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12th-Century Birch Bark Manuscript from Kamrup Explores the 'Philosophy of Pure Consciousness' in Early Tantra

📅 April 1, 2026 📰 The Northeast Scholar
12th-Century Birch Bark Manuscript from Kamrup Explores the 'Philosophy of Pure Consciousness' in Early Tantra

A well-preserved birch-bark manuscript found in a remote village in the Kamrup district of Assam has been identified as a treatise on the philosophy of pure consciousness. Dating to the 12th century, the text bridges the gap between traditional Advaita Vedanta and the emerging philosophical schools of Non-Dual Tantra in Eastern India.

The manuscript, written in an early form of the Assamese script, posits that the entire universe is a playful manifestation (Lila) of a single, self-luminous awareness. Experts believe this find is crucial for understanding the intellectual history of the Northeast and the regional developments of wisdom traditions that influenced both Hinduism and Buddhism.

Original source: The Northeast Scholar