Tibetan Sky-Gazing Meditation and the Pre-History of Great Perfection Buddhism: The Skullward Leap Technique...

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Flavio Geisshuesler (Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel)

Tibetan Sky-Gazing Meditation and the Pre-History of Great Perfection Buddhism

The Skullward Leap Technique and the Quest for Vitality

Flavio Geisshuesler (Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel)

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English

Bloomsbury Academic
14 August 2025

Tibetan Buddhism

Through a rigorous analysis of original scriptures and later commentaries, this open access book unearths a cornucopia of idiosyncratic motifs pervading the famous Tibetan sky-gazing meditation known as “Skullward Leap” (thod rgal). Flavio Geisshuesler argues that these motifs suggest that the practice did not originate in the context of Buddhism, but rather within indigenous Tibetan culture and in close contact with the early Bön tradition. The book argues that Dzogchen once belonged to a cult centered on the quest for vitality, which involved the worship of the sky as primordial source of life and endorsed the hunting of animals, as they were believed to be endowed with the ability to move in between the divine realm of the heavens and the world of humans.

The book also traces the historical development of the Great Perfection, delineating a complex process of buddhicization that started with the introduction of Buddhism in the 7th century, intensified with the rise of new schools in the 11th century, and reached its climax in the systematization of the teachings by the great scholar-yogi Longchenpa in the 14th century. The study advances an innovative model of meditation as an open-ended practice that animates practitioners to face the most challenging moments of their lives with courage and curiosity, imagination and creativity, and playfulness and excitement; qualities that are oftentimes overlooked in contemporary descriptions of contemplation.

The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation.

By: Flavio Geisshuesler (Hebrew University of Jerusalem Israel)
Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm, Spine: 25mm
Weight: 454g
ISBN: 9781350428850
ISBN 10: 135042885X
Pages: 240
Publication Date: 14 August 2025
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Flavio A. Geisshuesler is the Khyentse Macready Senior Lecturer for Tibetan Buddhism at the University of Sydney, Australia.

Reviews for Tibetan Sky-Gazing Meditation and the Pre-History of Great Perfection Buddhism: The Skullward Leap Technique and the Quest for Vitality

""A bold work of scholarship, this book yields new perspectives on Dzogchen meditation. By tracing mythical, cultural, ritual, and psychological dimensions of the famed Skullward Leap technique through a quest for vitality and a hidden narrative of the sky-deer cult, scholars and practitioners are invited to reevaluate resonances and repercussions of the Heart Essence contemplative system in Tibetan Buddhism."" --Michael Sheehy, University of Virginia, USA ""This striking book places Dzogchen firmly within Tibet's own early medieval culture and religious concerns, opening up new views of Tibetan Buddhist meditation as a whole."" --Geoffrey Samuel, Emeritus Professor of History, Archaeology and Religion, Cardiff University, UK