Visiting Fellow

D.R. n. 468 del 20 febbraio 2014 prot. 0010786 classif. VII/11.

Followers of Bon maintain that Bon is the autochthonous spiritual tradition of the Tibetan civilization and that the cradle of that civilization was the ancient kingdom of Zhang Zhung, located in an area that would roughly correspond to present day Western Tibet, with the revered dyad of Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar at its center. The Bon weltanschauung contemplates the existence of three different dimensions - heaven above, earth in the middle, and the subterranean world below - dominated and ruled by different classes of beings and elemental forces. The ability of interfacing with, and the numerous techniques and ritual liturgies for effectively dealing with those dimensions were entrusted to and represented the prerogative of priests (called Bon gShen-po), who also performed the role of protectors of the Tibetan monarchs until the country was converted to the Buddhadharma (see Namkhai Norbu Chögyal, The Light of Kailash, A History of Zhang Zhung and Tibet, Volume One, The Early Period, translated from the Tibetan and edited by D. Rossi, Shang Shung Publications, Arcidosso, 2009, passim). Within the realm of discovering hidden circumstances, the Ju thig or Zhang Zhung divination system, which is based on prognostication through knots and cords, is considered the most venerable and profound (Namkhai, cit., pp. 189-191). Mention of such method is met with in the Dunhuang documents (PI 1047, lines 4-404, in Spanien et al., Choix de documents tibétains conservés à la Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, 1979, Vol. II). The most comprehensive and authoritative text on the Ju thig system is the one written in 1885 by the eminent scholar and master Mi-pham 'Jam-dbyangs rNam-rgyal (1846-1912), who compared several ancient documents on the topic (Namkhai, cit., p. 189). This inedited textual source, entitled Ju thig gi bstan chos snang gsal sgron me (literally, Treatise on Ju thig, The Lamp Illuminating Existence, Sonam Topgay Kazi ed., Gangtok, Sikkim, 1974, 849 folia), will constitute the object of the research work, in terms of surveying and mapping, critical analysis, and translation of significant excerpts.