A Preliminary Report on Investigations into (Bon nyid) 'Od gsal and Zhi khro bar do in Earlier Zhang zhung sNyan rgyud and sNyan rgyud Literature1

n this article, I shall give a preview of ideas that I intend to discuss in greater detail in a monograph that I am presently3 preparing on possible Bon origins of Tibetan speculations regarding a post-mortem state of ‘reality as it is’.4 At this early stage, before attempting a (relative) chronology5 of the materials on the subject that are extant in Buddhist and Bon traditions, I here will try to accommodate my discussion of Bon (Zhang zhung) sNyan rgyud material in a wider background of Buddhist specula-tions, in the hope that this will allow the characteristics of these specific Bon rDzogs chen speculations to stand out more distinctly. Occasionally, I shall refer to relevant results from earlier researches on the kar gling zhi khro, the peaceful and wrathful deities according to Karma gling pa, and on chos nyid bar do, the intermediate state of ‘reality as it is’, and also, where necessary, provide, more or less in the manner of an update, additional Buddhist 1 I should like to extend my sincere thanks to several colleagues who have provided thoughtful comments and useful references, especially Bryan Jare Cuevas and Da