In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Epilogue From Sukhāvatī to Tibet and Back The entire world of appearances and possibilities is the field of Sukhāvatī. bDud-’joms ’jigs-bral ye-shes rdo-rje (1904–1988) The religious history of Tibetan Pure Land Buddhism spans over a millennium , encompassing a profusion of scriptures and ritual interpretations of Mahayana doctrines not found elsewhere in Asia. For the purposes of reviewing its prevalence, two registers are of relevance here. The first is generic in that it reflects the growth and success of Mahayana traditions beyond India, in part due to their emphasis on ecumenical discourses of salvation, a proliferation of ritual practices, and their inclusive communities of lay followers and monastics. The second register, more specific to place and time, refers to conditions and developments unique to Tibet. For example, Central Tibet in the eighth and ninth centuries witnessed the gradual displacement of ancient mortuary rites and beliefs in divine kingship by Buddhist conceptions of the afterlife and reincarnation, and the importation of Indian Mahayana scriptures alongside the identity of an imperial elite adopting the basic elements of a “Buddhist worldview,” attracted in part to its cosmopolitan spirit. The most original cultic enunciation of Pure Land ritualism in Tibet, to date, is attributed to the rNying-ma school. More than an exposition on creed, litanies, invocations, and intricate meditations were incorporated in tantric sādhanas for transferring one’s consciousness to Sukhāvatī, reflecting salient innovations of the bDe-smon genre in Tibet. The Standing Blade of Grass and Dying without Regrets, two “revealed texts” compiled by rNying-ma adepts in the fourteenth century, are emblematic of an indigenous syncretism between sutra evocations of the Pure Land and a ritualized exchange between practitioner and deity in the practice of phowa. The Sukhāvatī phowa is a central feature in the most comprehensive collection of Pure Land rituals ever compiled in Tibet, the Means of Attaining 187 the Sukhāvatī Kṣetra, included in Mi-’gyur rdo-rje’s Pure Vision Treasures (dag-snang gter). This seventeenth-century collection exemplifies an intrareligious synthesis of the bKa’-brgyud and rNying-ma genius at work, whose influence can be discerned to the present times in culturally Tibetan regions of the Himalayas. It comprises an assortment of texts and practices that feature a variety of ritual inflections and ways of conceptualizing and relating to the Buddha and his celestial realm, including postmortem rites of passage (bar-do thos-grol), cremation ceremonies (rosreg ), inscription rites (byang-chog), life-extending rituals (tshe-grub), guruyoga (bla-ma’i rnal-’byor), transference of consciousness (’pho-ba), dreamyoga (rmi-lam), and supplications to the guardians of Sukhāvatī (bde-chen zhing-sgrub kyi bka’-srung). The mystical and devotional character of Tibetan Pure Land rituals appealed to basic religious needs and supramundane aspirations, while reflecting a synthesis of different themes drawn from the bodhisattva traditions of Mahayana sutras and from homological correspondences to the trilateral nexus of deity, guru, and yogi in Vajrayana contexts. Many critical scholars from all Buddhist traditions in Tibet composed stirring aspirational prayers for Sukhāvatī (bde-smon) and detailed commentaries (’grelba ) elaborating on the four causes for attaining the luminous sphere beyond death. Tibetan authors incorporated Vajrayana-type techniques, like Paṇchen Blo-bzang chos-rgyan (1567–1662), whose commentary conspicuously draws on self-generation and completion practices and dream- and guruyoga meditations on Amitābha.1 In time, Pure Land devotion carried beyond specific moments of worship that gave rise to unique and polysemic interpretations of Sukhāvatī, informed by a tantric identification of the spiritual path with the fruit of practice. In the rNying-ma corpus of the Great Perfection (rDzogs-chen), the “innermost secret reality” of Sukhā vat ī became synonymous with the perfect realization of nondual intrinsic awareness (rig-pa). Independently of the propitiation of Amitābha, the theorization of Sukhāvatī served as a “metonymic expression for the primordial ground in which the Buddha’s gnosis is disclosed.”2 Sukhāvatī held special attraction for Treasure discoverers of the rNying-ma school. In their works, mythographic and theological elaboration of pure lands found expression within the bounds of sensory imagery and spatial metaphor, lending narrative consistency to the Tibetan phenomenon of revelation. The miraculous birth of the Indian master Padmasambhava (lit., “Lotus Born”), in Pure Land fashion from an open lotus (rdzus-skyes) in Lake Dhanakosha, is imparted in several hagiographies of the Treasure tradition.3 A Treasure text, allegedly hidden by the Indian Epilogue 188 [18...

Share