From the time he was a child, Geshe Sopa knew he would be a Buddhist lama. He was not picked like other lamas to inherit the estate of a deceased master as a reincarnate tulku. Born the only child of older farmers, he was allowed to become a monk only through personal persistence. He diligently worked his way up through the ranks of his provincial monastery and eventually become one of the most accomplished scholars of the central monastery in the capital, Lhasa, where he even served as the debate partner of the present Dalai Lama. He witnessed firsthand the turbulent political changes in his homeland during the 1950s, and upon the takeover of Tibet by Chinese Communist forces in 1959, he fled over the Himalayas and went into exile in India. The Dalai Lama chose him in the early 1960s to be part of a delegation sent to the United States under a Rockefeller grant, living first in New Jersey and in 1967 going to Madison, Wisconsin, where he has since lived. There, he began as a lecturer and eventually became a full professor at the University of Wisconsin, training some of todays most well-regarded scholars of Tibetan Buddhism in the U.S. He also founded Deer Park Buddhist Center in Oregon, Wisconsin, which has played host on numerous occasions to large events with the Dalai Lama, including the first Kalachakra initiation given in the West in 1981. Now retired and nearly ninety years old, Geshe Sopa continues to teach and to publish. This account of his years in Tibet preserves valuable insight and details about a now-vanished world.

Like a Waking Dream : The Autobiography of Geshe Lhundub Sopa, Paul Donelly, Wisdom Publications, Hardcover, 249 pp, $24.95

Geshe Sopa's life story is central to the story of Tibetan Buddhism in the West. In shaping generations of leading American scholars of Tibet, he became renowned not just for teaching Buddhist ideas and ideals, but for making them real by personally embodying them. Geshe Sopa is one of the greatest living Buddhist masters of his generation. A consummate scholar and respected university professor, his impact on the establishment of Buddhism (and Buddhist studies) in the United States cannot be overestimated. This marvelous life story, rich in detail and told in his own words, will captivate the hearts and minds of anyone who reads it.

Contents: LIKE A WAKING DREAM: The Autobiography of Geshe Lhundub Sopa, with Paul Donnelly
Foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama	ix
Editor's Preface	xi
Introduction: A Brief History of Tibet	1
1. Life in Tsang	13
2. Early Memories	20
3. The History of Ganden Chonkhor	27
4. The Beginning of My Life as a Monk	32
5. My Relative the Ritual Specialist	36
6. Living the Religious Life at Ganden Chonkhor	40
7. A Young Monk's First Two Teachers	44
8. Daily Assemblies and Classes	46
9. Running Away from the Monastery	49
10. Completing One's Basic Education	52
11. My Uncle and His Position in the Monastery	55
12. Sustenance in the Monastery	58
13. The Structure and Schedule of Education at Ganden Chonkhor	62
14. The System of Philosophical Education	65
15. The Status of Scholar Monks	69
16. The Education of Scholar Monks	71
17. My Teacher Gen Monlam	74
18. Taking the Kalacakra Empowerment the First Time	76
19. Deciding to Go to Sera	79
20. Getting My Parents' Permission	84
21. The Journey to Sera	86
22. History of Sera Monastery	90
23. Entry into Tsangpa Regional House and Sera Je	93
24. Tri Rinpoche	96
25. Geshe Losang Chonden	99
26. Geshe Ngawang Riksal	102
27. Geshe Ngawang Gendun	104
28. Gen Lhundrup Thapkhe and the Pure Monastic Life	106
29. The Monastic Way of Life	109
30. The Disciplinarian's Lecture	116
31. The Curriculum of Education at Sera Je	122
32. Studying and Teaching at Sera Je	124
33. The Structure of Debates at Sera	128
34. The Jang Winter Session	135
35. The Honor of Being Named Rikchung	138
36. The Higher Honor of Being Named Rikchen	143
37. The Diferent Grades of the Geshe Degree	148
38. The Conferring of the Geshe Degree	151
39. Gyume and Gyuto Tantric Colleges	158
40. The Reting Affair and Other Troubles	161
41. Being Named Tutor	171
42. Finding Time for Practice	174
43. Phabongkha Rinpoche and His Legacy	178
44. Teachings from Other Great Lamas	183
45. Vajrayogini Retreat at Phabongkha Labrang	187
46. What I Gained and Lost in Becoming a Tutor	191
47. The Dalai Lama Takes Power and the First Exile	193
48. Gen Lhundrup Thapkhe Is Appointed Abbot of Sera Je	197
49. A Gradual Transformation	199
50. The Tenth Panchen Lama	203
51. Debating the Dalai Lama	205
52. The Tibetan Uprising of 1959	209
53. Deciding to Leave Sera	215
54. The Beginning of the Exile	218
55. A Brief Respite and the Long Journey out of Tibet	222
56. Arriving in India	229
57. Beginning Life as a Refuge	233
58. From Assam to Dalhousie	239
59. Learning to Live in Exile	244
60. Trying to Keep Tibetan Culture Alive	248
61. An Attempted Trip to Bhutan	251
62. A Letter from His Holiness	255
63. The Situation for Those Who Did Not Escape Tibet	259
64. Going to America	261
65. Our New Life in New Jersey	266
66. Beginning to Teach in America	270
67. Starting a Dharma Center	275
68. His Holiness the Dalai Lama's First Visit to Madison	279
69. The First Kalacakra Empowerment in America	281
70. My Return to Tibet	287
71. Meeting the Panchen Lama and the Passing of Gen Thapkhe Rinpoche	290
72. The Recent Past	295
73. The Future	303
Table of Tibetan Spellings	307
Notes	319
Glossary	325
Select Bibliography	333
Index	339