Tibetan Buddhist Literature and Praxis: Studies in its Formative Period, 900-1400 Edited by Ronald M. Davidson and Christian K. Wedemeyer. Leiden: Brill, 2006. pp. vi+266. US$ 93.00

Collectively, the papers of this volume reveal the cultural dynamism of Tibet in the period between 900 and 1400CE, when the fundamental contours of Tibetan Buddhism were still fluid and highly contested. 

The papers address a spectrum of issues in Tibetan religion and literature, ranging in time and space from the far eastern oasis of Dunhuang in the tenth century through 'high classical' developments in Central Tibet in the early fifteenth century. It is divided into four parts, addressing respectively literary and religious issues in tenth-century Dunhuang, the textual history of the Old Tantric Canon (Rnying ma'i rgyud 'bum), the development of Tibetan religious literature in the new translation period, and the history and transmission of several influential systems of esoteric Buddhism.

Table of Contents:

Introduction: Envisioning the Topography (Ronald M. Davidson and Christian K. Wedemeyer)

Part One: Early Tibetan Literature from Dunhuang

New Light on an Old Friend: PT 849 Reconsidered (Matthew T. Kapstein)

The Legend of Cig car ba criticism in Tibet: A List of Six Cig car ba Titles in the Chos 'byung me tog snying po of Nyang Nyi ma 'od zer (12th century) (Carmen Meinert)

The Tibetan Avalokitesvara Cult in the Tenth Century: Evidence from the Dunhuang Manuscripts (Sam van Schaik)

Part Two: The Rnying ma Tantric Canon

The Case of the Shuffled Folios: First Steps in Critically Editing the Phur bu mya ngan las 'das pa'i rgyud chen po in the Rnying ma'i rgyud 'bum  (Cathy Cantwell)

Textual Criticism of the Rnying ma'i rgyud 'bum Tradition (Rob Mayer)

Part Three: Gsar ma Literature

Imperial Agency in the Gsar-ma Treasure Texts during the Tibetan
Renaissance: The Rgyal po bla'i gter and Related Literature (Ronald M. Davidson)

Tantalising Traces of the Labours of the Lotsawas: Alternative Translations of Sanskrit Sources in the Writings of Tsong kha pa (Christian K. Wedemeyer)

Part Four: Indo-Tibetan Praxis and History

Identifying the Unnamed Opponents of Tsong kha pa and Mkhas grub rje Concerning the Transformation of Ordinary Birth, Death and Intermediate State into the Three Bodies (Yael Bentor)

Blending the Sutras with the Tantras: The Influence of Maitripa and his Circle on the Formation of Sutra Mahamudra in the Kagyu Schools (Klaus-Dieter Mathes)

The Transmission of Bsnyung gnas in India, the Kathmandu Valley and Tibet (10th-12th centuries) (Roberto Vitali)

Conclusion: Prominent Peaks, Obscure Valleys, and Mirages (Ronald M. Davidson and Christian K. Wedemeyer)