Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Buddhism Tantric'

Doctor of Philosophy
This thesis explores the nature of the socialization and commitment process in the Western Buddhist context, by investigating the experiences of practitioners affiliated with two Buddhist Centres: the Theravadin Blue Mountains Insight Meditation Centre and the Gelugpa Tibetan Vajrayana Institute. Commitment by participants is based on the recognition that, through the application of the beliefs and practices of the new religion, self-transformation has occurred. It follows a process of religious experimentation in which the claims of a religious reality are experientially validated against inner understandings and convictions, which themselves become clearer as a result of experimental participation in religious activity. Functionally, the adopted worldview is seen to frame personal experience in a manner that renders it more meaningful. Meditative experience and its interpretation according to doctrine must be applicable to the improvement of the quality of lived experience. It must be relevant to current living, and ethically sustainable. Substantively, commitment is conditional upon accepting and succesfully employing: the three marks of samsaric existence, duhkha, anitya and anatman (Skt) as an interpretive framework for lived reality. In this the three groups of the Eight-fold Path, sila/ethics, samadhi/concentration, and prajna/wisdom provide a strategy for negotiating lived experience in the light of meditation techniques, specific to each Buddhist orientation, by which to apply doctrinal principles in one’s own transformation. Two theoretical approaches are found to have explanatory power for understanding the stages of intensifying interaction that lead to commitment in both Western Buddhist contexts. Lofland and Skonovd’s Experimental Motif models the method of entry into and exploration of a Buddhist Centre’s shared reality. Data from participant observation and interview demonstrates this approach to be facilitated by the organizational and teaching activities of the two Western Buddhist Centres, and to be taken by the participants who eventually become adherents. Individuals take an actively experimental attitude toward the new group’s activities, withholding judgment while testing the group’s doctrinal position, practices, and expected experiential outcomes against their own values and life experience. In an environment of minimal social pressure, transformation of belief is gradual over a period of from months to years. Deeper understanding of the nature of the commitment process is provided by viewing it in terms of religious resocialization, involving the reframing of one’s understanding of reality and sense-of-self within a new worldview. The transition from seekerhood to commitment occurs through a process of socialization, the stages of which are found to be engagement and apprehension, comprehension, and commitment. Apprehension is the understanding of core Buddhist notions. Comprehension occurs through learning how various aspects of the worldview form a coherent meaning-system, and through application of the Buddhist principles to the improvement of one’s own life circumstances. It necessitates understanding of the fundamental relationships between doctrine, practice, and experience. Commitment to the group’s outlook and objectives occurs when these are adopted as one’s orientation to reality, and as one’s strategy for negotiating a lived experience that is both efficacious and ethically sustainable. It is also maintained that sustained commitment is conditional upon continuing validation of that experience.

The dissertation addresses the influence of Tantric Buddhism on Surrealism and the work of the French writer Georges Bataille. Specifically, it explores the approaches of the two fields to the concepts of desire, death, and the separate self, and examines how the treatment of these themes in Buddhism affected their role in early twentieth century France, particularly within Surrealism and the work of Georges Bataille.

My dissertation is focused on a cycle of Saraha's Adamantine Songs and their relationship to the Great Seal. Belonging to a genre known as 'Adamantine Songs'---Vajra Giti in Sanskrit, or rDo rje 'i gLu in Tibetan---their titles are: "A Body Treasury called the Immortal Adamantine Song"; "A Speech Treasury called the Manjughosa Adamantine Song" and "A Mind Treasury called the Unborn Adamantine Song". The dissertation is divided into two parts: the first is the contextualization of a Great Seal (Sanskrit: mahamudra; Tibetan: phyag rgya chenpo) root text by the adept Saraha; and the second is a critical edition of the Tibetan text along with the first full translation of the text into English. The critical edition of the Tibetan is based on versions of the poems drawn from five different Tibetan sources---four scriptural (the sDe dge, Co ne, sNar thang and 'Peking' bsTan 'gyurs) and one literary (Mipham Rinpoche's 19th century collection 'phags yul grub dbang dam pa rnams kyi zab mo'i do ha rnams las kho la byung mu tig phreng ba or "Pearl Garland of the Profound Dohas of the Noble Great Siddhas of India").
The first chapters of the dissertation explore the contexts of this song cycle, its author and traditions that relate to it, in particular the Karma Kagyu (karma bka' brgyud) school of Tibetan Buddhism. The first chapter is a discussion of the author, Saraha, the tales of whose many 'lives' pervade Tibetan Buddhist traditions to this day. Chapter 2 explores the broader context of South Asian siddha traditions, while Chapters 3 and 4 provide an analysis of the Great Seal both as it emerges through Saraba's work and as it exists as a living tradition in the Tibetan Buddhist context. As mentioned above, particular emphasis is given to the Karma Kagyu school. Finally, Chapter 5 provides an introduction to Tibetan poetics and the Sanskrit traditions that influence it.

