The Arrow and the Spindle: Studies in History, Myths, Rituals, in Tibet (Vol. III)
Author: Samten G Karmay
Category: Tibetan Buddhism   
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The Book

About the Book
The first part of this book contains studies of historical documents such as royal decrees of the 10th and 11th centuries A.D.
The second part deals with the history of Bon monastic establishment, the question of codification of the Bon Canonical texts as well as recent discoveries of ancient manuscripts of the Bon tradition that focus on the early Tibetan concepts of ritual practices.
The third part is devoted to a short presentation of a personal letter of Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, founder of the modern state of Bhutan and the question of tulku institution in Tibet that had marred Tibetan political unity.


About the Author
Born in Amdo, northeastern Tibet, and educated in a Bonpo monastery, Samten G. Karmay studied Buddhist philosophy in Drepung, a Gelug monastery in Central Tibet, till 1959. He also studied at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London where he obtained the M.Phil and PhD degrees.
He was a research fellow at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Paris and a visiting scholar in a number of academic institutions: Toyo Bunko, Tokyo; University of Tokyo; The National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka, Kyoto University and International Institute of Asian Studies, Leiden.
In 1981, he became a Chargé de Recherche in the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Paris and a member of Laboratoire d’ethnologie et de sociologie comparative, Université de Paris-X. From 1989, he became a Director of Research in CNRS and was awarded the 1990 Silver Medal of CNRS for “Originality and Quality” in his research. In 1996 he was elected President of the International Association for Tibetan Studies (IATS) at its 7th Seminar in Graz, Austria.
In 2007-2008 Curator of the exhibition of Bon Art in Rubin Museum of Art (RMA), New York. In September-October 2010 he gave public lectures at Minzu University, Beijing.
He is the author of books including The Great Perfection, Brill 1988 (reprint 2007); Secret Visions of the Fifth Dalai Lama, Serindia 1988 (reprint 1998), The Arrow and the Spindle, Vol.1, Mandala Book Point 1998 (reprint 2009), Vol. II Mandala Publications 2005 and The Illusive Play, the autobiography of the Fifth Dalai Lama, Serindia 2014. He has published over 50 articles on various aspects of Tibetan civilization in English, French and Tibetan.