The manuscripts discovered in the “Library Cave” near Dunhuang in northwestern China represent some of the earliest materials we have in Tibetan language. They shed light on both the early period of Tibetan Buddhism, when the Pugyel empire was at the height of its power and Tibetans were first encountering Buddhism, and the subsequent “age of fragmentation” that followed the empire’s collapse. After a brief introduction to the Dunhuang collection in general, this lecture considers what these ancient treasures tell us about the early Tibetan assimilation of tantric Buddhism in particular, from the late eighth to the late tenth centuries.
Land of the Jowos: Buddhist Temples in Mongolia as the Embodiment of Statehood
January 20, 2024
Bymaryann
This talk takes a tour through these monasteries and temples to shed light on the interplay between Buddhism and the state, which led to the proliferation of institutionalized Buddhism in Mongolian lands, and on the impact these processes had on the disintegration of a unified Mongol state.
On September 5, 2023, more than 30 years after his time as a student there, Rinpoche was awarded the distinction of Honorary Fellow at SOAS in recognition of his substantial contribution as a Buddhist spiritual teacher, writer, and filmmaker, and for his support to the school.