The Secret Oral Teachings in Tibetan Buddhist Sects

A Cliff notes of Tibetan teachings. Easy to read - just a great book to keep at hand. All the important stuff is here and a long chapter in Prajna Paramita. I have read Alexandra David-Neel’s other books - they are lovely but she rambles a lot; no rambling here; she gets right to the point and it is nicely written. I am loving decisions made by the printer - the suppleness and quality of the paper, which takes a pencil mark nicely, and has lots of white space on each page - so it doesn’t look cramped - beautiful to look at and also offers space for notes. It was delivered quickly - 3 days and in that time it had been printed. Alan Watts called this book important, but out of print. Thank you Martino Fine Books of Eastford Connecticut for resurrecting it for our enjoyment.

A book this amazingly great should be able to speak for itself. So here we go-- Page 95: "...outside of our mind which creates it, this world does not exist." Page 109: "The meaning of the term 'void'...has been the subject of numerous commentaries and eager controversies...neither the ones nor the others have ever thought of making the void of which they speak an equivalent of nothingness...absolute Nothing is inconceivable. He who says 'Nothing' incorporates himself in this vacuity simply by the fact that he himself must exist in order to have the idea of it." Page 111: "Being the sphere of complete absence of manifestation, the Void is inconceivable...the origin of things is not situated in any place or moment of past time; it is produced now, at each instant, in our minds." Page 127: "The mind is comparable with space; like space it has neither interior or exterior; in its depths one finds nothing but the Void."

In the seventies, Alan Watts lamented the fact that it was unavailable in print in the US. We are so lucky now! It is short, beautifully, clearly, articulately written and translated. It makes the most difficult topics quite clear. I have read literally hundreds of books on spirituality and this is the best by far!

An enlightening introduction to Tibetan Buddhism by a truly extraordinary human being was cited by Alan Watts in one of his lectures, and the book did not disappoint. Not light reading, but it definitely gave me thought-provoking concepts for my daily meditation. Only downside, I finished the book in about two hours. Will definitely read again and am sure I will learn more and more as I do revisit it.

I have been trying to work through this book since I was given a 1st edition of it wayyy back in 1969. Not that it is a difficult read, heck - it's rather skinny. But the concepts/precepts contained in it REMAIN a "secret" to me, even to this day. One thing I DO know for sure; you cannot KEEP this book! You will be tempted to loan it to someone, and they will NEVER return it. EVER. Even people who always return things will find an excuse to keep it, I know this for a fact. This time, I ordered 2 copies. That makes a grand total of about a dozen copies I have purchased through the years. After so many years, I am hoping to grasp the contents this time around. Have no doubt: the authors recognize the reader as likely an idiot, and say so. But they do their best to assist. (If you want to see someone's head explode, try discussing the contents with a dyed-in-the-wool Fundamentalist Anything - or better yet, a Catholic. THEY will tell you all are simply "Mysteries" of the Universe!) Alexandra David-Neel and Lama Yongden allow one to unravel those mysteries, those "secrets" if you will. I think. I dunno. 42+ years later, I still don't quite "get" it. Good Luck to You! Update: 45+ years study now, and I know even less now than I did back in the 60's when first gifted with a copy of this book. I don't know what I know as a result of reading this. I used to know what it was I did NOT know, but further reading has changed even that. I am purchasing a copy today for my grandson. When I asked his age on his birthday recently, he stated "Everyone thinks I'm seven years old. I'm not supposed to tell how old I really am". When I inquired further, he started chuckling, jumping up and down whilst making animal noises, and ran away screaming and laughing, refusing any further discussion on the matter. I am hoping HE can give me a few explanations.

David-Neel was a remarkable woman. This is the first written Vajrayana teaching in English. It 's an oral tradition so it will be difficult to use or understand without being given by an authorized lama who has the transmission. But with oral instruction from an authentic lama, these teachings are good and it's interesting to see them from a European.

A rudimentary book that's for sure in the teachings of Tibetan Buddhism. It is filled with intrinsic philosophies that appear to be secrets back in the day but today most are known or at least I am aware of some. I love the metaphors especially the germination of seeds in being and awareness. Some of the book is complex due to the nature of Tibet an words and how the meanings translate to us in English. The book I will read again and for sure highly recommend it. A+++

I'm giving it a 5 star in spite of publishing issues. I bought this book because Alan Watts recommended it in one of his lectures and it surpassed my expectations. Publishing values are a bit low, looks like it was just cut and paste without any formatting adjustments. Also, for a book this good, I'd like to see it in a Kindle version so I can highlight text, export notes, and directly search unfamiliar terms. Aside from that, the content is great.

Perfect Sehr schnell sehr gut. Danke dir. Very interesting book and one that everyone should read. Not too esoteric and had some good learning points

One of my favourite books

Alexandra David-Néel is well known for her audacity, a trait of character that one can find in her writings as well. In this book, she explains basic aspects of Tibetan Buddhism with pretty clear paragraphs and amazing fluidity. I recommend it completely.

Bought as a gift and very gratefully received.

very old english. Hard to read. It is suppose to be that way, but it does teach a couple of things but there are better books that explore this properly.