Description
The Legs bshad mdzod, edited and translated into English for the first time, is a history of Tibetan religion known as B ö n. It gives a complete account of this ancient religion, its origins and development, its struggles against later imported Buddhism, and its fight for survival despite persecution and even abolition on two occasions. The reassembly of the scriptures dispersed at these times is a major object of attention. In his introduction, the editor assesses the historical value of the work and considers the extent of its reliability and factual accuracy. He has also, here and in the footnotes to the translation, indicated its sources, which are incredibly numerous and varied. The transliteration of the Tibetan text is followed by two indices of names and a short glossary of rare terms.
Author: Samten Gyaltsen Karmy is Director of Research at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris, and a member of the Laboratoire d’ethnologie et de sociologie comparative, Université de Paris-x. He is President of the International Association of Tibetan Studies.
