Serendipitous Manuscripts: Karma Pakshi’s Memoirs, Past Lives, and Poetry

15 February, 2023

We are deeply honoured to welcome Charles Manson, Librarian for the Tibetan Collections at Bodleian Libraries and British Library, UK, to lead a session of the International Interfaith Reading Group on Manuscripts in Interfaith Contexts.

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Here are the details of this fascinating session.

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Topic: Serendipitous Manuscripts: Karma Pakshi’s Memoirs, Past Lives, and Poetry

Abstract: In researching the life/lives and writings of an acknowledged primary mover for the beginnings of the ‘Living Buddha’ reincarnate lamas tradition of Tibet – a tradition which famously culminated in the rule of the Dalai Lamas for 300 years – 3 manuscripts were crucial in informing the lives and writings of Karma Pakshi (1204-1283), accredited as the major influence in the early development of this tradition. The manuscripts were accessed by fortuitous circumstances. The three manuscripts – each of them has illustrations – are to be presented, described and discussed.

Speaker: Charles Manson is librarian for the Tibetan Collections at the Bodleian Library (University of Oxford) and at British Library in London. He spent several years as a Buddhist monk and meditation retreatant. He later studied at Harvard University where he received a master’s in theological studies. Manson is the author of The Second Karmapa Karma Pakshi: Tibetan Mahāsiddha, (November 29, 2022), a new addition to Shambhala Publications’ Lives of the Masters series. His current research is on a newly available manuscript of Karma Pakshi’s songs.

Chair: Professor Ulrike Roesler, Professor of Tibetan and Himalayan Studies, Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Oxford, UK.

Date: 15 February, 2023

Time: 18:00-19:00 GMT | 19:00-20:00 CEST | 10:00-11:00 PST | 13:00-14:00 EST