Thursday, January 12, 2012

New Works on the Works of Lama Zhang

Zhang Yudragpa: Detail of a tapestry portrait


Today’s small blog effort, I feel it is fair to warn you, is likely to be of limited interest to all but the most dyed-in-the-wool Tibeto-logical specialists.  Even then, I don’t have a whole lot of time to sit and chat. There are so many things on my plate, I hope you’ll excuse me if I excuse myself so I can dig in, or should I say bite the bullet, in the hope of completing one or another of my several assignments, at least. Don’t even say the word ‘deadline’ within earshot if you know what’s good for you. I’m not in the mood to hear it. I suppose you might even get a particularly nasty reaction if you’re not careful. Be forewarned.

Enough of these idle threats with nothing to back them up. If you find yourself curious to find out a little bit about the man this fuss is all about, look at Lama Zhang's biography in Treasury of Lives. For now I’m just going to list some outstanding new works about Zhang Rinpoche* and his Works that have appeared since the turn of the millennium. Then I will announce the first public release of a bibliographical survey of his Works that I’ve been working on for quite some time now. I’m thinking a couple of you will find it of interest, and among those, one or two will find it useful for some good purpose or another. Those numbers sound more than adequate to me.
(*The full and usual form of the name of the initiator of the lineage of the Tselpa Kagyü [Tshal-pa Bka'-brgyud] is properly spelled using the Wylie system as Zhang G.yu-brag-pa Brtson-’grus-grags-pa [1123-1193 CE], and as far as I’m concerned that’s the name that he ought to be remembered by in history, although you may prefer a phoneticized version, like Zhang Yudragpa Tsondrüdragpa or the like. There are hundreds of variations on his name, many of them of his own making. Still, if we want to keep things short and simple, I see no reason why we shouldn’t speak of him as either Lama Zhang or Zhang Rinpoche, do you?)

 Here is the list —

1.  Karl-Heinz Everding, Der Gung thang dkar chag: Die Geschichte des tibetischen Herrschergeschlechtes von Tshal Gung thang und der Tshal pa bKa’ brgyud pa-Schule, VGH Wissenschaftsverlag (Bonn 2000). This publication contains Romanization and German translation of a Tibetan Guidebook on the history and holy objects contained in the monastery of Tsel Gungtang that was composed by the Dge-lugs-pa author ’Jog-ri-ba Ngag-dbang-bstan-’dzin-’phrin-las-rnam-rgyal (b. 1748) in the year 1782 at a time when Gung-thang was under the administration of Sera Monastery.  To read a little more about this publication, press here.


2.    Per K. Sørensen & Guntram Hazod, in cooperation with Tsering Gyalpo, Rulers on the Celestial Plain: Ecclesiastic and Secular Hegemony in Medieval Tibet, a Study of Tshal Gung-thang, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften (Vienna 2007), in 2 volumes with 1011 pages! This contains an English translation of the same Guidebook by ’Jog-ri, but in addition to that it contains such a wealth of information in its introduction and multiple appendices — not to mention the many maps and great color photographs — that it may take Tibetology many decades to begin to absorb it all, let alone catch up. For a review by Bryan Cuevas, look here.

3.    Carl S. Yamamoto, Vision and Violence: Lama Zhang and the Dialectics of Political Authority and Religious Charisma in Twelfth-Century Central Tibet, doctoral dissertation, Department of Religious Studies, University of Virginia (May 2009). Although a work of high academic standards, it will certainly be published as a book very soon, and when it is I imagine many will find it to be the most accessible book yet on the subject of Zhang Rinpoche.  For an abstract, look here.

The newest book on Lama Zhang

4.    Gra-bzhi Mig-dmar-tshe-ring (b. 1983), Tshal Gung-thang Gtsug-lag-khang-gi Dkar-chag Skyid-chu'i Rang-mdangs, Bod-ljongs Mi-dmangs Dpe-skrun-khang (Lhasa 2011), in 383 pages. I suppose the title could be translated “The Kyichu River's Inherent Glow: Guide to the Temple of Tsel Gungtang,” although it is much much more than a guidebook, with so much information about the temple and monastery during more than eight centuries of its existence. It pleases me very much to know that someone in Tibet is interested in doing this work. It has some small color illustrations and among these perhaps the most worthy of notice are the before-and-after photos of Zhang Rinpoche's funerary chorten, now reduced to a pile of rubble. You can see it in the following old photo; it's the larger chorten on your right. Lama Zhang had just finished building its lower steps when he died in 1193.

