Despite Chinese efforts to stop foreign countries from granting him visas, the Dalai Lama has become one of the most recognizable and best loved people on the planet, drawing enormous crowds wherever he goes. By contrast, China's charismatically-challenged leaders attract crowds of protestors waving Tibetan flags and shouting "Free Tibet " whenever they visit foreign countries. By now most Westerners probably think they understand the political situation in Tibet. But, John Powers argues, most Western scholars of Tibet evince a bias in favor of one side or the other in this continuing...

In this accessible guide, Buddhism is presented both in its historical context and as a religion with great contemporary diversity, covering figures and events of the earliest years to 20th century, from eastern worship to western movements.

This volume deals with the complex interrelationship between theories of scriptural interpretation and Buddhist notions of tradition and authority with respect to the Saṃdhinirmocana-sūtra, the main scriptural source of the Yogacara school of Indian Buddhism. Of particular concern is the political dimension of Buddhist thought as reflected in this text, speculation on how the sutra might have been written in order to influence power relations in the Buddhist community, and how its arguments are structured in accordance with Buddhist ideas of tradition and authority. This...

Tibet is a land bounded by the world's highest mountains, and it is the repository of an ancient culture. For centuries it was viewed by Europeans as a remote, mystical place populated by Buddhist masters with supernatural powers and profound wisdom. In contrast to this image, it was once a warlike country whose expansionist rulers conquered a vast empire that incorporated much of central Asia and parts of China. Even now the Tibetan Plateau remains a scene of contestation, both ideologically and militarily. Major popular uprisings in 1959, 1988, and 2008 have drawn the attention of the...