Awaken: A Tibetan Buddhist Journey Toward Enlightenment

Encouraging personal engagement with Tibetan Buddhism, this dynamic book presents spectacular Himalayan art and explores the philosophical tenets encoded in its imagery. Taking as its theme the universally accessible experience of awakening, or enlightenment, the book’s main text leads readers along an immersive journey of self-discovery, aided by a virtual guide, or lama, and traditional art meant to support meditative practice. Complementary essays examine Tibetan Buddhism’s ritual tools, paintings, symbolic imagery and artistic traditions. Beautiful color images of artworks, including three by contemporary Nepalese American artist Tsherin Sherpa, and selected important details enhance our understanding of their complex iconography.

Awaken: A Tibetan Buddhist Journey Toward Enlightenment will be on view at the Asian Art Museum from January 17 through May 3, 2020.

• Authors: John Henry Rice and Jeffrey S. Durham
• Additional essays by Jeffrey S. Durham, Eric Huntington, Elena Pakhoutova, Katherine Anne Paul, Tsherin Sherpa with Paul Ferguson and Alexander von Rospatt
• Published May 2019
• 256 pages, hardcover
• 11 X 9 1/2 inches