Tibetan Tantric Buddhism is today considered one of the most important and controversial forms of Asian culture, using a rich and somewhat complicated range of methods and materials. The perception of the ‘mystical’ nature of Tibetan Tantric Buddhist art in the world beyond Tibet has changed and evolved significantly and profoundly over the last three decades. However, contemporary Tibetan artists feel confused about how to develop a Tibetan art tradition within the context of a globalised world. 　　Against this background I am interested in exploring the mysterious nature of Tibetan Tantric Buddhism and its art through grasping its religious values, historical context, and artistic qualities. In so doing I try to investigate questions concerning the cross-cultural analysis and utility of images in Tibetan Tantric Buddhist art, as opposed to political conflicts that often arise in the media now. 　　As an exploration of Tibetan Tantric Buddhist art and its contemporary significance, this research seeks to fulfill three important goals: first, to introduce Tibet’s mystical and magnificent art within its historical and religious contexts to those unfamiliar with either Tibet Buddhism or Tibetan Buddhist art and its cultural background; second, to examine the influences of Tibetan Tantric Buddhist art tradition on some contemporary Tibetan and non-Tibetan artists’ art practice; and third, to embark on combining theoretical research, methods of meditation and my own art practice as a way of exploring the trans-cultural translation of Tibetan Buddhist art in Chinese and Western contexts. The aim is to explore the potential of Tibetan Tantric Buddhist art as elucidating common ground between the meditative mind and the creative mind for engaging in an open conversation of faith, spirituality, religion, and aesthetic experiences in the contemporary period.

Bzhad pa'i rdo rje (1697-1740), the Fifth Sle lung Rin po che, was a religiously and politically controversial figure and an incredibly prolific author, having written or compiled over 46 volumes worth of mainly religious texts. A high-ranking Dge lugs pa sprul sku, Sle lung is seen as having gradually "defected" to the Rnying ma school, although he self-identified as a follower of the "non-sectarian" (ris med) perspective. Sle lung also acted as a spiritual advisor to most of the major central Tibetan rulers during the course of his life, most significantly Mi dbang Pho lha nas (r. 1729-1747). But despite numerous features of fascinating interest, Sle lung and his writings have received very little scholarly attention, and this thesis is intended to fill this unfortunate lacuna. The present study begins with an extended biographical examination of Sle lung's life, and the political and religious unrest in central Tibet at the time in which he was deeply invested. I pay special attention to the controversies that surrounded him, particularly his purported sexual licentiousness and his ecumenical work which was unpopular among his more sectarian Dge lugs pa critics. This opening biography provides critical historical context as I move on to examine two of Sle lung's most important literary works. The first is the sixteen-volume Gsang ba ye shes chos skor, a massive cycle of teachings by Sle lung and his students that integrates tantric theories derived from Sle lung's experience with Gsar ma (specifically Dge lugs pa) teachings. The second work is the Bstan srung rgya mtsho'i rnam thar, a unique text in Tibetan literature which consists of an apparently unprecedented compilation of Tibetan Buddhist protector deity (bstan srung, chos skyong) origin myths. I will make sense of key features of these two works within the larger context of Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, as well as the political and personal concerns of Sle lung himself.

