Centre for Advanced Study

at the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters

An Unexplored Collection of Sacred Texts: An Analysis of the Canonical Scriptures of the Bon Religion of Tibet and their Significance for World Litterature

Information

Former 1995/1996 Social Sciences - Law

End Report

At CAS, the work the group has done has been to create a detailed catalogue of the content of the 190 Kanjur scripts of the Tibetan Bon religion, which constitutes the collection of the University of Oslo Library. The collection has not previously been examined by researchers outside of Tibet. During our stay at CAS, a complete catalogue has been created that includes a description of each script, index of all texts, and transliteration of all colophons and historic notes about the authors and so on. The catalogue lays the basis for a historic representation of how the different edition of the collection have been created (two of the editions of the scripts are available today, and another two editions existed in Tibet until the cultural revolution in the 1960s).

During the stay at CAS, the group produced about 670 pages of the catalogue. The final version will probably contain hundreds more. The work will continue for at least another two years.

Along with funding from CAS, the project have received additional funding from The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, Network for University Cooperation Norway-Tibet and NORAD.

Fellows

  • Changngopa, Tseyang
    Professor Lhasa University 1995/1996
  • Dagkar, Namgyal Nyima
    Geshe Tibetan Bon Monastic Centre 1995/1996
  • Karmay, Samten D.
    Professor University of Paris 1995/1996
  • Lhagyal, Dondrup
    Assistant Professor Tibetan Academy of Social Science 1995/1996
  • Martin, Daniel Preston
    Dr. Hebrew University 1995/1996
  • Rossi, Donatella
    Dr. Marylhurst University 1995/1996
  • Thar, Tsering
    Professor China Institute of Tibetology 1995/1996

Group leader

  • Per Kværne

    Title Professor Institution University of Oslo (UiO) Year at CAS 1995/1996
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