September Book Review - Ancient Teachings in Modern Times

Venerable Losang Samten will be in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan on September 5 & 6th while on tour here in Canada. We are so fortunate to have him come to the John M. Cuelenaere Public Library and The Forestry Centre. Please see poster in last blog for more details. I have also posted other blogs regarding his Sand Mandalas.

 

 

So, on that note I thought it fitting that the book review for this month be his latest work -
Ancient Teachings in Modern Times - Buddism in the 21st Century, by Losang Samtem and edited by Lori Petruskevich.

First a bit about Losang from the back inner cover:

Venerable Lama Losang Samten is a renowned Tibetan scholar, spiritual teacher, and artist.  Losang fled his homeland with his family in 1959 following occupation of Tibet by Communist Cina.  They first settled in Nepal and then resettled in India in 1963.  He became a monk in 1966 and in 1969 moved to Dharmasala, where he joined the Namgyal Monastery (the monastery of His Holiness the Dalai Lama).  Losang earned a Master's Degree in Sutra and Tantra, which is the highest degree attainable at the monastery, equivalent to a doctoral degree in the West.  He also became a Master of Ritual Dance and Sand Mandalas.  He was the personal attendant to His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama prior to moving to the United States in 1988, as one of the Masters who created the first public sand mandala in the West.  Losang has led an illustrious career creating sacred sand mandalas in museums, universities, and galleries throughout the USA, Canada, Mexico and Europe.
Losang received the National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, a PEW Fellowship, and two honorary doctoral degrees from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, and the Maine College of Art. Losang played the role of the attendant to the young Dalai Lama in Martin Scorsese's film Kundun, where he also served as the religious technical advisor and sand mandala supervisor.

As the back cover suggests, this book is written is such a way that you really do feel as if you are sitting down in conversation with Losang.  The book is divided into about 16 chapters giving words of wisdom on Spirituality, Buddhism, Karma, Meditation, Types of Meditation, Motivation, Finding a Teacher, Retreats, Death and Dying and ending with Hopes and Dreams. He explains why the ancient teachings are still so important and relevant in today's world and why we need to preserve them, maybe even more so as the pace of life and technology increases.
The back cover says, "He masterfully weaves together the story of how the teachings of the Buddha can help anyone of any culture or faith achieve greater peace and joy by practicing loving kindness and compassion."

One can truly feel this love and compassion from Losang as he writes in his Acknowledgements,
"It is my heartfelt desire that this book will be of benefit to those who read it and that it will help everyone to find peace, love and joy.  I love you all." 

Namaste.
Pamela Nelson
www.plnyoga.vpweb.com