Antonina S-O. Dongak

THE HERITAGE OF THE TUVAN LAMA-STORYTELLER ORUS KUULAR

The source for writing the article was the book "Saryg shazhyn ooredinin ege biligleri" (Fundamentals of Buddhist teaching), published in 1992 by the Tuvan lama Orus Kuular, the content of which reflects all his knowledge about Buddhism, including the history of Buddhism, astrology, moral laws, schools (directions), prayers, mantras, laws, rituals, information about important teachers and preachers of the Buddhist faith. It should be noted that the novelty and relevance of the book "Fundamentals of Buddhist Teaching" lie in the fact that for the first time in Tuva, the author gave the basics of Buddhist doctrine and its terms, the names of various Buddhas and deities in the Tuvan language in an accessible form. He had received this knowledge in the 1920s when traditional Tibetan-Mongolian Buddhism flourished, and teachers from large monasteries in Tibet and Mongolia preached in Tuva. The lama-storyteller kept these memories and ideas in his memory, carried them through his whole life and left them to new generations of Tuvinians. Kuular was also one of the brightest Tuvan storytellers.