Tibetan Buddhism Books

Book SynopsisCollectively, the papers of this volume reveal the cultural dynamism of Tibet in the period between 900 and 1400CE, when the fundamental contours of Tibetan Buddhism were still fluid and highly contested. The papers address a spectrum of issues in Tibetan religion and literature, ranging in time and space from the far eastern oasis of Dunhuang in the tenth century through ‘high classical’ developments in Central Tibet in the early fifteenth century. It is divided into four parts, addressing respectively literary and religious issues in tenth-century Dunhuang, the textual history of the Old Tantric Canon (Rnying ma’i rgyud ’bum), the development of Tibetan religious literature in the new translation period, and the history and transmission of several influential systems of esoteric Buddhism.

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Book SynopsisTibet, Nepal, Mongolia… This vast area has experienced significant changes following political and socio-cultural upheavals: the Chinese occupation of Tibet since the 1950s; the opening of Nepal to the world in 1951 and the influx of large numbers of Tibetan refugees into its territory; the end of the communist era and the transition to a market economy in Mongolia, and more generally the confrontation with modernity and globalisation. Revisiting Rituals in a Changing Tibetan World examines the changes rituals have undergone and offers the reader the result of recent research based on both fieldwork and textual studies by researchers who have worked in these countries. Contributors include Hildegard Diemberger, Fabienne Jagou, Thierry Dodin, Fernanda Pirie, Nicola Schneider, Mireille Helffer, Alexander von Rospatt, Marie-Dominique Even, Robert Barnett, Katia BuffetrilleTrade Review'The whole volume is a cornucopia of careful and original research. These results are highly topical and timely. The difficulty of research on the topics presented in the book is marked by the fact that most of the papers touch upon an unfolding process. (...) The reviewed book thus must be taken as a pioneering event. I am convinced that it will become an essential reference work for future, similarly-oriented studies. In my opinion, the inclusion of the articles dealing with Newar Buddhists in Nepal and with the contemporary state of Buddhism in Mongolia is a valuable enrichment of the book. These studies will inspire discussion within a broader perspective, very relevant for Tibetologists.' Daniel Berounský, Mongolo-Tibetica Pragensia ’12: Linguistics, Ethnolinguistics, Religion and Culture, 5/2 (2012) 'In summary, this book offers the reader a wealth of new information by scholars who are at the forefront of their respective fields. It is well produced, on good quality paper, is solidly bound, and sits well with the other volumes in this series. Brill’s Tibetan Studies Library has firmly established itself as a pacesetter in the field and this volume enhances that status even further.' David Templeman, Monash University, Australia, Himalaya, XXXII (2012) '...each of its ten essays serves as an informed call for future research and offers an enriched vocabulary with which to proceed.(...) This volume will prove a valuable ethnographic resource for scholars of anthropology, religion, and modern political and social history in Nepal, India, Bhutan, Mongolia, and China.(...) One of this book's major insights is that while the modern period has been marked by particularly abrupt sociopolitical shifts,the same factors of technological innovation, resource access, political change, and human migration have influenced the life of religious traditions in all eras of history. By illuminating modern moments of ritual change, or perceived ritual change, these scholars offer us a vocabulary with which to discern transformations in ritual structure or function in other eras and contexts. Thus, scholars researching the distant past as well as those who focus on the modern period will benefit from the methodological contributions this volume makes and the questions for future inquiry toward which it beckons.' Christina Kilby (University of Virginia), Asian Highlands Perspectives

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Book SynopsisIn recent years, the Sino-Tibetan frontier regions have attracted increasing scholarly interest. The region of Rebkong in Qinghai province is of particular significance because of its unique location on the Sino-Tibetan borderland, its multi-ethnic population and its complex religious history, which incorporates both large Geluk monasteries and significant Nyingma and Bonpo lay tantric communities. Covering the nineteenth century to the present, this volume brings together ten papers that explore the relationship between religion and culture in Rebkong. Using insights from anthropology, history and religious studies, the contributors offer new research and fresh interpretations of this important region on China’s periphery, discussing issues of ethnicity and identity, the role of public institutions, and the role of religion and rituals.