Tsel Gungtang, negative of photo by Hugh Richardson

So, I would like to suggest that those who want to go to the web version of the catalog of Zhang Rinpoche’s works, try going here (a link at the bottom of each file will lead you to the next). Or if you are impatient and want to immediately download the complete catalog in a Word file, all you need to do is click the link just given, which ought to transport you to Dropbox (I hope someone will let me know if this works OK, since it’s my first experiment with this mode of file distribution; the file is supposed to truly exist there, even now, in something that takes the form of a cloud, ready to be precipitated down onto your personal machinery). The download should be quick. It's only about 265 pages long. I wanted to put up the Gung-thang Dkar-chag, but haven’t succeeded yet.* For now, I’ll just say: Good luck and gods’ speed, until we find the time to blog again.

(*Oh, wait a minute.  Try here.)

A modern (or restored?) representation of Lama Zhang,
Tsel Gungtang Monastery


~   ~   ~

The frontispiece is from a very old fabric artwork that was preserved in the Potala Palace and is apparently now in the museum near the Norbu Lingka in Lhasa. It has an inscription on the back that has been and will be the subject of much discussion, but it does identify the main subject (“Dpal-ldan G.yu-brag-pa”), leaving no doubt that it is meant to represent Lama Zhang. This artwork may date from around the 15th century, but at the same time it may be a very faithful copy of an earlier artwork (perhaps a painting) dating much closer to the time of Lama Zhang. The details remain to be worked out. It has by now been published a number of times, but perhaps best is Bod-kyi Thang-ga at p. 62 (the catalog entry in this book says it was woven in the time of the late Sung).

Yes, there is a heaven.  If you are the sort of person who derives enjoyment from looking at listings of Wylie-transcribed Tibetan titles in Gsung-'bum-s and Bka'-'bum-s, you can find quite a few of them here.  If you are that sort of person, you are my sort of person.


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And one more thing.  If you’d like to read an English translation of what may very well be Zhang Rinpoche’s most famous literary work, try to get to the Dropbox download HERE.  I've also put up a never-before published Tibetan script edition of the original work.  If the link isn’t working, you can complain. Please do.


- - -


Postscript (Feb. 11, 2013):  If you would like to hear Carl Yamamoto talk about his book (that was meanwhile published for only 178 USD), there is an hour-long interview in the form of a Podcast (available through iTunes) in the series "New Books in Buddhist Studies."  I haven't found a way to make a direct link, but you ought to be able to locate it with an internet search.  (Perhaps you will have to sign up with iTunes, but before going to that extreme try this link.)




25 comments:

  1. Dear Dan,

    Just a short note to let you know that the download of the catalogue in pdf form is working fine. Thanks for publishing this work like this!
    Best for 2012,
    JL

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you Dan, I downloaded the Word file in a couple of seconds and read you interesting introduction. I think only a motion picture or an opera could do justice to Zhang and render his larger than life personality...

    Joy

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    Replies
    1. Dear J,

      I had the same reaction after I read Vladimir Uspensky's book Prince Yunli: Manchu Statesman and Tibetan Buddhist. But I haven't seen a movie about Yunli yet, either. So much of our human history goes to waste for so many when it doesn't hit the big screen. If people only had the least inkling how interesting they were!

      Yours,
      D

      Delete
  3. + Zhang Works.pdf download works just fine even here, in internet challenged Kathmandu. Will have a good look at it tomorrow. Thanks for sharing!

    T.

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  4. Zhang works works fine, many thanks! But the link to Path of Ultimate Profundity does not.
    I'm glad to hear there are others who describe perusing listings of Wylie titles as enjoyment. It's my guilty pleasure too (guilty because shouldn't I use the time for going through some actual dngos gzhi instead of lists of titles?).

