Tibetan Graduate Studies Seminar

Bo Wang discussing the practice of depositing garments as offerings to sacred mountains in Eastern Tibet Different interpretations of what constitutes “trash” can reveal complex interactions between Tibetans and Han Chinese in the Eastern Himalayas. This talk adopts the term “trash talk” to illuminate how the Tibetan practice of depositing garments as offerings to sacred mountains has become a center of Tibetan-Han debates about ethnic identity, morality, and personhood. Establishing the contours of waste-management infrastructure in a Tibetan area of Yunnan, China, that has been developed for tourism, this article examines the Tibetan term dreg pa (pollution), a morally laden notion of impurity. The author highlights how Tibetans seek to avoid dreg pa and achieve a reciprocal balance with “mountain-persons” (mountains as sacred beings) by making offerings of personal garments. The Han Chinese waste-management sector’s perception of these garment offerings as litter creates a dispute between Tibetans and Han as to what is sacred and what is trash. I argue that the offered garments should be seen not as trash but as people—active entities that mediate the reciprocal relationship between humans and the environment. These linkages among the local notion of dreg pa, uncertainties surrounding used garments, and personhood suggest that waste-management policies must take local notions of waste into consideration in order to be both efficient and culturally sensitive, especially in the current troubled trash politics of mass tourism and global environmentalism.

Alla Sizova discusses the role of translation activities in the spread of Buddhism in the 12th century and outlines the extent of Tibetan influence on the Tangut culture. In the 12th century the spread of Buddhism in the Tangut Empire, including its translation and publication activities, reached its peak. From the colophons of the surviving texts, we learn that the numerous Buddhist texts in Tangut, Chinese and Tibetan languages were published by the thousands for distribution among the participants of the national Dharma assemblies. At present, however, we have only one example of such an edition in all the three languages, that survived to our time. The Tibetan book is of particular importance because until recently no earlier printed works in the Tibetan language were found. In my talk, I will outline the extent of the Tibetan influence on the Tangut culture, which will serve as a background for the introduction of this truly unique example of printing. Some aspects of the history of this text have already been explored in previous studies. I will try to summarize all the results, clarify codicological questions and present new results of my research.

Fictional Facts or Factual Fiction? Lucia Galli's talk on self-representation and the social reality behind two Tibetan memoirs Cultural meanings and socio-historical realities hide in the interstices between literature and history, and narrative indisputably plays a central part in both fictional and factual writings. While the role of historians as “fiction-makers” has been theorised by Hayden White as far back as 1974, the question of whether a novel gives us access – albeit in its own peculiar way – to the same kind of truth that we express in our assertions about states of affairs in the world is still a much disputed ground. This presentation deals with questions of narrative’s truth by analysing and comparing two different Tibetan texts, namely Kha stag ʼDzam yag’s Diary (nyin deb) and Lhag pa Don grub’s novel The Life of a Muleteer (Drel paʼi mi tshe). In questioning the arbitrary categorisation that will have these texts placed at the opposite ends of an imaginary clear-cut “fiction”- “nonfiction” divide, I will first bring to the fore the fictional aspects of the diary narrative and their function in increasing our understanding of indigenous representations of the self, and then examine the factual nature of Lhag pa Don grub’s work, largely based on the author’s memories and personal experiences.

The Oracle in Exile: Pema Choedon's talk on the Nechung Oracle and identity construction in the Tibetan Diaspora Nowadays, Tibetans in the diaspora are increasingly conscious of what they consider as their ‘culture,’ and certain cultural elements are therefore crucial in their identity formation. Today the Gnas chung rgyal po, known among Tibetans as “the state oracle of Tibet,” is one of their most important cultural traditions. Nevertheless, it has become the object of controversy, and some factions are wholly opposed to the oracular practice. In my presentation, I will discuss questions concerning the contemporary relevance of this institution: 1. Why is the Nechung Oracle still so important for Tibetans in the 21st century? 2. Why are some Tibetans against the practice? 3. And in what way is the Nechung Oracle one of the Tibetan identity markers within the diaspora communities?

I am currently focusing on the problem of the Dalai Lama’s mortality that is, the question of how to come to terms with his suffering and death, in light of the association between Tibetan kingship and the deity Avalokiteśvara. In this talk, I’ll share some of my work in progress on the divine kingship of the 5th Dalai Lama. In particular, I am currently focusing on the problem of the Dalai Lama’s mortality that is, the question of how to come to terms with his suffering and death, in light of the association between Tibetan kingship and the deity Avalokiteśvara. My sources are late 17th century texts written by the Desi Sangyé Gyatso, who wrote extensively on the 5th Dalai Lama’s joint divinity and mortality. In addition to their value for Tibetan intellectual and political history, my larger aim is to think about the Desi as a theorist of Buddhist kingship, one whose efforts to clarify a basic theological political dilemma may also speak to larger conversations about the dual constitution of royal authority.

The Preliminary Practices not only initiate practitioners into a specific tradition, but also more fundamentally, into Vajrayana Buddhism as it is practiced in contemporary Tibet. In this paper, I explore the Preliminary Practices of a specific group of Tibetan Buddhist women in Bongma Mayma a rural area of Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Qinghai Province. I focus specifically on the nuns and lay women who utilize this set of teachings and practices. The Preliminary Practices not only initiate practitioners into a specific tradition (that of the Drikung Kagyu and more specifically the Amitabha practices of this lineage), but also more fundamentally, into Vajrayana Buddhism as it is practiced in contemporary Tibet. Although monks and male lay practitioners in this region also tend to perform the same Preliminary Practices, I focus specifically on women because of their unique relationship with bodily labor.

Christopher Bell's talk about oracles, protector deities, and other mysteries The Dalai Lama has sought and trusted the advice of the Nechung Oracle for centuries. In that time, this powerful office has involved the Tibetan Buddhist protector deity Pehar, or his emanations, to possess a human medium and offer prophetic counsel periodically. But the mechanisms through which the institution of Nechung grew, and the contours of the close relationship between the bodhisattva and the god, have yet to receive sustained attention. The speaker will first outline the growth of the Nechung cult through three lenses - mythical, ritual, and institutional - before discussing the often obscure process of book publication as he makes his way through its final stages with this project.

In the late 12th century Yungdrung Bön text Grags pa gling grags a deity that has a special relationship to the Tibetan ruler plays a prominent part in the narrative of the Tibetan kings. However, it is not called sku bla but gur lha a term that would seem to be unknown in the imperial period Its characteristics and functions partly overlap with those of the sku bla but to a significant extent also those of the post imperial yul lha. My paper will focus on a study of the gur lha and suggest why this otherwise somewhat obscure term was given prominence in the narrative of the Grags pa gling grags.