The notion of effortlessness is central to the self-understanding of the Tibetan contemplative tradition known as Dzogchen. This book explores this key notion from a variety of perspectives, highlighting the distinctive role it plays in the Dzogchen approach’s doctrinal architecture and meditative programme. The book’s focus is on the early development of the Dzogchen tradition, especially as codified in a set of hitherto unstudied commentaries by the 10th-century scholar and meditation master Nubchen Sangye Yeshe. A full annotated translation of the commentaries is provided, along with...

The study of taxation is fundamental for understanding the construction of Tibetan polities, the nature of their power – often with a marked religious component – and their relationships with their subjects, as well as the consequences of taxation for social stratification. This volume takes the analysis of taxation in Tibetan societies (both under the Ganden Phodrang and beyond it) in new directions, using hitherto unexploited Tibetan-language sources. It pursues the dual objective of advancing our understanding of the organisation of taxation from an institutional perspective and of...

Who are you? Where do you come from? These two simple questions have so many answers and are sometimes even difficult to answer. This book tells the story of a Buddhist-Muslim community from Padum, in the Zangskar Valley - Indian Greater Himalayas. The author has gained a unique insight into this community during twenty years of research while the people shared doubts and joys with her. These experiences showed her that the meaning of “belonging” to a homeland or a confessional group, and therefore the transformation of the process of identity building in our modern world, is...