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  5. Sorry, A!

    I went to dropbox at the suggestion of some commenter awhile ago, now that Megaupload is being suppressed in the U.S. Does THIS LINK work?

    I think the titles ARE the dngos-gzhi. No reason not to give up guilt and feel the freedom.

    -D

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  6. Sorry, the link in that last comment leads only to error.

    But I tried and tried to find out how to make Dropbox do the job.

    The three links at the very end of the post ought to work now. Try them and let me know.

    -D

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  7. Works perfectly now. Thank you very much!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Dear Dan,

    I just discovered the three articles that you published on your blog for which I thank you very much. I can't stress the importance of your approach to make your research freely available for the likes of me and hope your example will be followed by others. As I wrote to you earlier, I have very limited access to anything published on Tibetology, Indology, Buddhism in English in my French libraries. And most of the more interesting material nowadays is in English. The alternative is then often to buy or to not read... or to download illegally. So initiatives like yours are really appreciated here. Thanks!

    As for the big screen, there has been a very interesting series a couple of years ago on French television (Corpus Christi), which lasted for weeks and which was very popular, in spite of the fact it wasn't too much vulgarized and pretty technical at times. But it was well written and presented like a detective story, which perhaps contributed to its success. There has to be a sorty of story line or theme for it to work. http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corpus_Christi_(documentaire) http://archives.arte.tv/special/corpus/ftext/cjamais.htm

    Joy

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  9. Dear J,

    "There has to be a sort of story line or theme for it to work. "

    The movie about Gene Smith is getting made (just yesterday the money was successfully raised to finish production). I'm not sure what kind of story line it will have. An inspirational "man with a mission" kind of thing, I suppose.

    For Lama Zhang (as for Jesus?) I suppose it's inevitable that the movie version would provide a better window on our times than on his. (For example:) I'm sure some would want it to be a moral tale against the union of religion and secular rule, perhaps linking it with contemporary versions of the theme, like the Arab Spring or the American atheism debate? Even so, perhaps we ought to get the ball rolling. Is there someone out there ready to write up the treatment or sketch out the storyboards? Who's going to write the screen play?

    By the way, J, since I have you here, I wondered if you have ever read M. Purdon-White's Silhouettes Tibétaines (Ahmedabad 1894). I downloaded a PDF of this from the Gallica website, and found it very curious. Any idea about the background on this?

    Yours, D

    PS: There has been much of Tibetan interest going up on the Gallica site in recent times.

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  10. Dear Dan,

    I have never met Gene Smith and don't know much about him personally, but I am aware of his importance for Tibetan Buddhism. It seems to me that the keyword for Gene Smith is memory. His famous encyclopedic knowledge, his effort to preserve the memory of the Tibetan culture, his specific interest for the terma phenomenon, his mormon background (the link between baptism of deceased people and genealogy) : memory.

    Lama Zhang's life could be an opportunity to show the career of an average (I don't know his clan background...) Tibetan boy in religion and how religion and politics were/became mixed up. How does a young monk scared by the sufferings of hell end up faring war? Mind you, we have Luther?

    Or one can focus on the very moment where his life and career take a turn. It seems to have happened after his meeting with 'Ol kha ba. He received "precepts" which improved his compassion, maitri and bodhicitta and he starts building viharas and large statues. It's like those precepts made him hyperactive, which is one of the possible evolutions of great mystics (Henri Delacroix). In words, deeds and thoughts he seemed to have no limits anymore. For better and for worse.

