The Madman's Middle Way: Reflections on Reality of the Tibetan Monk Gendun Chopel (Buddhism and Modernity Series) - Softcover

Lopez Jr., Donald S.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0226493172 ISBN 13: 9780226493176

Publisher: University of Chicago Press, 2007

Synopsis

Gendun Chopel is considered the most important Tibetan intellectual of the twentieth century. His life spanned the two defining moments in modern Tibetan history: the entry into Lhasa by British troops in 1904 and by Chinese troops in 1951. Recognized as an incarnate lama while he was a child, Gendun Chopel excelled in the traditional monastic curriculum and went on to become expert in fields as diverse as philosophy, history, linguistics, geography, and tantric Buddhism. Near the end of his life, before he was persecuted and imprisoned by the government of the young Dalai Lama, he would dictate the Adornment for Nagarjuna’s Thought, a work on Madhyamaka, or “Middle Way,” philosophy.  It sparked controversy immediately upon its publication and continues to do so today.

The Madman’s Middle Way presents the first English translation of this major Tibetan Buddhist work, accompanied by an essay on Gendun Chopel’s life liberally interspersed with passages from his writings. Donald S. Lopez Jr. also provides a commentary that sheds light on the doctrinal context of the Adornment and summarizes its key arguments. Ultimately, Lopez examines the long-standing debate over whether Gendun Chopel in fact is the author of the Adornment; the heated critical response to the work by Tibetan monks of the Dalai Lama’s sect; and what the Adornment tells us about Tibetan Buddhism’s encounter with modernity. The result is an insightful glimpse into a provocative and enigmatic workthatwill be intrigue anyone seriously interested in Buddhism or Asian religions.

About this title

About the Author

Donald S. Lopez Jr. is the Arthur E. Link Distinguished University Professor of Buddhist and Tibetan Studies in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Michigan.

Review

"Lopez has provided the first Western-language translation of the most important work by one of the most brilliant and controversial Tibetan thinkers of modern times. This is a book that tells us much about what has happened over the last century of Tibet's cultural and intellectual history." - Roger Jackson, Carleton College"

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0226493172
• ISBN 13: 9780226493176
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 272