WORLDVIEWS
Worldviews 17 (2013) 103–114 brill.com/wo
Keeping the Faith: Divine Protection and Flood Prevention in Modern Buddhist Ladakh*,**
Andrea Butcher Divinity and Religious Studies, University of Aberdeen 38 Fore Street, North Tawton, Devon AB24 3FX, UK [email protected]
Abstract In August 2010 the Himalayan Region of Ladakh, Northwest India, experienced severe flash- flooding and mudslides, causing widespread death and destruction. The causes cited were climate change, karmic retribution, and the wrath of an agentive sentient landscape. Ladakhis construct, order and maintain the physical and moral universe through religious engagement with this landscape. The Buddhist monastic incumbents—the traditional mediators between the human world and the sentient landscape—explain supernatural retribution as the result of karmic demerit that requires ritual intervention. Social, economic, and material transformations have distorted the proper order, generating a physically and morally unfamiliar landscape. As a result, the mountain deities that act as guardians and protectors of the land below are confused and angry, sending destructive water to show their displeasure. Thus, the locally-contextualized response demonstrates the agency of the mountain gods in establishing a moral universe whereby water can give life and destroy it.
Keywords tantric divination; moral universe; chthonic landscape; protection; development
Taklha Wangchuk’s Prophecy
In early 2010, the residents of the Lalok valley of Changthang, Ladakh requested Taklha Wangchuk, local protector deity and patron of the Drigung Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism, to visit through his oracle. The deity complained that increasing ritual and physical pollution in
* This research was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, and the Fredrick Williamson Memorial Fund. ** Transcription of local terms: throughout I have transcribed indigenous terms according to Ladakhi pronunciation. I italicize nouns, but not personal names. Indigenous pronuncia- tions are transcribed in the main body of text, with written transcription as Wylie’s (1959) “A Standard System of Tibetan Transcription” HJAS, 22: 261-267 included as footnotes. © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2013 DOI 10.1163/15685357-01702002
Ladakh was sullying the abodes of the gods—the lha—and warned that they were angry. He instructed those present that in order to restore good relations, Ladakhis should perform extensive sangsol1—ritual offerings of burnt juniper—to purify the atmosphere and “remove” the dirt from the gods’ shrines. Under the auspices of Togdan Rinpoche, the Lalok-born head of the Drigung Kagyu in Ladakh, the people of the area performed the pre- scribed ritual action, and a representative was dispatched to the district capital Leh to warn the Ladakhi Buddhist Association (LBA) of the oracle’s prophecy and ritual prescription. The LBA took no action. Later that sum- mer, villages on the banks of the Indus River were devastated by severe flash flooding and mudslides, the extent of which had not been witnessed according to recent memory. Whilst limited in comparison with the devas- tation occurring in Pakistan further downstream, for the people of Ladakh, this was an unprecedented event, leading to massive loss of life and exten- sive damage and destruction to property and farmland.2 The Lalok valley was unaffected, which its residents believe to be a result of the ritual action undertaken there. Those who were affected angrily insisted that the LBA arrange the necessary sangsol immediately to prevent further misfortune, and Ladakhis everywhere lamented the decline in moral values: people are no longer good, they no longer listen to the lha, they behave incorrectly. “Taklha Wangchuk is no ordinary village god,” Ladakhis began to say. “He is a powerful srungma3 (guardian) and his prophecies are accurate. We should respect him.” This tale emphasizes the interdependence between Ladakhi moral dis- course and the maintenance of correct order, indicated by the condition of water as a life-giving and a life-destroying element. Commercial endeavour, disaster prevention models, and empirical ecology discourse that con- structs the natural world through precise scientific measurement, all oper- ate to dislocate people’s cultural encounters with water and nature (Cruikshank 2005); therefore, narratives linking climate change with sha- manic belief and pollution concerns help to reveal the localized and con- textualized explanations of disaster and environmental management in
1) bsangs gsol. 2) In its Disaster Management Plan for 2011-2012, The Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council’s official figures give the total loss of life for the Leh District as 233, with 424 people injured and approximately 79 people unaccounted for. The totals include foreign tourists, but do not account for the migrant workers from the states of Bihar and Jharkhand, or from Nepal. 3) srung ma.