    Silhouettes Tibétaines is a horrible little book. I didn't know it before you mentioned it. I expect some French army officer of colonist with literary ambitions must have written it. The style is very poor. I think it's meant to be a book like Lettres Persanes or Gulliver's travels. In the foreword he uses the same literary procedure as Daniel Defoe in Robinson Crusoe. A manuscript given to him by an English art robber, sorry officer of the British Museum, who allegedly visited Tibet and who allows him to publish his manuscrit after his death. It's full of prejudice, national stereotypes, racism, Western superiority (Kréhtin Singh for Crétin, Idio Babou for babou idiot etc., the best Indian doctor amputates someone's leg, where a plaster would have done...) or rather French superiority, because the English art lovers get a dig too : they seem to love the indigenous paintings and consider them art. The descriptions of the landscape paintings sound more Chinese than Tibetan. Its only interest is to be a snapshot of French national stereotypes in 1875...

    Joy

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  11. Dear J,

    One point: Zhang sometimes (in his later works, actually) calls himself Sna-nam Zhang. It's sure he could claim to belong to the Sna-nam clan. But the "Zhang" alone could be enough to tell us that he descended from an aristocratic clan that supplied brides to Tibetan emperors (a recent article by Dotson illuminates this phenomenon quite a bit). And Sna-nam clan belonged to this exclusive set of 'maternal uncle' clans.

    Another point: I wouldn't myself posit any idea that Lojong 'Mind Training' teachings received under 'Ol-kha-ba had any direct effect on his later career one way or another. He did consider 'Ol-kha-ba to be one of his six main teachers. But they met in around 1151. It was only after meeting his Kagyu lineage teacher Gomtsul in around 1155 that he got involved in any way with politics, as far as I know. It wasn't a choice. Gomtsul (d. 1169) told him he had to protect the Jokhang and Lhasa from the monastic factions. This was after Gomtsul's restorations of the Lhasa temples, an event that took place in around 1160 or perhaps even as late as 1166 (I should look into this more). (He wrote his Lam mchog mthar thug text somewhere in here, too, around 1163, I think.) Before that time Zhang was a nobody. His name was not publicly known. He happened to be staying in G.yu-brag when fame hit him (not an otherwise significant place, really), and so the name G.yu-brag-pa stuck with him for posterity). The way I see it, his militancy was not in his character, not something he was born with. As I like to put it, that he was 'saddled with power.' Thanks to Gomtsul, he was placed in a position that required political action and militancy (of some degree). He didn't really build any large statues until he founded the two Tshal Monasteries (the Yang-dgon in 1175 and the Gung-thang in 1187, the places where he spent his later years). He had a very serious illness in 1181, and spent much of his later life in a strict retreat, meanwhile writing some of the most extreme poetry Tibetan language has ever heard (it puts those young Dhondup Gyal modernists nowadays to shame, really). If you're really concerned about the chronology and the conflicts, I think you should try to get ahold of Yamamoto's dissertation.

    So no, I don't think I can follow the idea that Lojong teachings sent him off a kind of deep end or that it 'radicalized' him. Given there is any accuracy to this kind of characterization at all, I think if anything it was the main lineage transmission of his own Kagyü. Active, sure! But hyperactive?

    I'm apologize for making you look at that awful book. I'm sure you didn't waste as much time on it as I did (French reading is slow for me), and could easily figure out what kind of book it was. You think the book was written too early in time for the British art procurer to be patterned after Waddell? Was Waddell snatching things from Tibetan temples before the Younghusband Invasion of '04?

    OK, my mind is going off track. I'll have to go do something else, try and make myself more active!

    Yours,
    D

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  12. The following comment is from Joy!

    Thank you Dan, no need to apologize ! Please, what do you make me look like ? I liked it as a curiosity. I will have another look to see if it could be a roman à clé with Waddell being one of the keys ?

    As for Zhang’s strong and charismatic character, there doesn’t seem to be much doubt about it, if one can give any credit to the available biographical material and I will certainly try to get hold of Yamomoto’s book. As for his militancy, at age 18, he practised magic to counter enmity (Blue Annals 712), at age 24 (around 1147) he abandoned magic. « His disciples said that the Teacher had gone mad and begged him not to do it. » So he already had a group of followers as a teacher in magic. Whatever magic is, it is motivated by the wish to have a grip on the world and to influence the course of things. From then onwards, he feels a strong disgust towards the world, which is something that will keep plaguing him and remains a point of struggle during his later spiritual practise and this point also pops up in a later justification (BA 715) of his life . He is repeatedly described as quarrelsome (BA 655) or seems to have that reputation. It is my intuition that there is some truth in that description and that later biographies have tried to do some damage control (wrongly accused p. 558, self justification p. 715 « I have given up the world in my mind »). I see Gomtshul more of a diplomate (he was praised for this) and Zhang as a man of action and power (magic, siddhi or otherwise) and following the orders of his master, which may have made him more zealous or made him feel his actions were covered/blessed by his master.

