Symposium, 'New Horizons in Bon Studies'

Osaka, Japan
From August 23d until 27th 1999 in Osaka, Japan, while in Lausanne, Switzerland, on
the opposite side of the globe, several hundreds of buddhologists braced for their twelfth
convention of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, a rather smaller group
of about forty international scholars, all specialists on specific areas of Bon and Zhang
zhung (linguistic) studies, gathered for their first major symposium on Bon studies
(probably the second such gathering ever). Even though some might feel inclined to
read some significance into these numbers and perhaps the coincidence of the events as
well, I can assure you that it was just that, a coincidence. Nevertheless, quite a few of
the Osaka participants had -- at least that seems to be the emic Lausanne view -- more
or less conspicuously 'bunked off' the larger Lausanne event. In a sense, all this
provides a perhaps anachronistic yet nonetheless telling metaphor for the status of Bon
studies in general. It is quite obvious, indeed, that Bon studies are lagging far behind
the impressive momentum that (Tibetan) Buddhist studies are currently gaining. Even
in hitherto neglected areas, such as the study of rNying ma Tantra-s, we are, through the
efforts of a few talented and dedicated individuals, steadily gaining ground. Now we are
in the fortunate position to witness an increase in scholarly attention and recognition
of the importance of these traditions within (and for) the flourishing larger field of
Tibetan (Buddhist) studies -- which should be very good news to any scholar of Bon
traditions (too). I trust it will not come as a total surprise when I now add that many
of the scholars present at the Bon symposium have some background in Buddhist
studies.
The Bon symposium was hosted and facilitated with great generosity and
hospitality by the National Museum for Ethnology (Kokuritu Minzokugaku
Hakubutukan) at Senri Expo Park in Osaka and was convened in an impressively
smooth and professional manner by Prof. Yasuhiko Nagano. If I am informed
correctly, the honour of having organised the first specific seminar on Bon studies goes
to our esteemed colleague Prof. Per Kværne. He convened a gathering on Bon Studies
at the mountain resort of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters at Lake Atna
(300 km north of Oslo), Norway, from May 31st until June 2nd, 1996. A perhaps less
visible but no less important academic event, involving a choice group of Tibetan and
'western' scholars, most of whom were then working at Kværne's consequential Bon
Canon (read: bKa' 'gyur) Project in Oslo some years ago, the published results of which,
I trust, all Bon scholars are eagerly looking forward to.
Nagano's Osaka conference also is connected to a major project on Bon. This
Japanese Bon project was initiated by Nagano in the middle of the nineties and arose
in close partnership with Dr. Samten Gyaltsen Karmay (CNRS, Paris), a well-known
senior scholar in Bon studies. Being well aware of the general neglect of specific Bon
studies within the larger field of Tibetan studies, they decided that, at this point, in
order to achieve a better grasp of the Bon cultural complex, one first needed to address
this imbalance and establish a good common basis for Bon studies. This basis should
encompass research material, a scholarly network and, last but not least, a thorough
interdisciplinary survey of Bon traditions in Tibet and the Himalayas, from as many
angles as possible. In keen recognition of the mentioned lacunae in the field, the
Ministry of Education of Japan and the National Museum of Ethnology in Osaka
encouraged the proposed project and generously supported an overseas field research as
well as a joint-survey for the period from 1996 until 1999. Many scholars, both Tibetan
and non-Tibetan, have since been involved in this, the most comprehensive survey of
Bon traditions to date. The publication of a series of volumes on Bon Studies was
envisioned. So far, ten volumes are scheduled to appear, many of which are presently
being prepared. Two volumes of proceedings of the Osaka Bon symposium will be part
of this pioneering series.

Quite a few of the presentations and speakers at the Bon Symposium were in one way
or the other linked to the project. The first five days mainly focused on non-linguistic
issues in Bon cultural studies. Participants had the rare and priceless opportunity of
witnessing a few 'first-ever' introductions into hitherto unexplored terrain by specialists
in the field, for instance, a preliminary research report by Donatella Rossi on a text
from the important Ye khri mtha' sel, which is referred to as the Indian cycle of rDzogs
chen (Great Perfection) and sometimes counted as a fourth Bon rDzogs chen-tradition
next to the a rdzogs snyan gsum, the traditions of A khrid, rDzogs chen and Zhang zhung
snyan rgyud. Bon and its relation to Buddhism, Cosmology and Ritual, Bonpo Society
and Related Rituals, Possession and Related Rituals, and Bonpo Monasteries and their
Localities constituted the larger topics in which these interesting papers were
accommodated, space does not allow me to discuss them all here. Especially Eastern
Tibet was very well covered during the symposium.
Considering the linguistic background of many of the research scholars
connected to the National Museum for Ethnology in Osaka and Nagano's Bon project,
special attention could be given at this occasion to the linguistic study of what has
become known as the somewhat controversial ancient 'Zhang zhung-language of the
Bon po-s', a hypothetical 'dead language' or group of languages that by some, first and
foremost by the Bon po-s themselves, is thought to have existed in the area of larger
Western Tibet, roughly before the eighth to ninth century AD. This projected Zhang
zhung language seems to have echoes in several surviving dialects in the area. The last
day of the symposium was exclusively dedicated to this fascinating field of Zhang
zhung linguistic studies, which seems to be all the more intriguing and appealing to
scholars because of the paucity of unequivocal evidence for the 'language'. Even though
the matter of the actual status of Zhang zhung as a language remains far from being
settled, and, in fact, at this occasion no revolutionary ideas were added to the
hypotheses that had been forwarded in the past, some interesting additional evidence
and also possible mechanisms for the 'generation' of Zhang zhung vocabulary have
nevertheless been suggested, incidentally also during other sessions at the symposium.
Rather to underscore the nascent state of Bon and Zhang zhung linguistic studies we
may observe -- be it with self-content, be it rather with some measure of alarm or,
perhaps, discomfort -- that the total amount of articles ever written on the subject of
Zhang zhung until the year 1999, has now more than doubled in just one week!
It was apparent, indeed, that the organiser has spent careful and I must say also
quite fruitful reflection on the form of the symposium. The participants were
encouraged to submit a nearly full paper a month ahead of time so that it could be
distributed at the beginning of the symposium. This allowed speakers, if so inclined, to
be brief in their presentation, thus freeing a substantial amount of space for discussion.
The presentations and questions & answers were translated simultaneously into
Japanese, English and Chinese by a professional team of interpreters; a substantial
investment of time and resources, obviously, but one that greatly facilitated
understanding and exchange. Nagano's conference has definitely succeeded in creating
a temporary network of leading scholars of Bon, which I sincerely hope is there to stay,
and in facilitating exchange of the newest often highly interesting research findings in
the area. Without exaggeration, I may say that the Osaka symposium constitutes a
milestone in Bon studies, promising a brighter future for the field, for which we all
owe Nagano and the other people involved, not in the last place the staff at the
National Museum for Ethnology at Osaka, a debt of gratitude.

The proceedings of the 1999 Osaka Bon symposium are scheduled to appear very soon,
that is, in April 2000, as 'Bon Studies 3: New Horizons in Bon Studies' (ed. Samten
Karmay & Y. Nagano) and 'Bon Studies 4: A Linguistic Approach to the Zhang zhung
Language' (ed. Y. Nagano).

© 1999 Henk Blezer

IIAS