My thesis explores the aesthetic theory and performative expectations of the male and female practitioners in tantric Buddhist sexual rites. My work examines the erotic context of later tantric Buddhist practice as found in Vanaratna's (1384 -1468) fifteenth century Tibetan meditation manual (sadhana) to the rare, erotic form of the goddess Vajravarahi (Adamantine Sow), called Vajravilasini (Adamantine Beauty), entitled Vajravilasini namah Vajravarahi sadhana (The sadhana of Vajravarahi named Vajravilasini). An eighth century poem is preserved in the consort practice section of this sadhana, attributed to the Indian mahasiddha (great accomplished one) Lakrminkara. My study examines this poem in terms of Indian aesthetic theory, rasa theory (lit. taste theory). I argue that antinomian siddha poets, such as Lakrminkara, both employed and transcended the poetic method of rasa theory, initially creating an erotic mood (spngara rasa) in their poems, but ultimately transcending this rasa, to create a specific nondual Buddhist mood, samarasa (lit. one taste), a state of nondualism which is the goal of tantric Buddhism. Beyond the textual analysis of Lakrminkara's poetry, my study examines the ethnographic findings of Syed Jamil Ahmed (2003) and David N. Gellner (1992) on Newar Buddhist tantric ritual in Nepal. In performative sexual contexts of Vajravarahi practice men are expected to dance to show that they have become the male deity, Vajravarahi's consort Cakrasamvara, whereas the women in the ritual, their wives, are required to shake with possession to show that they are Vajravarahi. Samarasa is expressed by the ritual participants through symbolically sexual performances of dance and shaking. Not only must the flavour of samarasa be maintained for correct performance, the presence of the deity must be held through a self-induced state of possession (samavesa), whereby the selves of the human and deity merge. The gendered divergence in performance shows that there are differing levels of agency expected in sexualized ritual settings by men and women. I argue that nonduality is expressed through dual, exaggerated gendered behavior of the dominant male and the passive female, which come together to express nonduality through ritualize union.
Ma thèse explore l'esthétique ainsi que les attentes performatives de ceux et celles qui pratiquent le tantra, un rite sexuel Bouddhiste. Ma recherche examine le cote erotique de ce rite récupérer dans le Vanaratna's (1384 -1468) un manuel de méditation Tibétain, examinant la déesse Vajravarahi (Truie Adamantin), aussi connu sous le nom de Vajravilasini (Beauté Adamantin). Ce manuel est aussi connu en tant que le Vajravilasini namah Vajravarahi sadhana (Le sadhana de Vajravarahi connu en tant que Vajravilasini). Un poème datant du huitième siècle est préserver dans ce manuel dans la section de ce sadhana, qui est attribué a l'Indien mahasiddha (celui qui a accompli bien des choses) Lakrminkara. Ma recherche examine ce poème en relation avec la théorie esthétique Indienne, la théorie rasa. Mon argument consiste a expliquer que les poètes qui s'opposaient aux règles du temps, comme Lakrminkara, faisaient usures de (tout en étant au delà de) la théorie rasa. Ceci créa un ambiance érotique (spngara rasa) dans leurs poèmes. En transcendant ce rasa, les poètes créaient une ambiance Bouddhiste, non duel samarasa, c'est-a-dire un état non duel qui est le but ultime du tantra. De plus, ma recherche examine les données ethnographiques de Syed Jamil Ahmed (2003) et de David N. Gellner (1992) concernant les rituels tantriques Newar au Népal. Dans le contexte de la performance du Vajravarahi, les homes sont attendues à danser pour démontrer leur transformation en Cakrasamvara, le consort de Vajravarahi. Les femmes, pour leurs parts, elles doivent trembler violemment pour démontrer leur possession spirituel pour représenter qu'ils sont Vajravarahi. Samarasa est exprimer dans les participants du rituel sexuel symbolique de la dance et du tremblement corporel. Pour que le rituel soit un succès, la présence du déité doit être maintenu à travers la possession corporel (samavesa) lors de l'osmose de l'être humain avec le déité. La divergence sexuelle lors des performances exprime l'existence de différentes niveau d'autorité entre home et femme. Je conclue que la non dualité est exprimé sous forme de performance masculine et féminine exagéré entre l'homme qui domine et la femme qui est passive, qui des lors leur convergence, forment la non dualité sous forme d'union ritualise.

