Lumbini International Research Institute – förlag

It was an early afternoon on Wednesday, February gth, 2006, the third and final day of the spiritually significant first phase of the Sherpas' seven week long mortuary rites. In the course of each of these three days the 'pho ba practice, i.e. the ritual transference of the consciousness of the deceased to a pure realm of rebirth, is performed by one bla ma. As a rule, neither family members or his assistants take part in this most intimate religious ceremony. The focus of its performance was the separate room especially built for this purpose in the Sherpa Seva Kendra in Bodnath, which is the communal building (mi 'dzom sa) of the entire Sherpa community.

Descriptions of the World: Of all the Tibetan works dealing with geographical knowledge, not only in the sense of the Buddhist canonical description of Jambudvipa, but of descriptions of lands like India and Nepal, two texts come immediately to mind: the 'Gen-eral Description of the World' ('dzam gling spyi bshad) of Sum-pa mkhan-po Ye-shes dpal-'byor (1704-1788) and the 'Extensive Description of the World' ('dam gling rgyas bshad) of the Fourth bTsan-po No-min-han bsTan-'dzin phrin-las (1789-1839). The first work was written in the year 1777 and focuses on India and its peoples and regions, together with details of the major tantric places of pilgrimage; it then goes on to Nepal, pauses over Tibet, provides information on Manchuria, Korea and Japan, and leads finally to China and Russia. It has been observed that, while the author was by no means ready to abandon the authority of traditional book learning.

We shall begin this journey by stating that, of course. there never was any such thing as a Tibetan 15th. century. On the plateau, time was not counted anno domini, nor measured in centuries or millenniums. The calendar was articulated in sexagenary cycles (rab byung) starting in 1027, so that the period under consideration fell under the 7. and 8th. cycles (1387-1506). However, to talk about the 15ts century in relation to Tibet is more than a handy shortcut, a conventional means of immediately pointing to the timeframe we wish to consider. In fact, it is a means of placing the discourse about Tibet within the wider frame of global history. Positioned in the heart of the Asian continent, at crossroad between South Asia, East Asia, and Central Asia, was not Tibet pan of the 15. century world?

Lumbini, Kapilavastu, Sainamaina and Lumbini Tharu Museums help people ti understand and appreciate the natural world, the history of Sakya and Thar civilizations, and the record of artistic, scientific, and technological achievements Museums collect objects of scientific, aesthetic, or historical importance: care fo them; and study, interpret, and exhibit them for the purposes of public education an the advancement of knowledge. These museums offer many benefits to their visitors their communities, and society as a whole. Informally they offer unparalleled opportunities for self-directed learning and exploration by national and international visitors of diverse ages, interests, backgrounds and abilities. They are public gathering; places where visitors can be entertained, inspired, and introduced to new ideas.

Searching for the Dharma, Finding Salvation - Buddhist Pilgrimage in Time and Space Proceedings of the Workshop Buddhist Pilgrimage in History and Present Times at the Lumbini International Research Institute (LIRI), Lumbini, January 2010 Edited by Christoph Cueppers & Max Deeg.

The idea to hold such a unique conference at the special place of Lumbini originally came from Dr Christoph Cuppers when in 2010 my wife and I visited LIRI, the Lumbini International Research Institute, of which he is the Director, and now ably assisted by Dr Michael Pahlke. It was presented spontaneously with the seriousness that goes with it. Added to the magnanimous local hospitality offered to all the participants were also educational excursions to Kapilavastu, Gotihawa, Niglihawa, Kudan.

In this 3 volumes the great figures of Tibetan Buddhism and its literature a special place is held by Klong-chen Rab-byams-pa (1308-1364) of the rNying-ma-pa school. He is known for having tirelessly pursued all Buddhist learning available during his time and for having systematized the teachings of the "Great Perfection" or "Great Completeness" (rdzogs chen). Nevertheless, it seems that his writings were never collected together by his followers, as those of his contemporaries such as Bu-ston Rin-chen grub (1290-1364) have been.

The Letters of Lo-Chen Bsod-Nams Rgya-Mtsho Monograph Series Vol. 3. According to this biographical account, bSod-nams rgya-mtsho was born into a family descending from Ngan-lam rGyal-ba mchog-dbyangs, one of the twenty-five disciples of Padmasam-bhava. His first ordination as a Buddhist novice he received at an early age from the Sa-skya-pa masters Rong-ston Shes-bya kun-rig (1367-1449) and Dvags-po bKra-shis rnam-rgyal (1399-1458); these two noted scholars were respectively the founder and the second abbot of the monastery 'Phan-po Nalendra, located to the north of lHa-sa. His diligence at the religious school of rTse[s/d]-thang in the Yarlung valley impressed Grags-pa 'byung-gnas (1414-1445), the head of the Phag-mo-gru dynasty at the time, and the ruler began to pay for the further studies of the young novice.