To practising bonpos, Bon simply means the true religion of Tibet, while to Tibetan Buddhists, Bon refers to the false teachings and practices that were prevalent before Buddhism finally succeeded in gaining a firm hold on the country. The present study resulted from a period during which the author, a renowned scholar of Asian languages and cultures, was engaged in intense contact with practicing bonpos. It consists of the translation of fundamental texts of Bon, based on a manuscript of some 400 years of age, in which the entire Bon tantric practice is summarized. In many ways remarkably parallel to the early Buddhist teachings, much of the Bon tradition was subsequently incorporated back into Buddhism when that religion was formally adopted into Tibetan culture. This important study, first published in the 1960s and long out of print, will be welcomed by all with interest in the religions of the Himalayas.

Himalayan Pilgrimage describes a seven months' journey which the author made through the remote Tibetan regions of Western Nepal in 1956. Travelling everywhere on foot with his Nepalese companion, Pasang Khambache Sherpa, who is eulogized in this new edition, Dr. Snellgrove covered more than a thousand miles of mountainous country and crossed some fifteen major passes of between seventeen- and twenty-thousand feet in altitude. The intention of the journey was to learn of the different regions and people and to study in particular the types of Tibetan religion practiced in those remote lands. The most interesting of these is perhaps Dolpo, through which very few foreigners have passed, then or to the present day. The author, well known for his Buddhist studies and for his affection for Tibetan peoples, gives a lively and sympathetic account of the traditional lives and beliefs of these cheerful people.

This book, a revised edition of one of this renowned scholar's primary early works, describes the various developments in Tibetan Buddhism from earliest times to its present form. It is therefore a history of a rather special kind, in that it shows the evolution of Buddhism primarily from the Tibetan perspective. Since Tibetan Buddhism is largely of Indian origin, the account is mainly one of past cultural contacts between India and Tibet, either directly or with Nepal as an intermediary. It is in the Himalayan regions that we must seek the cultural and archaeological traces of past contacts, and here also that we meet with the active influence of Tibetan religions in districts that have turned to the Tibetans for guidance, now that Buddhism has all but disappeared in the land of its origins. In an updated preface, the author draws attention to changes in interpretation and perspective that have quite properly taken place over the intervening years. While the substance of an account of this kind must be sound research, the inspiration has been provided by Dr. Snellgrove's own travels in these remote regions. A new addendum provides fascinating insight into details of the author's historic first travels into these areas in 1953.

Suitable for students of Tibetan religion and culture who are also versed in classical Tibetan language, this title provides an edited and corrected transcription the original Tibetan textual autobiographies of four Tibetan lamas of the Dolpo region, three of whom were born in the 16th century and one in the 17th. The present volume provides an edited and corrected transcription the original Tibetan textual autobiographies of four Tibetan lamas of the Dolpo region, three of whom were born in the 16th century and one in the 17th. An accompaniment to

An English translation of the manuscript autobiographies of four Tibetan lamas of the Dolpo region, three of whom were born in the 16th century and one in the 17th. It offers reader an important insight into medieval Tibetan religious life. This English translation of the manuscript autobiographies of four Tibetan lamas of the Dolpo region, three of whom were born in the 16th century and one in the 17th, offers the reader important insight into medieval Tibetan religious life. The manuscript records of these lives were discovered by the author/translator, an eminent

This unique anthology of Buddhist scripture traces the development of Buddhism through the ages and around the world. Designed to serve scholars and students, this classic text has become a valuable resource for Buddhists and all those who wish to explore for themselves the original sources of one of the world's great religions. Accessible and jargon-free, these translations from the original Pali, Sanskrit, Chinese, Tibetan and Japanese are presented in plain English by four leading experts on the language and literature of Buddhism, while a glossary of foreign terms completes a thoroughly comprehensive and timeless introduction to the subject.