Being Human in a Buddhist World

Reviews / Votes

An amazing book and a stellar contribution to Columbia University Press's growing catalog of Tibetan and Tibetan Buddhist studies, for it will be the key book on medicine and religion in Tibet for this generation. Like Janet Gyatso's book on autobiography, her new book on medicine will simply be field defining. Little of this literature has received attention to date, and in fact much of it has only been available to a contemporary international scholarly audience for a decade or so. -- Kurtis R. Schaeffer, University of Virginia Janet Gyatso's long-awaited Being Human in a Buddhist World is the most important study of Tibetan medicine in the English language, surpassing previous scholarship in the scope of its history, the extent of its research, and the depth of its insights. Yet it is also more than that. It is the rare work that causes us to rethink the foundations of our field, leaving readers with both answers and questions about what is encompassed by terms like 'Tibetan Buddhism' and 'medical science.' -- Donald Lopez, University of Michigan This book is a fascinating, lucid, and profound exploration of the history in Tibet of the mentality and practices, both empirical and discursive, of probative medicine within the context of Buddhist civilization, a concept introduced and used as a more broad category than that of a 'Buddhism' concerned primarily with ideals of human perfection and supernatural realms. Moving deftly between fine-grained analysis of textual and visual materials from the seventh to seventeenth centuries and an open-ended discussion of large-scale historical and cultural issues, the book makes a significant contribution not only to Tibetan and Buddhist studies but also to current debates on the historiography and philosophy of the interactions and conflicts between religion and science. -- Steven Collins, University of Chicago Janet Gyatso's book is an extraordinarily sophisticated presentation of the history of Tibetan Buddhist medical practice from the inside out-an account that is deeply grounded in Tibetan language sources while never losing sight of key analytical, historical, and methodological questions pertinent to recent debates in the history of medicine and Buddhist studies, not to mention wider studies in the history of culture and literature in South Asia and beyond. This book will be a landmark in the study of South Asian medical traditions. What distinguishes it from other studies is its complexity of vision. It deftly traces the surprising entanglements of Buddhist doctrine, state patronage, and social power with both scholastic medical traditions and medical practitioners on the ground to give us a historical picture that is compellingly nuanced and refreshingly open-clearing the path for future research. -- Daud Ali, University of Pennsylvania A fascinating intellectual history by a mature scholar at the top of her game. Choice Written in a brilliant style, with engaging language... This exceptional work is an inspiring and valuable contribution to a broad range of medical discourses reaching well beyond the world of Tibetan medicine. Isis [Gyatso's] breadth of erudition is matched by the clarity and sophistication with which she frames and explicates her subject matter. Bulletin of the History of Medicine This is a major contribution to the field, and deserves to be widely read. Social History of Medicine Lucid and eloquent... [Being Human in a Buddhist World] is a major contribution to the broader issues of science-religion themes in Asian medicine, and will clearly be outstanding among the works on the history of Tibetan medicine for a long time to come. -- Barbara Gerke Himalaya: The Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies [Being Human in a Buddhist World] greatly increases our understanding of Tibetan medical history, and could complement well readings in a graduate course on the history of science or medicine in Asia. -- Ryan John Jones Religious Studies Review Bridging studies of religion, science, and medicine, Being Human in a Buddhist World will be a valuable resource for scholars interested in thinking through these topics comparatively within and beyond Asian studies. The book will be valued by specialists and in graduate courses for its contributions to Buddhist studies and Tibetan studies, including an overview of the complex Tibetan system of tantric anatomy. At the same time, this intellectual history draws attention to the dearth of social histories of Tibet, and in particular Tibetan medical culture, which might shed further light on the rhetorical contradictions Gyatso identifies among Tibetan medical scholars. -- Stacey Van Vleet Journal of Asian Studies This major publication, the fruit of many years' work and engagement with key sources in the historical development of Tibetan medicine, is likely to remain a landmark in the study of Tibetan medical thought. -- Cathy Cantwell Revue d'Etudes Tibetaines