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An Ethnography of Pre-Buddhist Bon Religious Practices in Central Bhutan

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An Ethnography of Pre-Buddhist Bon Religious Practices in Central Bhutan Contested past, challenging future: an ethnography of pre-Buddhist Bon religious practices in central Bhutan Kelzang (Tingdzin) Tashi March 2020 A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of The School of Archaeology and Anthropology The Australian National University © Copyright by Kelzang (Tingdzin) Tashi 2020 All Rights Reserved Declaration This thesis contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university. Except where due reference is made in the text, this work is the result of research carried out by the author. ——————————————— Kelzang (Tingdzin) Tashi March 2020 iii Acknowledgements This dissertation would not have come to fruition without the support and generosity of a number of people, who helped me at different stages of working on this four-year doctoral project. It is first and foremost to the people of Goleng that I owe a deep and lasting debt of gratitude for their kindness and hospitality during the period of 12-month fieldwork. They treated me as if I was one of their family members and tolerated my intrusion into their annual rites and everyday rituals which often took place in the face of difficult and serious situations. My sincere thanks to the village headman Ugyen Penjore who introduced me to Tsultrim Wangmo and her brilliant son Sangay Dorji. She was the first Golengpa to welcome me to her house and subsequently became my generous host, while her son helped me as a long-term research assistant before resuming his post-secondary studies. Thanks are also due to Dechen Wangdi, Kinzang Wangchuck, Jambay Tshering, Ugyen Dema, Jambay Kelzang, Tshering Dorji, Kinley Wangdi, Kinley Yangzom, Kinely Namgyal, Dorji, Nima Tshering, and Kunley for their contributions to this project. My grateful thanks are extended to Tshultrim Dorji who accompanied me to Shobleng village, introduced me to Bonpos there, and hosted me at his father in-law’s house during their annual roop rite. The same goes to Yeshi Dorji who took me to Nangla in the southern part of Zhemgang, and Phuba—the janitor of Kumbum temple in Wangdiphodrang—who welcomed me despite odd hours. I am especially indebted to Bonpo Chungla, Bonpo Pemala, and Bonpo Sangay of Goleng, Bonpo Tempala of Shobleng, pamo Karma of Berti, a Chungdu pawo from a nearby village in Nangkor county, and Bonpo Dophu of Samcholing, Trongsa, all of whom invited me to attend various rituals and provided invaluable insights by patiently answering my endless questions. Heartfelt thanks go to lay-Buddhist chöpas in equal measure, particularly to Lopön Pema Wangchuck, who very kindly not only invited me to attend various Buddhist rites but who also contributed many invaluable insights and provided advice. Besides Golengpas, I am grateful to the district governor (Dzongdag) of Zhemgang, Harka Singh Tamang, and the county headman of Nangkor, Dorji Wangchuk, for allowing me to conduct research in Goleng which is under their direct jurisdiction. This PhD program was generously supported by Endeavour Scholarships and Fellowships (2016), which is an internationally competitive scholarship program funded by the Australian Government. Fieldwork was funded by an ANU Higher Degree Research (HDR) Grant with v the award of an additional Vice-Chancellor’s Travel Grant. My sincere thanks to both the funding agencies without which this work would not have been possible. I would like to offer my special thanks to my supervisory panel for their support, guidance, and inspiration: Professor Nicolas Peterson and Associate Professor Patrick Guinness of the Australian National University, and Dr. Dorji Penjore of the Centre for Bhutan Studies, Bhutan. It was Dr. Penjore who not only introduced me to Professor Peterson but also Goleng as an ideal study location for Bon practices. Dr. Penjore (who was also supervised by Professor Peterson at ANU) was involved in the formulation of this research project since its inception, and during the fieldwork he provided me with invaluable suggestions and support from guidance on writing fieldnotes to securing of a permit to conduct research in Zhemgang. Associate Professor Patrick Guinness read the earlier drafts of three Chapters during the Thesis Writing Group (TWG) 2019 and provided very valuable and useful critiques. Thanks in particular go to Dr. Meera Ashar, ANU without whose initial consent to supervise my PhD studies, I would never have been offered a place at ANU. She was incredibly kind and supportive of me. I must also offer my appreciations to Professor Philip Taylor and Professor Assa Doron, ANU, both of whom served as my interim supervisor at different stages of my first year PhD program. All of them contributed to the early phase of this project in many ways. My deepest and inestimable gratitude goes to Professor Nicolas Peterson without