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Book SynopsisIn Power Objects in Tibetan Buddhism: The Life, Writings, and Legacy of Sokdokpa Lodrö Gyeltsen, James Duncan Gentry explores how objects of power figure in Tibetan religion, society, and polity through a study of the life of the Tibetan Buddhist ritual specialist Sokdokpa Lodrö Gyeltsen (1552–1624) within the broader context of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Tibet. In presenting Sokdokpa’s career and legacy, Gentry traces the theme of power objects across a wide spectrum of genres to show how Tibetan Buddhists themselves have theorized about objects of power and implemented them in practice. This study therefore provides a lens into how power objects serve as points of convergence for elite doctrinal discourses, socio-political dynamics, and popular religious practices in Tibetan Buddhist societies.

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Book SynopsisMahāmudrā in India and Tibet presents cutting-edge research by European and North American scholars on the Indian origins and Tibetan interpretations of one of the most popular and influential of all Tibetan meditation traditions, Mahāmudrā, or the great seal. The contributions shed fresh light on important areas of Mahāmudrā studies, exploring the Great Seal’s place in the Mahāyāna Samādhirājasūtra, the Indian tantric Seven Siddhi Texts, Dunhuang Yogatantra texts, Mar pa’s Rngog lineage, and the Dgongs gcig literature of the ’Bri gung, as well as in the works of Yu mo Mi bskyod rdo rje, the Fourth Zhwa dmar pa Chos grags ye shes, the Eighth Karma pa Mi-bskyod rdo rje, and various Dge lugs masters of the 17th–18th centuries. Contributors are: Jacob Dalton, Martina Draszczyk, Cecile Ducher, David Higgins, Roger R. Jackson, Casey Kemp, Adam Krug, Klaus-Dieter Mathes, Jan-Ulrich Sobisch, and Paul Thomas.Table of ContentsNotes on Contributors Introduction  Klaus-Dieter Mathes and Roger Jackson 1 The Samādhirājasūtra and “Sūtra Mahāmudrā”: A Critical Edition and Translation of Verses 1–118 from Chapter 32 of the Samādhirājasūtra  Paul Thomas 2 The Seven Siddhi Texts (Grub pa sde bdun): Remarks on the Corpus and Its Employment in Sa skya-Bka’ brgyud Mahāmudrā Polemical Literature  Adam C. Krug 3 Mahāmudrā and Samayamudrā in the Dunhuang Documents and Beyond  Jacob P. Dalton 4 A Neglected Bka’ brgyud Lineage: the Rngog from Gzhung and the Rngog pa Bka’ brgyud Transmission  Cécile Ducher 5 ’Jig rten gsum mgon’s Dgongs gcig on the Relation between Mahāmudrā and the Six Yogas of Nāropa  Jan-Ulrich Sobisch 6 The Definitive Meaning of Mahāmudrā according to the Kālacakra Tradition of Yu mo Mi bskyod rdo rje’s Phyag chen gsal sgron  Casey A. Kemp 7 Mahāmudrā as Revelatory of the Key-Point of the Third Dharmacakra according to the Sixty Verses on Mahāmudrā by Zhwa dmar Chos grags ye shes  Martina Draszczyk 8 Mi bskyod rdo rje on the Question of What Remains (lhag ma, avaśiṣṭa)  David Higgins 9 Maitrīpa’s Amanasikāra-Based Mahāmudrā in the Works of the Eighth Karma pa Mi bskyod rdo rje  Klaus-Dieter Mathes 10 Assimilating the Great Seal: the Dge lugs pa-ization of the dge ldan bka ’brgyud Tradition of Mahāmudrā  Roger R. Jackson Index

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Book SynopsisChán Buddhism in Dūnhuáng and Beyond: A Study of Manuscripts, Texts, and Contexts in Memory of John R. McRae is dedicated to the memory of the eminent Chán scholar John McRae and investigates the spread of early Chán in a historical, multi-lingual, and interreligious context. Combining the expertise of scholars of Chinese, Tibetan, Uighur, and Tangut Buddhism, the edited volume is based on a thorough study of manuscripts from Dūnhuáng, Turfan, and Karakhoto, tracing the particular features of Chán in the Northwestern and Northern regions of late