The Foundations of Authority in Gelukpa Monasticism
This is a major anthropological study of contemporary Tibetan Buddhist monasticism and tantric ritual in the Ladakh region of North-West India and of the role of tantric ritual in the formation and maintenance of traditional forms of state structure and political consciousness in Tibet. Containing detailed descriptions and analyses of monastic ritual, the work builds up a picture of Tibetan tantric traditions as they interact with more localized understandings of bodily identity and territorial cosmology, to produce a substantial re-interpretation of the place of monks as ritual performers and peripheral householders in Ladakh. The work also examines the central and indispensable role of incarnate lamas, such as the Dalai Lama, in the religious life of Tibetan Buddhists.

Identity, Ritual and State in Tibetan Buddhism: The Foundations of Authority in Gelukpa Monasticism, Martin M. Mills, RoutledgeCurzon, Hardcover, 400 pp. $114.95

List of Plates viii
List of Figures ix
Acknowledgements x
Preface xii
A Note on the Transliteration of Ladakhi, xxi
Tibetan and Sanskrit Terms
PART ONE: THE FACE OF MONASTICISM 1
History and Authority 5
The View from Above 5
The Origins of Tibetan Buddhism 8
Tantra and State in Tibetan History 12
Conclusion 24
The Face of Monasticism 27
Kumbum Gompa -- A Local Monastery 29
Layout of the Monastery 30
Monastic Lives 39
The Structure of Offices in Kumbum 45
The Body and Sacred Space in Kumbum 48
Reassessing Monasticism 53
The Buddhist Monk as Ascetic Individual 54
Monasticism and Exchange in Lingshed 61
Solving the Contradiction: Gompas, 63
Monasteries and Monks
Households and Monastic Quarters 66
Redefining Renunciation in the Tibetan 69
Buddhist Context
Conclusion 79
PART TWO: TRUTH AND HIERARCHY IN TANTRIC 83
RITUAL
Iconography, Authority and Truth in 85
Buddhist Tantra
Introduction 85
Conceptualising Reality in Tibetan 87
Buddhism
Tantra in Tibetan Buddhism 91
Western Approaches to Tantra 104
Truth and Authority in Tantric Ritual 107
Conclusion 120
Tantric Practice at Kumbum 121
Sand Mandala Empowerments 121
Hierarchy and Authority in Tantra 129
Hierarchy and Exclusion in Tantric Ritual 131
Conclusion 141
PART THREE: LOCAL RITES 145
Care and Cosmology in Lingshed 147
Devotional Architecture and Apotropaic 149
Power
Household Care in Lingshed 164
Calling in Help: the Health Care System 167
in Lingshed
Conclusion: Monastic Authority in the 173
Lingshed Health Care System
Relations with the Dharma 176
Reading, Blessing and Hierarchy 177
Dharma Protectors 185
Skangsol Rites 189
Skangsol and the Buddhist Practitioner 198
Assessing Ritual Exegesis 203
Pollution Concerns in Lingshed 206
Pollution and Karma 206
Severance 214
Pollution Practices and the Passage of 218
Time
Purification Strategies in Lingshed 221
Conclusion 231
PART FOUR: AUTHORITY AND THE PERSON IN 233
GELUKPA MONASTICISM
The Incarnate, the Scholar and the Oracle 235
-- Moments of Authority in Gelukpa
Monasticism
The Geshe System -- Clerical Authority 237
within the Gelukpa
The Balance of Power in Gelukpa 240
Decision-Making
Local Gods and the Embodied Person in 243
Lingshed
Monastic Relations with Local Gods 249
Sangsol and the Monastic Hierarchy 253
Local Persons and the Buddhist `No-Self' 254
Characterising Incarnates 263
The Rise of the Incarnate in Tibetan 269
History
Becoming an Incarnate 280
Signs, Portents and Persons: The Presence 284
of the Teacher
Hierarchy and Precedent in Gelukpa 295
Monasticism
Lha rGyal sGan 296
Great Traditions and Little Traditions in 298
Tibetan Buddhism
Recap 303
The Limits of Clerical Authority 306
Trapa and Tulku: Hierarchy, Ordination 311
and Precedent
Incarnates and the Constitution of 314
Monastic Discipline
Transmission and Imitation in Gelukpa 317
Ritual
Authority and History in Tibetan Buddhist 319
Societies
Conclusion 324
PART FIVE: IDEOLOGY, RITUAL AND STATE 327
Ideology, Ritual and State in Tibetan 329
Buddhism
Rule by Incarnation 331
Feudalism and the Pre-Modern State in 335
Marxist Thought
Religion and Ideological Hegemony in 340
Marxist Thought
Ideology Upside Down 344
Conclusion 346
Appendix A: The Ritual Calendar of Lingshed 348
Monthly Rites 348
Annual Rites 349
Appendix B: Ladakhi and Tibetan Spellings 353
Notes 359
Bibliography 371
Tibetan Texts Used at Kumbum and Lingshed 371
Sources in English 372
Index 386