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The idea of writng this book stemmed out from the need to rethink an excavation carried out in Kathmandu in years now distant from the people who took part in it and even more distant from the recent history of Nepal. Today the Valley of Kathmandu is a profoundly different place from what it was in the 1980s, and in many ways unrecognisable. The idea of the book, however, is also due to the long-term consequences of the situation created in Italy between 2008 and 2011, the year in which the Istituto Italiano per l’Africa e l’Oriente (IsIAO), sonship of the Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente (IsMEO), closed down. The latter had been established in 1933 by Giovanni Gentile and then directed for a long time by Giuseppe Tucci. Both Institutes, as far as field activities in Asia were concerned, were in close relati

The Sherpa Buddhist monk Ngawang Leksh. (1913– 1983), familiarly known as Auleshi—a name that might be approximated as “Uncle Benedict” in English—occupies a unique place in the history of Buddhism in twentieth century Nepal. At once an accomplished artist and a yogi living always in retreat, he eschewed the trappings of a “Buddhist master” but taught instead through his art and, above all, his personal example. In this, he embodied the ideal of transmitting the Dharma without teaching a word. As we honor the hundred-and-tenth anniversary of his birth, and fortieth since his death, with those who knew him now few, it seems appropriate to make available to all what may be recalled of his life and work.

For too long Nepal’s Dalits have been marginalized, not just socially, economically, and politically, but from academic accounts of Nepalese society as well. This volume forms part of a welcome new trend, the emergence of Dalit Studies in Nepal, led by a new generation of Dalit scholars. It covers a wide range of issues concerning Nepal’s Dalits and offers a snapshot of the advances that they have made—in education, in politics, in the bureaucracy, economically, and in everyday relations. At the same time the book documents the continuing material disadvantage, inequality, discrimination, both direct and indirect, and consequent mental suffering that Dalits have to face. It also touches on the struggles, hopes, and dilemmas of Dalit activists as they seek to bring about a new social order and a relatively more egalitarian society. Nepal’s Dalits in Transition will be essential reading for anyone interested in the past, present, or future of social change in Nepal.

The true story of Gelongma Palmo’s life and her pilgrimage to Nepal is a heartening tale of triumph over adversity and of true dedication to the spiritual path. May her life story from riches to rags and finally attaining full awakening be an inspiration to all those in search of the ultimate happiness.

The ritual of offering the guru mandala, i.e. offering a mandala of the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, to the guru, lies at the very heart of Newar Buddhism. Yagyaman Pati Bajracharya is a leading figure, perhaps the leading figure, in the contemporary revival of traditional Newar Buddhism, a religious tradition that goes back, in a direct line of descent, to the great monastic universities of northern India a millennium and more ago. This historical pedigree means that the rituals and practices of Newar Buddhism are unrecognized global treasures of intangible cultural and religious heritage. The translators and editors of this volume, Samuel M. Grimes and Alexander James O’Neill, present a faithful English rendering of Yagyaman’s polyglot text. Drawing not only on a deep understanding of his own tradition but also on Indological scholarship, Yagyaman provides a detailed explanation of the text of the ritual. More than that, by way of introduction, he also dives deep into the historical meanings of the key terms ‘guru’ and ‘mandala’. This book is therefore an indispensable guide for anyone seeking to grasp the essence and meaning of Newar Buddhism.

The Madhyamakavatara or Introduction to the Middle Way (Tibetan: dbu ma la jug-pa) is a text by Chandrakirti, the seventh-century Buddhist philosopher and siddha, on the Madhyamaka School of Buddhist philosophy. It is a commentary on the meaning of Nagarjuna’s Mulamadhyamakakarika or The Root Stanzas on the Middle Way (Tibetan: dbu ma rtsa ba shes rab) and the Sutra of the Ten Bhumis (Dashabhumika Sutra). Madhyamaka refers to the texts that express the meaning of the middle way beyond extremes, both the Buddha’s teachings of the second turning of the Wheel of Dharma and the commentaries that further elucidate their meaning. Avatara means entry or introduction. This text expresses both the profound aspect of Nagarjuna’s text, namely emptiness, as well as the vast aspect, the paths and the bhumis.

This book offers a selection of wisdom quotes from the international Buddhist meditation teacher Thomas Dhammadipa. Each quote stands alone, inviting the reader to engage with these texts as points of departure for personal contemplation.

Machig the monkey has a mind full of distractions, a belly full of bananas, and absolutely no clue what he’s truly searching for… until a wise Lama nudges him out of Kathmandu and into an adventure along the twisty trails of the Himalayas. Three-legged dog by his side, and a mysterious “maybe-Yeti” lurking in the shadows, Machig must figure out how to sit, breathe, and see—not just with his eyes, but with his heart.

