Enacting Hierarchy: A Socio-historical Analysis of Tibetan Buddhist Ritual Literature

FAIN: FT-55244-07

David B. Gray
President and Board of Trustees of Santa Clara College (Santa Clara, CA 95053-0001)

This project will involve a study of indigenous Tibetan ritual texts composed during the twelfth through sixteenth centuries, the period when Indian Buddhist traditions were being transformed and adapted by Tibetan scholars and practitioners. Through an examination of literature describing and prescribing both large-scale ritual practices as well as personal devotional and meditative practices, it will attempt to show how these rituals helped to construct the uniquely Tibetan lama-centered social hierarchy. While primarily focusing on the medieval period, this project will also contribute to our understanding of Tibetan Buddhism as practiced today, both in Tibet and in diaspora.