Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- Notes on contributors
- Introduction
- 1 Scientology, scripture, and sacred tradition
- 2 “He may be lying but what he says is true”: the sacred tradition of don Juan as reported by Carlos Castaneda, anthropologist, trickster, guru, allegorist
- 3 The invention of sacred tradition: Mormonism
- 4 Antisemitism, conspiracy culture, Christianity, and Islam: the history and contemporary religious significance of the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion
- 5 The invention of a counter-tradition: the case of the North American anti-cult movement
- 6 “Heavenly deception”? Sun Myung Moon and Divine Principle
- 7 “Forgery” in the New Testament
- 8 Three phases of inventing Rosicrucian tradition in the seventeenth century
- 9 A name for all and no one: Zoroaster as a figure of authorization and a screen of ascription
- 10 The peculiar sleep: receiving The Urantia Book
- 11 Ontology of the past and its materialization in Tibetan treasures
- 12 Pseudo-Dionysius: the mediation of sacred traditions
- 13 Spurious attribution in the Hebrew Bible
- 14 Inventing Paganisms: making nature
- Index
- References
11 - Ontology of the past and its materialization in Tibetan treasures
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 September 2009
By
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- Notes on contributors
- Introduction
- 1 Scientology, scripture, and sacred tradition
- 2 “He may be lying but what he says is true”: the sacred tradition of don Juan as reported by Carlos Castaneda, anthropologist, trickster, guru, allegorist
- 3 The invention of sacred tradition: Mormonism
- 4 Antisemitism, conspiracy culture, Christianity, and Islam: the history and contemporary religious significance of the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion
- 5 The invention of a counter-tradition: the case of the North American anti-cult movement
- 6 “Heavenly deception”? Sun Myung Moon and Divine Principle
- 7 “Forgery” in the New Testament
- 8 Three phases of inventing Rosicrucian tradition in the seventeenth century
- 9 A name for all and no one: Zoroaster as a figure of authorization and a screen of ascription
- 10 The peculiar sleep: receiving The Urantia Book
- 11 Ontology of the past and its materialization in Tibetan treasures
- 12 Pseudo-Dionysius: the mediation of sacred traditions
- 13 Spurious attribution in the Hebrew Bible
- 14 Inventing Paganisms: making nature
- Index
- References
Summary
In a mode of revelation particular to Tibetan and Himalayan regions, traces of the past are reportedly embedded in the landscape as terma or “treasures” (gter ma). Hidden away for future generations, these treasures may be esoteric texts, relics, images, sacred dances, ritual implements, medicinal substances, jewels, natural resources, and even whole valleys. The Tibetan propensity for burying valuables during periods of political uncertainty is an indigenous antecedent for the treasure phenomenon cited by scholars. There are also well-known Indian antecedents in stories of the concealment and retrieval of Buddhist scriptures and relics, most famously the Prajñāpāramitā sūtras. Beyond these antecedents, treasure revelation relies on what I will be analyzing as an ontological conception of the past, whereby an idealized historical period is rooted in timelessness and continues to be accessed in the present. Treasure revelation can be described as a process of recovering such a past, believed to be concealed in the Tibetan and Himalayan landscape as esoteric teachings and sacred objects, intended for the people of particular times and places.
Treasure revelation draws on the authority of the past associated with the “early propagation” (snga dar) of Buddhism in Tibet under the stewardship of kings during the seventh to ninth centuries. In later renderings of this period, three kings in particular – Songtsen Gampo, Trisong Detsen, and Ralpacan – are hailed as devout sponsors of Buddhism and identified as dharmarājas (religious kings) and bodhisattvas (awakened beings).
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Invention of Sacred Tradition , pp. 213 - 240Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2007
References
, Consecration of Images and Stūpas in Indo-Tibetan Tantric Buddhism (Leiden: Brill, 1997).Google Scholar
Blondeau, Anne-Marie, “Analysis of the Biographies of Padmasambhava according to Tibetan Tradition,” in and (eds.), Tibetan Studies in Honour of Hugh Richardson (Warminster: Aris & Phillips, 1980), pp. 45–52.Google Scholar
, and (eds.), Tibetan Literature: Studies in Genre (Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 1996).Google Scholar
Chos kyi dbang phyug, Guru. “Gter ‘byung chen mo,” in The Autobiography and Instructions of Gu-ru Chos-kyi-dbaṅ-phyug (Paro: Ugyen Tempai Gyaltsen, 1979), II, pp. 75–193.
