The Tibetan Buddhist tradition has known over thirteen centuries of continuous development. During that time, it has spread among the neighboring peoples the Mongol, Himalayan, and Siberian peoples, Manchus and Chinese. At its height is has been practiced in regions as far west as the Volga river and to the east in Beijing. Its capacity for creative adaptation is demonstrated by its recent growth in Europe and America. At the same time, it is at the center of political contestation in ethnically Tibetan regions of China, while its best known exponent, the Dalai Lama, has become one of the most admired religious leaders in the world today. But what does this religion teach? Just what is the position of the Dalai Lama, and how will his succession be assured? Is it true that Tibetan Buddhism in entirely suppressed in China? Scholar Matthew Kapstein offers a brief account responding to these questions and more in this Very Short Introduction, in terms that are accessible to students, general readers, journalists, and others who are curious to learn the most essential features of Tibetan Buddhist history, teachings, and practice.

Tibetan Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction, Matthew T. Kapstein, Oxford University Press, Paperback, 130 pp, $11.95

Matthew T. Kapstein is Director of Tibetan Studies at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes in Paris and Numata Visiting Professor of Buddhist Studies at the University of Chicago. He has published fifteen books, including The Tibetans (2006), The Rise of Wisdom Moon (2009), and Buddhism Between Tibet and China (2009), and is co-editor of the journal History of Religions.

CONTENTS: Tibetan Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction
	List of Illustrations	xiii
	Acknowledgments	xv
	Languages and pronunciation	xvi
	Map: Tibet and Neighboring Regions	xviii
1	The world of gods, demons, and men	1
2	Sources of Tibetan religious traditions	12
3	The growth of the orders and schools	29
4	Spiritual exercise and the path of the bodhisattva	45
5	Philosophical developments and disputes	62
6	Enlightenment in this very body	79
7	When this life ends	93
8	Tibetan Buddhism today	106
	References and further reading	117
	Index	123