Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, Vol 8, No 4 (2014)

Sentience of the Earth: Eco-Buddhist Mandalizing of Dwelling Place in Amdo, Tibet

Dan Smyer Yü
Issued Date: 11 Mar 2015

Abstract


I present a case study of Tibetan Buddhism as a lived religion embodied in the greater environment of a village in eastern Amdo, Tibet. Specifically, I explore the interconnectedness of place-based Buddhist practices that, I argue, present an example of care for sacred landscapes in Tibetan Buddhism. Based on my ethnographic work, I make a threefold argument. First, Buddhism in Tibet can be viewed as ‘an emplaced religion’ signifying the antecedent role of place in forging the complex intertwinement of the Earth and humans. Second, the sacredness in the local landscape entails a shared, hierarchical entwinement of place, humans, and gods. Third, the way the villagers, especially the lay tantric yogis, consecrate their environment expresses their connection and care for the landscape.

Download Media

PDF (Price: £17.50 )

DOI: 10.1558/jsrnc.v8i4.19481

References


Ammerman, Nancy T. 2007a. ‘Introduction:
Observing Modern Religious Lives’, in N.T. Ammerman
(ed.), Everyday Religion: Observing
Modern Religious Lives
(London: Oxford University Press): 3-20. href="Doi:%20http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/%20acprof:oso/9780195305418.003.intro">Doi:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ acprof:oso/9780195305418.003.intro.



———. 2007b. ‘Studying Everyday
Religion: Challenges for the Future’, in N.T. Ammerman
(ed.), Everyday Religion: Observing
Modern Religious Lives
(London: Oxford University Press): 219-38.  href="Doi:%20http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/%209780195305418.003.0013">Doi:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/ 9780195305418.003.0013.



Bender,
Barbara. 2002. ‘Time and Landscape’, Current
Anthropology
43: S103-S112. href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/339561" target="_blank">Doi:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/339561.



Bender,
Courtney. 2012. ‘Practicing Religions’, in Robert Orsi
(ed.), The style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'> Cambridge Companion to Religious Studies
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press): 273-95.



Casey, Edward. 1993. style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Getting Back into Place: Toward a Renewed
Understanding of the Place-World (Bloomington: Indiana University Press).



———. 1997. The Fate of Place: A Philosophical History (Berkeley: University of
California Press).



Eliade,
M. 1959. The Sacred and the Profane: The
Nature of Religion
(New York: Harper).



Gibson,
James J. 1986. The Ecological Approach to
Visual Perception
(New York: Psychology Press).



Grapard, Allan G. 1982. ‘Flying Mountains and Walkers
of Emptiness: Toward a Definition of Sacred Space in Japanese’, style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>History of Religions 21.3: 195-21. href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/462897" target="_blank">Doi:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/462897.



Guenther, Herbert V. 1996. style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The Teachings of Padmasambhava (Leiden: Brill).



Gutschow, Niels et al.
(eds.). 2003. Sacred Landscape of the Himalaya (Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences
Press).



Hall, David (ed.). 1997.
Lived Religion in America: Toward A
History of Practice
(Princeton: Princeton University Press).



Huber, Toni, and Poul
Pedersen. 1997. ‘Meteorological Knowledge and Environ­mental Ideas
in Traditional and Modern Societies: The Case of Tibet’, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 3.3: 577-97. href="Doi:%20http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/%203034768">Doi:
http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/ 3034768.



Husserl,
Edmond. 1970. The Crisis of European
Sciences and Transcendental Phenomenol­ogy: An Introduction to Phenomenological
Philosophy
(Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press).



Ingold, Tim. 1993. ‘The Temporality of the
Landscape’, World Archaeology 25.2:
152-74. href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00438243.1993.9980235" target="_blank">Doi:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00438243.1993.9980235.



———. 2000. The Perception of the
Environment: Essays on Livelihood, Dwelling and Skill
(London: Routledge). href="http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203466025" target="_blank">Doi:
http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203466025.



Keller,
D., and F.B. Golley. 2000. ‘Part I: Entities and
Process in Ecology’, in D. Keller and F.B. Golley
(eds.), The
Philosophy of Ecology: From Science to Synthesis
(Athens: the University of
Georgia Press): 21-33.



King,
Sallie B. 1991. Buddha Nature
(Albany, NY: State University of New York Press).



McGuire,
Meredith. 2008. Lived Religion: Faith and
Practice in Everyday Life
(New York: Oxford University Press). href="Doi:%20http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/%209780195172621.001.0001">Doi:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/ 9780195172621.001.0001.



McKay,
Alex. 1998. ‘Introduction’, in A. McKay (ed.), Pilgrimage in Tibet (Richmond, UK: Curzon Press): 1-17.



Naess, Arne. 2008. ‘An Example of a Place: Tvergastein’, in A. Drengson and
B. Devall (eds.), Ecology of Wisdom:
Writings by Arne Naess
(Berkeley: Counterpoint):
45-64.



Orsi, Robert.
2002. The
Madonna of 115th Street: Faith and Community in Italian Harlem, 1880–1950

(New Haven: Yale University
Press).



Panikkar, Raimon. 1996. ‘A
Pilgrimage to Kailasa and Manasasaras’,
in V. Elizondo and S. Freyne (eds.), Pilgrimage (London: SCB Press): 49-54.



Smyer Yü, Dan. 2011. style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The Spread of Tibetan Buddhism in China:
Charisma, Money, Enlightenment (London:
Routledge).



———. 2013. ‘Subaltern Placiality in
Modern Tibet: Critical Discourses in the Works of Shogdong’,
China Information 27.2: 155-72. href="Doi:%20http://dx.doi.org/%2010.1177/0920203X13479860">Doi: http://dx.doi.org/
10.1177/0920203X13479860.



———. 2014. Mindscaping style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'> the Landscape of Tibet: Place,
Memorability, Eco-aesthetics (Boston: de Gruyter).



Smyer Yü, Dan, and Pema Tashi (dirs.). 2011. Embrace
(Hangzhou, China: Dongyang Mirage CineMedia
Production). Online: [email protected].



Sonam Dorje. 2002. ‘The
Important Status of Soul Dwelling Sites in King Gesar
Biography’, The Journal of Qinghai Nationality Research 2: 39-42.



Thomas, Lewis. 1974. The Lives
of a Cell: Notes of a Biology Watcher
(New York: Viking Press).



Tuttle,
Gray. 2011. ‘An Overview of Amdo (Northeastern Tibet)
Historical Polities’, The style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'> Tibetan and Himalayan Library. Online: href="https://collab.itc.virginia.edu/">https://collab.itc.virginia.edu/ wiki/aboutthl/An%20Overview%20Of%20Amdo%20(northeastern%

20Tibet)%20Historical%20Polities.html.


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.





Equinox Publishing Ltd - 415 The Workstation 15 Paternoster Row, Sheffield, S1 2BX United Kingdom
Telephone: +44 (0)114 221-0285 - Email: [email protected]

Privacy Policy