SOAS, University of London (The School of Oriental and African Studies)

Nourishment for the Dead: Early Buddhist Funeral Rites in Tibet

Taking his cue from the dBa' bzhed chronicle of the Tibetan Imperial period, Martin Boord will look at some of the ways in which Buddhist funeral rites departed from previously established customs.  While the new system of imported Buddhism certainly introduced creative innovations in harmony with what had been done before, there were also conflicts of view concerning the spirits of the other world that gave rise to some amusing rivalries.

Dr Martin Boord works at Oxford university and his works include a translation of the commentary on Phurba practice, the Black 100,000 Words (Phur 'grel 'bum nag) by Padmasambhava, Vimalamitra and Silamanju. It is a report of a retreat that was hold by Padmasambhava, Vimalamitra and Silamanju in Nepal in the 8th century. It was transmitted to Yeshe Tsogyal by Padmasambhava. This text is now published with edition khordong, 2002.