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Spirit-Mediums, Sacred Mountains and Related Bon Textual Traditions in Upper Tibet

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Spirit-Mediums, Sacred Mountains and Related Bon Textual Traditions in Upper Tibet SPIRIT-MEDIUMS, SACRED MOUNTAINS AND RELATED BON TEXTUAL TRADITIONS IN UPPER TIBET CALLING DOWN THE GODS BRILL’S TIBETAN STUDIES LIBRARY edited by HENK BLEZER ALEX MCKAY CHARLES RAMBLE VOLUME 8 SPIRIT-MEDIUMS, SACRED MOUNTAINS AND RELATED BON TEXTUAL TRADITIONS IN UPPER TIBET CALLING DOWN THE GODS BY JOHN VINCENT BELLEZZA BRILL LEIDEN • BOSTON 2005 This book is printed on acid-free paper. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A C.I.P. record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. ISSN 1568-6183 ISBN 90 04 14388 2 © Copyright 2005 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill Academic Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Brill provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910 Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. printed in the netherlands To the transmitters of sacred knowledge CONTENTS Foreword by Henk Blezer ........................................................ xi Acknowledgments ...................................................................... xv PART ONE GENERAL ORIENTATION i) Introduction to the spirit-mediums of Upper Tibet ...... 1 ii) The greater tradition: cross-cultural comparisons .......... 20 iii) Introduction to Part Two: interviews conducted with spirit-mediums .................................................................... 35 iv) Introduction to Part Three: the mountain deities of the spirit-mediums .................................................................... 37 v) Introduction to Part Four: spirit-mediums in the Bon literary tradition ................................................................ 50 vi) Introduction to Part Five: Bon literary references to the ritual implements and practices of the spirit- mediums .............................................................................. 51 PART TWO INTERVIEWS CONDUCTED WITH SPIRIT-MEDIUMS i) bsTan-grag lha-pa, born circa 1925 ................................ 53 ii) Pho-bo dbang-phyug, born circa 1920 ............................ 66 iii) dPa’ dam, born circa 1914 .............................................. 83 iv) Khams-pa’i dpa’ chung, born circa 1912 ...................... 85 v) sPu-yu, born circa 1939 .................................................... 87 vi) Bu-chung, born circa 1919 .............................................. 87 vii) Lha-pa bstan-pa, born circa 1936 .................................... 88 viii) Phyogs-bzhi lha-pa, born circa 1927 .............................. 100 ix) Lha-klu, born circa 1948 .................................................. 102 x) dPa’ mo, born circa 1925 ................................................ 109 xi) Pho-bo lha-dbang, born circa 1935 ................................ 110 viii contents xii) sGrol-dkar, born circa 1952 ............................................ 141 xiii) Pho-bo mtsho-rgyal, born circa 1939 .............................. 151 xiv) Karma rig ’dzin, born circa 1935 .................................. 154 xv) Pho-bo chu-bzang, born circa 1924 ................................ 169 PART THREE THE MOUNTAIN AND LAKE DEITIES OF THE SPIRIT-MEDIUMS i) gNyan-chen-thang-lha ........................................................ 173 ii) rKyang-khra ........................................................................ 217 iii) rTa-rgo ................................................................................ 221 iv) Gangs-ri lha-btsan .............................................................. 249 v) bTsan-rgod nam-ra ............................................................ 261 vi) Rol-pa skya-bdun .............................................................. 287 vii) Dam-can mgar-ba nag-po ................................................ 302 viii) gNam-mtsho phyug-mo .................................................... 311 ix) A recapitulation of the role of mountain deities ............ 325 PART FOUR SPIRIT-MEDIUMS IN THE BON LITERARY TRADITION i) The origin of the tradition of spirit-mediumship ............ 344 ii) Phu-wer .............................................................................. 355 iii) The Bon sgra-bla of existence .......................................... 379 PART FIVE BON LITERARY REFERENCES TO THE RITUAL IMPLEMENTS AND PRACTICES OF THE SPIRIT-MEDIUMS i) Flat-bell (gshang) .................................................................. 419 ii) Drum .................................................................................. 