medieval China.Trade Review"Indeed, the volume is an extremely apt dedication to the late John R. McRae (1947–2011). Those with an interest in Chán Buddhism would find this volume utterly invaluable. Moreover, those with a wider interest in Buddhism, Chinese religion, and the general study of religious texts have much to gain from reading this." - Joseph Chadwin, University of Vienna, Religious Studies Review47:2, 2021.Table of ContentsPreface Acknowledgements Abbreviations List of Figures and Tables Notes on Contributors Introduction: Chán Buddhism in an Inter-religious and Cross-linguistic perspective  Christoph Anderl Part 1 Early Chán History Revisited 1 Early Chán Revisited: A Critical Reading of Dàoxuán’s Hagiographies of Bodhidharma, Huìkě and Their Associates  John Jorgensen 2 Northern Chán and the Siddhaṃ Songs  Christoph Anderl and Henrik H. Sørensen Part 2 The Spread of Chán in the Northwestern Region 3 The Old Uigur Translation of the Siddhaṃ Songs  Peter Zieme 4 Reconsidering Tibetan Chán  Sam van Schaik 5 The Great Master Tōnglǐ: The Texts by a Liáo Buddhist Master among the Khara-Khoto Findings  Kirill Solonin Part 3 Chán in an Interreligious Perspective 6 The Meeting and Conflation of Chán and Esoteric Buddhism during the Táng  Henrik H. Sørensen 7 Buddho–Daoist Interaction as Creative Dialogue: The Mind and Dào in Twofold Mystery Teaching  Friederike Assandri John R. McRae: A Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisIn an era of environmental crisis, narratives of ‘hidden lands’ are resonant. Understood as sanctuaries in times of calamity, Himalayan hidden lands or sbas yul have shaped the lives of many peoples of the region. Sbas yul are described by visionary lamas called ‘treasure finders’ who located hidden lands and wrote guidebooks to them. Scholarly understandings of sbas yul as places for spiritual cultivation and refuge from war have been complicated recently. Research now explores such themes as the political and economic role of ‘treasure finders’, the impact of sbas yul on indigenous populations, and the use of sbas yul for environmental protection and tourism. This book showcases recent scholarship on sbas yul from historical and contemporary perspectives.Table of ContentsPreface  Geoffrey Samuel, Frances Garrett and Elizabeth McDougal Note on the Locations of the sbas yul Maps Part 1: Introducing the sbas yul Photo Essay: The Terrestrial Buddha Realm of sbas yul Padma bkod: A Visual Pilgrimage  Ian Baker 1 Hidden Lands of Tibet in Myth and History  Geoffrey Samuel Part 2: The sbas yul over Time: Historical Perspectives 2 Healing Mountains and Hidden Lands  Frances Garrett 3 Did sbas yul Play a Part in the Development of Tibetan Book Culture?  Hildegard Diemberger 4 Early Echoes of sbas yul Padma bkod in the Lifestory of Thang stong rgyal po  Annie Heckman 5 Padma bkod through the Lens of Two Pilgrimage Guidebooks: Walking the Body of Rdo rje phag mo  Barbara Hazelton 6 “A Great and Small Padma bkod”: Guidebooks and Individual Journeys  Franz-Karl Ehrhard 7 Prophecy and Fantastical Reality in Sle lung Bzhad pa’i rdo rje’s Journey to Padma bkod  Tom Greensmith 8 The Shapeshifting Goddess: The Consecration of Padma bkod’s Yang Sang Chu Region by the 20th-Century gter ston, Bdud ’joms drag sngags gling pa  Elizabeth McDougal Part 3: The sbas yul in the Modern World: Ethnographic Perspectives 9 The Arising of Padma bkod in the Western World  Samuel Thévoz 10 Voices from the Mountainside: Vernacular sbas yul in the Western Himalaya  Callum Pearce 11 Pachakshiri: A Little-Known Hidden Land between Tsa ri and Padma bkod in the Eastern Himalaya  Kerstin Grothmann 12 How Is This Sacred Place Arrayed? Pacification, Increase, Magnetism, and Wrath in the Establishment of an Eastern Himalayan sbas yul  Amelia Hall Photo Essay: Glimpses of a Hidden Land: The sbas yul of Yol mo  Jon Kwan with Khenpo Nyima Dondrup Part 4: Two Guidebooks to the Hidden Land of Padma Bkod ’Ja’ tshon snying po’s Guidebook to the Hidden Land of Padma bkod  Translated by Barbara Hazelton Bdud ’joms gling pa’s Hidden Sacred Land of Padma bkod  Translated by Barbara Hazelton Index

