November 14 | Matthew Kapstein, University of Chicago and Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes

Date: 

Monday, November 14, 2016, 4:30pm to 6:00pm

Location: 

Barker Center, Room 114, Kresge Foundation Room

The All-Encompassing Lamp of Awareness: A forgotten treasure of the Great Perfection, its authorship and historical significance

Abstract: In 2001 an unusually fine Tibetan manuscript dating to about the 13th century appeared in the catalogue of a London dealer of antique books. The text found there, The All-Encompassing Lamp of Awareness, like the author to whom it is attributed, Shākya Rdo-rje, seemed otherwise unknown, though a copy of the same work was found in recent editions of the Rnying ma bka’ ma shin tu rgyas pa from Kaḥ thog monastery in Khams. In the present talk, we shall examine the probable authorship of the work and the contribution it offers to our understanding of the development of the Rnying ma pa Rdzogs chen tradition.