Tibetan

Old Tibetan photo © British Museum and Library @bl_eap #endangeredarchives

The Guru, by Dalai Lama

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Wishing the Dalai Lama a happy birthday.

There is a saying in Tibetan: ‘Although your realization is high, like that of a divine being, you should maintain your way of life in conformity with other people.’

Gangtey Monastery in Bhutan, British Library endangeredarchives project. @bl_eap

Digitising manuscripts at Gangtey Monastery in Bhutan

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Since the decline of Buddhism in Tibet, Mongolia and other parts of the Northern Buddhist world, the Kingdom of Bhutan has come to be seen as the last bastion of Mahayana Buddhism. With its long history of isolation and independence, Bhutan has remained a unique repository of the cultural and religious wealth of the Buddhist Himalaya. Its secluded monasteries and temples today represent a literary treasure trove that is largely unharmed and still unexplored.

Cover image of Thirteenth Dalai Lama on the Run

The Thirteenth Dalai Lama on the Run (1904-1906)

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The Thirteenth Dalai Lama fled from the British invasion of Tibet to Mongolia in search of support from Russia. Although the mission failed, his extended sojourn in Mongolia marked the beginning of political modernity in both Mongolia and Tibet. The Thirteenth Dalai Lama on the Run is a facsimile collection comprising 150 hitherto unpublished archival documents from Mongolia about this historical episode…

Lisa Daix mustang 2011

Cherishing Others, by Dalai Lama

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Equalizing oneself and others means developing the attitude and understanding that: ‘Just as I desire happiness and wish to avoid suffering, so do all living beings, beings as infinite as space; they also desire happiness and wish to avoid suffering.’