, The Hidden History of the Tibetan Book of the Dead (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003).Google Scholar
, Tibetan Renaissance: Tantric Buddhism in the Rebirth of Tibetan Culture (New York: Columbia University Press, 2005).Google Scholar
, and (eds.), Tibetan Buddhism: Reason and Revelation (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1992).Google Scholar
, Tibetan Treasure Literature: Revelation, Tradition, and Accomplishment in Visionary Buddhism (Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 2005).Google Scholar
, and , The Life and Liberation of Padmasambhava (Emeryville, CA: Dharma Publishing, 1978).Google Scholar
, The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism: Its Fundamental and History, trans. Gyurme Dorje and Matthew Kapstein (Boston, MA: Wisdom Publications, 1991).Google Scholar
, Vajrayoginī: Her Visualization, Rituals, and Forms (Boston, MA: Wisdom Publications, 2002).Google Scholar
Gayley, Holly, “The Ethics of Cultural Survival: Defining ‘Tibetanness’ in Mkhan po' Jigs phuns's Advice to Tibetans for the 21st Century,” paper presented at the 11th Seminar of the International Association of Tibetan Studies held in Bonn, August 27–September 2, 2006 (forthcoming in the conference proceedings).
Gayley, Holly,“Patterns in the Ritual Dissemination of Padma gling pa's Treasures,” in and (eds.), Bhutan: Traditions and Change (Leiden: Brill, 2007).Google Scholar
Gayley, Holly,“Soteriology of the Senses in Tibetan Buddhism,” paper presented at the American Academy of Religion conference held in Washington, DC, on November 18–21, 2006 (forthcoming in Numen).
, Furta Sacra: Theft of Relics in the Central Middle Ages (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1978).Google Scholar
Germano, David, “Re-membering the Dismembered Body of Tibet,” in and , Buddhism, pp. 53–94.
Germano, David,“The Seven Descents and the Early History of Rnying ma Transmission,” in Eimer and Germano, Many Canons, pp. 225–63.
, and (eds.), Embodying the Dharma: Buddhist Relic Veneration in Asia (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2004).Google Scholar
, and (eds.), Buddhism in Contemporary Tibet: Religious Revival and Cultural Identity (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1998).Google Scholar
Gter bdag gling pa ‘Gyur med rdo rje, Smin gling gter chen ‘gyur med rdo rje'i gsung ‘bum (Dehra Dun: D. G. Khochhen Tulku, 1998).
, Apparitions of the Self: The Secret Autobiographies of a Tibetan Visionary (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1998).Google Scholar
Gyatso, Janet,“Drawn from the Tibetan Treasury: The gTer ma Literature,” in Cabezón and Jackson, Tibetan Literature, pp. 147–69.
Gyatso, Janet,“Genre, Authorship, and Transmission in Visionary Buddhism: The Literary Traditions of Thang-stong rGyal-po,” in Davidson and Goodman, Tibetan Buddhism, pp. 95–106.
Gyatso, Janet,“Guru Chos-dbang's Gter ‘byung chen mo: An Early Survey of the Treasure Tradition and its Strategies in Discussing Bon Treasure,” in (ed.), Tibetan Studies: Proceedings of the 6th Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, Fagernes 1992, 2 vols. (Oslo: Institute for Comparative Research in Human Culture, 1994), I, pp. 275–87.Google Scholar
, “The Logic of Legitimation in the Tibetan Treasure Tradition,” History of Religions 33/1 (1993), pp. 97–134.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, “Signs, Memory and History: A Tantric Buddhist Theory of Scriptural Transmission,” Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 9/2 (1986), pp. 7–35.
, The Life and Revelations of Pema Lingpa (Boulder, CO: Snow Lion Publications, 2003).Google Scholar
Harrison, Paul, “A Brief History of the Tibetan bKa' ‘gyur,” in Cabezón and Jackson, Tibetan Literature, pp. 70–94.
