Overview

"This summa of Ch�gyal Namkhai Norbu's researches is dedicated first and foremost to his fellow countrymen and women and to Tibetan youth in particular. The text was originally conceived as a set of university lectures that Ch�gyal Namkhai Norbu was invited to give at the University of Nationalities in Beijing in 1988, forming a first abridged version of The Light of Kailash subsequently enlarged by the author after further research; the manuscript through meticulous selection and a critical use and analysis of a vast array of literary and frequently unpublished sources became a work of 1,900 pages divided in three volumes. The first volume, ""The Early Period, the History of Ancient Zhang Zhung,"" considers the rise of early human generations and the Bon lineages of ancient Zhang Zhung, its dynasties, language, and culture. The second volume, ""The History of the Intermediate Period: Tibet and Zhang Zhung,"" is focused upon human generations, the Bonpo lineages, the spread of Bon during the lifetimes of the first Tibetan monarchs, the dynasties, written language, and civilization of ancient Tibet, as well as upon the reigns of specific kings, the Bon religion, and Bonpo religious figures (Dran-pa Nam-mkha' in particular) of Zhang Zhung during that period. The third volume, ""The History of the Later Period: Tibet,"" is concerned with an assessment of the genealogies, Bonpo lineages, royal dynasties (from the first monarch gNya'-khri bTsan-po until the forty-fifth monarch Khri-dar-ma 'U-dum-btsan), language, and civilization of Tibet. This amazing trilogy, aptly named The Light of Kailash, 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."

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Reviews

Ch gyal Namkhai Norbu is one the foremost masters of Tibetan religions and recognized as a teacher and scholar. This book demonstrates his profound knowledge of Tibet's antiquity and shows the complex and sophisticated tradition of the Zhang Zhung civilization that flourished on the Tibetan plateau in ancient times. -Tsering Shakya, PhD, Canadian research chair in religion and contemporary society in Asia at the Institute of Asian Research, University of British Columbia Scholars and students of early Tibet will welcome the publication in English of this first volume of Ch gyal Namkhai Norbu's trilogy on the history of Zhang Zhung and Tibet. Accurately and carefully translated by Donatella Rossi, this book draws on a wide range of Bon sources and chronicles that shed light on the creation mythology, geography, lineages, and cultural legacy of ancient Zhang Zhung. -Gyurme Dorje, leading Tibetan scholar, translator, and author Using traditional sources in an original way, this work paints a fascinating picture of the history and culture of the Zhang Zhung kingdom of early Tibet. -Sam van Schaik, PhD, Tibetologist and research project manager for the International Dunhuang Project (IDP) at the British Library For many of us in the academic community who have been trying to keep a pulse on the phenomenon of Zhang Zhung, it's a relief that scholarly opinion is finally starting to shift from the previously standard view that the period of Songtsen Gampo's reign - when Buddhism was beginning to be introduced - defines the roots of much of Tibetan culture. It is now fairly clear that, to the contrary, much of what makes Tibet Tibetan - for example, an emphasis on bardo rites; a cohesive, spiritual taxonomy for transmissions of alphabets, scripts, and systems of writing; historically long-enduring divination practices; distinctive frameworks of medicine (including moxibustion); signature practices of fine arts; and even contemplative methods for dreaming - derives from the Zhang Zhung civilization. -J.I. Abbot, Mandala

