This is a unique and powerful presentation of the teachings of Tibetan Buddhism on the five elements: earth, water, air, fire, and space. In their gross and subtle forms, these elements combine to make up the infinite illusory display of phenomenal existence. Through teachings, stories, and his distinctive use of language, Thinley Norbu Rinpoche relates how the energies of the elements manifest within our everyday world, in individual behavior and group traditions, relationships and solitude, medicine and art. He explains their links to the five Buddha families and their respective Wisdom Dakinis, and shows how each element relates to our senses, temperament, passions, habits, and karmic potentials. This magic dance of the elements, he concludes, can be transformed through meditation practice and cultivating the calm, vast, and playful state of consciousness that he calls "playmind."

Magic Dance, Thinley Norbu, Shambhala Publications, Paperback, 166 pages, $24.95

Thinley Norbu (1931-2011) was a master teacher of the Nyingma lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, with many devoted students in the West as well in Asia. Revered as an emanation of the fourteenth-century master Kunkhyen Longchenpa, Kyabje Thinley Norbu Rinpoche was a scholar, writer, poet, and translator, whose prolific publications include A Cascading Waterfall of Nectar, his masterwork on the ngondro, or preliminary practices; The Sole Panacea, on the Seven-Line Prayer of Guru Rinpoche; and A Brief Fantasy History of a Himalayan, an illustrated account of personal reminiscenses.