    As for his studies with ‘Ol kha ba (famous for being a siddha), I don’t know on what source their meeting in 1151 is based on. But ‘Gos lotsāwa writes : « During the life time of sGom pa and his brother, [Chos gyung) did not maintain a class of disciples, but after that for seven years, he started a class. » (BA, p. 469). Sgom chung died in 1171. If we are to believe ‘Gos lotsāwa, Chos gyung didn’t have disciples before that time and then gave classes for seven years, so from about 1171-1178. Also in ‘Gos’ chronology of Zhang’s life, the meeting with ‘Ol kha ba follows that of his master sGom tsul.

    The formulation « He received "precepts" which improved his compassion, maitri and bodhicitta » seems to bare special meaning. It doesn’t seem to be the odd Lojong teaching, but something that deepened compassion, maitri and bodhicitta and made him find siddhi. The way the sentence is phrased (Skabs shig tu bla ma ‘ol kha ba dang mjal/ gdams pa zhus pas byams pa dang snying rje byang chub kyi sems la bogs thon zhing grub pa brnyes nas gtsug lag khang dang lha chen bzhengs/ DN p. 836), there seems to be a connection or logical consequence to the deepening of compassion, maitri and bodhicitta, finding siddhi and the activity (active bodhicita) that followed. It’s like a switch went over and all the theoretical understanding became pratical and spontaneous.

    We find the same formulation in ‘Gos’ description of the first Karmapa’s end of spiritual training « He practised meditation, on compassion, karuṇa and the bodhicitta (BA 477) (byams snying rje byang chub kyi sems la gnad du bsnun DN 567). « Practise » seems a bit weak. I don’t know what exactly is meant by this formulation « deepening compassion, maitri and bodhicitta », but not Lojong, which are spiritual (buddhi) exercises.

    Sorry, by hyperactive I meant theopathic activity (« cette sorte de somnambulisme divin, d'automatisme général »), but then applied to Buddhism. « L'abolition du sentiment du moi, la conscience d'une vie divine continue, dans l'exaltation et la béatitude, l'inhibition de la réflexion et de la volonté par la spontanéité subconsciente orientée vers la vie et qui livre tout achevées ses inspirations et ses impulsions, caractérisent cet état théopathique. » (Henri Delacroix, Les grands mystiques).
    Yours,

    Joy

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  13. Dear Joy,

    I would have to plunge myself into days of research to answer all the issues raised in your letter. It's been years since I concentrated on Lama Zhang, and it looks like it may be many more years before I will be doing so again.

    Just let me say that I think it wouldn't be right to rely on that brief passage in Blue Annals, p. 714 that would make it appear that there was some instant result of meeting 'Ol-kha-ba, in the sense that he immediately set to work building Viharas and large images and so on. These things, along with the 'securing materials by force' came much later. It's true that in the Blue Annals the most important early sources are generally the ones used, but that doesn't mean that things don't get misconstrued before they reach us. Zhang's studies in 'Ol-kha-ba came after Rga Lo and Yer-pa, but before Sgom-tshul. And the whole remainder of the paragraph in the Blue Annals is quoting and paraphrasing words of advice that Zhang Rinpoche had for a minor local king that is found under the title Phrang-po Btsad-po'i Don-du Gsungs-pa'i Gdams-pa Dgos-pa Kun Tshang. It is there (and in works of equal age), rather than a work dating nearly three centuries after him like the Blue Annals does, that we ought to be looking for our answers.

    There are so many rich sources that are so much closer to the time, so much autobiographical and biographical material, that it would be a mistake in my book to go by bits and pieces in later literature, drawing conclusions from their confusions.