Religion
Ph.D.
My dissertation investigates the concept of ‘divinization’, or becoming like (or identical to) God or the Buddha in the thought of two early medieval monk-philosophers from radically different religious-philosophical traditions, Maximus the Confessor (580-662 CE) and Kukai (774-835 CE). I use this as a means of comparing the relationship between understandings of identity and praxis advocated by these two thinkers. Maximus was a Christian monk who lived during a period of great theological and political turmoil in the Byzantine Empire and participated in the theological debates of his day. Kukai was a Japanese monk who studied esoteric Buddhism in China and returned to establish an esoteric lineage in Japan, allowing it to survive after its demise in China. In the first half of my dissertation, I investigate their philosophical understandings of identity, what makes a thing what it is and not something else. I consider this their metaphysic (using the term in the broadest sense of an account of reality). I begin by looking at their religio-philosophical contexts which informed their thought and then on texts written by my principles themselves. Maximus’ understanding, shaped by Greek philosophy and early Christian theologians, is embodied in a triad of concepts – logoi, divine ideas and wills which bestow being on created things and hold them in existence; tropoi, the modes of existence of particular creatures and hypostasis, the individual existent or creature which exists in the tension between logoi and tropoi. The core of Kukai’s understanding is funi (不二) or non-duality, a doctrine that has both epistemic and ontological implications. It is grounded in the experience of meditation as well as the esoteric Buddhist teaching of muge (無礙), the mutual interpenetration and non-obstruction of all things. It is a doctrine central to esotericism but also has roots in prajnāpāramitā (“perfection of wisdom”) literature, important to many schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. How they understand ‘identity’ is central to their philosophy and will reflect in both the practices they advocate and the rationale for them After establishing and explicating their understanding of identity, in consequent chapters I look at the praxes that they advocate and their metapraxis or reasoning behind these practices. I focus on regimes of self-cultivation, such as meditation, prayer, virtuous behavior, various ritual activities and how they lead to the ultimate goal of divinization. In Maximus, this process of divinization is called theosis (θέωσις), ‘deification’. He follows in a long line of Christian thinkers who hold that God created human beings in order to make them like himself, to become by grace what God is by nature. In Kūkai, this process is known as sokushin jōbutsu (即身成仏), ‘becoming a Buddha in this very existence’. He is the heir to an esoteric tradition that holds that all sentient beings are originally enlightened, they have Buddha-mind or already are the Buddha, but this reality is obscured by a profound miscognition of the reality which gives rise to egoistic craving. In the final section, I look more closely at these respective accounts of divinization, to show the profound parallels and divergences found in their thought and elucidate the source of these differences in their respective metaphysic, their accounts of identity; how does identity shape practice? What informs this understanding of identity? This is the larger question I am seeking to address. In doing so, even though my research is limited in focus to two particular thinkers, they do act as representatives of two larger traditions, Early/Eastern Christianity and Japanese Buddhism. The answers they give to this question reflect the insights and positions offered by these larger traditions.
Temple University--Theses

This dissertation looks at an attempt in Buddhist history to theorize the role and status of the body as the prime focus of soteriological discourse. It studies a text titled Explanation of the Hidden Vajra Body (Rdo rje lus kyi sbas bshad), composed by Yang dgon pa Rgyal mtshan dpal (1213-1258). This work, drawing on a wide range of canonical tantric Buddhist scriptures and Indic and Tibetan commentaries, lays out in detail a Buddhist theory of embodiment that brings together the worldly realities of the body with their enlightened transformation. This dissertation analyzes the ways Yang dgon pa theorizes the body as the essential ground of the salvific path, and endeavors to provide a thematic guide to his rich and complex discussion of what the body is and does, from a tantric perspective. The thesis parses a key term, dngos po'i gnas lugs, that Yang dgon pa uses as an organizing principle in Explanation of the Hidden. If taken literally, the term means something like "the nature of things" or "the nature of material substance," but Yang dgon pa deployed the term specifically to refer to the nature of the human psychophysical organism, in its ordinary state. By way of this term, Yang dgon pa argues that the body itself makes enlightenment possible. In the course of this thesis, I consider the prior history of this category as it was gradually developed by a series of Bka' brgyud writers until it reached Yang dgon pa. Then, in light of this category, I explore Yang dgon pa's own vision of embodiment. This vision, I argue, reflects an attempt to refocus soteriological attention on the power of the body, over and above the mind, as the salient basis for non-dual knowing. Finally, I reflect upon the lasting contributions of Yang dgon pa's conception of the body to the ongoing exploration of such topics in the history of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist soteriology, as well as upon why some of the more radical elements of his thinking seem to have been eliminated in subsequent generations of his lineage.

