A noble noose of methods, the Lotus Garland synopsis
Subtitle: a Mahāyoga tantra and its commentary
By: Cathy Cantwell, Robert Mayer
Series: Beiträge zur Kultur- und Geistesgeschichte Asiens -- Nr. 73; Denkschriften / Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften. Philosophisch-Historische Klasse -- 449. Bd.; Beiträge zur Kultur- und Geistesgeschichte Asiens -- Nr. 73.; Denkschriften (Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften. Philosophisch-Historische Klasse) -- 449. Bd.
Publisher: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Wien
Language: tib
Number of pages: 375
ISBN-13: 9783700172734
Subjects: British Library; Rñiṅ ma rgyud ʼbum; Dunhuang manuscripts
Other titles: Rñiṅ ma rgyud ʼbum. Thabs kyi źags pa Padma ʼphreṅ gi don bsdus pa. English.; Thabs kyi źags pa Pad ma ʼphreṅ gi don bsdus paʼi ʼgrel pa.; Thabs kyi źags pa Pad ma ʼphreṅ gi don bsdus paʼi ʼgrel pa. English.
Work titles: Rñiṅ ma rgyud ʼbum. Thabs kyi źags pa Padma ʼphreṅ gi don bsdus pa
Description: "The inspiration for this volume is one of the most celebrated documents retrieved from the ancient cave library in Dunhuang: a tantric commentary in 85 folios together with its root text, and prolific marginal annotations that are not found elsewhere.  It provides our most reliable and comprehensive window into the ritual and doctrinal world of the early Nyingmapa. Among much else, it offers an unparalleled early representation of Padmasambhava, a detailed presentation of fundamental Nyingma tantric views later endorsed by Rongzom and Longchenpa, and citations attributed to numerous other Nyingma tantras.  A good half of the book is devoted to editorial efforts, including a discussion of how they can be applied to Tibetan literature. The Dunhuang manuscript itself is shown to be defective in several respects, including accidental loss of chapters, while centuries of scribal mishaps have deprived the commentary as traditionally transmitted of a third of its contents. Even the root text has become distorted in most popular canonical editions. By collating all twenty-one extant witnesses drawn from Dunhuang, the Tenjurs, Kanjurs both mainstream and local, and the various Ancient Tantra Collections, stemmatic analysis establishes their sometimes unexpected historical relationships. Armed with that understanding, an accurate reconstruction of the contours of both texts becomes possible for the first time in many centuries, and numerous readings of the root text earlier even than the Dunhuang ms can be recovered."--Publisher's website.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 363-371) and index.

Tibetan text and transliteration; introduction and commentary in English.
Table of contents: title: Introduction. Introducing the textual sources, and their significance ;  A summary of the salient points of our work on the Thabs zhags textual tradition ; Methodological issues in the study of the Thabs zhags textual transmissions.; title: Textual analysis. The editions of the root text and commentary ; Features of the Dunhuang Manuscript ; Examination and assessment of the Differing boundaries of TZ in different editions ; The stemma of the root text ; A summary of the commentary on A Nobel Noose of Methods, the Lotus Garland Synopsis ; The "citations" or attributions of the teachings in the Thabs zhags commentary to other tantras.; title: Padmasamhava, the Thabs zhags and its commentary. Padmasambhava's Pith Instructions on the Garland of views ; The evidence from the commentary and its Dunhauang witness.; title: Introduction to the Editions ofthe 'Phags pa thabs kyi zhags pa pad ma 'phreng gi don bsdus pa and its commentary. The presentation of the critical edition of TZ ; The presentation of the edition of TZComm.; title: Critical edition of the root text (TZ) the 'Phags pa thabs kyi zhags pa pad ma 'phreng gi don bsdus pa; title: Edition of the commentary (TZComm), The 'Phags pa thabs kyi zhags pa pad ma 'phreng gi don bsdus pa'i 'grel pa.