Myriad Worlds

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Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Tayé (1813–99),a pivotal figure in the nonsectarian movement of eastern Tibet, was one of the most outstanding writers and teachers of his time. In his monumental Encyclopedia of Buddhism, he presents a complete account of the major lines of thought and practice that comprise Tibetan Buddhism. Myriad Worlds is the first part of that work.As a prelude to Kongtrul's survey of the entire range of Buddhist teachings, Myriad Worlds describes four major cosmological systems found in the Tibetan tradition—those associated with the Hīnayāna, Mahāyāna, Kālacakra, and Dzog-chen teachings. To suit the capacities of different grades of beings, Buddha taught four levels of cosmology: the numerically definite cosmology of the individual way; the cosmology of infinite buddhafields of the universal way; the special cosmological system of the Kālacakra Tantra; and the dazzling non-cosmology of the Dzog-chen system, which dispenses with the dualistic perspective, revealing the creative principle to be awareness alone.Each of these cosmologies shows how the world arises from mind, whether through the accumulated results of past actions or from the constant striving of awareness to know itself.This detailed and thorough account of worldviews that present conceptions of space and time which differ significantly from Western ideas is at once illuminating and challenging.