Thor bu - Curiosia Indo-Tibetica

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Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Yum bu bla mkhar

Chances are that you will arrive quite exhausted to the Yum bu bla mkhar. Do not be fooled by the approach, which is very cleverly constructed. If yours truly managed to be at the gate in thirteen minutes from the bottom of the hill, you will certainly do better.

Here is a close-up of this magnificent building. Some fifteen hundred years ago Lha tho tho ri was taking his afternoon stroll up there just to be knocked on the head by some sūtra.

That's the newly constructed bus station with the usual tourist rip-offs such as one yuan for the bathroom (raw silk sanitary towels and complimentary Chanel no. 5 included).

The rest of the view is, however, breathtaking (quite literally). The Yar lung valley is lush. It was for the first time I really understood the eulogy of P.t. 1026.

Note the walled area on the left. According to legend this was the first parcel to be worked upon after the self-planting, self-growing grains were gone.

The small stele marks the spot of the first settlement created by the sons of the good monkey and the brag srin mo.

Yonder a small chapel holding the throne of Atīśa.

A view best enjoyed with good friends.

The old man will insist that you offer bsangs to the gods. Don't resist, he's very nice.

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9 Comments:

Blogger Dan said...

Dear Psz,

Are you wandering about in the highlands this time of year? There's some really big news from 10 days ago I think you ought to blog about:

http://blog.tbrc.org/

If you won't, I guess I just did!

Yours,
Dan

11:31 pm  
Blogger PDSz said...

Dear Dan,

That _is_ wonderful news, even if I did have access to the tbrc (hallowed be thy name). Sadly I am back, it was only a short spell.

Btw, I have some bibliographical questions for you if you have the time. I saw a huge, pothi format, edition of Bu ston's gsung 'bum. Is this a reprint of the Śatapiṭaka ed. or something new? I did not even have the time to look into it, although I chanced to see in Zhwa lu a shelf with the collected works. People had to drag me away from it.

In the same format there was some kind of collection of Kālacakra commentaries. Is there anything out there on this?

Thanks in advance!

Yours,

Peter

7:29 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Since the master did not free himself to submit a reply, I take the liberty to do the same. You must be referring to the volumes in Zenkar Rinpoche's
"Phyag bris gces btus" series, released between 2007 and 2008.

1. Rngog chos skor phyogs bsgrigs (ISBN 978-7-80057-847-2), 10 vols.

2. Dus 'khor 'grel mchan phyogs bsgrigs (ISBN 978-7-80057-848-9), 7 vols.

3. Bu ston rin chen grub kyi gsung 'bum (ISBN 978-7-80253-014-0), 28 vol.

All sets in pothi format, reproducing hitherto unavailable manuscripts.

Keep on reading...

Cheers!

P.S. These volumes and many more can and should be purchased only through Zenkar Rinpoche's people in China: paltseg@gmail.com
Any sales profits are thus going into further publication projects.

2:31 pm  
Blogger PDSz said...

Thanks anonymous! This looks like a very impressive collection indeed. Any idea which print of Bu ston's gsung 'bum is reproduced in this edition? Or is it a manuscript (phyag bris)???

2:46 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dear Péter-D.,

Yes, as I wrote, all three sets reproduce manuscripts. Hence also the name of the series: "Phyag bris gces btus".

Lokesh Chandra published facsimiles of the Zhol par khang print (Lhasa). This is the only known print of Bu ston's gsung 'bum.

The last two volumes (27-28) in both sets actually contain the works of sGra tshad pa Rin chen rnam rgyal. Vol. 26 consists of Bu ston's gsung ..., oh dear what's that called? Oh yes, gsung thor bu!

Cheers!

11:52 pm  
Blogger PDSz said...

of course, you did say manuscripts. my apologies. guess I got so excited reading the list that this escaped my attention.

yes, it is _obviously_ the thor bu I am after (besides many other things in there :))

thanks for dropping in and sharing the precious info!

12:03 am  
Blogger Dan said...

Sorry, I was just too busy and distracted. But Anonymous said it all. I have recently noticed occurrences of an early (12th-century) spelling form of the name thor-bu — tho-ru. If you'd like your blog name to be even more obscure than it is...

11:41 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dear Péter-D.,

In the meantime I checked the dkar chag that accompanies the Bu ston gsung 'bum (a little booklet of 41 pp.). In there is found some relevant information concerning your question of what text was used for the reproduction.
It is stated that the original text (ma dpe) was kept in Zhwa lu ri phug and that it was known as sGra tshad pa Rin chen rnam rgyal's own manuscript (phyag dpe). Later on, it was taken to Beijing and housed in the Mi rigs pho brang (i.e. the Cultural Palace of Nationalities) before it was returned to Zhwa lu monastery again where it is nowadays kept.

Cheers!

10:53 pm  
Blogger PDSz said...

thanks! goodness, gotta get me of these phyag dpe's...

11:17 pm  

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