Program of the First International Conference on the Northern Treasures

Thursday 17 & Friday 18 October, 2024
In person at the Inalco, Auditorium Dumézil, 2 rue de Lille, Paris 7

Participants of the conference, 18.10.2024

For any question or remarks, please send a mail to northern-treasures-anr@inalco.fr


October 17, 2024, 09h-18h

9h00: Welcoming of participants

9h15: Welcome Address by Stéphane Arguillère and Jay Valentine

History: Early Days of the Northern Treasures

9h30: Stéphane Arguillère, What Rig ’dzin rGod ldem’s revelations tell us about his personality and life

10h15: Roberto Vitali, Rig ’dzin rGod ldem, La stod Byang and the historical context in which he operated

11h00: Tea/Coffee Break

11h15: Jay Valentine, The Visionary Dreams of Rigdzin Gödem

12h00: Tenpa Tsering, Gödem’s Final Years and the Place of his Death

12:45-14:00: Lunch break in Salle Sacy (Buffet)

14h00: Cécile Ducher, Rigdzin Gödem’s Exploration of Concealed Lands

14h45: Tulku Ngawang Tenzin Bhutia, Exploring the Legacy of Rigdzin Gödemchen in Sikkim: His Impact on Sikkim’s Sacred Landscape

15:30:  Tea Break

History: Expanding the Tradition 

15h45: Tsewang Topla, བྱང་བདག་བཀྲ་ཤིས་སྟོབས་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་མཛད་རྣམ་རྩད་འཚོལ་དང་དཔྱད་ཞིབ།

16h30: Zsóka Gelle, Prophecies, legends, and histories concerning the life of the great treasure master, Ngachang Shākya Zangpo

17h15: Charles Taylor, Sprul sku Sgam smyon Phyag rdor nor bu: Insights from the Recently Released Byang gter bla brgyud kyi rnam thar bsam ’phel ma Ni ka’i  ’phreng ba and the Biography Penned by the Third Yol mo Sprul sku

18h00: Concluding the Day


Friday 18 October, 2024 – Inalco, Auditorium Dumézil, 2 rue de Lille, Paris 7

History: Golden Age of the Northern Treasures

09h00: Alexandra Sukhanova, Zur chen chos dbyings rang grol’s role in the transmission of Byang gter

09h45: Drölma Chökyi Jusal, The Fifth Dalai Lama and Northern Treasures

10h30: Borjigin Giitch, Prince Yunli and the Mongolian Translation of Northern Treasures

11:15: Tea/Coffee Break

History: Contemporary Northern Treasures

11h30: Dylan Esler, A sketch of the life of Baḥ gnas sprul sku Thub bstan mdo sngags bshad sgrub rgyal mtshan (1888–1964)

12:15: Varvara Chatzisavva, The present and future of the Khordong Monastery in Drango, Kham, Tibet and in Siliguri, West Bengal, India.

13:00-14:00: Lunch break

Doctrines & Rituals

14h00: Keynote Lecture: Khenpo Ju Tenkyong, The bKa’ brgyad in the Byang gter Tradition

14h45: Amanda Brown, The Ultimate Repelling Yamāntaka Practice: A Shared Ritual Repertoire Among the Rnying ma Byang gter and the ʼBri gung Bkaʼ brgyud Traditions

15h30: Katia Buffetrille, The Jangter Visual Heritage in Nepal and Tibet

16h15 tea break

16h30: Kanako Shinga, From Ordinary Mortals to Lofty Parinirvāṇa: A Study of the Tshe sgrub bKa’ brgyad, A Longevity Practice Revealed by Rig-‘dzin rGod-ldem-can

17h15: Yuewei Wang, The Multiple Identities of gNyan chen Thang lha in Byang gter

18h00: Round table and conclusion of the day


Saturday 19 October (Morning)Remote presentations

09h00: Heather Stoddard, Who was Gedun Chopel’s prophetic links to the Northern Treasure Tradition of Dorjedrak?

09h30: Katarina Turpeinen, Philosophical contemplations in Rig ‘dzin rGod ldem’s Great Perfection anthology

10h00: Jean-Luc Achard, The dGongs pa zang thal within the New Bon Tradition

10h30: Round table with Q&A for remote speakers and participants

11h00: Closing of the Conference


How to come to the Maison de la Recherche

The Auditorium Dumézil is located at the groun floor of the historical building of the Maison de la Recherche, a few steps away from Musée d’Orsay, in the heart of Paris.

It is easily accessible by public transport:

Métro :

  • M1 – station Palais-Royal – Musée du Louvre
  • M4 – station Saint-Germain-des-Prés
  • M7 – station Palais-Royal – Musée du Louvre
  • M12 – station rue du Bac

Bus : lignes 27, 39, 68, 69, 87, 95 – arrêt Pont du Carrousel – Quai Voltaire

RER : RER C – station Musée d’Orsay