This can be a difficult book for anyone not grounded in Vajrayana Buddhism, though it isn't limited to Buddhism or any lineage of Buddhism and isn't full of technical Buddhist jargon -- which can even make it difficult for a Tantric Buddhist to follow. This is not a scholarly text, though its author is a great scholar of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. This is an expression that comes directly from the mind of its author. It is what in the European traditions we would call a mystical text.

For someone raised in a theistic society, the mysticism expressed so perfectly by Thinley Norbu can be completely baffling and seem almost like gibberish. This is because none of the markers of theology is present. But if one allows oneself to be free of preconception regarding what is and what is not, Magic Dance will take you into a most magical dance of the mind.

Though its vision is configured differently because it is am expression of Dzogchen experience rather than a theistic one, this is a text that belongs in a section with St. John of the Cross, Rumi, and Meister Eckhart. ( )

This is a unique and powerful presentation of the teachings of Tibetan Buddhism on the five elements: earth, water, air, fire, and space. In their gross and subtle forms, these elements combine to make up the infinite illusory display of phenomenal existence. Through teachings, stories, and his distinctive use of language, Thinley Norbu Rinpoche relates how the energies of the elements manifest within our everyday world, in individual behavior and group traditions, relationships and solitude, medicine and art. He explains their links to the five Buddha families and their respective Wisdom Dakinis, and shows how each element relates to our senses, temperament, passions, habits, and karmic potentials. This magic dance of the elements, he concludes, can be transformed through meditation practice and cultivating the calm, vast, and playful state of consciousness that he calls "playmind."