The Epic of Gesar of Ling: Gesar's Magical Birth Early Years and Coronation as King

About this book

The Gesar of Ling epic is the Tibetan equivalent of The Arabian Nights. For hundreds of years versions of it have been known in oral and written form in Tibet China Central Asia and across the eastern Silk Route. King Gesar renowned throughout these areas represents the ideal warrior. As a leader with his peoples loyalty and trust he conquers all their enemies and protects the peace. His life story which is full of miracles and magic is an inspiration and a spiritual example to the people of Tibet and Central Asia even today; Gesars warrior mask can be seen in the town square and on the door of homes in towns and villages throughout this area. As a Buddhist teaching story the example of King Gesar is also understood as a spiritual allegory. The "enemies" in the stories represent the emotional and psychological challenges that turn peoples minds toward greed aggression and envy and away from the true teachings of Buddhism. These enemies graphically represent the different manifestations of the untamed mind. The teaching is that genuine warriors are not aggressive but that they subjugate negative emotions in order to put the concerns of others before their own. The ideal of warriorship that Gesar represents is that of a person who by facing personal challenges with gentleness and intelligence can attain spiritual realization. This book contains volumes one through three which tell of Gesars birth his mischievous childhood his youth spent in exile and his rivalry for the throne with his treacherous uncle. The Gesar epic tells how the king an enlightened warrior in order to defend Tibet and the Buddhist religion from the attacks of surrounding demon kings conquers his enemies one by one in a series of adventures and campaigns that take him all over the Eastern world. He is assisted in his adventures by a cast of heroes and magical characters who include the major deities of Tibetan Buddhism as well as the native religion of Tibet. Gesar fulfills the Silk Route ideal of a king by being both a warrior and a magician. As a magician he combines the powers of an enlightened Buddhist master with those of a shamanic sorcerer. In fact at times the epic almost seems like a manual to train such a Buddhist warrior-magician. In the story the people and nation of Ling represent the East Asian notion of an enlightened society. There meditation magic and the oral folk wisdom of a communal nomadic society are synchronized in a lifestyle harmonious with the environment but ambitious for growth and learning and refined literate culture. Filled with magic adventure and the triumphs of this great warrior-king the stories will delight allyoung and old alike. The Gesar epic is still sung by bards in Tibet. The words of the Gesar epic have never been translated into a Western language before.