Review of <I>The Life of Jamgon Kongtrul the Great</I> by Alexander

HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies Volume 40 Number 1 Article 18 November 2020 Review of The Life of Jamgon Kongtrul the Great by Alexander Gardner Renée L. Ford Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/himalaya Recommended Citation Ford, Renée L.. 2020. Review of The Life of Jamgon Kongtrul the Great by Alexander Gardner. HIMALAYA 40(1). Available at: https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/himalaya/vol40/iss1/18 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License. This Review is brought to you for free and open access by the DigitalCommons@Macalester College at DigitalCommons@Macalester College. It has been accepted for inclusion in HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Macalester College. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Jamgon Kongtrul’s allegiances to particular people and places shines through the historical narrative Ford on The Life of Jamgon Kongtrul the Great. own contributions. Gardner attests Tibet surrounding Kham. One may that he approaches the diary with get lost in the fine details or settle a critical view, adjusting historical into beautifully written historical dates for accuracy and weeding non-fiction, which at times reads like through Kongtrul’s writing, which a screenplay. exposes his views and concerns In bringing Jamgon Kongtrul’s for others’ opinions about him (p. story to life and the West, Gardner XI). The autobiography is then garnishes the biography with detailed framed within a larger historical explanations of Buddhist topics. Some and contextual narrative, inviting of these topics, such as beings who the reader into Kongtrul’s culture are not perceptive to the Western and history. This work reflects eye, prove most difficult to describe. the author’s command of Tibetan The author approaches these topics history and Kongtrul’s significance lightly but matter-of-factly, allowing The Life of Jamgon Kongtrul the in Buddhist literature production. the reader to understand Kongtrul’s Great. We see Gardner’s attention to world. For example, Kongtrul’s filling in gaps of Jamgon Kongtrul’s process of choosing a hermitage site Alexander Gardner. Boulder: autobiography with his own is sprinkled with various descriptions Snow Lion, 2019. 506 pages. ISBN research. This book reads like a non- of deities, auspicious signs, and 9781611804218. fiction historical novel rather than a blessings. A fine example is a series of diary entries. Reviewed by Renée L. Ford description of nāgas or serpent deities This book retells a historic and tsen (btsan), evil deities, being Alexander Gardner weaves together chronological narrative. Right away, vanquished from previous occupancy the intimacy and vastness of we are transported to Kham through of the land. Brief but full of depth, Jamgon Kongtrul Yonten Gyatso Gardner’s detailed description of the these insights lend color to Kongtrul’s (‘jam mgon kong sprul yon tan rgya geographic, political, and religious life. mtsho, 1813 – 1899)’s life in The Life contexts in which Jamgon Kongtrul Most noteworthy are the of Jamgon Kongtrul the Great. He does is born. Within the first paragraph, relationships that are cultivated this through combining intimate Gardner sweeps us away to a small throughout Gardner’s book. Jamgon details from his own translation of valley, near the kingdom of Ling and Kongtrul’s allegiances to particular Jamgon Kongtrul’s autobiography Gesar. Gardner immediately ties in people and places shines through with biographical literature the deep mythological history of the historical narrative. These written by Jamgon Kongtrul’s Kham, which offers another layer threads highlight Kongtrul’s political colleagues. He also fills in the vast into Jamgon Kongtrul’s background. allegiances and authority to figures context by consulting historical The valley, the birth-place of Jamgon such as Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo and self-reflective information Kongtrul, takes on geological (‘jam dbyangs mkhyen brtse’i dbang found in Kongtrul’s literary works, formation with descriptions of river po, 1820 – 1892) and Chokgyur which are known as “The Five valleys, mountain ridges, and open Lingpa (mchog ‘gyur gling pa, 1829 – Treasures.” The autobiography is grasslands (p. 3). Gardner bolsters 1870). Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo’s Jamgon Kongtrul’s diary, reflecting these descriptions by telling us about decline in health and eventual Kongtrul’s daily life and perspectives the political borders of China and death play heavily on Kongtrul. This on individuals, communities, and his Lhasa-administered territories of HIMALAYA Volume 40, Number 1 | 125 affectation glows through Gardner’s Jamgon Kongtrul’s significant retelling of Kongtrul’s efforts and contribution to Tibetan Buddhism offerings to prolong Wangpo’s life. deserves a thoroughly written Gardner has a gift for transmitting biography. Alexander Gardner Jamgon Kongtrul’s devotion to the offers his talents and knowledge in tradition, and specifically, to special researching and writing The Life of individuals. Jamgon Kongtrul. Tibetan scholars, historical, religious, or otherwise, Gardner’s re-telling of Jamgon may gain new insights by reading this Kongtrul’s story offers a reader an book. 19th century Kham and Tibet in-depth historical and cultural come to life through this biography, perspective on Kongtrul’s life, yet which provides new contexts and I want to bring attention to the views of Buddhism, Tibetan history literary category of biography and and politics, all of which dissolve autobiography in Tibetan literature. sweeping stereotypes. Casual readers This work excels as a Western may grow overwhelmed with the historical biography, yet if I had one minutiae, but Gardner attempts to critique, it would be to ask how we keep their attention with his story- can categorize Jamgon Kongrul’s narrative. autobiography in Tibetan literature. Dr. Ulrike Roesler (University Renée L. Ford is a PhD candidate at Rice of Oxford) writes that “Tibetan University and works with Dr. Anne C. autobiographies and their modes Klein. Her research is in devotional affect of self-presentation are situated in The Great Completeness (rdzogs pa between literary convention and chen po). personal expression.” (Roesler. 2019. “Between Self-Expression and Convention: Tibetan Reflections on Autobiographical Writing” in Life Writing. Oxford: Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group, 1) Jamgon Kongtrul’s diary, the main source for this book, is categorized as a tokjö (rtogs brjod), a recording of the day-to-day deeds and activities of the individual. (Roesler, p. 2) In reading Gardner’s book, I do not get a sense of Jamgon Kongtrul’s intention in writing his diary. Gardner does say, “Kongtrul was, like most people, concerned about how his peers and posterity would view him, and he edited and framed his narrative accordingly” (p. XI). The translator’s critical eye stirs my curiosity. How does Kongtrul interpret particular events and relationships, inaccurate or otherwise, in his diary? Perhaps reading Richard Barron’s translation of The Autobiography of Jamgon Kongtrul would offer comparative insight into this query. 126 | HIMALAYA Fall 2020 .

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