Tibetan Rituals Research Articles

Breaking the spell on the iconic work of Reza Negarestani “Cyclonopedia”

This article is dedicated to rational interpretation of the novel “Cyclonopedia” by the Iranian philosopher and writer Reza Negarestani, which particularly draws attention of the young audience. The author believes that it is impossible to grasp such works without interpretation and reconstruction of their themes and contents. Implementing the claimed approach, the author discusses the crucial topic of openness in the novel and peculiarities of the poetics of “Cyclonopedia”. There are two different understandings of openness described by R. Negarestani: one that is attributed to common forms of sociality, proclaiming freedom and open relationships in one or another way; and “epidemic openness”, which overtakes a person, even against his will, and destroys him. The author analyzes the concept of openness, suggesting that on the one hand, the external can be interpreted as listening to the trends of the “futureculture”, while on the other ‒ as criticism and objectification of concepts that claim to know and predict the future, but in fact cannot go beyond the traditional representations of modernism. Explaining why Negarestani compares openness to food, the author offers to consider the Tibetan archaic ritual “Chod” (severance), going through which the monks offer themselves to be devoured by demons. Based on this, the author formulates an assumption that in the course of creating “Cyclonopedia”, Negarestani was affected by the ancient and mystical concepts, and may even have read Davin-Neel’s research on the Tibetan ritual. The author also suggests that certain other themes of “Cyclonopedia” also need to be reconstructed. The article analyzes the reality of the novel: in addition to discussing the theory-fiction genre, the author believes that the reality of “Cyclonopedia” is attributed to phenomenological, which represents the peculiarities the consciousness of R. Negarestani, rather than the external events.

Inscribing the Corpus: Scribal and Ritual Practice in the Material Culture of Dunhuang

Abstract Qualities of the written sign impact the process of parsing a text, of making it accessible for vision, contemplation, recitation, and memory. In this article, I approach the manuscript as a visual field ordered by the configuration, combination, and differentiation of marks. This approach considers the particular challenges and potentialities that the space of the manuscript presents to a scribe as well as to a reader and how this blurs the boundaries between text and image. Through a case study of a Tibetan ritual manual, I illuminate the act of inscription as a technology with material, ritual, mnemonic, and pedagogical applications.

Himalayan Cosmologies of Offering: A Comparison of Newar and Tibetan Buddhist Treasure Maṇḍalas in Practice and Art

Buddhist rituals that simulate offering the cosmos are often characterized in terms of what they represent rather than their physical actions, material ephemera, or visual depictions. Newar and Tibetan versions of the cosmic offering, however, arise from closely related cosmological texts, but exhibit differences in performance and product. Further, depictions of these rituals in painting create new visions of the cosmos that affect conceptions of the world even outside their original context. Ritual performances and artworks thus become sources for cosmological thinking beyond their authoritative texts. A detailed comparison of Newar and Tibetan rituals and artworks creates nuance in notions of a shared Himalayan Buddhist world-view and highlights complex relationships between texts, practices, depictions, and traditions.

« Mystères » bouddhiques. La théâtralisation des rituels tibétains par les voyageurs au début du xxe siècle

Dans la première décennie du xxe siècle, les voyageurs marquent un intérêt appuyé envers les formes rituelles tibétaines et livrent dans leurs récits de voyage ou dans leur correspondance des témoignages à caractère ethnographique. Le présent article s’interroge sur la référence permanente à la notion de « mystère » dans leurs récits. En évaluant la valeur et les significations que revêt le terme aux yeux des voyageurs, il s’agit de dépasser le simple constat d’une projection culturelle. En effet, des différents regards portés sur le religieux tibétain ressortent également différentes visions et expériences de la culture tibétaine, variables en termes axiologiques, heuristiques, phénoménologiques et réflexifs.

Falling Rain, Reigning Power in Reptilian Affairs

Animals such as the snake (in a herpetological reptilian sense and in its naga variety including the dragon) are prominent subjects in the Buddhist tradition. Snakes are not just partners to humans, or supports or hangings on temples, but are also central figures positioned to convey power struggles within and without the Buddhist tradition. As a Tibetan doctor makes sure he feeds the naga in the little house he built for it behind the hospital or the annual rituals on naga days indicate, there is recognition throughout South Asian Buddhism that nagas are not something to be ignored, but must be reckoned with, respected and incorporated into people's lives. Being possessed or inhabited by a klu (serpent) in the Tibetan medical texts or in a street in Dharamsala, India, indicates the real potential for lack of control and a loss of balance of power. Historically, Tibetan rituals to the klus were used to maintain political prominence, like the rituals rulers would conduct in ancient India and China to maintain the rains for their crops, often linked with ethical conduct, thus, fertile lands maintain a fertile rulership. Snakes in Buddhism command respect and serve as reminders of the ephemeral nature of existence. In juxtaposing ritual alongside narrative, medical and visual texts in the Buddhist traditions of India, Tibet and Nepal, this article will discuss how the presence of snakes have often been indicative of struggles to gain (or regain) prominence against other native traditions, to recover a cultural identity and to protect or create personal wealth, health or knowledge.

