The Tibetans have a passion for books, as books in Tibetan Buddhism represent variously the embodiment of the Buddha's voice, a medium of Buddhist written culture, and a symbol of the religion itself. Out of all the books in Tibet, the Kangyur and Tangyur have received much scholarly attention; on the other hand, the Rnying ma'i rgyud 'bum (hereinafter refeered to as NGB) has been relatively overlooked. Thisis perhaps due to its diffuculty of interpretation and analysis, but it nevertheless is an integral part of Tibetan Buddhism. Scholars who have studied the NGB are Robert Mayer and Cathy Cantwell, David Germano, and Orna Almogi, among others.
This paper seeks to asnwer three questions about the NGB: 1) what caused its formation 2) the formation, structure and classification of the Sde dge version 3) the genealogy of various NGB versions.
Since the late 10th century, the collection of rnying ma tantras (approximately 1000 in total) comprised exclusively of the Three Inner Tantras, has been claimed to have been translated from Indic languages since Padmasambhava's time. There are many versions of NGB, with multiple manuscript versions and one xylographic Derge version extant. The NGB has enjoyed support from Sakya, Gelug, and by the fifth, thirteenth and fourteenth incarnations of the Dalai Lama. Even though they claim to have been translated from Sanskrit, scholars have classifed them into three categories of Indic, Indic-Tibetic, and Tibetic origins. Most fall under the Tibetic origins, while only a very small portion are of truly Indic origins.
Even though NGB has been downplayed by the gsar ma pas as less authentic, they remain an essential link to the earliest Buddhist scriptures in Tibet, and thus should be studied in depth. Despite the difficulty of its language and the lack of organization in its texts, these precious texts provide a link to the inception of Buddhism in Tibet, and also paved the way for later Tibetan Buddhist Canons like the Kangyur and Tangyur.
目次
Abstract 5 What Caused the Formation of the Rnying ma'i rgyud 'bum? 8 Formation, Structure and Classification of the Sde dge Version 16 Genealogy of Various NGB Versions 23 Conclusion 27 Appendix 1: Category of texts in the Sde dge xylograph NGB 31 Bibliography 33
