A Tangut Manuscript Fragment with a Description of the “Six Yogas” Tantric Practice. Preface, translation from the Tangut language and commentary

This article presents a Russian translation, commentary and brief textual research of the Tangut manuscript (10th–13th centuries) describing a tantric practice possibly related to the doctrine of “Six Yogas” of the famous Indian tantric master Naropa. Since the handwriting of this manuscript is nearly illegible, I have published here only part of this text which is more or less comprehensible due to its general meaning and structural completeness. Considering the fact that research aimed at the identification of the original specific traits of Tangut Buddhism which make it distinct from the neighboring Buddhist traditions that had, in their time, a strong impact on its formation is a most important trend in this field, the publishing of this textual source could be helpful in this context.