Namkhai Norbu : The Light of Kailash [Vol 1]

Author(s) : Namkhai Norbu and translated by Donatella Rossi
Cover : Hardback
Pages : 262
Size : 236 x 158mm
Publisher : Shang Shung
Published : 2009
Category : Bon and Dzogchen
Category 2 : Tibet: Land and Culture

Synopsis:
Volume 1 covers the Early Period, the History of Ancient Zhang Zhung. It covers the rise of human generations in ancient Zhang Zhung and also its Bon lineages, its dynasties, language and culture.

Chogyal Namkhai Norbu, a great Dzogchen master but also former professor of Tibetan and Mongolian Language and Literature at the University of Naples L'Orientale, has dedicated his academic career to the study of Tibetan culture, and in particular, its origins. In his findings, the cradle of Tibetan culture is to be looked for in the ancient realm of Zhang Zhung, which had the revered Mount Kailash as its centre and heart, and in the Bon spiritual traditions which florished within and spread from that kingdom.

The Light of Kailash, through meticulous selection and a critical use and analysis of a vast array of literary sources, offers an open, daring, holistic, unbiased approach to the study of the cultural and spiritual heritage of Tibet, and to the understanding of the origin of this fascinating and endangered civilization.

"Tibetan studies have a long and honoured history, though only in the second half of the last century did scholars begin to take an interest in the Tibetan Bonpo culture. The reasons for this delay lie primarily in the previous lack of access to textual sources, and in the prevalence of orthodox Buddhist views which not only greatly influenced the attitude of modern Bonpo adherents, but have also been adopted by Western scholars as the unquestioned basis for the study of Tibetan culture as a whole, resulting in a simplistic view, still maintained by some, according to which Tibet was a savage land before the adoption of Buddhism, even lacking a written language....The availability of extensive (new) literature has paved the way for a series of analytic cataloguing, research studies, field work, seminars, and so on, that have contributed dramatically to improve understanding about the Bon tradition as a whole. The Light of Kailash can be considered a highly significant contribution to this body of knowledge." Donatella Rossi.