The first part of this book contains studies of historical documents such as royal decrees of the 10th and 11th centuries A.D.

The second part deals with the history of Bon monastic establishment, the question of codification of the Bon Canonical texts as well as recent discoveries of ancient manuscripts of the Bon tradition that focus on the early Tibetan concepts of ritual practices.

The third part is devoted to a short presentation of a personal letter of Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, founder of the modern state of Bhutan and the question of tulku institution in Tibet that had marred Tibetan political unity.

Arrow and the Spindle: Studies in History, Myths, Rituals and Beliefs in Tibet
(Vol. III), Samten Karmay, Mandala Book Point, Paperback, 218 pp, $30.00

Born in Amdo, North-Eastern Tibet, and educated in a Bonpo Monastery, Samten G. Karmay studied Buddhist philosophy in Drepung, a monastic university in Central Tibet, until 1959. He was a Visiting Scholar at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London where he had obtained M. Phil. and Ph.D. degrees.
He has been Visiting Scholar in a number of academic institutions: Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Paris; Toyo Bunko, University of Tokyo and the University of Kyoto, Japan.
In 1981 he became Charg de Recherche in the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (C.N.R.S.), Paris and a member of Laboratoire d�ethnologie et de sociologie comparative, Universite de Paris-X. From 1989 he became a Directeur de Recherche in C.N.R.S. and was awared the 1990 Silver Medal of the C.N.R.S. for l�originalit et la qualite in his research. He has carried out several research missions in Tibet: Amdo in 1985, Central Tibet in 1987 and 1991; Khams and Amdoi in 1993; Central Tibet in 1995; India and Nepal in 1996. In 1995 he was elected President of the International Association for Tibetan Studies at its 7th Congress in Graz, Austria.
He is the author of several books including The Great Perfection, A Philosophical and Meditative Teaching of Tibetan Buddhism, and Secret Visions of the Fifth Dalai Lama. He has also published over forty articles on various aspects of Tibetan civilization in English, French and Tibetan.