Buddhist texts perpetually remind readers to realize the pervasive nature of suffering by reflecting upon the impermanent and even putrid nature of the human form. However, they also proclaim birth in a human body to be the ideal condition for liberating oneself from that suffering. How can the body be both a tool for transcendence and an obstacle to be overcome? Within tantric Buddhism, the body mandala is a ritual process of imagining parts of the human body as parts of the mandala, a cosmic palace inhabited by Buddhas and attendant deities. In examining a network of texts by scholar-monks Mkhas grub rje (1385-1438) and Ngorchen Kun dga' bzang po (1382-1456) concerning body mandala, this dissertation brings to light complex attitudes towards the role of the body in tantric practice and contextualizes esoteric conceptions of the body in terms of larger social, religious, and political dynamics circulating in fifteenth-century Tibet. In bringing the esoteric into conversation with the humanistic, this dissertation demonstrates the value of studying ritual technologies of the body within their historical contexts as well as in relation to discourses on the body across disciplines and cultures.
展开▼
机译:佛教文字通过提醒人类形态的无常甚至腐朽的性质,永远提醒读者认识到苦难的普遍性。但是,他们也宣称在人体中出生是使自己摆脱痛苦的理想条件。身体如何既可以成为超越的工具又可以克服的障碍?在密宗佛教中,身体曼陀罗是一个仪式过程,将人体的一部分想象为曼陀罗的一部分,曼陀罗是一个由佛陀和随之而来的神灵居住的宇宙宫殿。在研究学者僧侣Mkhas grub rje(1385-1438)和Ngorchen Kun dga'bzang po(1382-1456)关于身体曼陀罗的文本网络时,本论文揭示了对身体在密宗实践中的作用的复杂态度并根据15世纪西藏流传的更大的社会,宗教和政治动态,将身体的深奥概念与背景联系起来。在使深奥的人文主义对话中,本论文证明了研究身体的礼节技术在其历史语境中以及与跨学科和跨文化的身体话语相关的价值。
展开▼