Tibetan Ritual

Jose Ignacio Cabezon

First scholarly collection to focus on Tibetan ritual
Comprehensive examination of all aspects of ritual in the Tibetan cultural world

Tibetan Ritual

Jose Ignacio Cabezon

Description

Ritual is one of the most pervasive religious phenomena in the Tibetan cultural world. Despite its ubiquity and importance to Tibetan cultural life, however, only in recent years has Tibetan ritual been given the attention it deserves. This is the first scholarly collection to focus on this important subject. Unique in its historical, geographical and disciplinary breadth, this book brings together eleven essays by an international cast of scholars working on ritual texts, institutions and practices in the greater Tibetan cultural world - Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, and Mongolia. While most of the chapters focus on Buddhism, two deal with ritual in Tibet's indigenous Bon religion. All of the essays are original to this volume. An extensive introduction by the editor provides a broad overview of Tibetan ritual and contextualizes the chapters within the field of Buddhist and Tibetan studies. The book should find use in advanced undergraduate courses and graduate seminars on Tibetan religion. It will also be of interest to students and scholars of ritual generally.

Tibetan Ritual

Jose Ignacio Cabezon

Introduction - José Ignacio Cabezón
1: Written Texts at the Juncture of the Local and the Global: Some Anthropological Considerations on a Local Corpus of Tantric Ritual Manuals (Lower Mustang, Nepal) - Nicolas Sihlé
2: Tibetan Indigenous Myths and Rituals with Reference to the Ancient Bön Text: The Nyenbum (Gnyan 'bum) - Samten Karmay
3.: Continuity and Change in Tibetan Mah?yoga Ritual: Some Evidence from the Tabzhag (Thabs zhags) Manuscript and other Dunhuang Texts - Robert Mayer and Cathy Cantwell
4.: The Convergence of Theoretical and Practical Concerns in a Single Verse of the Guhyasam?ja Tantra - Yael Bentor
5.: Chilu ('Chi bslu): Rituals for "Deceiving Death" - Irmgard Mengele
6.: Representations of Efficacy: the Ritual Expulsion of Mongol Armies in the Consolidation and Expansion of the Tsang (Gtsang) Dynasty - James Gentry
7.: The "Calf's Nipple" (Be'u bum) of Ju Mipam ('Ju Mi pham): A Handbook of Tibetan Ritual Magic - Bryan J. Cuevas
8.: Tamdrin (Rta mgrin) Rituals in the Bön Tradition: Transforming Poison and Eliminating Noxious Spirits with Burning Stones - Marc des Jardins
9.:Texts as Deities: Mongols' Rituals of Worshipping S?tras and Rituals of Accomplishing Various Goals by Means of S?tras - Vesna Wallace
10: The Ritual Veneration of Mongolia's Mountains - Jared Lindahl
11.: Encounter With a Dream: Bhutanese Pilgrims in Tibet. Performing a Ritual? - Françoise Pommaret
Bibliography
Index

Tibetan Ritual

Jose Ignacio Cabezon

Author Information

Jose Ignacio Cabezon, XIVth Dalai Lama Professor of Tibetan Buddhism and Cultural Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara

Contributors:

Yael Bentor is a senior lecturer in the Department of Indian Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Cathy Cantwell and Robert Mayer are Research Officers and Members of the Buddhist Studies Unit of the Oriental Institute, University of Oxford, and senior researchers at the University of Cardiff.
Bryan J. Cuevas is Associate Professor of Buddhist and Tibetan Studies in the Department of Religion at Florida State University.
J. F. Marc des Jardins is Assistant Professor of the Religions of China and Tibet in the Department of Religion of Concordia University in Montréal.
James Gentry is a doctoral candidate in the Committee on the Study of Religion at Harvard University.
Jared Lindahl has an MA in Religious Studies from the University of California Santa Barbara and is presently a doctoral candidate at that same institution.
Irmgard Mengele is research scholar in the Religious Studies Department at the University of California Santa Barbara.
Françoise Pommaret is Directeur de recherche at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris, and advisor to the Institute of Language and Cultural Studies, Royal University of Bhutan.
Samten Karmay is Directeur de recherche emeriate at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris.
Nicolas Sihlé is Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Virginia
Vesna Wallace is Professor in the Department of Religious