The full German title of my M.A. thesis reads "Das Leben und Gesamtwerk des 5. gDong thog sPrul sku bsTan pa'i rgyal mtshan (geb. 1933): Eine Erschließung seiner Autobiographie unter besonderer Berücksichtigung seiner Lebenszeit im indischen Exil und eine Zusammenstellung und Beschreibung seines bisherigen Gesamtwerkes".
The M.A. thesis is dedicated to the life and literary work of the outstanding Sa skya scholar and historian gDong thog sPrul sku bsTan pa'i rgyal mtshan (b. 1933), better known as T. G. Dhongthog Rinpoche. Born in 1933 in the region of Tre hor in Khams, Dhongthog Rinpoche was identified by Sa skya bDag chen Ngag dbang Kun dga' rin chen (1902-1950) as the rebirth of Ngag dbang kun dga' rgyal mtshan (1885-1933), the 4th gDong thog sPrul sku, and already in 1937 he was enthroned as the 5th sPrul sku of gDong thog Rig grol phun tshogs gling, a Sa skya monastery situated only some kilometres southeast of dKar mdzes town. Dhongthog Rinpoche studied in Tibet under numerous masters of different traditions considering Khang gsar mKhan chen Ngag dbang blo gros gzhan phan snying po (1876-1953) and rDzong gsar mKhyen brtse 'Jam dbyangs Chos kyi blo gros (1839-1959) as his two main spiritual masters. Under Chos kyi blo gros he studied for a total of around 3 years at the prominent scriptural seminary of rDzong gsar monastery, the Khams bye bshad grwa, in the region of sDe dge. Under the growing pressure of the Chinese communist occupation of Tibet, Dhongthog Rinpoche left his homeland in 1957 for India, where he continued his studies under Chos kyi blo gros, who already had escaped from Tibet in 1955, and upon whose advice he relied on bDud 'joms 'Jigs bral yes shes rdo rje (1904-1988) as his third main spiritual teacher. For more than 13 years Dhongthog Rinpoche served the Tibetan Government in Exile in different functions/numerous positions: among others he worked for the Tibetan Freedom Press in Darjeeling and was the librarian of the Tibet House in New Delhi. Disappointed by the conditions in some departments of the Tibetan Government in Exile, he followed the invitation of Sa skya Phun tshogs Pho brang bDag chen Kun dga' bsod nams (b. 1927) and immigrated in 1979 to the United States of America. Settling down in Seattle, he founded in 1987 the Sapaṇ Institute—a small institute dedicated to Buddhist studies and practice that also publishes works on Tibetan culture and religion. Regular travels lead Dhongthog Rinpoche numerous times to India and Nepal, to Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and different countries in Europe and once even back to Tibet. Dhongthog Rinpoche's life in India and the U.S.A. is characterized by his vast literary contributions. As a polymath, he composed numerous books, smaller writings and articles on Buddhist practice and doctrinal issues as well as astrological, grammatical, lexicographical, historical and biographical works. In the context of the controversy on the practice of rDo rje shugs ldan / Dol rgyal, Dhongthog Rinpoche, as a proponent of an anti-sectarian approach, wrote important refutations against the practice of this deity. As editor, he continuously published over the years numerous works and work collections. He, moreover, is a gifted poet and calligrapher. During his first years in India, he worked under Lokesh Chandra as a Tibetan scribe of printing plates in the International Academy of Indian Culture and wrote for more than 20 of his publications the lithographs by hand. In 2004 he published his autobiography, on which large parts of my thesis are based, looking back at his past life in a very detailed, straightforward and honest way. Nowadays Dhongthog Rinpoche is still living in Seattle and continues to engage in his scholarly activities.
Part I of this thesis gives an overview on the history of the Tre hor region as well as the gDong thog monastery and presents biographical sketches of the first four gDong thog sPrul skus. Part II provides an overview on the scarce previous research and available references on the life and works of Dhongthog Rinpoche. In Part III the autobiographical sources on Dhongthog Rinpoche are introduced. Part IV is dedicated to the eventful life of Dhongthog Rinpoche consisting in a summarized presentation on his lifetime in Tibet (1933-1957), a word by word translation of the chapter on his life in India (1957-1979) from his autobiography, and a summary on his life after his immigration to America (1979-2004). Part V gives an historical overview on the controversy concerning rDo rje shugs ldan and introduces Dhongthog Rinpoche's contributions in the scope of this debate. Part VI is dedicated to Dhongthog Rinpoche's writings and lists in an annotated bibliography all the works in which he functioned as author, editor or translator and also gives a descriptive catalogue on all the works he authored. Four appendices and a bibliography conclude the thesis. I plan to publish my M.A. thesis in English in the near future.
Bibliography of Dhongthog Rinpoche
s works (German)
DownloadM.A. Thesis:
Table of Contents (German)
DownloadTable of Contents (English)
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