Anyone who wants to know what Buddhism in the Kathmandu Valley is all about and wants to hear it from the mouth of a Newar Buddhist will need to read this book. Juhee Gubhani’s study of the Mahayana-Vajrayana and, one should add, Theravada Buddhism of the Newars is a monumental achievement and a new milestone in the study of South Asian religions. It is the most detailed, comprehensive, and important work on Newar Buddhism since the publication of David N. Gellner’s foundational Monk, Householder, and Tantric Priest more than three decades ago, and it is safe to say that Juhee Gubhani’s book will become and remain a reference for our field for the next foreseeable future.

This volume contains vivid excerpts from years of interviews that have been done with two of those lamas: the late Penor Rinpoche and Khenchen Tsewang Gyatso. Their words bring to life the experience of having a Natural Mind – the joyful and genuine state of mind cultivated by Buddhist and DzogChen meditators. Browse the Table of Contents to see all of the aspects of the Natural Mind that are described herein by these two eminent masters.

"Magyu Tsalung & Tummo" is the first such detailed and richly illustrated manual for the ancient practice of yoga of winds, channels, inner heat and physical exercises. Here, Drubdra Khenpo Tsultrim Tenzin teaches a text extracted from the Mother Tantra of Yungdrung Bon, the spiritual tradition of Tibet which stems from the Central Asian Buddha Tönpa Shenrab Miwo who predates the more widely known Indian Buddha Shakyamuni by thousands of years. While these techniques were previously reserved for those initiated into the Mother Tantra, Drubdra Khenpo has decided to share his daily practice with a wider audience because these methods have the potential to bring profound benefit not only for the development of meditation but also for health. The

Pith Instructions on Dzogchen is an edited transcript of the Dzogchen instructions given by Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche for the Zhang Zhung Nyengyud Gomdra Group.

Oral Instructions of Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche on / Innermost Essence of Kuntuzangpo (also known as Heart Drops of Dharmakaya) by Shardza Trashi Gyaltsen extracted and edited by Carol Ermakova and Dmitry Ermakov. This booklet is a perfect reading companion to Gyaltsen, Shardza Tashi.

This book is based on the teaching discourse given by Kyabje Yongdzin Lopön Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche on The Four Wheels of Bön. Found in Zijyi, the long biography of Tönpa Shenrab Miwoche, the Buddha of Yungdrung Bön. This discourse combines the oral translation of the original text with the direct instructions coming from the mind of the Teacher of Teachers – Yongdzin Rinpoche, the most illustrious and erudite Bönpo master and scholar of our times.

"Tashi" is a fictious story reflecting the life and culture of the people of specific Trans-Himalayan region of Nepal. It's a little attempt to apprise all with a different yet hidden culture for an exposure through this story. The main character of the story was fortunate enough to get an access to education. There are many such children in the mountain who are not as blessed as the character of this story. There are three main objectives for bringing this story forward: First is to reveal the hardship in procuring knowledge for the mountain people. Second is to have some reading material for the local kids which is familiar to their culture and surroundings. And the third is to raise fund for the organization who works in the education sector for the needy children.

TSADZIN LOPON GESHE MONLAM WANGYAL PUGYALWA is from the Pontsang clan which originated from the Dong Lineage. The first Pontsang clan was from Kham, Chamdo, Tibet. The clan had many great masters who were meditators and practitioners of Dzogchen, such as Lama Kunga Tsultrim, Lama Rinchen Tenzin, Pontsang Thekchok Rinpoche, and Khandro Tshuga Rinpoche. The Pontsang clan had seven generations of great artists whose religious art and paintings followed the ancient traditional Tibetan artistic canon. Lopon Monlam Wangyal started learning the Tibetan language at the age of seven and he was schooled at home by his grandfather, Pontsang Takla, for eight years. He was taught thangka painting by his uncle, Pontsang Lodoe Gyurme (also a monk) who was a highly skilled and well known artist of his time. After his uncle’s passing, he learned from another famous artist called, Dhondo Tsering Yomphel, who is Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche’s uncle.At the age of eighteen, Tsadzin Lopon Monlam Wangyal became a monk at Thongdrol Ritro Monastery in Kham, Tibet. In 1992, he went to India and studied the Yungdrung Bon Sutras, Philosophy, Astrology, Tibetan Grammar, and Poetry at Menri Monastery. In 1997, he came to Nepal and studied the Tantras, Dzogchen, Mandala Painting, Tibetan Medicine, and Tibetan History at Triten Norbutse Monastery. He has acquired knowledge on the Sciences of Buddhists learning, took responsibility of Disciplinarian/Gekhod, and Librarian for ten years after which he was honored with the title of “Tsadzin Lopon”.

