From the Introduction

"Vajra world" translates a technical term in Sanskrit, vajradhatu, meaning "realm of indestructibility." It refers to that level of reality which is beyond all thought and imagination, all impermanence and change. It is a realm that is described as colorful, vivid, and filled with unexpected beauty and meaning. It is this vajra world, according to Tibetan Buddhism, that a fully realized person knows and inhabits.

In the title of this book, I use "vajra world" metaphorically to refer to the traditional culture of Tibet. In many respects, Tibet was like any other human society with its share of foibles and miscreants. But in another sense, not only for many modern people but also—poignantly enough—for the Tibetans themselves, Tibet came as close as perhaps a human culture may to being a vajra world. The shocking splendor and magnificence of its landscape; the warm and earthy character of its people; their seeming wholeness and rootedness in their lives; the brilliance of Tibetan philosophy and ethics; and the color, vividness, and drama of its religion—all communicate a life lived close to reality and drawing on its deep springs.

Of course, to call Tibet a "vajra world" is ironic, for old Tibet—like so many other premodern cultures—has shown itself to be anything but indestructible. As is too well known and all too painful to bear repeating, traditional Tibet has been overrun and nearly obliterated by the tidal wave of modernity.

Nevertheless, there is something of Tibet that lives on, something that has survived the mortal assault on the place and its people. This living quality of Tibet continues to fascinate and compel us modern people, and to fuel our imagination and inspiration. One may wonder, then, just what this enduring quality of Tibet might be. What is the secret of Tibet? What is the secret of this vajra world?

I believe that the attraction that Tibet continues to hold for modern people is not based purely on naive romanticism and the exoticism that surrounds such a far-off and different culture. It seems to me that there bleeds through Tibet something else, something more basic and universally understood—an evident commitment to life; a fullness of embodiment; a warmth toward others; a depth of experience; a joy in the most simple and ordinary experiences of life; and an ability to include and incorporate both happiness and the intense suffering and grief that have lately been the fate of Tibet. But what, one may ask, is the source of these profoundly human qualities that one finds so vividly embodied among Tibetans? What is the secret of the world that was traditional Tibet?

In this book, I propose that the secret of this vajra world lies in something that transcends Tibet itself, namely its spiritual traditions, and particularly the Tantric or Vajrayana Buddhism that provided the foundation of Tibetan culture for some twelve hundred years. As a tradition, far from being otherworldly, the Vajrayana directs attention to this world of sensory experience, of happiness and sorrow, of life and death, as the place where ultimate revelation occurs. The practice of tantra opens up an appreciation for ordinary life as the fount of inspiration, wisdom, and liberation. I suggest to the reader that the color, energy, and vivacity of Tibet are owing, in some significant way, to its tantric foundations.

From the tantric viewpoint, the vajra world—now in the sense of the ultimate nature of reality—is like a fiery ocean, an experiential intensity, that underlies all human cultures and human life. This flaming substrate—which is none other than the fire of primordial wisdom— continually gives rise to sparks and plumes and occasionally to conflagrations of incandescence. In the modern era, most people and most cultures preoccupy themselves with trying to blanket these expressions, to ignore and deny them, in order to maintain their habitual "business as usual." The Vajrayana, however, provides a means to open to the burning, turbulent wisdom of reality and to allow it expression in cultural forms and human creativity. It was Tibet's good fortune to encounter the Vajrayana at a critical moment and to assimilate its perspectives. The result is a culture that has, to a large extent, been born and shaped from the unending inspiration of ordinary life itself, experienced without shadows. Old Tibet, unlike most contemporary cultures, lay close upon the incandescent sea and was particularly transparent to it. It is ultimately this quality, I think, that people sense and that so many find engaging and compelling about Tibet.