Dylan Esler

The thesis consists in an in-depth hermeneutical study of a 10th century Tibetan Buddhist text on the subject of contemplation, the bSam-gtan mig-sgron by gNubs-chen Sangs-rgyas ye-shes. This is a seminal text for our understanding of the meditative currents that existed in Tibet in the 9th and 10th centuries. It is the first indigenous Tibetan doxography and the first work to treat rDzogs-chen as a distinct vehicle. The thesis will include an unabridged annotated English translation and a critical edition of the Tibetan text (250 folios), as well as a historical introduction analysing the biographical information available for its author. The hermeneutical study will seek to explicate and to situate in a wider metaphysical context the principal points explored in the Tibetan text.