Chogyal Namkhai Norbu is one the foremost masters of Tibetan religions and recognized as a teacher and scholar. This book demonstrates his profound knowledge of Tibet's antiquity and shows the complex and sophisticated tradition of the Zhang Zhung civilization that flourished on the Tibetan plateau in ancient times. -Tsering Shakya, PhD, Canadian research chair in religion and contemporary society in Asia at the Institute of Asian Research, University of British Columbia Scholars and students of early Tibet will welcome the publication in English of this first volume of Chogyal Namkhai Norbu's trilogy on the history of Zhang Zhung and Tibet. Accurately and carefully translated by Donatella Rossi, this book draws on a wide range of Bon sources and chronicles that shed light on the creation mythology, geography, lineages, and cultural legacy of ancient Zhang Zhung. -Gyurme Dorje, leading Tibetan scholar, translator, and author Using traditional sources in an original way, this work paints a fascinating picture of the history and culture of the Zhang Zhung kingdom of early Tibet. -Sam van Schaik, PhD, Tibetologist and research project manager for the International Dunhuang Project (IDP) at the British Library For many of us in the academic community who have been trying to keep a pulse on the phenomenon of Zhang Zhung, it's a relief that scholarly opinion is finally starting to shift from the previously standard view that the period of Songtsen Gampo's reign - when Buddhism was beginning to be introduced - defines the roots of much of Tibetan culture. It is now fairly clear that, to the contrary, much of what makes Tibet Tibetan - for example, an emphasis on bardo rites; a cohesive, spiritual taxonomy for transmissions of alphabets, scripts, and systems of writing; historically long-enduring divination practices; distinctive frameworks of medicine (including moxibustion); signature practices of fine arts; and even contemplative methods for dreaming - derives from the Zhang Zhung civilization. -J.I. Abbot, Mandala

"""Chögyal Namkhai Norbu is one the foremost masters of Tibetan religions and recognized as a teacher and scholar. This book demonstrates his profound knowledge of Tibet's antiquity and shows the complex and sophisticated tradition of the Zhang Zhung civilization that flourished on the Tibetan plateau in ancient times."" -Tsering Shakya, PhD, Canadian research chair in religion and contemporary society in Asia at the Institute of Asian Research, University of British Columbia ""Scholars and students of early Tibet will welcome the publication in English of this first volume of Chögyal Namkhai Norbu's trilogy on the history of Zhang Zhung and Tibet. Accurately and carefully translated by Donatella Rossi, this book draws on a wide range of Bon sources and chronicles that shed light on the creation mythology, geography, lineages, and cultural legacy of ancient Zhang Zhung."" -Gyurme Dorje, leading Tibetan scholar, translator, and author ""Using traditional sources in an original way, this work paints a fascinating picture of the history and culture of the Zhang Zhung kingdom of early Tibet."" -Sam van Schaik, PhD, Tibetologist and research project manager for the International Dunhuang Project (IDP) at the British Library ""For many of us in the academic community who have been trying to keep a pulse on the phenomenon of Zhang Zhung, it's a relief that scholarly opinion is finally starting to shift from the previously standard view that the period of Songtsen Gampo's reign - when Buddhism was beginning to be introduced - defines the roots of much of Tibetan culture. It is now fairly clear that, to the contrary, much of what makes Tibet ""Tibetan"" - for example, an emphasis on bardo rites; a cohesive, spiritual taxonomy for transmissions of alphabets, scripts, and systems of writing; historically long-enduring divination practices; distinctive frameworks of medicine (including moxibustion); signature practices of fine arts; and even contemplative methods for dreaming - derives from the Zhang Zhung civilization."" -J.I. Abbot, Mandala"

Author Information

Born in eastern Tibet in 1938, Ch�gyal Namkhai Norbu is an internationally known Dzogchen teacher and author as well as an eminent scholar of the history and culture of Tibet. He studied with renowned masters of various Tibetan Buddhist traditions at important monasteries and colleges, completing a rigorous program of traditional studies while still an adolescent. He revealed such extraordinary learning ability that he was considered a scholar even at an early age and when barely sixteen was invited to teach Tibetan at a university in China. He holds degrees in both philosophy and letters and traditional medicine. In 1960 he emigrated to Italy as a professor of Tibetology, and about a decade later began to give instructions to a growing following of Western students, initially on Yantra Yoga and subsequently on Dzogchen, the Total Perfection teachings of the Tibetan spiritual traditions. He is the founder of the International Dzogchen Community, created to encourage the teaching and practice of the Dzogchen point of view and meditation methods, and travels worldwide giving teachings and speaking at international conferences. A prolific author of books on Dzogchen, Yantra Yoga, and Tibetan history, medicine, and culture, he also founded ASIA and the Shang Shung Institute, two nonprofit organizations dedicated to supporting the Tibetan people and preserving Tibetan culture.

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