The Legacy of the Eight Teachings: Revelation, Ritual, and Enlightened Violence in Classical Tibet
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The Legacy of the Eight Teachings: Revelation, Ritual, and Enlightened Violence in Classical Tibet A literary history of the bka’ brgyad bde gshegs ‘dus pa revelation of mnga’ bdag nyang ral nyi ma od zer Nicholas Trautz Hebron, Maine B.A.,Williams College, 1999 M.T.S., Harvard Divinity School, 2011 A Dissertation presented to the Graduate Faculty of the University of Virginia in Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Religious Studies University of Virginia September, 2019 © 2019 Nicholas Trautz 1 Abstract The Sugata-Assembly of the Eight Teachings ( the bka’ brgyad bde gshegs ‘dus pa) has long stood as a foundational scripture for Tibet’s eldest Buddhist denomination, the Nyingma (rnying ma). From its revelation by Ngadak Nyangrel Nyima Özer (mnga’ bdag myang ral nyi ma ‘od zer 1124-92) in the mid-twelfth century, to its curation as a massive compendium of ritual knowledge for the Nyingma’s major temples in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the Eight Teachings has supplied unique doctrines, mytho-historical narratives, and ritual programs that have undergirded the development of the Nyingma denomination. The bka’ brgyad’s wrathful iconography and apotropaic ritualism have provided imaginal and praxical resources for the Nyingma, and the Eight Teachings cycle was coordinated with emergent historiographical conceptions to advance a distinctive vision of Buddhist mastery and denominational identity. This dissertation traces a general history of the bka’ brgyad bde gshegs ‘dus pa from the twelfth through nineteenth centuries, observing how this cycle and its traditions proffered resources for Nyingma practitioners and institutions as they articulated, reformed, and exerted their denominational identity in response to extrinsic pressures. This history of Nyangrel’s bka’ brgyad documents the editorial and ecclesiastical treatment of this cycle in three pivotal historical moments: in the competitive environment of the post-fragmentation period of the twelfth through fourteenth centuries; in the tumult of sixteenth-century Central Tibet on the eve of Ganden (dga’ ldan) supremacy and the institutionalization of the Nyingma at Mindroling (smin grol gling); and in eighteenth and nineteenth-century Eastern Tibet as large Nyingma temples were implicated in the shifting political fortunes of the Degé (sde dge) Kingdom. The bka’ brgyad bde gshegs ‘dus pa was afforded ecclesiastical attention in these periods as it 2 became a key resource to which Nyingmapas looked in their efforts to craft responsive denominational identities and agentive Buddhist subjectivities. This dissertation also undertakes a literary analysis of the Kabgyé Deshek Dupa’s foundational tantric literature, documenting the unique buddhologies, narrative topoi, doxographies, and ritual idioms supplied by the cycle. These features contributed to an overarching imaginaire around which doctrinal, narrative, and ritual engagements were constellated. In tracing the buddhologies and narrative imageries advanced in the bka’ brgyad scriptural and ritual texts, we may observe how the Eight Teachings cycle was leveraged as a resource in the crafting of collective identities and the construction of agentive subjectivities for its adherents. This dissertation seeks to decompartmentalize the domains of doctrine, narrative, and ritual practice to promote a comprehensive picture for religiosity as it is mediated through imaginal worlds and regimes of practice. 3 Table of Contents Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………….... 7 Part I: The Kabgyé And Its Traditions 12 Chapter One: The origins and significance of the Eight Teachings………………………….12 Who was Nyangrel Nyima Özer? ………………………………………………………..12 What is the Kabgyé? ……………………………………………………………………..18 Demon Taming …………………………………………………………………………..49 Kabgyé Ritualism ………………………………………………………………………...59 The Kabgyé Today ……………………………………………………………………….62 Chapter Two: From Revelation to Anthologization: a reception history…………………….70 Nyangrel: Mystic, Tradent, Architect …………………….……………………………...72 Rivalry and Pressure in the Post-Fragmentation Period ………………………………....75 Spread within Nyingma and Kagyü …………………….………………………………..86 Apotropaic Ritualists and Nyingma Polymaths………………………………………….91 Khampa Institutions and Their Founders …………………….………………………...100 Nyingma Identity Confirmed: ris med, scholasticism, revelation, and ritual in Degé ….105 Summary of the Kabgyé’s Reception and Salience …………………….……………....113 Chapter Three: A Publication History …………………….………………………………..118 The Kabgyé Dharma Cycles …………………….……………………………………...119 Ritual Cycles …………………….……………………………………………………..138 Anthologies …………………….