The Tibetan Book of Meditation Released
Posted: April 10th, 2009 | Author: admin | Filed under: Recent Coverage |
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The Tibetan Book of Meditation
Lama Christie McNally reveals an experiential roadmap to help Westerners explore the classic meditations of Buddhism
“The real goal of meditation is to transform your mind completely, which you cannot do simply by watching the breath. You must teach your mind about the true nature of things, and you must teach your heart how to love. And the Tibetans have very wonderful and specific meditations to help us reach both those goals.”
⎯ Lama Christie McNally
April 19th, 2009 (New York, NY) Anyone who has ever wanted an easy roadmap into the deep meditation practices of Tibetan Buddhism need look no further. The Tibetan Book of Meditation is a synthesis of all the great Tibetan commentaries on meditation, starting from Master Kamalashila, who brought meditation to Tibet in 900AD, and continuing up to modern day.
Perhaps equally intriguing is the gender of the author of this book, as Tibetan Buddhism has long been dominated by men. For the past six years, Lama Christie McNally, a young Western woman, born and raised in California, has been traveling the world teaching and in so doing, changing the face of Buddhism.
“I am definitely changing things, although I really can’t take any credit for it,” says Lama Christie. “It was my Lama, Geshe Michael Roach, who had this vision, and he was expanding on the vision of his own root Lama, Khen Rinpoche Geshe Lobsang Tharchin. They both saw that if Buddhist thought were to expand in the West, it would have to be offered to and taught by men and women equally.”
Lama Christie McNally is one of the best-trained Western women in the art of Tibetan Buddhist meditation. She has spent 12 years rigorously studying and translating Tibetan monastic texts at the feet of Buddhist masters, including 6 combined years in isolated silent meditation retreat.
The Tibetan monastic commentaries on meditation are extremely difficult and rarely studied by Westerners. However, The Tibetan Book of Meditation as shared by Lama Christie makes the path of meditation easy.
“I wanted to bring meditation to the girl I used to be, in college, the one who was searching so desperately for answers, for a path,” says Lama Christie. “I am hoping that this book will find its way to all those out there who are still searching.”
The Tibetan Book of Meditation is the first solo authored book by Lama Christie McNally. She is the co-author with Geshe Michael Roach of The Essential Yoga Sutra, How Yoga Works, and The Eastern Path to Heaven.
The Tibetan Book of Meditation retails for $14.00 and is available May 19, 2009 through Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com. To give potential readers a taste of the beauty and clarity of the book, the first four chapters are available for free download at http://www.TibetanBookofMeditation.com. Also, guided audio meditations from Lama Christie herself are available for free on the book’s website.
About Lama Christie McNally
Lama Christie McNally trained in Tibetan monasteries in India and Nepal, and received extensive instruction in all the texts required for a Geshe degree, which is traditionally a 20-year course of study. From there, she immersed herself in the secret teachings of Buddhism. She is one of the first Western women to be recognized as a Lama. Through her efforts, she has begun to change the face of Buddhism that has historically been predominantly male.
She is a translator of ancient Tibetan and Sanskrit, and a professor of religious studies. She has also co-authored The Essential Yoga Sutra, How Yoga Works, and The Eastern Path to Heaven.
Lama Christie is the co-founder of Diamond Mountain University, a revolutionary effort to provide without charge a classical monastic education to westerners of all walks of life, to be used within the modern world.
From 2000 to 2003, Lama Christie completed a traditional Great Retreat of 3 years, 3 months, and 3 days of silence and meditation, in the wilderness of the southern Arizona desert. To learn more visit:
http://www.TibetanBookofMeditation.com
The Tibetan Book of Meditation
by Lama Christie McNally
Available May 19th, 2009 ♦ $14.00 ♦ Paperback ♦ Doubleday