Acknowledgements
The research for and writing of this book were made possible thanks to the project “An Enquiry into the Development of the Dzogchen Tradition in the Commentaries of the Tibetan Scholar Nubchen Sangye Yeshe (10th Century),” sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF, Germany) from 2019 to 2022 (ref. 01UL1912X) and based at the Center for Religious Studies (CERES), Ruhr-Universität Bochum. The open access publication of this book was sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
I am especially grateful to Prof. Carmen Meinert for her interest in and enthusiastic support of this project from its inception all the way to its completion and to Prof. Volkhard Krech for creating such a stimulating interdisciplinary research environment in Bochum. My profound gratitude goes to the late Yangthang Rinpoche and to Togden Rinpoche, who bestowed on me the transmissions of the texts that are the object of this study, and to the late Chhimed Rigdzin Rinpoche (aka C.R. Lama) for being a true embodiment of effortless spontaneity. I would like to thank Lopon P. Ogyan Tanzin Rinpoche, who acted as consultant to the project, for his kindness in indefatigably helping me to understand and re-examine the more obstruse passages in the Tibetan texts. I am also very grateful to Vivien Staps, who worked as research assistant to the project and prepared the initial draft of the Tibetan used in the editions of the commentaries.
Some of the theoretical reflections developed in Part 1 began their life as conference papers. One of these has recently appeared in print, whereas the other is currently being polished for publication.1 Their arguments, however, have been thoroughly refined, expanded on and reworked in the context of the present study.
The ideas presented in this book have been fine-tuned thanks to discussions with colleagues, who generously offered their suggestions, insight and feedback. I am particularly grateful to Dr Cathy Cantwell, Dr Robert Mayer, Dr Jan-Ulrich Sobisch, Dr Knut Martin Stünkel, Prof. Lewis Doney, Dr Henrik H. Sørensen and Dr Yukiyo Kasai. The study as a whole has benefitted from the prior work of Dr Karen Liljenberg on the root texts and of Dr Jim Valby on one of the commentaries.2
The Tibetan texts were input with David Chapman’s WylieWord program, using Chris Fynn’s DDC Uchen font.
At Brill, I would like to thank Albert Hoffstädt for his interest in the idea of this book and Patricia Radder for her expertise in seeing the manuscript through publication. Special thanks are also due to Dr Dawn Collins, who carefully proofread the entire manuscript.
Last but not least, I would like to thank my wife Passang for her unflagging support and devotion.