Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com
Summary:
Patrul Rinpoche, renowned 19th-century Tibetan Buddhist teacher, shunned high monastic office and lived the life of a homeless wanderer. THE WORDS OF MY PERFECT TEACHER is a practical guide to the spiritual practices common to all Tibetan Buddhist traditions. This new edition, based on painstaking comparisons of original texts, also includes translations of earlier commentaries.
Customer Reviews:
Average Customer Rating:
Should you buy the revised edition if you have the original?
Customer Rating:
This review is for those few people out there who, like me, already have the original version of this translation and are wondering if it's worth it to buy the revised edition.
The translators state that they made 3-4 revisions per page from the original to the revised edition. In a 400 page book, that's 1200-1600 revisions. Yes, they're probably small changes - I haven't gone through and actually looked for what was changed. But in a precious text like this one, which you will probably be taking into your heart and thinking about a lot, it seems well worth paying about a penny per revision.
If you're looking for a first introduction to Tibetan Buddhism, you will probably be happier with something like Sogyal Rinpoche's The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying - again, get the revised edition. However, if you are looking for a deeper introduction to the ngondro practices, this is a book of great depth - and humor, and charm.
It seems a previous reviewer was upset that the translators didn't get it "perfect" the first time, and felt that a revision was merited. However, translation is very difficult; I'm glad that they incorporated new insights and clarifications into a revised edition.
A book for a lifetime
Customer Rating:
The book "The Words of My Perfect Master" is, together with "The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying" by Sogyal Rinpoche, a source of inspiration, guidance, direction and motivation for people interested in getting to know the ultimate reality of life without any strings attached.
For people interested in using both these books to help them in their knowledge and practice of Tibetan Buddhism, the best way to find a detailed "users' guide" is to contact [...] and ask for Sogyal Rinpoche's home study packs, et al.
In his study plans, Sogyal refers to many Buddhist books and authors, but these two are by far the most complete ones to help one advance in the thrilling path of self-knowledge, beyond religion, beyond sectarism of any kind.
I heartily recommend these two books as gifts to the soul. Whomever reads them with a sincere heart will experience the direct touch of the writers' enlightened minds inspired by loving compassion.
One of the most excellent books!
Customer Rating:
I cannot even begin to understand why P. Carey gave this book that kind of rating -- maybe P. Carey missed the point -- or must me a translator him/herself. This is an excellent book for beginners and advanced practitioners. Others have outlined many reasons why -- SO, I will say only this: If one is a Zennie you may not like this unless you are interested in growing a bit more into Tibetan or have no problem with that brand of buddhism. If you want to read Tibetan as a diehard Zennie I recommend Trungpa or Pema Chodron. That said, this is a wonderful book . . .
Marvelous!
Customer Rating:
Right to the heart of the matter. Words of my Perfect Teacher is a spiritual friend.
A handbook to being a Buddhist.
Customer Rating:
This text is wonderfully written, concise manual on how to be a Buddhist. Written for the layperson and illustrated with fabulous examples. If you have read the Lamrim this book will strengthen your foundation of Buddhism.
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