Visions, Dreams, and Apocrypha in a Tibetan Buddhist Tradition

FAIN: FA-52305-06

Matthew Kapstein
University of Chicago (Chicago, IL 60637-5418)

The present project will bring to completion a detailed study, accompanied by annotated translations of pertinent primary texts, of the origins and development of the spiritual tradition of Shang, a Tibetan esoteric Buddhist school. The work addresses several key issues in the contemporary history and philosophy of religions, including: the role of apocryphal scriptural production in the formation of new traditions; the construction of historical frameworks serving to rationalize religious systems; the doctrinal and practical elaboration of programs of spiritual exercisel; and the role of cultivated adepts in the establishment of new centers of religious authority.

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