Tantrische Praktiken von Meditation in Zurückgezogenheit sind auf der tibetischen Hochebene seit mindestens einem Jahrtausend verbreitet, doch ihre äußerst elitäre und geheime Natur hat ihre Erforschung bisher verhindert. Diese Dissertation definiert die vormoderne Struktur der eremitischen Tradition in Khams, die von der Ris med-Bewegung festgelegt wurde, und widmet sich der Wiederbelebung dieser Tradition im modernen Khams unter der chinesisch-kommunistischen Herrschaft. Die Fallstudie bildet die ’Ba’ rom bKa’ brgyud- "Meditationsschule von La phyi" (La phyi sgom grwa) mit Fokus auf den gTum mo-Verwirklicher Tshul khrims mthar phyin (geb. 1947), der als zeitgenössische Verkörperung des Mi la ras pa gilt. Gemäß der Dissertation liegt die rituelle und soziale Macht des tibetischen Eremiten in der Ausführung, Verkörperung und Aussöhnung von Paradoxa: das Erreichen von soteriologischen Zielen im weltlichen Leben sowie die Lösung der Dilemmas der Tibeter in Krisenzeiten. So wird Entsagung zu einer affirmativen Strategie, die Netzwerke aktiviert, die wiederum Eremiten, ihre Linien, Praktiken und Trainingsstätten seit Jahrhunderten unterstützten. Der Antrieb für soziale Ermächtigung der Einsiedler liegt in der Radikalität ihrer Entsagung, bei der nicht nur erwartet wird, Befreiung und Erleuchtung unvermeidlich zu generieren, sondern diese wie Mi la ras pa "in diesem Leib und Leben" zu verwirklichen. Eine solche wahrgenommene Transformation des Körpers durch Meditation ist entscheidend für die Befähigung der Eremiten, Widersprüche zu versöhnen und Einsiedeleien zu gründen, die als Orte für eine effektive Identitätskonstruktion und Sphären der Autonomie und Macht, die aus der lokale Geschichte und heilige Stätten gewonnen werden, dienen. Gerade in Krisenzeiten neigen Einsiedeleien dazu, Netzwerke zu bilden und zu einer alternativen Bewegung zu werden, die die etablierten Machtstrukturen umgeht oder gegen sie spricht, zugleich aber ihren religiösen Charakter behält.
Tantric practices of meditation in retreat have been prevalent across the Tibetan Plateau since at least a millennium, yet their highly elitist and clandestine nature has hitherto prevented their exploration and analysis. This thesis defines the pre-modern structure of the hermitic tradition in Khams, codified by the nonsectarian Ris med movement, but devotes most attention to the examination of its revival in contemporary Khams under the Chinese communist rule through the case study of the ’Ba’ rom bKa’ brgyud “meditation school of La phyi” (La phyi sgom grwa), centered around the cotton-clad gtum mo-accomplisher Tshul khrims mthar phyin (b. 1947), eulogized as the contemporary embodiment of Mi la ras pa. The main claim of this dissertation is that the ritual and social power of the Tibetan hermit lies in the performance, embodiment and final reconciliation of paradox – generally attaining soteriological goals in mundane life and specifically, resolving the dilemmas of Tibetans during times of perceived crisis. Acts of renunciation become an affirmative strategy, activating networks that have sustained hermits, their lineages, practices, and training venues for centuries. The reason for social empowerment of hermits lies in the radical nature of their training, which by social agreement is not only bound to generate liberation and enlightenment, but is even able to yield fruit “in this very body and life,” in emulation of Mi la ras pa. Such transformation of the body through meditation is crucial to the hermit’s ability to reconcile contradictions and to establish hermitages as venues for effective identity construction and spheres of autonomy and power, extracted from local history and sacred geography. Especially in times of crisis, hermitages tend to form networks and evolve into a movement for counter-culture, which circumvents or speaks against the established power structures of the day, but at the same time, maintains its essentially religious character.

Héritier de l’universalisme humaniste de Rabindranath Tagore par sa formation à Śāntiniketan en Inde, le ditpère de l’art moderne birman Bagyi Aung Soe (1923/24–1990) se consacra à figurer les réalités ultimes enfonction des enseignements bouddhiques. Pour ce faire, il mit au point un langage pictural qu’il baptisa lapeinture « manaw maheikdi dat » qui signifie la création artistique par la culture mentale. Ses référencesvisuelles, variant de la physique à l’ésotérisme bouddhique, de la culture populaire à la poésie, comprennent toutce qui fut à sa portée intellectuelle et spirituelle dans la Birmanie socialiste militaire de 1962 à 1988. Soninsistance sur la somme des héritages propres à cet espace-temps, de même que son dépassement descloisonnements conceptuels selon les disciplines, les frontières nationales ou les divisions chronologiques, exigeun récit conçu au regard des significations contextuelles, un récit adapté et affranchi du modèle prétendumentinternational de l’art euraméricain. Afin de proposer un récit sur comment il compta rendre manifestel’insaisissable selon les circonstances propres au contexte de sa vie, nous mettons l’accent sur les conditionsaccueillant la genèse et la diffusion de cette production artistique dite « la plus moderne de l’art moderne » enraison de sa dimension transnationale et transhistorique. À partir d’une sélection parmi plus de quatre milleoeuvres et de centaines de témoignages écrits et oraux recueillis, nous examinons non seulement la fabrication decette peinture qui reste aussi non étudiée en Birmanie qu’inconnue de la scène internationale, mais aussi lesmanières dont nous pouvons la lire et la voir
A student at Rabindranath Tagore’s ashram in Śāntiniketan, India, Myanmar’s “father of modern art” BagyiAung Soe (1923/24–1990) embraced his Indian gurus’ concept of art and the artist. In the spirit of the laureate’shumanist universalism, he strove to picture Buddhist teachings. His signature idiom christened “manawmaheikdi dat”, which has yet to be studied in Myanmar and is virtually unknown at the international level, reliedon meditation to achieve advanced mental power in order to picture the most elemental components of allphenomena, and its visual references included all that was possibly accessible under socialist rule in Burma(1962–1988). With little regard for artistic conventions and categorisations according to discipline, nation andchronology, Aung Soe drew from the sum of artistic, intellectual and spiritual traditions defining his space andtime, varying from quantum physics to esoteric Buddhism, from popular culture to poetry. The nature of hisapproach, method and subject matter, coupled with his country’s exceptional circumstances, demands a newnarrative of art that is unfettered by the assumptions inherent to the purportedly international framework ofEuramerican modern art. Focusing on the contextual significances of the genesis and reception of manawmaheikdi dat painting, this dissertation examines the making, the reading and the seeing of this pictoriallanguage whose transnational and transhistorical dimension renders it “the most modern of modern art”. Basedon a selection of the artist’s works and writings, as well as witnesses of his life and practice, we attempt a storyof how he pictured and made manifest the formless on his own terms