Rock and stone, like water, plants, and trees, are part of what surrounds us in nature. All elements possess the potential to embody the divine. As such, they are what turns nature into a sacred landscape: rocks and mountain ranges are perceived as religious symbols that grace and protect the habitat. Rock and stone seem to contain ‘the call of a cosmic force struggling to break free.’ The cult of stone can be traced back to the megalithic structures of the Neolithic Age and the worship of meteorites in the Ancient Orient as ‘ensouled’ stones. These are presented in the book’s introduction. The main chapter documents stone worship practised in the context of the urban culture of the Newars of the Kathmandu Valley. There, thousands of unworked stones without any distinctive iconographic features represent the Supernaturals – whether deities named at some point in the past in accordance with the Hindu tradition or spirits or unnamed ancestor deities. These stones absorb impurities, act as guardians, and often demand blood sacrifices. Placed in open shrines, they represent the idea or essence of place, the genius loci, and the limen between the netherworld and the world of human beings. Individuals, families, and lineages maintain a predefined, stable relationship with these landmarks in rites of passage or during annual urban rituals.

Looking through the walls of a cloistered monastic community, such as a Tibetan Buddhist nunnery, is nearly impossible as lay person. These religious communities are multi-layered in being simultaneously places of spiritual development, Buddhist scholasticism, and religious devotion. Chandra Chiara Ehm lived for nearly a decade behind the walls of Khachoe Ghakyil Ling nunnery in the Nepalese Himalayas. During this time, she collected the nuns’ stories and studied their lifestyle and their scholarship. This book invites the reader to step through the convent’s walls to explore Tibetan monastic life from the perspective of the nuns. Her ethnography offers a first-hand account of life in the nunnery, carefully calibrated within a theoretical frame to investigate the historical social aspects of monastic institutions. Another important theme Ehm depicts is the religious hierarchy and the remarkable changes that globalisation, feminism, and secularisation have brought to this gender balance and the nuns’ monastic life in recent years. This vivid and comprehensive study of female monastic life provides novel insights with essential implications for the inter- and intra-religious analysis of monasticism today.

This is a fascinating book on a subject that has not previously received concerted academic attention. The editors have done an excellent job in bringing together the recent scholarship on this topic in a collection of 10 essays written by specialists, many of whom have hands-on experience of working with or in the museums under discussion. With its detailed chapters, ranging from close-focus art historical analysis of Tibetan objects to theorised discussion of the processes of curating in Tibetan/ Himalayan contexts, I think the volume will be greatly appreciated by academics and students of Tibetan Buddhism and of Tibetan and Himalayan history and culture, as well as those in art history and in museum studies.

We intend to contribute reflections on the shifting meaning of the term ‘tradition’. This introduction highlights aspects of change with special reference to building materials and tools.

The black background symbolizes the Ultimate Nature of Phenomena (bon nyid) which cannot be defined in any way whatsoever. The Wisdom Khyung (Garuda) at the top symbolizes the Body of Perfect Enjoyment (longs pyod rd=ogs ps" I sku). The body of Manifold Multipurpose Emanation (cir yang sprul pa"i sku) in the rainbow circle is Tonpa Shenrab Miwoche, the Buddha of Yungdrung Bon who manifested on this earth in 16-017 B.C. according to traditional Bonpo sources, and taught beings countless ways which lead out of samsara. The silhouette of the bird of five colours swooping down symbolizes the five lights which manifest out of the Primordial Nature and turn into the five elements which further develop into the vision of phenomenal universe. The tongues of flame just above the bird's silhouette symbolized the spiritual knowledge and transmission of Be Murgel brought to earth from the realm of the Tengeri Sky-gods by the White- headed Eagle. And underline the vital importance of the fire element in the offering rituals of Be Murgel and Domai Bon.

