Gateway to the Temple- A Manual of Tibetan Buddhist Monastic Customs, Art, Building and Celebrations

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About the Book Gateway to the Temple is a unique manual of Tibetan Buddhist monastic culture and art that briefly treats even temple building and mural decoration. A precious contribution when its author wrote it in the 1960s, it remains highly relevant today. The present corrected and visually expanded version by Vajra Books reintroduces a hitherto overlooked and forgotten masterwork.

About the Book The late Chogye Trichen Rinpoche (1919-2007) was one of the greatest Tibetan masters of his generation, not only for his own Sakya tradition but also for Tibetan Buddhism as a whole. His experience in building or renovating temples in Tibet led him to become almost uniquely knowledgeable about the various relevant subjects of Buddhist culture, including architecture and sacred art.

"Khyabje Chogye Trichen Rinpoche was a very great master and important lineage holder in the Sakyapa tradition. He was a highly respected teacher, not only for me, but also for thousands of devoted disciples throughout the world."

Foreword The late Venerable Chogye Trichen Rinpoche was one of the greatest living masters of Tibetan Buddhism. Born in 1919 into the Shalu Kushang noble family of religious patrons, at the age of just ten he was appointed abbot of Phenyul Nalendra Monastery, and in 1959, at age thirty, he fled from Tibet to Nepal and India. Until his passing away in Nepal in 2007, most of his remaining life he spent in the continual study and practice of Buddhism. (On the life and times of Chogye Rinpoche, interested readers may consult my already published biography, Lama of Lamas [Kathmandu: Vajra Publications].

Introduction In 1962 the Cultural Office of the Tibetan exile government in Dharamsala needed to establish readers and textbooks, and for that reason people were then compiling information about the characteristically Tibetan religious customs and the worthwhile aspects of Tibet's ancient secular ways of life, such as farming. At that time I was requested to write about how to enter the monastic order, construct temples, and observe the holy days.

**Contents and Sample Pages**