Study of the cult of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara in Mang-yul sKyid-grong in south-western Tibet based on the pilgrimage guidebook written by Brag-dkar rta-so sPrul-sku Chos-kyi dbang-phyug (1775-1837). In addition to the annotated translation of this manuscript work a critical edition of two xylographs of the 16th century is presented; they can be identified as the oldest pilgrimage guidebooks from Tibet preserved in the medium of printed text. It is thus possible to illuminate the religious geography of a region which took a prominent place in the cultural memory of the Tibetan people. The literary sources made for the first time available for Tibetan studies and related disciplines contain also praises for the statue of the Ārya Va-ti bzang-po written by different members of the incarnation lineage of the Dalai Lamas.

This volume presents new findings and original research concerning early Tibet and the social and the Tibetan Empire (c. 600–850 CE). Demonstrating the methodological breadth of the field of early Tibetan studies, the contributions range from archeological and art-historical studies to cultural history and philology.

The Hevajra Tantras and teachings of the 'Path with Its Fruit' (lam ‘bras) that originated in India have been central practices of Tibetan tantric Buddhism for a millenium. The Tibetans translated eight Hevajra transmissions with their tantras, commentaries, rituals, and instructions and authored countless scriptures in the context of the tantra and the 'Path with Its Fruit' that originated with the Indian Mahasiddha Virupa. Drawing on title lists (dkar chag), colophones, and commentaries authored between the 11th and 17th centuries, the author attempts a reconstruction of the Indian and Tibetan corpora of these transmissions, its literary history and relations to one another.

This book investigates the concept of the five “categories” (vastu) in the Buddhist Yogacara tradition. The five vastus may be understood as an attempt at categorizing all aspects of existence and as such they may probably be regarded as an alternative concept to the theory of the three “natures” (svabhava). The main focus of this book is the description of the five vastus in the Yogacarabhumi. The presentation of the five categories in this early Yogacara work provides an insight into early Yogacara thought which does not yet take into account the theory of cognition-only (vijnaptimatrata).