    I guess I could turn around and ask the question, Why give so much credit to 'OI-kha-ba, about whom so little is really said in Zhang's works,[1] rather than Rga Lo and Yer-pa whose teachings are described in much detail in those same works? Both of those teachers certainly had a profound impact on his life. But none of these earlier teachers can compare, in Zhang's own testimony, with the impact of Sgom-tshul. And if he entered political life, it was due to Sgom-tshul and nobody else.

    Yours,
    D
    [1] There is a piece on the life of 'Ol-kha-ba here at The Treasury of Lives, mainly based on the Blue Annals, of course. (insert crooked smiley)

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  14. Dear Dan,

    I agree with you about your caution to not take the Blue Annals at face value and to rather look at earlier sources. But it’s a fact that ‘Gos lotsāwa links the different events in one sequence, after meeting with ‘Ol kha ba. Why ?

    I have a working theory, rather an intuition, so I wont go into details. In short, very often, biographies are actually hagiographies, propaganda written by spin doctors. Basically they are meant to close all sorts of gaps, with mainly surnatural elements. ‘Gos lotsāwa has a bias towards Phag mo gru pa and ‘Bri khung pa and also contributes to the global Kagyu damage control policy following the polemics about the kagyu Mahāmudrā, and the attacks by Sapan and others on Gampopa, Gampo and Tshalpa Zhang. In ‘Gos lotsāwa’s version, Phag mo gru pa and ‘Bri khung pa get the better part and role, and Rechungpa from Lo ro has a special featuring. Not directly (at least not before his hagiographies are written), but indirectly through « siddhas » who received instructions from him, the genuin thing, not that surrogate prajnapamarita stuff. The « genuin stuff » didn’t pass through Gampopa, although there are several hagiographical rescue actions. A special mention has to be granted to Lho la yag pa byang chub dngos grub (BA 470-473), who was raised, till the age of 3, by a white hand with ornaments (of a Mary Poppins jnanadakini)…

    At some point in their hagiographies, all the great Kagyu masters have to go to Lo ro to receive the genuin stuff from Rechungpa or to meet a traveling disciple of Naropa. The genuin stuff is the upāya marga, the six yogas, the oral transmission, going back to Tailopa via Naropa. The purpose of the story about ‘Ol kha ba and the goose, is to show he got hold of the genuin stuff, which is proven by his ability to transfer his consciousness into dead bodies.

    Tilopa had it, Naropa had it, Marpa had it, Marpa’s son Darma Dode had it but he unfortunately died before passing it on. Insertion of a deus ex machina, the traveling pigeon, Tipuba… and Rechungpa. Rechungpa handed the genuin stuff to Milarepa, who immediately gave it back to him (Gampopa had already gone and missed out on this). ‘Ol kha ba met Rechungpa at Lo ro and received the Oral tradition (BA p. 469), including the transfer of consciousness. And was therefore considered a genuin siddha. By the way, Dus gsum khyen pa also met Rechungpa in Lo ro (BA p. 499), which saves the Karma Kagyu transmission. Beware of those who are specifically called genuin siddhas and who went to Lo ro ! They may be filling up gaps.

    A good story (our motion picture) needs a dramatic moment, a twist, a sudden conversion. Rga Lo and Yer pa no doubt had a great influence of Zhang, like sgom tshul and Vairocanarakṣita. So what was ‘Ol kha ba’s role ? He was a siddha and passed on siddhi to Zhang. Something which, according to bad tongues, Gampopa and sgom tshul were unable of. Once Zhang found siddhi, he had all the means to raise funds and all the power to build his viharas and statues. That is the fairy version. My other version was trying to be more psychological.