This thesis is divided into two parts. Part One, entitle “Working Through Condensation” describes a type of practice, Part Two, entitled “The Tourist and the Tourist Tout”, unravels and explores what was discovered through that practice. The intersection of two personal discoveries have been formative in my art practice. The first relates to the Indian Hindu and Buddhist concept of formlessness found in certain Tantric cosmogonies. This began, for me, an interest in the phenomenon of emptiness as an ontological awareness of how “art” or “creativity” happens. The second event was the hearing of a phrase, which I call a found phrase. The phrase, “working through condensation”, suggested a metaphoric tool for conceptualising my practice, through an analogous use of the process of condensation. I was struck by a similarity between my conception of the above found phrase and Tantric cosmogeny. In Part One of this thesis, I develop a link between elements in Tanta cosmogony, the found phrase and the Situationist Internationalist practice of derive as a basis for practice. This thesis has been largely constituted by three research journeys to India, where the conception and results of this practice unfolded.
Doctor of Creative Arts (DCA)

The dissertation examines the life narrative of Tsongkhapa Losang Dragpa (1357-1419), the influential founder of the Ganden school of Tibetan Buddhism, primarily through the lens of the bodhisattva path to enlightenment, a topic that animates much of Indian Buddhist literature and Tsongkhapa’s own writings. Over the course of five chapters, the dissertation (1) contextualizes Tsongkhapa’s social, political, and historical circumstances, the limiting factors for that narrative; (2) explores the social nature of life narratives themselves, particularly Tibetan Buddhist ones, and the many sources on which Tsongkhapa drew in creating a self in relation to the bodhisattva ideal; (3) analyses the topic of asceticism as a constellation of practices that embody traditional ideals, which the dissertation uniquely relates to both monastic and, perhaps surprisingly, tantric discipline in the construction of a bodhisattva/would-be buddha self; (4) synthesizes several themes within Tsongkhapa’s oeuvre in relation to the bodhisattva path to enlightenment, highlighting the irreducibly social nature of embodied enlightenment; and (5) proposes that Tsongkhapa’s social activities, specifically his so-called Four Great Deeds, instantiate the ideal of the enlightened self’s acting within society, specifically his context of fifteenth-century Central Tibet. The dissertation relies primarily on Tsongkhapa’s brief intellectual autobiography, Excellent Presence, his earliest biography, Haven of Faith, a number of Tsongkhapa’s systematic writings, and a variety of primary and secondary sources that contextualize elements of the historical, sociological, religious, and theoretical analyses presented throughout the five chapters. In biographies of Tibetan Buddhist figures, emphasis on the hagiographic tends to obscure the social, political, and historical contexts in which their subjects act, which in turn tends to reinforce the Weberian notion of Buddhism as an individualist path. Emphasis on individual achievement (simultaneously including yet excluding lineages, practices, philosophical positions, and so on) tends to reinforce the inverse, Foucauldian notion that this is a deliberate attempt to obscure various power struggles that actually define religious actors and institutions. In the case of Tsongkhapa, modern scholarship has tended to present the remarkable success of his Ganden school either to his individual genius in advancing (allegedly) unique philosophical positions or to social facts (e.g., his efforts at monastic reform), political facts (e.g., Phagdru dominance over rival Sakya), and historical facts (e.g., Mongol allegiance to his successors) largely unrelated to his personal charisma, erudite scholarship, or social impact. As a sort of middle way between these extremes, it is possible to locate within these contexts the specific achievements of the individual who is—according to both general Buddhist understanding and contemporary theorists in philosophy, psychology, literary studies, and sociology—deeply socialized. As social documents, life narratives, inclusive of biography and hagiography, function as indices of tradition, just as do practices of monastic and tantric asceticism, all with goals of embodying the principles articulated in the systematic literature within the social, political, and historical contexts to be transcended. This ideal, then, proves to be fully situated within social contexts, and Tsongkhapa’s Four Great Deeds instantiate it in relation to both individual achievements of asceticism and the institutionalization of communal and educational capacities to replicate the processes engendering this ideal, buddhahood. In sum, Tsongkhapa’s life narrative expresses the expectations and ideals of Tibetan Buddhist culture in a way that proves complementary to systematic presentations and to “lived” practices of monastic and tantric asceticism.