423 iii) Conch (dung-dkar) ................................................................ 434 contents ix iv) Mirror (me-long) .................................................................. 437 v) Arrow and spear ................................................................ 438 vi) Incense and lustration ...................................................... 446 vii) Magic missiles (thun) .......................................................... 454 viii) Fortune-summoning (g.yang ’gugs) ...................................... 456 Conclusion .................................................................................. 484 Illustrations Bibliography ................................................................................ 489 Indexes ...................................................................................... 501 FOREWORD When Brill’s Tibetan Studies Library was first conceived, it was our hope that in this academic series we could cover the widest possi- ble range of high quality but accessible academic work on Tibet and the Tibetan Himalayas. The aim is not just to include academic monographs, edited volumes, works of reference and reprints of important works, but also to make available research materials of a more original, controversial and occasionally also preliminary nature that hold great potential of generating further discussion and research. Many Tibet scholars are already aware of John Vincent Bellezza’s broad and detailed archaeological surveys of the Tibetan plateau1 and his earlier work on pairs of sacred mountains and lakes in the Byang thang area.2 Based on those publications most will no doubt agree that it will be difficult to find a scholar better introduced to the material culture, myth and folklore of North-western Tibet. Therefore we are very pleased to include in BTSL Bellezza’s most recent scholarly work, Spirit-mediums, Sacred Mountains and Related Bon Textual Traditions in Upper Tibet, which, as the title indicates, exam- ines the ubiquitous phenomenon of spirit mediums in these upper regions of North-western Tibet that Bellezza knows so intimately. The book’s underlying thesis is one that forms a Leitmotiv in most of Bellezza’s work. It is the assumption of continuities in present- day local religious practices and lore—in this case of spirit medi- ums—with earlier strata of culture, which are variously qualified by the author as “indigenous Tibetan” and “pre-Buddhist”. Following general perception, Bellezza identifies Bon as a privileged carrier of archaic indigenous relics into present-day culture. It is a thesis that has frequently been voiced in Tibetan studies, but its substantiation, due to a lack of data (and particularly the reliable dating thereof ), 1 Antiquities of Northern Tibet, Pre-Buddhist Archaeological Sites on the High Plateau (Findings of the Changthang Circuit Expedition, 1999), Delhi 2001, and Antiquities of Upper Tibet, Pre-Buddhist Archaeological Sites on the High Plateau (Findings of the Upper Tibet Circumnavigation Expedition, 2000), Delhi 2002. 2 Divine Dyads, Ancient Civilization in Tibet, Dharamsala 1997. xii foreword in tantalising ways has managed to remain out of reach. And even though at this point our state of knowledge may still preclude a definite judgement on the precise nature and extent of those appar- ent continuities, Bellezza, while aware of these limitations—particu- larly of the sketchy chronological framework—here nonetheless presents the best case possible for a survival of ‘indigenous Tibetan culture’ in the phenomena studied, and in the process he provides us with a veritable treasure trove of data. Based on Bellezza’s detailed argu- ments, the reader will be able to draw his own conclusions. While some will feel inclined to follow his working hypotheses, others may remain unconvinced or may even prefer to draw other conclusions. Herein resides a great asset of the present study. Beyond its the- ses and their detailed argumentation, its descriptive and analytical detail provides a vast compendium, previously almost entirely unknown, of ethnographic, ‘material’, textual and oral data. Since the author clearly identifies his position, because of this scholarly integrity, he is able to facilitate the reader who feels so inclined to attempt his own investigation, inquiry, and conclusions, based on the data pro- vided. In other words, the research materials will be of considerable and lasting value, whether one feels inclined to agree with the author’s point of departure and conclusions or not; or, if I may be permit- ted to phrase that in the author’s own words: “I have elected to minimise
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