Tibetan Sky-Gazing Meditation and the Pre-History of Great Perfection Buddhism

Home > Books & Publications > Books by Title A-Z >

Tibetan Sky-Gazing Meditation and the Pre-History of Great Perfection Buddhism: The Skullward Leap Technique and the Quest for Vitality
By: Flavio Geisshuesler

Our Price: $39.95

Author: Flavio Geisshuesler
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781350428850
Publication Date: 2025

Availability: Usually Ships in 24 Hours
Product Code: 9781350428850

Qty:

Description

About the author

Contents

Through a rigorous analysis of original scriptures and later commentaries, this open access book unearths a cornucopia of idiosyncratic motifs pervading the famous Tibetan sky-gazing meditation known as "Skullward Leap" (thod rgal). Flavio Geisshuesler argues that these motifs suggest that the practice did not originate in the context of Buddhism, but rather within indigenous Tibetan culture and in close contact with the early Bon tradition. The book argues that Dzogchen once belonged to a cult centered on the quest for vitality, which involved the worship of the sky as primordial source of life and endorsed the hunting of animals, as they were believed to be endowed with the ability to move in between the divine realm of the heavens and the world of humans.

The book also traces the historical development of the Great Perfection, delineating a complex process of buddhicization that started with the introduction of Buddhism in the 7th century, intensified with the rise of new schools in the 11th century, and reached its climax in the systematization of the teachings by the great scholar-yogi Longchenpa in the 14th century. The study advances an innovative model of meditation as an open-ended practice that animates practitioners to face the most challenging moments of their lives with courage and curiosity, imagination and creativity, and playfulness and excitement; qualities that are oftentimes overlooked in contemporary descriptions of contemplation.

Tibetan Sky-Gazing Meditation and the Pre-History of Great Perfection Buddhism: The Skullward Leap Technique and the Quest for Vitality, Flavio Geisshuesler, Bloomsbury, Paperback, 240 pages, 39.95

Share your knowledge of this product with other customers... Be the first to write a review

Browse for more products in the same category as this item:

Books & Publications > Books by Title A-Z
Books & Publications > Books by Subject > Books on Dzogchen
Books & Publications > Books by Subject
Books & Publications


Serenity of Bodhi, 2 CDs By: Shanghai Chinese Traditional Orchestra	Roar of a Tibetan Lion: Phya Pa Chos Kyi Seng Ge's Theory of Mind in Philosophical and Historical Perspective By: Pascale Hugon, Jonathan Stoltz	Dice and Gods on the Silk Road: Chinese Buddhist Dice Divination in Transcultural Context By: Brandon Dotson, Constance A. Cook, and Zhao Lu	Tibetan Folktales By: Nyima Dekyi & Tiina Rosenqvist
$20.00	$99.00	$132.00	$17.00