Cette recherche a comme objectif l’étude d’un des thèmes clef dans la vaste œuvre du poète et essayiste mexicain Octavio Paz (1914-1998) : les analogies entre l’érotisme, le poème et le sacré comme chemins ou voies d’union et de réconciliation humaine, idée qui est particulièrement renforcée dans son œuvre à partir des voyages et du séjour en Orient –spécialement en Inde– entre 1951 et 1968. Pendant la période nommée « cycle indien » (‘ciclo hindú’), Paz s’est intéressé aux différentes traditions de la pensée orientale, particulièrement le bouddhisme, et surtout son orientation tantrique. Ce mémoire analyse les apports les plus significatifs du bouddhisme à l’œuvre de Paz. À partir de l’étude de concepts comme la vacuité, le silence, l’autre bord (‘otra orilla’), l’union extatique transcendante et la libération, ce mémoire soutient que Paz a approfondi les analogies entre l’érotisme, la poésie et le sacré en ne les concevant pas seulement comme expériences de réconciliation mais en les menant au-delà, au plan transcendental, à partir de l’union extatique dans la vacuité. Même si ce mémoire tient compte d’un grand nombre d’œuvres d’Octavio Paz, qui vont de El arco y la lira (1956) à Vislumbres de la India (1995), une attention particulière est dédiée à deux textes qui sont les plus représentatifs du résultat de sa rencontre avec l’Orient, Ladera este (1969) et El mono gramático (1974), dans lesquels il est possible d’observer les analogies que Paz établit entre l’érotisme, le poème, et le bouddhisme tantrique à partir de l’expérience de l’altérité (‘otredad’), qui propose à l’être humain la recherche de son ‘autre’ pour se réconcilier dans l’unité, et de l’expérience de dissipation dans la vacuité. La conclusion générale de l’étude souligne que l’érotisme, le poème, et le bouddhisme tantrique se proposent dans l’œuvre de Octavio Paz comme trois chemins parallèles de révélation par lesquels l’être humain peut accéder à sa plénitude, état manifeste dans l’expérience extatique.
This research studies a key subject in the work of the Mexican poet and essayist Octavio Paz (1914-1998): the analogies between eroticism, poetry and the sacred as three human ways of union, reconciliation, and liberation that are particularly reinforced in his work since his journey to and stay in the East –especially in India- between 1951 and 1968. During the period called Hindu cycle (‘ciclo hindu’), Paz was interested in different traditions of oriental thought such as Buddhism, especially in its tantric orientation. This study analyses the significant contributions of Buddhism to Paz’s work. The examination of concepts like vacuity, silence, another shore (‘otra orilla’), ecstatic transcendental union, and liberation proves that Paz studied the analogies between eroticism, poetry and the sacred in depth, broaching them not just as reconciliation experiences but taking them further (‘más allá’) to the transcendental level of ecstatic union in vacuity. Although a large number of Paz’s works are considered, from El arco y la lira (1956) to Vislumbres de la India (1995), particular attention is dedicated to two poetics texts which are the most representative of his encounter with the East - Ladera Este (1969) and El mono gramático (1974) - where we can observe the analogies that Paz established between eroticism, poetry and tantric Buddhism, through the experiences of ‘otherness’, which proposes to man the search of the ‘other’ to reconcile in unity, and dissipate in vacuity. The general conclusion of the study emphasizes that eroticism, poetry and tantric Buddhism are proposed in Octavio Paz’s work as three parallel ways of revelation from which human being can achieve plenitude, which is manifest in the ecstatic experience.
Esta investigación tiene como objetivo el estudio de un tema clave en la extensa obra del poeta y ensayista mexicano Octavio Paz (1914-1998): las analogías entre el erotismo, el poema y lo sagrado como caminos o vías de unión y reconciliación humana, ideas que se refuerzan particularmente en su obra a partir de los viajes y estancias en Oriente –especialmente en La India- entre 1951 y 1968. Durante el período denominado ‘ciclo hindú’, Paz se interesó en diferentes tradiciones de pensamiento oriental entre las que destacó el budismo, sobre todo en su orientación tántrica. Esta memoria analiza las significativas aportaciones del budismo a la obra de Paz y, a partir del estudio de los conceptos de vacuidad, silencio, otra orilla, unión extática trascendente y de liberación, se sostiene que Paz profundizó en las analogías entre el erotismo, la poesía y lo sagrado, no planteándolas sólo como experiencias de reconciliación sino llevándolas ‘más allá’, al plano trascendental, a partir de la unión extática en la vacuidad. Aunque se tiene en cuenta un buen número de obras de O. Paz desde El arco y la lira (1956) hasta Vislumbres de la India (1995), se dedica una atención particular a dos textos poéticos que son los más representativos del resultado de su encuentro con Oriente, Ladera este (1969) y El mono gramático (1974), donde se observan las analogías que Paz establece entre el erotismo, el poema y el budismo tántrico a partir de la experiencia de ‘otredad’, que propone al hombre una búsqueda de su ‘otro’ para reconciliarse en la unidad, y de la experiencia de disipación en la vacuidad. La conclusión general del estudio subraya que el erotismo, el poema y el budismo tántrico se plantean en la obra de Octavio Paz como tres caminos paralelos de revelación por los que el hombre puede acceder a su plenitud, estado manifiesto en la experiencia extática.

