A New Book by Associate Professor Seiji Kumagai, Entitled “The Traditional Tibetan Wisdom of Bon Religion: Surviving as the Weak,” Has Been Published by Sogensha (Japanese version)

A new book by Associate Professor Seiji Kumagai, entitled “The Traditional Tibetan Wisdom of Bon Religion: Surviving as the Weak,” has been published by Sogensha (Japanese version).

At the request of Prof. Kumagai, who is a researcher in the philosophy of Bon himself, top-class Bon scholars from Japan and abroad have come together for the publication of this book. They have outlined and re-discussed the Bon religion (an indigenous religion of Tibet and the Himalayas) from a multidisciplinary and multifaceted perspective. The authors of this book are:

Daniel Berounsky, world-renowned researcher of Bon rituals (Charles University, Prague)
Nima Hojer, researcher of esoteric Buddhism (Charles University, Prague)
Tenzin Wangyal, the foremost Bon meditation master in Europe and the United States (Rigmincha International)
Shinichiro Miyake, historian (Otani University)
Kengo Konishi, cultural anthropologist (Kanazawa Seiryo University)
Takahiko Hakodera, the first Japanese Bon meditation instructor

The Bon religion is an indigenous religion of the Tibetan Himalayas. However, for 1200 years since the arrival of Buddhism in the region in the 7th century, the Bon religion has survived as a minority religion, sometimes under suppression. Bon believers do not fight against the majority of Buddhists, but they proudly defend their own identity. For this purpose, Bon believers have acquired the “wisdom to survive as the weak” by adopting the good parts of others’ cultures and changing their fundamental doctrines.

In the 1970s, the Bon religion was designated as one of Tibet’s traditional sects by the Tibetan government-in-exile, and its status increased from “religious minority” to “fundamental Tibetan culture.” The wisdom of the Bon religion about living positively in negative situations will be helpful to many people in uncertain situation like the current (or after the) COVID-19 crisis.

This book is available for purchase on Amazon and elsewhere (Japanese version only).
https://www.amazon.co.jp/%E3%83%9C%E3%83%B3%E6%95%99-%E5%BC%B1%E8%80%85%E3%82%92%E7%94%9F%E3%81%8D%E6%8A%9C%E3%81%8F%E3%83%81%E3%83%99%E3%83%83%E3%83%88%E3%81%AE%E7%9F%A5%E6%81%B5-%E7%86%8A%E8%B0%B7-%E8%AA%A0%E6%85%88/dp/4422140302/ref=sr_1_1?__mk_ja_JP=%E3%82%AB%E3%82%BF%E3%82%AB%E3%83%8A&crid=WWAHWS0QCFFI&keywords=%E7%86%8A%E8%B0%B7%E8%AA%A0%E6%85%88&qid=1641891714&sprefix=%E7%86%8A%E8%B0%B7%E8%AA%A0%E6%85%88%2Caps%2C296&sr=8-

2022/01/19