An interview with
Samten Karmay
Position & Affiliation: Director of Research Emeritus, French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), Paris
Date: December 13, 2018, Fontenay-aux-Roses near Paris
Interviewed by: Anna Sehnalova
Cite this archive
Oral History of Tibetan Studies. (2021, December 2). An interview with Samten Karmay. Retrieved 26 April 2025, from https://oralhistory.iats.info/interviews/samten-karmay/.
“An interview with Samten Karmay.” Oral History of Tibetan Studies, 2 Dec. 2021, https://oralhistory.iats.info/interviews/samten-karmay/.
Oral History of Tibetan Studies. 2021. An interview with Samten Karmay. [online], Available at: https://oralhistory.iats.info/interviews/samten-karmay/ [Accessed 26 April 2025]
Oral History of Tibetan Studies. “An interview with Samten Karmay.” 2021, December 2. https://oralhistory.iats.info/interviews/samten-karmay/.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this interview are those of the interviewee and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Oral History of Tibetan Studies project.
Timestamps:
- 0:00 Intro
- 0:34 I would like to start asking you about your origin, where do you come from?
- 07:50 Your family was both farming and keeping animals. Your parents would work in the fields?
- 13:36 Did your parents come from the region as well? From Dzong chu?
- 18:13 Which memories do you have from your childhood? How many siblings do you have?
- 22:36 Who were your teachers in the monastery?
- 26:04 How do you remember the studies in the monastery?
- 31:16 Who gave you the name Samten?
- 36:26 What did you like to do as a child before you went to the monastery?
- 44:21 Where did you first learn how to read and write?
- 45:52 Can you say something more about the worship of the yul lha gzhi bdag? How you remember it when you were?
- 51:42 How did the festival or the ritual look like?
- 53:15 Back to your education, then. What did you study in the monastery?
- 56:51 How long did you stay in the monastery?
- 1:01:06 Could you please say how your education continued in Central Tibet?
- 1:29:36 At that time, was it common to go and study to a monastery of a different tradition? To study in a Geluk monastery with a Bonpo background?
- 1:31:32 Resistance against the Chinese PLA in Lhasa
- 1:35:41 Tibetan uprising and fights in Lhasa
- 1:41:41 Flight from Tibet
- 1:46:14 How was your journey? It must have been a long journey to Nepal…
- 1:59:49 New life in India and the publications of Bonpo texts
- 2:14:00 David Snellgrove wanted to bring you to a different country. Where did you imagine where you were going?
- 2:17:43 How do you remember the travels? What was travelling and working with David Snellgrove like?
- 2:40:40 Why did you study Sanskrit in England?
- 2:46:42 When you were still in Nepal and India, why did you consider it important to publish Bonpo texts?
- 2:51:12 How was it staying with David Snellgrove? In his house, you were involved in building the first stupa in England?
- 2:54:47 How was it living and working with David Snellgrove? How is he as a person and as a friend?
- 2:56:11 How was the transition for you, from monastic to Western academic education?
- 2:58:15 You were in London and decided to stay there for some time. So, what happened next?
- 3:03:44 In your work, why did you decide to focus on these particular topics?
- 3:06:33 How was it working on Dzogchen while you also practiced Dzogchen as a practitioner?
- 3:09:00 And the other topics, how did you decide to work on them?
- 3:14:28 How did you see the changes of the IATS during your engagement with the association?
- 3:16:18 You took part in the very first IATS in 1979 at Oxford. How do you remember it?
- 3:19:04 How was it being the president of IATS?
- 3:21:46 Could you say something about the beginnings of the Bonpo community in exile?
- 3:23:44 What were the conditions when the Bonpos came and got the land in Dolanji? How was it to establish a new monastery from scratch?
- 3:29:22 Could you say something about your work in Japan where you went after Paris and London?
- 3:38:50 Could you please us tell about your books on the Fifth Dalai Lama, “The Secret Visions” and “The Illusive Play” and how they came about?
- 3:48:50 How was it working with Anthony Aris?
- 3:50:09 Did you also know Michael Aris?
- 3:52:36 Could you please tell how you worked with and remember Rolf Stein?
- 3:56:58 How do you remember Alexander MacDonald?
- 3:59:05 With whom did you do your PhD? Who was your supervisor?
- 4:01:36 Your work has been quite revolutionary, questioning traditional Tibetan views. Was it always accepted in the Tibetan community in exile or in Tibet itself?
- 4:09:47 Speaking about monastic environment, can you say how you got your Geshe degree?
- 4:11:17 What has been your career in Tibetan Studies personally given to you?
- 4:15:30 In your work, what did you find the most interesting and most challenging?
- 4:19:53 What do you regard as your most significant contributions?
- 4:23:29 Are there still topics you would like to pursue?