Author Description

This is the first major anthology of Tibetan poetry to become available in the West. Translators Thupten Jinpa—one of the Dalai Lama's principal interpreters—and Jas' Elsner have created an accessible collection geared toward a general audience. In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, poetry has long been one of the primary means of expressing spiritual experience. The splendid poems in this collection communicate spiritual insight with astonishing grace and precision. Songs of Spiritual Experience includes original translations of fifty-two poems, a lengthy introduction about the role of poetry in Tibetan Buddhism, and a helpful glossary that includes commentary on the poems. The book serves both as an introduction to Tibetan poetry and to Tibetan Buddhist philosophy.