John P. DeSerio Precious Essence: The Inner Autobiography of Terchen Barway Dorje In Precious Essence: The Inner Autobiography of Terchen Barway Dorje, Kagyu Tashi, a disciple of Terchen Barway Dorje (Gter chen Bar ba’i rdo rje, c.1837-1920), records Terchen Barway Dorje’s autobiography. There are two autobiographies of Barway Dorje’s life: an inner and outer … [Read more...]
The Autobiography of Jamgon Kongtrul
Pete Faggen Jamgön Kongtrul: A Rimé Treasure Digger in Dergé Born in 1813 in Rongyap, Longtri, Kham, Tibet, Jamgön Kongtrul, of the Karma Kagyü Tibetan Buddhist sect, was a prolific author, well-known religious master, founder of a retreat/meditation center (at Pelpung Monastery), terma revealer, and even a historian according to Jamgön Kongtrul’s biographer, Nesar Karma … [Read more...]
The Life of Shabkar
Becky Best The Life of Shabkar: The Autobiography of a Tibetan Yogin Abstract The Life of Shabkar is the autobiography of Shabkar Tsodruk Rangdrol (1781-1851). Tracing his spiritual development and activities from birth through age 56, the autobiography is noteworthy for its songs which convey a rich mixture of sorrow, exuberance and sly wit. The story of Shabkar’s life … [Read more...]
Masters of Meditation and Miracles
Written by Tulku Thondup, Masters of Meditation and Miracles: The Longchen Nyingthig Lineage of Tibetan Buddhism is a collection of summarized biographies of important knowledge-holders within the tradition of Longchen Nyingthig, the mind treasure (terma) revealed to Jigme Lingpa through his visions of Longchen Rabjam. The first part of the collection gives the reader a … [Read more...]
Rdo-ring Bandi-ta’i rnam thar
Review by Zhang Huasha Rdo ring Pandita’i rnam thar [Doring Pandita’s Biograpy] Abstract: Rdo ring Pandita’i rnam thar is the autobiography of Rdo ring Bstan ‘dzin dpal ‘byor (Doring Tendzin Peljor), the third generation of the Tibetan aristocratic Doring (Rdo ring) family family. This autobiography records the origin of the Rdo ring family, the experiences of the head of … [Read more...]
Galun Zhuan
Ulan Galun zhuan (Autobiography of Dokharwa Tsering Wanggyel (1697-1763)) Abstract: Dokharwa Tsering Wanggyel was a pivotal figure in the Lhasa political arena in the first half of the eighteenth century. He served several regimes during that tumultuous era and managed to stabilize his power. Aside from his official career, he was also a gifted scholar who wrote several … [Read more...]
Poluonai Zhuan
Bo Huang Poluonai Zhuan (Polhané’s Biography) Polhané’s Biography is a description of the life of the 18th century Tibetan king Polhané by his close minister Dokhar Zhapdrung Tsering Wanggyel (Duokaxiazhong Cerenwangjie). The book is divided into nineteen chapters and describes the ancestral background of the king, his childhood, his marriage, and his political and … [Read more...]
The Fugitive Lives of the Sixth Dalai Lama
Chris Peacock Abstract The Hidden Life of the Sixth Dalai Lama (trans. Simon Wickham-Smith)[1] is a professed account of the activities of Tsangyang Gyatso (Tsangs dbyangs rgya mtsho), the Sixth Dalai Lama. The text was composed by Ngawang Lhundrup Dargyé (Ngag dbang lhun grub dar rgyas), a Mongol who became a student of the text’s subject and decided to record the events … [Read more...]
Himalayan Hermitess
Annie Huntoon Using Himalayan Hermitess as a Text for Ninth Graders This past week I returned to Phillips Academy for a second interview with my former colleagues in the history department. While there, many questions came my way regarding further inclusion of China into the curriculum. As it stands now, the ninth graders spend about a week or two studying China as it … [Read more...]
Sky Dancer
Christina Stoltz Sky Dancer: The Secret Songs and Autobiography of the Lady Yeshe Tsogyel Abstract: Sky Dancer: The Secret Songs and Autobiography of the Lady Yeshe Tsogyel is a treasure text from the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. It recounts the life and teachings of Yeshe Tsogyal, the famous consort of Padmasambhava. Although it was “discovered” and written in … [Read more...]
Panchen Lobsang Choekyi Gyaltsen
Lobsang Choekyi Gyaltsen, First Panchen Lama. "Chos Smra ba’i dge slong blo bzang chos kyi rgyal mtshan gyi spyod tshul gsal bar ston pa nor bu’i phreng ba (=nor bu’i phreng ba)", Blo bzang chos kyi rgyal mtshan gyi gsung ’bum (Collected Works of the First Panchen Lama Lobsang Choekyi Gyaltsen). Tashi Lhunpo Edition. Vol.1, ff.1r-225v. Also see TBRC W23430 (5 vols.) Panchen … [Read more...]
