E. I. KYCHANOV, B. N. MELNICHENKO. ISTORIYA TIBETA S DREVNEYSHIKH VREMENI I DO NASHENII [HISTORY OF TIBET FROM ANCIENT TIMES TO THE PRESENT DAY]. Moscow: Vostochny lit., 2005, 351 p.
As a state, Tibet is not represented on the modern political map of the world, but its rich history and culture to a greater extent than the history and culture of many completely sovereign states attracts the attention of not only scientists, but also the general public. However, this attention has a certain selectivity. Much research is devoted to religion (both Buddhism and, to a lesser extent, bon); since the late 1950s, not without the influence of political conjuncture, many works on Tibetan statehood have appeared. However, often, especially in recent years, publications are apologetic in nature; the gospel often replaces the analytical approach.
Those Tibetan scholars who are also active religious leaders have played a role in this. This very influential group was formed from among Tibetan emigrants (including "professional" emigrants) and used the West's dislike of communist China and its (the West's) "childish" curiosity about everything mysterious to their own advantage. Many of them have become professors at prestigious universities or established their own institutes (for example, the Ligminch Institute in Charlottesville, USA), published solid volumes under intriguing titles (such as "Wonders of the Natural Mind"). therefore, they are considered the main authorities in Tibetology - I think without reason, because, knowing their own tradition very well, most of them are completely ignorant of what lies beyond it. In this regard, not only the views of the now popular Tenzin Wangyal on the emergence of the bon religious system 18-17 thousand years ago are indicative, but also the opinion of the more academic Namkai Norbu, who dates this event to the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. e. Both dates are in no way connected with the real history of ancient Tibet (cf., 1998]).
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