Identity, Ritual and State in Tibetan Buddhism by Martin A. M... - 9780700714704

Identity, Ritual and State in Tibetan BuddhismThe Foundations of Authority in Gelukpa Monasticism\nAuthor(s): Martin A. Mills\nFormat: Hardback\nPublisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd, United Kingdom\nImprint: Routledge\nISBN-13: 9780700714704, 978-0700714704\nSynopsis\nThis is a major anthropological study of contemporary Tibetan Buddhist monasticism and tantric ritual in the Ladakh region of North-West India and of the role of tantric ritual in the formation and maintenance of traditional forms of state structure and political consciousness in Tibet.\nContaining detailed descriptions and analyses of monastic ritual, the work builds up a picture of Tibetan tantric traditions as they interact with more localised understandings of bodily identity and territorial cosmology, to produce a substantial re-interpretation of the place of monks as ritual performers and peripheral householders in Ladakh. The work also examines the central and indispensable role of incarnate lamas, such as the Dal.