Narratives of Hospitality and Feeding in Tibetan Ritual

This article proposes that many Tibetan rituals are shaped by a language of creating, giving, and eating food. Drawing on a range of premodern texts and observation of a week-long Accomplishing Medicine (sman sgrub) ritual based on those texts, we explore ritualized food interactions from a narrative perspective. Through the creation, offering, and consumption of food, ritual participants, including Buddhas, deities, and other unseen beings, create and maintain variant identities and relationships with each other. Using a ritual tradition that crosses religious and medical domains in Tibet, we examine how food and eating honors, constructs, and maintains an appropriate and spatiotemporally situated community order with a gastronomic contract familiar to all participants.

Tibetan Rituals of Death: Buddhist funerary practices, by Margaret Gouin.

Tibetan Rituals of Death: Buddhist funerary practices, by Margaret Gouin.

Illustrations of Human Effigies in Tibetan Ritual Texts: With Remarks on Specific Anatomical Figures and Their Possible Iconographic Source

AbstractThe ritual use of objects and images designed to serve as effigies or surrogates of specific persons, animals or spirits is more or less universal across cultures and time. In Tibet, recent archaeological evidence attests to the use of illustrated effigies possibly dating from the eleventh century. Other early Tibetan images include anthropomorphic figures inscribed on animal skulls. The practical use of effigies in Tibetan ritual, both Buddhist and Bon-po, was almost certainly derived from much older Indian practices transmitted to Tibet. In this article illustrated effigies, their iconography and ritual use are discussed and the article concludes with the translation and transliteration of a short work by the fifteenth-century treasure revealer (gter-ston) and patron saint of Bhutan Padma-gling-pa (1450–1521), which gives instructions on how to draw a liṅga for a ritual of defence against human adversaries.

The Sa Chog

The Tibetansa chog, or “soil ritual”, customarily performed prior to the construction of a temple or house, is a Buddhist ritual for organizing space. The rite calls to the surface of the earth the subterranean serpent deity (klu, related to the Indiannāga), determines its orientation in space and time, and subjugates it through a series of steps characterized by both violence and veneration. The rite is a means by which Tibetan communities preserve and contain the power of the soil in such a way that orients it towards human interests. The article makes use of numerous Tibetan ritual manuals from various authors and traditions, as well as a reported 1967 performance of the rite in Rikon, Switzerland, to outline the sa chog rite. The author identifies eight steps: the selection of the site and the performance of preliminary rites; the laying of the grid; the drawing of the serpent and the identification of the vital place; the feast offering for the deities; the stabbing of the vital place; the testing of the soil for omens; the vase offering; and the release of the serpent. While no single text referenced contains all eight of these steps, the performance of the sa chog in Switzerland as described by Van Dyke justifies taking them together as an amalgamated whole.

The Sa Chog. Violence and veneration in a Tibetan soil ritual

The Tibetan sa chog or “soil ritual”, customarily peformed prior to the construction of a temple or house, is a Buddhist ritual for organising space. The rite calls to the surface of the earth the subterranean serpent deity (klu, related to the Indian nāga), determines its orientation in space and time, and subjugates it through a series of steps characterised by both violence and veneration. The rite is a means by which Tibetan communities preserve and contain the power of the soil in such a way that orients it towards human interests. The article makes use of numerous Tibetan ritual manuals from various authors and traditions, as well as a reported 1967 performance of the rite in Rikon, Switzerland, to outline the sa chog rite. The author identifies eight steps: the selection of the site and the performance of preliminary rites; the laying of the grid; the drawing of the serpent and the identification of the vital place; the feast offering for the deities; the stabbing of the vital place; the testing of the soil for omens; the vase offering and the release of the serpent. While no single text referenced contains all eight of these steps, the peformance of the sa chog in Switzerland as described by Van Dyke justifies taking them together as an amalgamated whole.

The Role Played by Mandalas in Navajo and Tibetan Rituals

The mandala has appeared throughout human history as a symbol of integration, harmony, and transformation. Consideration is given to the role played by mandalas in Navajo and Tibetan rituals, and how the same form has been constructed differently in various times and places. The impact of psychophysiology in personality theory has led to a reconceptualization of the mandala and other Jungian archetypal forms.

Tibetan Ritual Music. A General Survey with Special Reference to the Mindroling Tradition

Tibetan Ritual Music. A General Survey with Special Reference to the Mindroling Tradition

Tibetans in exile

A filmed documentation of Tibetan culture has become all the more necessary in the light of socio‐cultural changes brought about by Chinese occupation. Considering that until recently it has been nearly impossible to film in Tibet, some significant contributions to the theme of Tibetan culture have come from films shot in India among Tibetan refugees. Unfortunately, the documentation in these films suffers from technical limitations. Other films on Tibetan culture were made possible through the collaboration of the Institute of Tibetan Monasteries in Zurich and Tibetans living in Switzerland. The Institute of Scientific Studies in Göttingen has produced several films on this theme, ten of which deal with Tibetan ritual. These films also provide a critical analysis of methods of production.