Born in Eastern Tibet in 1938, CHOGYAL NAMKHAI NORBU is an internationally known Dzogchen Buddhist teacher and author. The direct descendant of the first Dzogchen Tibetan master of Tibet, Norbu is a former professor of Tibetan and Mongolian language and literature at the University of Naples L'Orientale. He is the founder of two nonprofit organizations including the Shang Shung Institute, which is dedicated to the preservation of Tibetan culture. The author lives in Arcidosso, Italy.
"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
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