碩士
玄奘大學
宗教學系碩士班
102
The main objectives of this research are divided into 2 main parts: The belief in God of Wealth and the rituals of God of Wealth. The belief in God of Wealth is then again divided into 2 category; the first category introduces the main characteristic of the God of Wealth, which is an object in seeking fortune. The research studied on numerous datas and analyzed the origin of God of Wealth, as well as introducing the history of God of Wealth. The second category is interviewing several people to acquire further information. There are different kinds of Gods that Taiwanese prayed to seek for fortune, not all prayed to the God of Wealth, instead they prayed to different gods according their needs. The researcher also interviewed the abbot and the disciple of Nyngamapa Tye Sutra Tantra Buddhist Institute. From this, it is understood that there are differences and changes between Tibetan and Taiwanese God of Wealth. The rituals of God of Wealth are divided into 2 parts. First, since the rituals of God of Wealth mostly came from Tibetan Buddhism, the researcher analyzed the similarities and difference between rituals of God of Wealth in Tibetan Buddhism and Chinese Buddhism. Though at the beginning the purpose of these rituals are not praying for wealth, but at last were made as a way to seek for wealth by Taiwanese. Second, doing field research by exploring and recording the rituals done in Nyngamapa Tye Sutra Tantra Buddhist Institute. We also interviewed the abbot of this institute, and then comparing the difference in ceremonial process between Taiwanese and Tibetan. The belief in God of Wealth also derives business habit. For the last part of this essay, we interviewed the person in charge of Lotus Enterprises, researched God of Wealth business habits, and analyzing them.

This study's primary ambition is to present an overview of the key texts from a genre of Tibetan craniological manuals (Tib. thod brtags) as well as some of their translations, thus illustrating the diversity of this tradition. Based on the reviewed material, a comparison with secondary literature will be made and a few re-evaluations of known facts suggested. Because the only available comprehensive translation of any craniological text was published in 1888 (!) and all the subsequent works have relied on it without necessary critical approach, I decided to translate that original text once again and reveal any possible misinterpretations. As a result, I hope this thesis will contribute to the already present academic (mainly ethnographical oriented) discussion about the use of skulls in Tibet, as its philological support, hence filling up this blank methodological spot. Keywords Tibetan studies, Tibetology, Philology, Tibet, Buddhism, vajrayāna, tantra, ritual object, ritual vessel, human skull, calvaria, cranium, skull cup, craniology, manual, Kapālika gal gnad ming tshig bod, chos, bon, kapāla, ka li, thod pa, thod phor, thod bum, thod zhal, thod rus, bha+ndha, bhandha, ban+dha, bhan ja, dung chen, thod brtag, thod brtags, thod rabs, thod bshad, thod pa'i mtshan, snod, sgrub rdzas, thod sgrub,...