1 Sørensen, Per K Divinity Secularized: an enquiry into the nature and form of the songs ascribed to the Sixth Dalai Lama (Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde, Wien 1990)
2 Aris, Michael Hidden Treasures and Secret Lives: A Study of Pemalingpa (1450-1521) and the Sixth Dalai Lama (1683-1706) (Kegan Paul International, London, 1989)
3 Southern bamboo was already praised in the early manuscripts of Dunhuang.
4 Kham (khams) is a region of Tibet.
5 The Nyingma sect is the oldest sect of Tibetan Buddhism. It was founded by Guru Rinpoché, Padmasambhava, who won over the practitioners of Bön and the various local demons. The rites of this sect are influenced by shamanism and are in marked contrast to those of the reformed Gelukpa sect (dGe lugs pa means “virtuous tradition”), of which the lineage of the Dalai Lama is part.
6 Sørensen, op cit, p 226.