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List Price: $19.95 | | Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Salesrank: 200918
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Editorial Review:
The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation, which was unknown to the Western world until its first publication in 1954, speaks to the quintessence of the Supreme Path, or Mah=ay=ana, and fully reveals the yogic method of attaining Enlightenment. Such attainment can happen, as shown here, by means of knowing the One Mind, the cosmic All-Consciousness, without recourse to the postures, breathings, and other techniques associated with the lower yogas. The original text for this volume belongs to the Bardo Thödol series of treatises concerning various ways of achieving transcendence, a series that figures into the Tantric school of the Mah=ay=ana. Authorship of this particular volume is attributed to the legendary Padma-Sambhava, who journeyed from India to Tibet in the 8th century, as the story goes, at the invitation of a Tibetan king. Padma-Sambhava's text per se is preceded by an account of the great guru's own life and secret doctrines. It is followed by the testamentary teachings of the Guru Phadampa Sangay, which are meant to augment the thought of the other gurus discussed herein.
Still more useful supplementary material will be found in the book's introductory remarks, by its editor Evans-Wentz and by the eminent psychoanalyst C. G. Jung. The former presents a 100-page General Introduction that explains several key names and notions (such as Nirv=ana, for starters) with the lucidity, ease, and sagacity that are this scholar's hallmark; the latter offers a Psychological Commentary that weighs the differences between Eastern and Western modes of thought before equating the "collective unconscious" with the Enlightened Mind of the Buddhist. As with the other three volumes in the late Evans-Wentz's critically acclaimed Tibetan series, all four of which are being published by Oxford in new editions, this book also features a new Foreword by Donald S. Lopez.
The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation: Or the Method of Realizing Nirvana through Knowing the Mind Reviews:
A mistaken interpretation of Dzogchen and Tibetan Buddhism 
2005-01-01 - This text has now been published as "Self-Liberation Through Seeing With Naked Awareness" translated by John Myrdhin Reynolds and published by Snow Lion. This edition by Evans-Wentz is basically a misinterpretation of Tibetan Buddhism in general and of Dzogchen in particular. In the book "Self-Liberation Through Seeing With Naked Awareness" over forty pages are given to a detailed discussion of Evans-Wentz and Jung's basic misunderstandings. This alone is well worth reading so you can make up your own mind before (if) you decide to get the Evans-Wentz version. I have found the translation by John Myrdhin Reynolds to be far superior and truly inspirational.
backward-foreword 
2004-07-11 - Having returned to this marvelous work recently after an incident in my life required it, I was shocked to be reminded of the disturbing foreword, which detracts from the majesty of the actual work and Evans-Wentz's accompanying interpretations.
Without dwelling too long on the foreword, written by Donald S. Lopez, Jr., let me say that it strikes me as one of the most long-winded, derogatory and self-serving forewords I have ever seen in a book; not to mention the fact that the foreword is advertised on the cover of this edition. Donald Lopez insults Evans-Wentz on every page and goes on to tear down Jung, as well.
There are genuine reasons for why marvelous works by men such as W.Y. Evans-Wentz stay in print, and they go far beyond the bruised egos of stoic/pedantic academics like Lopez. When so-called Buddhist scholars, such as Lopez and Thurman, project themselves as arrogant intellectuals, it contradicts everything that Evans-Wentz stood for.
Oxford University Press should be ashamed for pulling in a voice so anti-thetical to the spirit of this work. The work, itself, is awesome and is hindered only by the hypercritical Lopez touch.
One of the best 
2004-05-06 - This is one of the earliest and still one of the best volumes to come out of the still-intact Tibetan region into the English language. Lots of Voltage.
It's interesting to see in these reviews how many people want to show off what they know.
Best Wishes
The 4th book in the Tibetan Series by W.Y.Evans-Wentz
2003-11-26 - This is the forth and final book in the Tibetan series from W.Y.Evans-Wentz. Although this book can be used as a stand-alone book it is certainly not best read that way. Basically this is part of a developing series. The first book in the Tibetan series - The Tibetan Book of the Dead, is the fundamental book of the series which describes Buddhist philosophy, psychology and metaphysics. It is the best translation out there and the original! The second book in the series is called Tibets Greatest Yogi Milarepa and is the story of a great yogi who puts into practice most of what we learn from The Tibetan Book of the Dead. It is through the story of Milarepa that we learn more about The Tibetan Book of the Dead. In the story of Milarepa the yogi studies the Seven Books of Wisdom of the Great Path as taught to him by his gurus. Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines, the third book in the series, is an expansion that explains those wisdoms and describes the yoga that is used to achieve them.
