GESHE LHUNDUB SOPA, LEONARD ZWILLING, MICHAEL J. SWEET : PEACOCK IN THE POISON GROVE Two Buddhist Texts on Training the Mind

Geshe Sopa offers insightful commentary on two of the earliest Tibetan texts that focus on mental training.Peacock in the Poison Grove presents powerful yogic methods of dispelling the selfish delusions of the ego and maintaining purity in our motives. Geshe Sopa’s lucid explanations teach how we can fight the egocentric enemy within by realizing the truth of emptiness and by developing a compassionate, loving attitude toward others.

• Paperback
• 320 pages, 6.00 x 9.00 inches
• ISBN 9780861711857

Born in the Tsang region of Tibet in 1923, Geshe Lhundub Sopa was both a spiritual master and a respected academic. He rose from a humble background to complete his geshe studies at Sera Je Monastic University in Lhasa with highest honors and was privileged to serve as a debate opponent for the Dalai Lama’s own geshe examination in 1959. He moved to New Jersey in the United States in 1963 and in 1967 began teaching in the Buddhist Studies Program at University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he was professor emeritus. In 1975, he founded the Deer Park Buddhist Center in Oregon, Wisconsin, site of the Dalai Lama’s first Kalachakra initiation granted in the West. He is the author of several books in English, including the five-volume comprehensive teaching, Steps on the Path to Enlightenment.

Geshe Lhundub Sopa passed away on August 28, 2014, at the age of 91. His Holiness the Dalai Lama composed a prayer of request for the swift return of Geshe Sopa.

Other books by Geshe Lhundub Sopa:
Nāgārjuna’s Advice for Buddhists
The Crystal Mirror of Philosophical Systems
Steps on the Path to Enlightenment, Vol. 5
Like a Waking Dream
Steps on the Path to Enlightenment, Vol. 3
Steps on the Path to Enlightenment, Vol. 2
Steps on the Path to Enlightenment, Vol. 1
Steps on the Path to Enlightenment, Vol. 4

Leonard Zwilling studied with Geshe Wangyal from 1967 to 1978 and graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison with a BA in 1970, going on to receive an MA in Hindu studies (1972) and a PhD in Buddhist studies (1976) also at UW-Madison. His dissertation, on apoha in Buddhist logic, was directed by Geshe Lhundub Sopa. He did predoctoral research in Sri Lanka (1973–74) and Nepal (1974–75) under Ford Foundation and Fulbright-Hays scholarships. From 1977 to 1983 Dr. Zwilling taught Asian religions, Sanskrit, and Tibetan at UW-Madison and elsewhere. He received an MLS from UW-Madison in 1985 and from 1986 to 2009 was the general editor and bibliographer of the Dictionary of American Regional English in the department of English at UW-Madison, where he is presently senior scientist emeritus. Dr. Zwilling has published in a number of fields, and since 2005 his work has centered on Ippolito Desideri and missions in Tibet.

Other books by Leonard Zwilling:
Mission to Tibet

Michael Sweet received a PhD in Buddhist Studies in 1977 from the University of Wisconsin–Madison under the direction of Geshe Lhundub Sopa. From 1977–78 he taught and did research at the American Institute of Buddhist Studies. After later graduate studies, he was a psychotherapist in public and private practice (1980–2004) and a sometime lecturer at UW Madison, where he has been an assistant clinical professor in the Department of Psychiatry. He has written extensively on the history of sexuality in South Asia and on Buddhist Studies. Since 2001 his research has focused on Ippolito Desideri and the Catholic missions in Tibet. Current research focuses on the first mission to Tibet, led by the Portuguese Jesuit Antonio de Andrade.

Other books by Michael J. Sweet:
Mission to Tibet