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Book SynopsisIn 2008, an international team of climbers discovered a large collection of Tibetan manuscripts in a cave complex called Mardzong, in Nepal’s remote Mustang district. The following year, the entire cache—over five thousand folios from some sixty different works of the Buddhist and Bön religions, some more than seven centuries old—were removed to the safe keeping of a monastery, where they were later examined by experts from different disciplines. This book is the result of their findings. The authors present what they have been able to discover about the content of these manuscripts, their age, the materials with which they were made, the patrons who commissioned them and the scribes and artists who created them. Contributors include: Agnieszka Helman-Ważny, Charles Ramble, Nyima Drandul Gurung, Naljor Tsering, Sarah Skumanov, Emilie Arnaud-Nguyen and Bazhen ZerenTable of ContentsPreface Preface to the 2nd Edition Acknowledgements List of Figures and Tables 1 Introduction to Mustang (Lo) and Its Heritage  Agnieszka Helman-Ważny  1 Accounts of History and Religion  2 Climate, Landform, People and the Trade along Kali Gandaki River  3 Cultural Heritage of Mustang 2 A Note on Interdisciplinary Methods  Agnieszka Helman-Ważny  1 General Information  2 Writing/copying  3 Format and Layout  4 Elements of Ornamentation  5 Ownership and Authentication Marks  6 Materials 3 The Mardzong Texts in Relation to the Bon Canon  Charles Ramble, Agnieszka Helman-Ważny, Nyima Drandul Gurung and Bazhen Zeren  1 The Khams chen  2 The Ka ‘dus  3 The gZer mig  4 The Klu ʼbum  5 Buddhist dhâraṇî Volume 4 A Codicological Study of the Mardzong Manuscripts  Agnieszka Helman-Ważny  1 The Khams chen  2 The Ka ‘dus  3 The gZer mig  4 The Klu ʼbum  5 Buddhist dhâraṇî Volume 5 Comparative Study of Paper Found at Archaeological Sites in Mustang  Emilie Arnaud-Nguyen and Agnieszka Helman-Ważny  1 Links between Paper Dating and Its Manufacturing Process  2 Characteristics of the Samples Studied  3 The Process of the Degradation of Paper  4 Fibre Analysis  5 A Higher Degree of Deterioration  6 A Medium Degree of Degradation  7 Conclusion 6 Missing Manuscripts from the Mardzong Cave Repository  Charles Ramble  1 The Context  2 The Missing Manuscripts: Content Description  3 Buddhist Works  4 Bon Works  5 Secular or Indeterminate Works 7 On the Dating and Origin of the Mardzong Manuscripts  Agnieszka Helman-Ważny and Charles Ramble 8 Book-Making Practices in Mustang  Agnieszka Helman-Ważny  1 Paper  2 Ink  3 Layout  4 Calligraphy 9 Preservation of the Mardzong Manuscripts Collection  Sarah Skumanov  1 Preservation of Cultural Heritage in Mustang  2 The State of Preservation of the Mardzong Manuscripts 10 Translations of Selected Works from the Mardzong Collection  Charles Ramble  1 Khams chen Dedication  2 Triten Norbutse Dedication  3 Khams chen Dedication  4 Triten Norbutse Dedication  5 Mardzong BA  6 Mardzong J Text and Translation  7 Mardzong K Text and Translation 11 A Rare Treatise on Toxicology from the Mardzong Collection: Translation and Preliminary Remarks  Charles Ramble and Naljor Tsering  1 Introduction  2 Poisoning in Tibet  3 Indian Traditions of Toxicology  4 Structure and Content of Mardzong A  5 Features of the Manuscript and Presentation of the Text  6 Text and Translation Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThrough the biography of an unusual Manchu Chinese female devotee who contributed to the