Vesna Wallace, University of California, Santa Barbara:
This excellent, comprehensive study of the Indian and Tibetan traditions of Amitābha’s Pure Land is a rich resource for understanding a historical development of the Pure Landtradition in these regions. Drawing on previously unexamined sources, Georgios Halkiasgoes beyond a mere recounting of historical, social, and cultural contexts in which the Pure Land tradition developed. He attends to the conceptual issues embedded in visionaryexperiences, rituals, liturgies, and soteriological missions of major Tibetan Buddhist figures who wrote on Amitābha’s Pure Land. This volume is a work of solid scholarship that promises to remain a seminal contribution to the understanding of the Pure Land tradition in India and Tibet.
Matthew T. Kapstein, École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris, and the University of Chicago:
Not so long ago, ‘Pure Land Buddhism’ was often presented as a novel East Asian phenomenon, inspired perhaps by certain Indian Mahāyāna scriptures, but far removed in spirit from such distant antecedents. Recent scholarship, however, has demonstrated that trends relating to the aspiration for rebirth in the ‘Pure Lands’ were and in many cases remain widespread in Mahāyāna milieux, throughout their vast and varied geographical range. Georgios Halkias has performed a great service for current Buddhist studies by examining the record comprehensively and presenting a scrupulously detailed account, with particular reference to Tibet. This is an essential work for all serious students of Mahāyāna Buddhist traditions.
Johan Elverskog, Southern Methodist University:
By providing both a sweeping historical overview of its development, and a detailed survey of its wide-ranging textual corpus, Luminous Bliss takes the study of the Tibetan Pure Land tradition to a whole new level. And in doing so Halkias reveals not only how the soteriology of Sukhavati shaped the practice of Buddhism in Tibet, but also how it informed Tibetan conceptualizations of the environment, society, and the state.
Kendall Marchman, University of Florida:
Luminous Bliss is a tremendous addition to the neglected field of Tibetan Pure Land Buddhism, and Pure Land Buddhism in general.
Michael Zrenner, Journal of the Religions of South Asia:
Halkias' work truly is a rich and well-rounded pioneer-study of a comparatively neglected field that introduces the pure-land traditions of India and Tibet with considerable analytical versatility and compelling intelligence.
Charles B. Jones, The Catholic University of America, H-Net Reviews:
If you are a scholar who specializes in either Tibetan Buddhism or in Pure Land studies, then you need to clear some shelf space and make room for this book. Georgios T. Halkias has written a trailblazing study of a Buddhis tradition normally associated with Eat Asia as it is found in Tibet, and this book is going to be the foundational text in this area for many years to come.
Luminous Bliss is a tremendous addition to the neglected field of Tibetan Pure Land Buddhism, and Pure Land Buddhism in general. The book displays the malleability of Pure Land Buddhism through its usage in tantric rituals in Tibet. Furthermore, Halkias relays the richness of Tibetan Pure Land literature. The amount of texts discussed, outlined, or translated in the book is wholly admirable, and ensures that Luminous Bliss will be an important resource for current and future scholars.
Luminous Bliss is a tremendous addition to the neglected field of Tibetan Pure Land Buddhism and Pure Land Buddhism in general. The book displays the malleability of Pure Land Buddhism through its usage in tantric rituals in Tibet. Furthermore, Halkias relays the richness of Tibetan Pure Land literature. The amount of texts discussed, outlined, or translated in the book is wholly admirable and ensures that Luminous Bliss will be an important resource for current and future scholars.
Halkias’ work truly is a rich and well-rounded pioneer-study of a comparatively neglected field that introduces the pure-land traditions of India and Tibet with considerable analytical versatility and compelling intelligence. A decade of sustained research on Pure-Land traditions inside and outside Indo-Tibetan cultural areas enables Halkias to draw on considerable historical and doctrinal details which allows him to fully contextualize and deepen findings explored in a number of noteworthy articles. . . . Luminous Bliss comprises a diverse and original body of previously unstudied sources and provides a rich nexus of departure points for further researchers.
If you are a scholar who specializes in either Tibetan Buddhism or in Pure Land studies, then you need to clear some shelf space and make room for this book. Georgios T. Halkias has written a trailblazing study of a Buddhist tradition normally associated with East Asia as it is found in Tibet, and this book is going to be the foundational text in this area for many years to come. . . . this book will stand for many years as a classic text and a rich reference source for scholars. The author is still a young scholar, and I look forward to seeing the ongoing results of his research program.
