A Beginner’s Guide to Tibetan Buddhism – Book Review

This is an attempt to review Bruce Newman’s A Beginner’s Guide to Tibetan Buddhism. I am trying to consider what the book had to say to a pagan or occultist audience. This is not the target audience of this book so it might fail to reflect the aim and intention of the author, but that is the target audience of the Magic Pure and Simple and the perspective I could write from.

I often found that when I hung around without Occultists that had studied Buddhism, they would fill my ears with Sanskrit and Tibetan words and sometimes even those same words in Chinese or Japanese, but to in fact give me very little information indeed. Much to my dismay, it almost felt like one of Occultism’s many opportunities for people to show off their intelligence, but throw wisdom to the wind. It was just plain rude – rudeness of which I am also guilty. Luckily Bruce Newman explains all the words he uses.

I remember one time when someone pointed me to a website about some New Age practice, which was filled with various made-up words. I was told that if I didn’t understand their made-up jargon then I obviously wasn’t a very advanced student of the hidden arts. Yes, that’s right, because I’m not capable of mind-reading the author of some website, that’s an indication there is something wrong with my practice. Bullcrap! Well, I politely told them to fuck off and die. The truth be told if you really had faith in your art, the places/states it had taken you and the depths of it, then you wouldn’t need to dress it up in posh foreign or made-up words. Be confident about your path and present it in plain English. That just what this book does with Tibetan Buddhism.

Bruce Newman is obviously confident about Tibetan Buddhism and introduces a few common words to the reader, but doesn’t want to alienate his reader so keeps the terms to a minimum and writes in plain English.

Many books on Buddhism are also littered with Sanskrit, Pali and Tibetan terms because they are written for a student part way down the path. Luckily this one IS NOT. Baffling people with terms is not the way forward so I have to praise this book. Naturally, the easiest and most fruitful way to speak to people is in plain English and this book tries to do just that. Yes, it is filled with Sanskrit and Tibetan words, but it takes every opportunity to explain each word so a newbie will not get completely lost. A few chapters in, you could end up a little confused with all the different names for teachers in Tibetan and what each one means, but this is one of the first really good books for Tibetan Buddhism, which is written for someone without knowledge on the subject.

A pagan or occultist that wants to know what the Buddhist terms which are being referred to by their favourite author could easily start with this book, but the seeming lack of focus on different Buddhist trance states or meditations means this book won’t get you there and I would point you towards some Pali based texts, but this is still a great read.

The occultist reader might be a little upset that this book does not contain many exercises and meditations like most books on the Occult. The author instead recognises that Tibetan Buddhism is something best learned from a teacher and to write it in the book would not do it justice, so he avoids doing so altogether. If you’re looking for a book with instructions on how to get started then this is NOT the book for you, but neither is Tibetan Buddhism since it is a path which is entirely transmitted by teacher, not by books. For a meditation teacher I would really recommend Jetsunna Palermo Tenzin speaking on mind training / lojong or meditation, she’s a very down-to-earth, almost comical and famous western teacher with lots of online talks. If you want to do this from a book, my friends would point you to Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha by Ingram, which I have never completed, but from which I have gained incredible insight.

I am also a believer in taking things from other religions and incorporating in Paganism and Occultism, since many of those religions have had years and years to build up philosophical systems and good practices, but Neo-Paganism is a mixing pot of many recreations of different ancient practices and devotions to very different deities without the full knowledge of how they were practiced in their time.

You may have read from me that I believe very much in the Christian practice of saying Grace since this practice of recounting the things for which you are grateful on a regular basis makes you more grateful and positive in the rest of your life. Tibetan Buddhism is no different and this book offers some great insight with practicing various mental states such as compassion through regular compassion prayers can lead to a more compassionate life.

Tibetan Buddhism is an extremely philosophical path that requires copious levels of self-analysis and introspection. From this deep analysis comes offers many tid-bits and quotes to help us on our path. For example, the Buddhist is spurred on to achieve realization, but like many Occultists will experience the “dark night of the soul” (The period where we begin to lose faith and the chances of success appear slim). However, when the Buddhist reaches this point they are instructed to remember that they must continue on because they are not only fighting to free themselves for their own benefit, but so they have the enlightenment and opportunity to help the community that could learn from their newly found wisdom.

In one section, where the author considers the many ways his practice went wrong, he points out the importance of questioning oneself about the reason why one chooses to work the path that they do. This has a crucial effect on the success of most spiritual paths. The first time I read this book, his comments were the inspiration for an early version of my “Rant on Self Delusion“. It would seem by the time you come to end of these chapters you might come to the conclusion that at no point can you assume you are not deluding yourself, but I would say welcome to Tibetan Buddhism because only this state of continuously questioning has the potential to free a person from the illusions of our reality.

The author lists and debates the 4 thoughts, which are motivations for any Buddhist to take up the practice to liberate themselves and they could easily apply to Paganism as well. See my 4 thoughts for Pagans.To try and make them more relevant to my audience, I have bastardized them. A practice I often rebuke other writers for, but I did it all the same. Please see them here.

Because the author expects that a student learn the practices from a lama, the Occultist will find this book distinctly absent of meditations and exercises. These are often present in most pagan and occultist books to give the student more practical knowledge and to engage the audience, especially in a time when we are used to reading short things at a time. The absence of meditations may disappoint my audience. What’s worse is some of the meditations and visualisations that the author describes could be unhealthy.

For example, tong-len where the practitioner visually absorbs the pain of others and sends out happiness and joy instead. To a competent practitioner of energy work this could be dangerous to their body. Also, I’m a strong believer that if you constantly remove someone else’s pain then they do not learn the lesson that the pain teaches and your relationship to them could be like that of an Energy Vampire, always needing something from you.

Another meditation is an invocation of Vajrasattva Buddha and drawing it’s energy through the crown to purify the body. My issue here is that the student does not have a connection to the Vajrasattva and could potentially invoke anything. Observe how Doreen Virtue has some ideas of certain Angels which just don’t match their more historical descriptions. She successfully invokes some ideas of Angels that she has in her head rather than the forces that actually exist in the universe. This becomes clear when she channels information so different from any Angelic Grimmoire worker who’s visions of match biblical and Talmudic literature. I’m concerned a practitioner with no knowledge of Vajrasattva could summon anything. Anyone who wishes to do this meditation which is not recommended without a teacher in the book, must definitely research the Vajrasattva and at least chant his mantra to ensure they do not summon something else or tap into a thought-form. This is why Vajra Buddhism is always intended to be a teacher to student transmission. To pass the true spirit of its teachings.

If you want to have a good experience of Tibetan Buddhism go learn it from a teacher. This book is no substitute and it admits to that. It’s not written for a Pagan or Occultist audience. It does however provide a good indepth understanding of Tibetan Buddhism in an accessible way.