Encyclopaedia of Buddhism: A World Faith, Volume 6: Buddhism Pulsative Himalayas

The volume opens by situating the Himalayas within the geography and history of South and Central Asia and by emphasizing their importance as a meeting zone of cultures, religions, trade routes, and civilizations. The introductory chapter discusses the Himalayas in Vedic, Buddhist, and Jain cosmology; their relationship to the concept of Himavat; their position within Indian religious imagination; and their historical importance for pilgrimage, meditation, and intellectual exchange. It also introduces Buddhist teachings on suffering, karma, liberation, mantra, saṃskāra, and Nirvāṇa as conceptual foundations for the chapters that follow. 

The forty-four chapters then move from Buddhist cosmology and Himalayan symbolism—such as Jambudvīpa, Mount Meru, Śambhala, and Kalacakra—to ethical, philosophical, historical, and geographical subjects. Later chapters focus increasingly on Himalayan Buddhist regions and traditions, including Kyangu, Bonism, Dzogchen, Tibetan monasteries, Lumbinī, Ladakh, Kashmir, Bhutan, Darjeeling, and Kalimpong. The structure thus moves from a broad conceptual understanding of the Himalayas toward specific Buddhist communities, sacred sites, and historical traditions.

Table of Contents

• Foreword

• Preface

• Appreciation

1. Introduction

2. Jambudvipa: A Ring Around Meru

3. Shambhala: The Brilliant Light

4. Pulsating With Life

5. Search for Eternal Truth

6. The Enlightened

7. Tackling Spiritual Issues

8. The Freedom

9. The Seed of Mind

10. No Escape

11. Search for Peace & Happiness

12. Dharma: Essentially A Rule of Interdependence

13. Frowns over Consumption

14. Maintaining Equilibrium

15. Shiva’s Dance

16. Abode of Chaksamwar

17. Thyangboche Monastery: Mount Everest

18. Suffering & Its Cessation

19. Spiritual Magnetism

20. A Requiem for Human Relationship

21. Advent of Socialism

22. Antiquity

23. Buddhist Revival

24. Buddha in Exile

25. Bonism In Himalayas

26. The Essence of Dzogchen

27. Buddhist Monastery

28. Kyangu: The Buddhist Gurukul

29. Roof of the World: A Reality

30. Lumbini, The Birthplace of Gautam, The Buddha Advayavajra

31. The Diadem of India

32. Once Almost Wholly Buddhist Ladakh

33. Buddhist’s Land Ends

34. Pakistan Occupied Kashmir

35. Buddhism in Dev Bhum(i)

36. A Tribal Bodhisattva

37. Indomitable Highlanders

38. Land of Thunder Dragon

39. The Sacred Treasure of Padmasambhava

40. Buddhist Chaksam Tribals

41. The Land of Dawn Lit Mountains

42. Abode of Clouds

43. Kalimpong

44. Darjeeling

• Appraisal & Sum up

Appendices

• Appendix I: Tibetan Monasteries & Nunneries in India

• Appendix II: Eight Buddhas In Ajanta

• Appendix III: Tibetan Zang Zung Dictionary