Buddhism suggests that it is possible to investigate the nature of reality ourselves; but to do so one needs to differentiate definitive teachings from those of interpretable meaning. William Magee's book, Paths to Omniscience, discusses a number of topics related to the interpretation of scripture according to Dzong-ka-ba, Jam-yang-shay-ba, Nga-wang-bel-den, and other great scholars of the Geluk world.

　　Paths to Omniscience also addresses the Geluk approach to the practice of hermeneutics. Even within the lineage itself, scholars have not always agreed about interpretation of scripture. Paths to Omniscience describes intricate maneuvers enlivening the spirited controversies of these emminent Lamas.

　　Paths to Omniscience also includes translations of thirty annotations from Nga-wang-bel-den's Annotations for (Jam-yang-shay-ba's) “Great Exposition of  Tenets”. These annotations show how diverse and wide-ranging a great commentarial author can be in his treatment  of the basic text. Far from being mere footnotes to Jam-yang-shay-ba, the Annotations can instead be viewed as a seminar on his Great Exposition of  Tenets

作者簡介

William Magee

　　William Magee received a doctorate in Tibetan Studies from the University of Virginia, where he taught Tibetan language for thirteen years at the Summer Language Institute. He now teaches Tibetan language and philosophy at Dharma Drum Buddhist College on Dharma Drum Mountain, Taiwan. Magee is the co-author (with Elizabeth Napper) of Fluent Tibetan: a Proficiency-oriented Language Learning System and the author of The Nature of Things. He has published numerous articles about Tibetan philosophy and is Editor-in-Chief of the Chung-Hwa Buddhist Journal.