4) chu log.
The Flood and Its Causes
The meteorological explanation for the flood describes an intensive con- vective system developing in the easterly current associated with the mon- soon conditions, which had moved up from Nepal and the Indian plains, intensifying as it did so before bursting over the region (Leh Disaster Management Plan 2011: 16). Due to the usual state of low rainfall, the event was considered an anomaly, and in scientific discussions was generally attributed as a sign of climate instability. The authoritative narratives of the monastic scholarly elite asserted that the flood was borne from karmic con- sequence, lasgyudas,6 and visits from the Fourteenth Dalai Lama and the Twelfth Drukchen Rinpoche (head of the Drukpa Kagyu School) gave great comfort to Ladakhis, particularly the more traumatized victims. Both told Ladakhis they had borne the karmic consequences of actions taken in pre- vious lives, that with this misfortune their suffering had been dispelled, and now they could begin building better lives both materially and spiritually. The demotic narrative cited the agents of the flood to be the lha-lu,7 and the sadag8: the mountain gods, water spirits, and earth guardians that inhabit the mountains, trees, rocks and water. The lha-lu , the majority of my respondents declared, sent the flood as retribution for the increase in ritual and physical pollution, and a decline in moral values. They declared it to be a time of demerit, and noted that Padmasambhava prophesized that this time would come.
The History of Ritual Flood Prevention
Whilst there is little historical discussion of flooding in Ladakh, the human encounter with living water and flood prevention strategies has a long
5) There are non-monastic and non-Buddhist ritual teaching lineages in Tibet that deal with chthonic beings, however space does not permit elaboration. 6) las rgyu ‘bras. 7) lha klu. 8) sa bdag.
9) lha sa literally means god earth, or god abode, referring to the Buddha statue housed in the jo khang. 10) mchod rten.
Authority and Ritual in Tibetan Buddhism
Vajrayana Buddhism (the Diamond Vehicle) practiced in Tibet and Ladakh is an esoteric form of Mahayana Buddhism (the Great Vehicle) that uses tantric meditation and ritual to assist the practitioner on the path to Enlightenment. The essences or blessings of transcendental deities are transferred to the ritual specialist through tantric empowerments, confer- ring ritual capacities upon the specialist (Mills 2000: 24). At the apex of the ritual and monastic hierarchy are tulku,11 the human emanations of tantric deities or transcendent reincarnated teachers, considered to be sources of blessing (Mills 2003: 9-10). Respectfully addressed as Rinpoche12 (precious one), the most renowned tulku are the Dalai Lamas. Monastic tulku receive intellectual training in the Buddhist doctrine from monastic colleges, therefore grounding their motivation for performing tantric ritual activities within the clerical Buddhist principles of merit accumulation, beneficial for the cessation of all suffering (Mills 2003; Samuel 1993). Skilled in tantric meditation, tulku have significant ritual dominance over chthonic beings; their abilities of mental intuition enabling them to “know” the presence and classification of deities, to exorcise the demonic ones, and to pacify the higher classes of deity with correct offerings, binding them as guardians of the Doctrine. The gods are socialized, given identities, and opportunities for merit accumulation and liberation through their participation in social and ritual life (Day 1989: 118-119; Mills 2003: 260; Mumford 1989: 84).
Ladakhi Models of Retribution
There are two distinct but interdependent explanations of retribution operating in Ladakh. The authoritative monastic discourse of retribution is
11) sprul sku. 12) rin po che.
the Buddhist principle of karma, or lasgyudas: the universal law of cause and effect that arises from the intentions and actions of all sentient beings. Harmful intentions and actions toward others result in the accumulation of negative karmic merit, the fruits of which must eventually be reaped in a future life. However, there is a further equally significant retributive mecha- nism governed by the chthonic beings: dip13—ritual pollution—is a dis- tinct but not wholly unrelated explanation of retributive action. Dip describes the presence of either “dirt” or mental defilement that disturbs the proper order (Day 1989: 138). Dip occurs when human activity subverts socially prescribed rules that result in territories becoming impure, pollut- ing the deities and their shrines, and causing them to become retributive. Unlike lasgyudas, the creation of dip can be unintentional and the effects are immediate, requiring remedial ritual action to remove the pollution, restore order, and avert retributive deeds. One of the main functions of monastic activity is the performance of sangsol and additional rituals aimed at removing the pollution that harms the chthonic beings. Nevertheless, lasgyudas and dip can be related if the cause of the gods’ anger is attributed to actions borne out of namtog,14 mental confusion or affliction, states caused by the arising in the mind of ignorance, greed, and hatred that cause karmic suffering (Mills 2003: 224; Mumford: 163-164). The presence of dip allows for a more tangible manifestation of karmic conse- quence with which moral and ritual action can be oriented towards.