Hobsbawm, Eric, “Introduction: Inventing Traditions,” in and (eds.), The Invention of Tradition (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983).Google Scholar
, The Cult of Pure Crystal Mountain: Popular Pilgrimage and Visionary Landscape in Southeast Tibet (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999).Google Scholar
‘Jam mgon kong sprul Blo gros mtha’ yas, Rin chen gter mdzod chen mo (Paro: Ngodrup & Sherap Drimay, 1976).
, “The Purificatory Gem and Its Cleansing: A Late Tibetan Polemical Discussion of Apocryphal Texts,” History of Religions 28/3 (1989), pp. 217–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kapstein, Matthew. “Remarks on the Mani bka'–‘bum and the Cult of Avalokiteśvara in Tibet,” in Davidson and Goodman, Tibetan Buddhism, pp. 79–93.
Kapstein, Matthew.“The Royal Way of Supreme Compassion,” in (ed.), Tibetan Religions in Practice (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997).Google Scholar
. The Tibetan Assimilation of Buddhism: Conversion, Contestation, and Memory (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000).Google Scholar
, The Treasury of Good Sayings: A Tibetan History of Bon (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1972).Google Scholar
, The Arrow and the Spindle: Studies in History, Myths, Rituals, and Beliefs in Tibet (Kathmandu: Mandala Book Point, 1998).Google Scholar
. The Great Perfection (rDzogs chen): A Philosophical and Meditative Teaching in Tibetan Buddhism (Leiden: Brill, 1988).Google Scholar
, The Lotus Born: The Life Story of Padmasambhava (Boston, MA: Shambhala Publications, 1999).Google Scholar
, Unearthing Bon Treasures: Life and Contested Legacy of a Tibetan Scripture Revealer (Leiden: Brill, 2001).Google Scholar
, Once Upon a Future Time: Studies in a Buddhist Prophecy of Decline (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1991).Google Scholar
Nyang ral Nyi ma ‘od zer, Bka’ brgyad bde gshegs ‘dus pa'i gter ston myang sprul nyi ma ‘od zer gyi rnam thar gsal ba'i me long, in Bka’ brgyad bde gshegs ‘dus pa'i chos skor (Paro: Ngodrup, 1979), ii, pp. 199–381.
, , Bum thang gter ston padma gling pa'i rnam thar ‘od zer kun mdzes, in Rig ‘dzin padma gling pa yi zab gter chos mdzod rin po che (Thimpu: Kunsang Tobgay, 1975), xiv, pp. 3–510.Google Scholar
, Skyabs rje nam sprul rin po che ‘jigs med phun tshogs dang mkha’ ‘gro tā re lha mo mchog gi rnam thar rig ‘dzin mkha’ ‘gro dgyes pa'i mchod sprin (Chengdu: Sichuan Nationalities Publishing House, 1997).Google Scholar
Phillips, Bradford, “Consummation and Compassion in Medieval Tibet: The Mani bka'-‘bum chen-mo of Guru Chos-kyi dbang-phyug” (PhD dissertation, University of Virginia, 2004).
, Center and Periphery: Essays in Macrosociology (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1975).Google Scholar
, Among Tibetan Texts: History and Literature of the Himalayan Plateau (Boston, MA: Wisdom Publications, 2001).Google Scholar
Strong, John, “Relics,” in (ed.), The Encyclopedia of Religion (New York: Collier Macmillan, 1987), xi, pp. 275–82.Google Scholar
, Buddhist Saints of the Forest and the Cult of Amulets (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, Relics, Ritual, and Representation in Buddhism: Rematerializing the Sri Lankan Theravāda Tradition (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997).Google Scholar
Vlastos, Stephen, “Tradition: Past/Present Culture and Modern Japanese History,” in (ed.), Mirror of Modernity: Invented Traditions of Modern Japan (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1998).Google Scholar
, and , dBa' bzhed: The Royal Narrative Concerning the Bringing of the Buddha's Doctrine to Tibet (Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2000).Google Scholar
, Āryadeva's Lamp that Integrates the Practices (Caryāmelāpakapradīpa): The Gradual Path of Vajrayāna Buddhism according to the Esoteric Community Noble Tradition (New York: AIBS/Columbia University Press, 2007).Google Scholar
- 1
- Cited by