Spaciousness The Radical Dzogchen of the Vajra-Heart This famous seminal text of radical Dzogchen provides a profound yet simple poetic statement of how it is to immerse oneself in the matrix of the now and recognize buddha. It is the personal statement of a peerless yogin-adept. Certainly the magic of his poetry impresses us that way and surely this Treasury of the Dharmadhatu, the Choyingdzo, reveals the consummation of Dzogchen. In it we are assured that over and above all the yogas and dhyanas of Hindustan, all the ritual and magic of Tibet and all the quasi-religious new-age therapies of the West there exists a simple, timeless manner of being, easy of access, requiring no onerous technique or renunciate lifestyle, that can give us some constant satisfaction in this vale of laughter and tears between birth and dying. From the Introduction by Keith Dowman With Longchenpa, Dzogchen Ati reaches its most complete revelation; the Choyingdzo is Longchenpa’s most lucid and revealing statement of the vajra-heart; and Keith Dowman has made a fine translation.The pathless path of Dzogchen comes alive in this poetic exposition of the apex of Tibetan mysticism. Bhakha Tulku Pema Rigdzin As one who has grappled with this challenging, inspiring, wonderful text, I am delighted to see another attempt at conveying the great Longchenpa’s definitive exposition on the Dzogchen approach of original purity. Richard Barron, Lotsawa The form of language, the translation, the use of poetic invention creates an atmosphere of understanding, as if a mahasiddha were writing in Oxford English with a touch of American slang. This is radical Dzogchen not only in the actual teaching itself, but also in the quality of the translation that strikes the flint of idiom to create sparks of wisdom that reveal the whole hologram. John Tischer, Poet As the old Tibetan teachers of Buddhism pass away, a few younger ones are stepping up to the plate; but the teachers who really take the old lamas’ place are like dirty old nondescript rocks, lying on the ground grinning, like Keith. Catherine Alelyunas, Yogini

This is the first detailed and richly illustrated manual on the ancient practice of Dream Yoga as taught in Yungdrung Bon, the spiritual tradition of Tibet which sterns from the central Asian Buddha Tonga Shenrab Miwo, who predates the more widely known Indian Buddha Shakyamuni by thousands of years. Here the author teaches from a text written by an early Bonpo sage on the root text for dream yoga practice from the mother Tantra. This will give the practitioner the ability to clearly understand the meaning of these instructions and connect him to the blessings of this lineage.

Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche is revered as one of Tibet’s greatest masters, and the most important living figure in the Bon religion. In addition to being a spiritual teacher he has also collaborated extensively with many international scholars, who have approached him for his unsurpassed knowledge of Bon doctrine and history. The thirty-three contributions that make up this volume, offered in celebration of Yongdzin Rinpoche’s centenary, reflect the multiple registers of the authors’ engagement with him: personal reflections, photo-essays, translations of Bonpo works – including some of his own teachings and compositions – and scholarly studies, brought together as a tribute to an extraordinary source of both knowledge and wisdom.

This book is a comprehensive analysis of the history of farming in Nepal and the political economy of agrarian transition across the country’s diverse agro-ecological and socio-cultural domains. Focusing largely on the last five centuries, it charts the evolution of diverse economic and agro-ecological systems across time and space. This includes the unique agrarian formation associated with Nepal’s Adivasi communities, as well as sedentary owner-cultivation, feudalism and capitalism. It traces the complex relations of subjugation between these different systems over time, while also offering insights into how this has mediated changes in cropping patterns, market engagement and technological change. The book uses these historical insights to offer a deeper insight into many of Nepal’s contemporary rural development challenges.

The oral instructions contained in this book come from one of the most accomplished and learned masters of our time, offering readers a practical guide to awakening. Khenchen Appey Rinpoche seamlessly blends pith instructions from the great meditation masters with lucid explanations of the theories underlying the stages of practice. This teaching challenges us to move beyond superficial levels of spiritual practice, directly confronting the mechanisms of attachment and suffering, with the potential to fundamentally transform our understanding of reality. To complement Khenchen Appey Rinpoche’s teachings, the book also includes new translations of three texts based on the four lines of Manjusri’s heart advice: brief instructions by Sakya Pandita, a practice manual by Gorampa Sönam Sengé, and a song of experience by Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo.

‘The Heart Sutra is named a ‘mother sutra’ because it deals with the topic of Prajnaparamita, which is the mother to all the Aryas. It is also called the ‘mother of all the Buddhas of the three times’. It is said in the sutras, as well as in many commentaries that the attainment of Buddhahood by all the Buddhas of three times depends on this Prajnaparamita. So the importance of Prajnaparamita is explained in the different sutras and shastras by saying that only by depending on this Prajnaparamita is one able to become a Buddha. So whether it is the present Buddha, a Buddha in the past or a Buddha yet to come, this result is due only to the Prajnaparamita. This refers not only to the Arya Buddha but also the other three types of Aryas. If the attainment of Buddhahood depends on Prajnaparamita then naturally the attainment of the level of Bodhisattva depends on it as well.