spread of Tibetan Buddhism in Taiwan, the book provides a new angle at looking at Sino-Tibetan relations by bringing issues of gender, power, self-representation, and globalization. Gongga Laoren’s life, actions and achievements show the fundamental elements behind the successful implementation of Tibetan Buddhism in a Han cultural environment and highlights a process that has created new expectations within communities, either Tibetan or Taiwanese, working in political, economic, religious and social contexts that have evolved from martial law in the 1960s to democratic rule today.Trade Review"This is an exceptionally well-researched work, and although one might criticize the somewhat dated methodological use of Weber, this volume grants an undeniably invaluable insight into a figure that has received next to no prior scholarly attention, as well as the intricate world of Tibetan Buddhism in Taiwan as a whole. More broadly, those with an interest in religion and globalization as well as religion and gender and self-representation will have much to gain from this volume. - Joseph Chadwin, University of Vienna, Religious Studies Review https://doi.org/10.1111/rsr.15601 "Gongga Laoren (1903–1997) offers a groundbreaking study of this remarkable figure whose life spanned from the late Qing Dynasty to post-martial law Taiwan and who played a crucial role in initiating the development of Tibetan Buddhism there. This volume will be of great interest to all students of modern Chinese and Tibetan religious life. Additionally, those interested in religion and gender, sociology of religion, or transnational studies more broadly will also find much of value in this volume." - Eben Yonnetti is a PhD candidate in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia, Reading Religion, November 28, 2022.Table of ContentsAcknowledgments List of Figures Introduction 1 Life in China and in Tibet (from 1903 to 1958)  1 Birth and Early Childhood  2 Youth and Majority  3 Heading towards the Bo Gangkar Monastery  4 From the Bo Gangkar Monastery to Hong Kong 2 Building Religious Legitimacy in Taiwan (from 1958 to 1980)  1 Arrival in Taipei  2 Publication of the First Dictated Autobiography  3 Esoteric Teachings  4 Retreats  5 Using the Secret 3 Contribution to the Development of Tibetan Buddhism in Taiwan (from 1980 to 1997)  1 Vows Taken with the 16th Karmapa Rangjung Rikpé Dorjé  2 Invitations Extended to Karma Kagyü School’s Reincarnated Masters  3 Place in the Karma Kagyü School’s International Network  4 Links with the 14th Dalai Lama 4 Spiritual Heritage  1 Death and Mummification  2 Succession  3 Maintaining Links with the Karma Kagyü School  4 Continuing Charity Projects Conclusion Appendix: Timeline of Gongga Laoren’s Life (1903–1997) Glossary of Tibetan Names Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisGe bcags (Gebchak) dgon pa, founded in 1892 in Nang chen, Khams (Qinghai Province, PRC), is still active today with around 250 nuns practising intensive Vajrayāna rituals, yogas and meditation. The nuns’ knowledge goal is embodied, nonconceptual awareness, yet they spend many hours daily reading texts as part of their training. By investigating the whole context of the nuns’ lifeworld and ways of learning, this ethnography questions the role of reading in Ge bcags’ tacit knowledge tradition. At a time when Tibetan learning practices are quickly modernising, this book demonstrates a Buddhist tradition whose textual knowledge is not exactly literal, but cultivated through continuous, whole person learning.Trade Review'Brill’s Tibetan Studies Library has firmly established itself as a pacesetter in the field and this volume enhances that status even further.' David Templeman, Monash University, Australia, Himalaya, XXXII (2012)

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