Brigitte Steinmann

The Tamang form of Mahayana Buddhism developed essentially through the Rnyingmapa and Kagyupa sects of the southern Himalayan Tibetan populations, since the very early periods of expansion of Buddhism in Tibet. Their Buddhism is strongly tinged with a Himalayan form of shamanism, which has for long been assimilated by the Hindus as well as by the Buddhists. We propose to edit, translate and analyze four large collections of texts constituting the pillars of Tamang wisdom; the lKug pa kha chos, or “Symbolic language - Silent language”, the Jig rten gtam chos, or “Folk Stories”, the Rus chen Chyopge (brgyad) or “Book of the Eighteen Large Clans”, and the Rama, or “Songs of Rama” – only small parts of which have been translated into a booklet titled Tamba Kaiten.