Classes of Deity
In Ladakh—as in other Himalayan Buddhist societies—the phenomenal world of experience (as distinct from the ultimate reality of unchanging consciousness)—is divided into a three-tiered cosmology. At the apex are the abodes of the lha, the mountain srungma who offer protection to those living in the realms below. Powerful lha are protectors of the Doctrine, or choskyong;15 they assist rinpoche in temporal affairs, appearing through oracles to give prophecies and declarations or confirming the abilities and activities of rinpoche, thus increasing the legitimacy of their authority (Day 1989; Mills 2003: 241). The most prominent of these is Tibet’s state oracle, the Nechung Oracle, who continues to be a principal protector of the Tibetan Government in Exile. Their shrines are located in high places
13) grib. 14) rnam rtog. 15) The terms chos skyong and srungma are also used for transcendental Tantric deities.
Rinpoche and their Oracles in Modern Ladakh
The flow and condition of water is indicative of the success or failure of monastic ritual activity and human behavior; activities that have undergone significant transformations in recent years. India’s state models of development and economic planning, based upon modern governance paradigms, conflict with religious and ritual knowledge and practice, not recognizing the agency of chthonic beings in social life. Ladakh’s incorpo- ration into the Indian Union has reduced the religious influence of Ladakhi lha, although they remain important consultants regarding matters of health and business. Understandings of Buddhist practice on the global stage have also undergone transformations: as post-colonial Buddhist
16) The lha also form part of the Ladakhi healthcare system, having the ability to ritually remove disease. 17) There are many studies of manuals detailing how to request permission from local dei- ties to occupy the earth. See A Manual of Ritual Fire Offerings (Tulku and Perrot 2006). 18) There are eight classes of deity, but for reasons of space I reduce them to the categories of lha-lu.
19) rogs pa.
Keeping the Faith
Prior to the flood, Ladakhis, particularly those close to Leh town, were uncomfortable discussing the impact of development on the realm of the gods, stating privately that lha show their anger by withholding snow, or by sending chulok, but reluctant to admit the continued significance of the lha-lu, or development’s impact on their homes.21 After the flood, these concerns were expressed more explicitly. Older folk lamented the decline in respect for the chthonic beings, so critical to the fortunes of the territory. Young urbanites, the demographic most reproached for neglecting Ladakhi religion and culture by religious elites and older laity, feared that their mod- ern styles had caused harm. They would state how it is a sign of decline into sonam nyamspa,22 an evil era of decay prophesized by Padmasambhava, when the Doctrine and the merit of beings becomes less, and there is more disaster. The social behavior of those residing in remote areas like Lalok, less affected by development, is considered more moral and ideal. Togdan Rinpoche warned of too much desire: “People have to collect good karma and make their hearts good, otherwise the elements may clash and different types of evil will happen. The merit from earlier times has fin- ished” (interview data, 03/12/2010). The consequences of the flood were karmic, but its agents were chthonic. Yet, as stated in Padmasambhava’s instruction (Akester 2001), it is possi- ble to arrest degeneration through continued patronage of religion, under- taken through the recitation of prayers and the building of temples and
20) This may seem contradictory given the monastic authorities’ disapproval of the lha. However, lha maintain their influence amongst the laity by casting themselves as guardians of the Doctrine, therefore necessitating allegiance to powerful rinpoche. 21) Prior to 2010 Ladakh experienced several smaller floods. In 2008 flooding caused sub- stantial damage to Ridzong Monastery and its supporting village, Yangthang. The causes were attributed by the monks and laity alike to the anger of the lhalu. 22) bsod nams nyams pa.
23) This is a new development and space does not permit a fuller discussion, but the signifi- cance is clear.
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