whose constant guidance, support, and generosity throughout this journey, this project would have been impossible. Despite his retirement in mid-2018, he indefatigably read the drafts of this thesis several times and provided the most invaluable comments and suggestions, and undeniably the strongest support a doctoral student can ever get. His wealth of knowledge in the field of anthropology is truly inspiring! Professor Peterson not only provided a detailed commentary on each Chapter but also supported the final months of my fieldwork period with additional funding from his research fund. He tolerated my ignorance although at times they became intense enough to derail his patience. He always alerted me to the dangers of being in a hurry and uncertainties in academia and beyond. I took each of each of these comments and advice to my heart, and it is probably the only way to repay this debt of gratitude. While I thank each of them for their helpful comments, all errors in this thesis remain mine. Last but by no means least, I would like to thank my family. My dearest mother Sherab Yangchen was a devout Buddhist born into a deeply religious family with a long line of hereditary Lamas. She was my source of inspiration and primary refuge without whose support and blessings I would not be where I am today. Her sudden demise in mid-2018 when I barely started writing this thesis devastated and traumatised me for many months rendering my life vi completely empty and meaningless. Yet it was her compassion and continued blessings that I was able to complete the first draft of this thesis well within a year. My late beloved mother contributed to this thesis in many ways, and if I have accrued any merit out of this project, I dedicate it to her. My father Gyembo is equally a devout Buddhist with great discipline and integrity. Despite being in a long grief, my father kept encouraging me and constantly prayed for the successful completion of my studies. He is my guide and a role model that I look up to. My sincere thanks go to my siblings who always support me. Without the moral and emotional support of my three elder sisters and two younger brothers, I would have been unable to embark on my PhD journey. Thanks in particular go to my elder brother Kencho Tenzin who is a monk scholar at Ngagyur Nyingma Institute, South India, for his unfailing encouragement and prayers, and for his contributions through invaluable insights. Most importantly, I want to thank my dearest son Norbu Yoedbar for his patience who had to separate from his mother to support his father’s ambitions. My sincere thanks are due to my lovely sister in-law Tshering Dekar who sacrificed her career to look after my son as her own during these long years. I am grateful to my father in-law Jigme Dorji, mother in-law Tshering Lhamo, and sister in-laws Phuntsho and Dechen for their enormous support to Norbu. I cannot thank enough for the care and love he received from them over the course of four years. Finally, I want to thank my dear wife Dema Yangzom for the great love and support, and for keeping up with my busy schedule. vii Abstract The pre-Buddhist Bon beliefs, which concern the worship of local gods and deities, and until recently, live animal sacrifices, have been viewed as heretical by Buddhists since the 8th century. Consequently, Bon believers in Tibet adapted to Buddhist influences and reconfigured themselves as a Clerical Bon primarily in reaction to the proliferation of Tibetan Buddhist schools in the 11th century. Nonetheless, Shamanistic Bon beliefs and practices, while still deemed antithetical to core Buddhist beliefs, still have a wide currency in the Himalayan hinterlands including in Bhutan. This anthropological study examines the changing relationship between the Shamanistic Bon and Buddhism through an ethnography of Goleng village and its neighbours in Zhemgang district in central Bhutan. It is concerned with how the Bon practices have persisted in Goleng despite the systematised opposition to Bon from Buddhist priests for over one thousand years and in the last three centuries or so from the Buddhist state itself. It looks into the reasons as to why people, despite shifting contexts, continue to practise and engage with pre-Buddhist Bon practices, while still recognising what they are doing is antithetical to the civilising mission of the Buddhists. In investigating this issue, I explore the ways in which Buddhists seek to control the Bon priests in the villages against the backdrop of local religious history, and document the centrality of Bon beliefs in shaping people’s everyday lives. While a significant reason for the strength of the persistence of Bon in the Goleng region is the recency of formal Buddhist institutions in the village, I show how Bon beliefs are so deeply embedded in village social life that some Buddhists paradoxically feel it necessary to reach a rather awkward accommodation with the Bon priests in Goleng and neighbouring villages.
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