……………………………………………………….147 The Kabgyé in the Nyingma Gyubum ……………………………………………...151 In the Nyingma Kama ……………………………………………………………...156 In the Rinchen Terdzö ……………………………………………………………...159 Part II: The Treasures 167 Chapter Four: The Arising of the bka’ ……………………………………………………...169 Narrative Structure and Descriptive Summary ………………………………………....172 Buddhology and Revelation ………………………………………………………...177 Incorporating the Gods and Demons ……………………………………………….179 Assembling the Dharma …………………………………………………………….182 Bibliographia ………………………………………...…………………………….185 Chapter Five: The Tantras…………………………………………………………………..194 Maṇḍala, Contemplation, and Ritual …………………………………………………...297 4 The King of Root Tantras……………………………………………………………….201 The Assembled Sugatas Tantra ……………………………………………………..229 Comparison with the Guhyagarbha ………………………………………………...233 Subsequent, Individuated, and Differentiated Tantras ………………………………….236 The Subsequent Tantras ………………………………………………………………...238 The Key Tantras ………………………………………………………………………...239 Individuated Root Tantras ……………………………………………………………....240 Chapter Six: Taming and Liberating the Enemy Obstructors ………………………………243 The Great Accomplishment: Institutionalizing the Tantric Community ……………….246 Apotropaia in the Kabgyé Drupchen ….………………………………………………..254 The Drupchen Manuals ………………………………………………………………...257 ‘dul ba: The Exorcism of the Nine Victory Banners ………..…………………………259 The Imaginal World of The Nine Victory Banners………………………………....272 sgrol ba: The Eight Modes of Liberation ………………………………………..……..273 The Narrativity of Ritual ………………………………………………………………..279 Chapter Seven: From Imaginaire to Lifeworld …………………………………………….291 “The Imaginaire” Defined ……………………………………………………………..292 The Kabgyé Imaginaire ……………………………………………………………..….299 Religious Subjectivity in Narrative, Doctrine, and Ritual ……………………………...301 Final Reflections ………………………………………………….………………………...318 Appendix 1: Tibetan biographical sources for Nyangrel Nyima Özer ……………………..324 Appendix 2: Principal and subsidiary bka’ brgyad revelation cycles……………………....325 Appendix 3: bka’ brgyad ritual compendia for the Nyingma Mother Temples...………….326 Appendix 4: Eight Herukas Image Gallery ………………….……………………………..327 Bibliography ………………….…………………………………………………………….329 Primary Sources …………….……………………………………………………………....329 Other Languages …………….……………………………………………………………...333 5 Acknowledgments In the spring of 2015, David Germano and Kurtis Schaeffer suggested I undertake a dissertation project focusing on the bka’ brgyad. For their initial suggestion, and their ongoing encouragement and guidance, I am grateful. I also thank the faculty of the University of Virginia’s graduate program in the History of Religions for their mentorship: Paul Groner, Karen Lang, Clarke Hudson, and Benjamin Ray. I also thank the members of my dissertation committee, including Sonam Kachru and Robert Hueckstedt, for agreeing to step in and support my final efforts. I likewise express my gratitude to Tsetan Chonjore, from whom we were lucky enough to learn Tibetan in the final years of his tenure. I also thank Shu-Chen Chen for her lively pedagogy in Chinese, and also for the guidance of Steven Weinberger, Tenzin Thosam, and Dominic Sur in training us to translate several genres of literary Tibetan. The University of Virginia is widely known for the excellence of its programming in Tibetan Studies, and I have benefited from the work of many people associated with the U.Va. Tibet Center, the Tibetan and Himalayan Library, and the U.Va. Contemplative Sciences Center. However, what truly cements my appreciation for the University of Virginia has been the intellectual companionship of many fine colleagues: Flavio Geisshuesler, Chris Hiebert, Nyima Cape, Natasha Mikles, Naomi Worth, Jue Liang, Andrew Taylor, Michelle Walsh, Bill McGrath, Katarina Turpeinen, Eva Natanya Rolf, Linghui Zhang, Christine Kilby, Manuel Lopez, and too many others from our robust program to enumerate. In them, I have found my sangha. From beyond U.Va., Daniel Hirshberg, Eric Haynie, James Gentry, and Cathy Cantwell also provided essential feedback for this dissertation. A year in Sichuan was made possible by a Fulbright U.S. Student grant, and also the efforts of Dr. Thubten Phuntsok and the Foreign Student Office at the Southwest University of Nationalities to secure my residence in Chengdu. I thank the many friends I made at SWUN, and also at Sichuan University, for helping me feel at home. In the highlands of Ganze prefecture, I greatly enjoyed the hospitality of the Khampa Cafe, where I spent many days writing and contemplating while wandering the grasslands. Also from Tagong hails Youden Phuntsok, a dear friend who accompanied me on many adventures, and also provided translation of the Eastern Tibetan dialect for some pivotal encounters. Much of my fieldwork would have been simply impossible without him. 6 For supporting me in in the final