple of years ago and have found and bought the followings:
1) An Encyclopaedia of Buddhist Deities, Demigods, Godlings, Saints & Demons/Fredrick W. Bunce. 1994, 2 volumes, xxiv, 1151 p., 286 line drawings, 24 colour plates, $96.00
From www.vedamsbooks.com (this company is in India but they ship to all over the world).
I have just checked their website and this book is still available.
You could also search for other buddhism subjects.
2) Tibetan Buddhism With Its Mystic Cults, Symbolism and Mythology by. L. Austine Waddell
ISBN 0-486-20130-9
$15.95
This one I got from Barnes and Nobel
3) Buddhism-Flammarion Iconographic Guides by.
Louis Frederic
ISBN-2-08013-558-9
I don't remember the price on this one but it is a 358-page paperback which I also got from Barnes and Nobel.
Hope this would help you.
lian hua dance01/11/03 at 10:57:19#5Re: Books :)
Thank you!
on a number of counts.
Looks like that Fredrick Bunce gets around a bit.
The book he was second author on in my list @ $400 from Amazon is ONLY $190 from your source (Vedamsbooks) - a nice savings.
The encyclopedia you mention from Vedams @ $90 is a great bargain - same book (?same publisher and binding?) is available elsewhere for $130 - $305!. One site lists a paperback version for $1600, but I hope that was a typo! Did you get yours from Vedams? Is it a typical (flimsy) Indian binding, or something that may endure?
I found the Vedams website a bit of a challenge - I had to look under the buddhist art book catalogue to find the book.
There are some interesting comments on Amazon.com about the Louis Frederic iconographic guide (list price $25, available from them for $17.50 new, $15 used) - could you comment on these comments?:
"A long time scholar of Japanese Buddhist art, Frederic's work on Japan is somewhat useful for Japanese Buddhism. ... However, the rest Frederic's work on the Buddhist iconography of the rest of Asia, was essentially beyond his skills. The book is either is minimal or, on occasion, totally inadequate. If the work had been presented as simply an iconography of Japanese Buddhism, and not expanded into a pan-Asian "Iconographic guide," one might have recommended it with some enthusiasm. ... To have expanded Frederic's work into [a pan-Asian "Iconographic guide] .. has proven to be unfortunate in the extreme. The mistakes of the book have already begun showing up in my student's work and the fundamental misconceptions contained in the book are quite unfortunate. I am afraid that the book is not to be recommended for any serious work by any one except scholars who are already equipped to evaluate the accuracy of statements made by Frederic. "
thank you again,
lian hua d
dragonflyz01/11/03 at 18:49:57#6Re: BooksHi dance,
Yeah, I have looked around a long while before I found Vedams. I have purchased my book from them and the quality of the book is pretty good. It is a 2 volume hard cover book. Of course its quality cannot be compared to a encyclopaedia Britannica. I have also purchased the "dictionary of Chinese Buddhist terms" from them and are satisfied with the books.
As with the Louis Frederric book, its been a couple of years since I have read it. I can tell that the author has heavy Japanese influence since the deities English names are of Japanese translation. (for example: Ksitigarbha/Jizo Bosatsu)
I think that the author's work is devoted to the deities of Buddhism in general and not of a particular sect. Since I am not a Buddhism scholar, I cannot comment on the accuracy of statements made by the author. I was only interested in the description and different names of the deities when I purchased the book.