The Life of Yol mo dzin nor bu
Tenzin Doma Lama The Life of Yol mo Bstan 'dzin nor bu: A critical edition, translation, and study of the memoirs of a seventeenth-century Tibetan Buddhist lama Abstract: “The Life of Yol mo Bstan 'dzin nor bu: A critical edition, translation, and study of the memoirs of a seventeenth-century Tibetan Buddhist lama” by Bogin, Benjamine E is already a critical edition, which … [Read more...]
The Biography of Pha jo sgom Zhig po
Michael Monhart The Biography of Pha-jo-Sgom Zhig-po: Called the Current of Compassion Abstract The biography of Pha-jo-Sgom Zhig-po (1184-1251/1208-1275) gives us a window into a little known period of Bhutanese history. Bhutan was first unified under a single religious/secular leader by the Shapdrung Ngawang Namgyel, a member of the Drukpa Buddhist sect, in the 17th … [Read more...]
The Samding Dorje Phagmo of Tibe
Abstract: Chokyi Dronma (1422-1455) was a princess of a kingdom in lower Ngari in south-western Tibet who left her royal marriage at a young age to pursue a religious life. She became renowned throughout Tibet as an embodiment of Vajravarahi (Tib: rdo rje phag mo) and became the first in an incarnation line of female lamas known as the Samding Dorje Phagmo, the first and most … [Read more...]
Drukpa Kunley
Summary written by Kim Carson, May 2015. Drukpa Kunley spent the 115 years of his life, from 1455 to 1570 AD, as a perpetual teenager, rebelling vehemently against convention. Born in the Tsang region of Western Tibet, he left home as a young man, following the assassination of his father in a family feud, with the goal of receiving formal religious training in the Mahamudra … [Read more...]
A Biography from the Tibetan
Abstract Evans-Wentz’s edition of the The Life of Milarepa begins in a particularly Mahayana context: Rechung (Ras chung pa), a disciple, dreams, and walks through the Western land of Urgyan. He finds images of a jeweled stupa upon which Buddha Ashobhya is seated, and requests transmission of the teachings. The histories of Tilopa, Naropa and Marpa are told, and a greater … [Read more...]
A brief biography of Buton Rinchen Drub
A Handful of Flowers recounts the life and teachings of Butön Rinpoche, (bu ston rin chen grub), 1290-1364, from the perspective of his close disciple, Dratsepa Rinchen Namgyal (sgra tshad pa rin chen rnam rgyal). Butön was active primarily in U and Tsang, travelling widely to teach, but his position as abbot of Zhalu Monastery found him there, between Zhigatse and Gyantse in … [Read more...]
Like an Illusion
Abstract: Nicole Riggs’s Like An Illusion: Lives of the Shangpa Kagyu Masters is a collection of translations of the autobiographies of key figures of Shangpa Kagyu, an important lineage of Tibetan Buddhism dating from early 11th century to recent. It traces the origin, development, key concepts and practices of Shangpa Kagyu as well as gives us quintessential examples of … [Read more...]
Tibet Chronology
The Periodization of Tibetan History: General Chronology This timeline includes dates of influential Tibetan figures and major political eras. At this point it does not attempt to represent the whole of the Tibetan cultural region, nor does it portray Tibetan history from a variety of subject-specific rubrics – art, medicine, literature, politics – in any systematic fashion. We … [Read more...]
Dilemmas in Writing National Histories: The Case for China and Tibet
Dilemmas in Writing National Histories: The Case for China and Tibet The website is designed to incite discussion and debate on the ways we construct and imagine national identity through historical narratives. Initially, the project developed from a seminar which explored theories of nationalism in order to analyze competing representations of Chinese and Tibetan history. … [Read more...]
Ruling Inner Asia from Beijing: Lamas and Emperors
A WIKISCHOLARS WEBSITE Late imperial China was marked by a multi-ethnic tradition of rulership that built on the foundations of the so-called “conquest dynasties.” This site will survey the central people, places, art and institutions that made Tibetan Buddhism as a religious ideology central to late imperial efforts at making China a multi-ethnic state. This … [Read more...]
Tibetan Meditation
Website: Tibetan Meditation: The science behind Buddhist practices by Lauren Crane … [Read more...]
An Oral History of Tibetans in New York City
Website: Preserving the voices and stories of Tibetans living in New York City... Inspired by StoryCorps Daphne Chow: Ever since an English teacher introduced me to StoryCorps my senior year of high school (thank you, Ms. Baker), I have wanted to take up another oral history project of my own, and have finally been able to with my final project for Professor Tuttle’s class, … [Read more...]
Development of Tibetan Monasteries
This dynamic map below demonstrates the long-term development of monasteries in Tibet from the 7th century to 2013. The red color shows the density of the clusters of monasteries. This map with timeline bar shows many interesting phenomenon. For example, after the 18th century, monasteries in western Amdo had significant growth. In fact, this trend is closely related to the … [Read more...]
Showing the Size of Tibetan Monasteries: Counting Monks and Monastic Housing
Maps by Valentina Strokopytova These maps visually represent the number of monks, monks quarters, and other rooms/spaces in the monasteries (the key to the map can be accessed by clicking on the double arrow in the top left corner). While some Tibetan Buddhist monasteries have been studied for their artistic, historical, or cultural significance, these maps start to allow us to … [Read more...]