    Yours,

    Joy

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  15. Hi everyone,
    it's probably the right place and time to ask for help.
    In his dissertation, Mr Yamamoto uses one text that is nowhere to be found, and i'd like to know if any of you could help me locate it or maybe give me mr Yamamoto mail so that i can ask him.
    Here is the bibliographical note of the text:


    Bla ma zhang gi rnam thar zin bris. Lha ri ba chen po (aka Nam mkha' 'od, Sangs rgyas
    'od, or Sangs rgyas ras pa). From Bka' brgyud "Golden Rosary" (gser phreng)
    anthology of unknown provenance from 'Bras spungs monastery

    It seems to follow zhang's Shes rab grub pa ma autobiography but to be clearer on certain difficult to understand passages.

    Thank you for your time and your excelent blog.

    obobinde

    ReplyDelete
  16. Dear O,

    Sorry, but I can't hang Dr. Yamamoto's email up here. I could suggest that since he has academic affiliation, it could be possible to find with a little internet searching.

    It's remarkable that he was able to locate this quite early biographical work. I don't have any copy of it. If you are really curious to know more, you could check that big 2-volume catalog of the Drepung Monastery collection at pp. 1503-1504, where there is a listing of what would appear to be a Golden Rosary of Lives mainly for Lha-ri Monastery, including abbots of that monastery's abbatial succession. The biography of which you speak forms a part of this Gser-phreng.

    Equipped with the shelving codes from the catalog, you can feel free to fly to Lhasa and try your luck (although you may have to delay for a month or two, since I hear the country of Tibet is closed to foreign travelers for some reason or another).

    Hope that helps you.

    And a PS for Janus; Sorry, I'll try to get back and answer your comment before too long!

    Yours, D

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  17. Dan
    This biography, the zin bris, if I am not wrong, I should have it somewhere. Great blog, thanks again for your excellent entries.

    Per

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  18. Dear Dan
    I think I have the last source, the zin bris, must look for it.

    Great blog, enjoyable reading.

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  19. Sorry for this late answer.

    Anyway thank you Dan for your advice. I wrote an email to Mr Yamamoto on his university mail but without answer yet.
    I don't plan on going to Lhasa soon, so if somebody has this text I would be really happy to get a copy of it or a way to get it by myself. The one helping me will be granted a " one free croissant" card to be used exclusively in Paris. The croissant will be the tastiest ever eaten by the winner as my selection is the outcome of a long and tedious research for the best ones in Paris...

    Thank you very much for making available this catalogue of Zhang works, it's really useful for me.


    Obobinde

    Ps: here is my email adress : obobinde@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  20. Dear Dan,

    I think i had a problem posting my previous comment so you may receive many request of it, sorry for that. Furthemore i've added my email adress in the post, if it's a problem feel free to delete it.

    Thank you

    Obobinde

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  21. Dear O,

    I do have a stated policy not to hang up comments that contain email addresses. On the other hand, when I do get them, I regard them as personal messages. This is for the protection of the person who has the address, really, not me. And it seems to me that you want your email address to be there, so I make an exception this one time. I deleted 8 versions of your message this afternoon, which didn't take long.

    Yours,
    D

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  22. I see now that TBRC (Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center) has put up the listing of works in the 9-volume pecha set of Zhang Rinpoche's works (published in Kathmandu in 2004). This makes the listing of titles that was appended to Carl Yamamoto's dissertation available to the world at large. You can view the title pages, even if you aren't linked through a subscribing institution. Just go here:
    http://tbrc.org/link?RID=W26673

    ReplyDelete
  23. Dan,

    Thank you for sharing information on your wonderful work. Tashi Delek!

    I am from Bhutan and much curious about really tracking on incarnations of LamaZhang. We do not have high end research or any studies to validate the Lama Zhang who visted Bhutan and particularly in Central Eastern Eastern Bhutan, Zhemgang- My own village. I dont know if you have been here -Bhutan?

    There are stories narrated of it and not sure about whether we are talking about Lama Zhang of 12th Century or others.

    May be you could help me about the records and I am much interested to study on it.

    Some can check with google on Zhemgang and Lama Zhang and get the idea about what I am talking about it.

    Please get me your email or you can write to me at ugyen_lhendup@rim.edu.bt I shall be happy to learn and discuss more.
    Thank you

    ReplyDelete
  24. Keep on writing, great job!

    ReplyDelete

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