The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation is a three act book which ties together everything learned from the other three books. Essentially the start of the book develops a clearer understanding of the metaphysics associated with the first three books in the form of a general introduction. The book then lays out the premise for a type of yoga practice called the Supreme Path or Mahayana, that was created to serve as an INSTANT ENLIGHTENMENT yoga. It is mostly psychological. The middle section of the book is devoted to the guru Padma-Sambhava who brought this yoga to Buddhists in the eighth century. The latter part of the book expounds on that yoga in a full translation.
Make no mistake about it. This is the ORIGINAL and best work because this was the man who brought the work to the occident! These texts are ancient and old but have served millions since their inception. The work that Evans-Wentz has done here is substantial if not some of the most important Tibetan Buddhist concepts ever seen by the occident - all directly translated by master gurus whom which Dr. W.Y.Evans-Wentz was a student for years.
There is nothing wrong with the translation. Forget those who seek to play down the originals so that they can sell their new version. This book has stood the test of time. It was first published in 1954! The original book in the series was published in 1921! Evans-Wentz was in Tibet at the turn of the century learning under these gurus! He is held is highest esteem by Oxford University for his endeavors!
*** The other books in the series are - The Tibetan Book of the dead - Tibets Greatest Yogi Milarepa - Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines - all before this one, the final book in the Tibetan Series. ***
Ian Myles Slater on: Still Worth It, But Check Competition
2003-11-26 - The title text of this collection of translations has recently appeared in a significantly clearer and better-annotated translation, as "Self-Liberation Through Seeing With Naked Awareness." Like the other three books in W.Y. Evans-Wentz's "Oxford Tibetan Series," it suffers from a dependence on Tibetan translators working at time when few clear guidelines for translating technical terms had been developed, and from Evans-Wentz's own lack of familiarity with Mahayana Buddhism and its various schools. (Which apparently has not prevented it from achieving its own canonical status with some readers; a process not unknown in the history of translations, from the Christian adoption of the Septuagint in place of its Hebrew original, to some Chinese -- and Tibetan -- renderings of Buddhist Sanskrit texts.)
As Lopez points out in his introduction to this new edition (part of an end-of-the-century reissue of the series, in which the publisher formally acknowledges over a half-century of additional scholarship), Theosophy and Hinduism are the real points of departure. There is a commentary to the translation offered by C.G. Jung, which is of great importance to students -- but of Jung, not of Tibetan Buddhism. The historical significance, and sometimes impressive literary quality, of the translation series is enduring; its value as a set of primary sources is not.
However, a large section of the book is given over to an (abridged) translation of one of the traditional biographies of the *Lotus-Born Guru*, the "Apostle to the Tibetans." In western terms, it is a mix of popular hagiography (like "The Golden Legend"), heroic romance, and supernatural thriller. So far as I have been able to determine, it is the only English-language version of this particular text (there are other Tibetan treatments of the subject, a number of which have been translated), and it makes fascinating reading, simply as a piece of story-telling.
The translation of the story has extensive, and sometimes obsolete, annotations which attempt to tie down the places and times mentioned, but which also recognize that portions, at least, are intended to be symbolic or allegorical (which does not mean that the original audience would not have regarded them as literally true, as well). Padma-Sambhava, besides introducing advanced forms of Buddhist Yoga, is supposed to have written, and concealed for future generations, a number of important texts, including, besides the one translated as "The Great Liberation," the so-called "Tibetan Book of the Dead" (Evans-Wentz's catchy, but potentially misleading, title). He also appears as a major character in some versions of the Tibetan "Gesar" epic.
The presence of this fascinating piece of Tibetan literature may account for the interesting fact that Snow Lion, the publisher of the competing "Self-Liberation Through Seeing With Naked Awareness," offers this book in its catalogue as well (as of Summer 2003).
Those who find this portion of the book interesting will probably also enjoy the traditional "biography" of a Tibetan holy man, in "Tibet's Great Yogi Milarepa," another volume edited by Evans-Wentz. (It is a companion volume in the Oxford Tibetan series). It presents itself as its hero's own account of his progression from black magician (to avenge his family) to Enlightenment. (There are several editions of the translation available; the 1999 Oxford paperback reprinting, uniform with the present volume, including a new introduction, should be in print at this writing.)
