Christopher Bell | Stetson University (original) (raw)
Papers by Christopher Bell
Himalayan Art in 108 Objects, 2023
Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines 54, pp.147-195., 2020
Complete translation of a little known biography of the abbot who founded Nechung Monastery
Brill’s Encyclopedia of Buddhism, Vol. 2: Major Personages in Myth, Hagiography and Historical Biography, 2019
This article examines a series of rare murals at Meru Sarpa Monastery in Lhasa, which detail the ... more This article examines a series of rare murals at Meru Sarpa Monastery in Lhasa, which detail the mythic misadventures of the popular Dharma protector Pehar, one of the two major guardian deities of the Dalai Lamas' lineage.
This article provides a complete translation and transcription of the Nechung Record (Tib. Gnas c... more This article provides a complete translation and transcription of the Nechung Record (Tib. Gnas chung dkar chag) wall inscription on the southern gallery of the Nechung Monastery courtyard.
Proceedings of the Third International Seminar of Young Tibetologists
This paper explores one of the central mechanisms for the establishment and propagation of the cu... more This paper explores one of the central mechanisms for the establishment and propagation of the cult of the Nechung Dharma protector (Gnas chung chos skyong) Dorjé Drakden (Gnas chung Rdo rje grags ldan): Ritual. I examine three important ritual texts, two of which have made up the central ritual program of Nechung Monastery’s liturgy (bskang gso) since the seventeenth century. These three texts are (1) the "Ten-Chapter Sādhana," a treasure text (gter ma) rediscovered by Nyangrel Nyima Özer (12th cent.); (2) the "Offerings and Praises" by the Second Dalai Lama (16th cent.); and (3) the "Adamantine Melody" of the Fifth Dalai Lama (17th cent.). These rituals illustrate multiple changes occurring in the ritual representation of the cult of Pehar, the Five Sovereign Spirits (Rgyal po sku lnga), and especially the emanation Dorjé Drakden. First, the "Ten-Chapter Sādhana" represents a vivid example of how treasure texts are not static texts but are always evolving in usage, significance, and even content well after they have been discovered. There are four extant editions of this text available, all of which show remarkable differences that speak to changing discourses on deities in the seventeenth century. Second, the "Ten-Chapter Sādhana" is the beginning of a ritual discourse that continues in the Second Dalai Lama’s "Offerings and Praises." This text in turn was greatly expanded upon by the Fifth Dalai Lama in his "Adamantine Melody." Third, beyond their performative uses, ritual texts are also historical documents that can shed light on how a deity’s cult evolves and takes on greater depth or shifts in affiliation. Such emendations are also justified through the system of incarnation, since the Fifth Dalai Lama was believed to be a reincarnation of the Second Dalai Lama and, before him, Nyangrel Nyima Özer. In effect, this ritual was involved in a centuries-long process of emendation and expansion by the same author. Through a careful exegesis of these ritual texts, this article shows how a deity like Dorjé Drakden could go from being a minor emanation of one of Pehar’s five forms, to being the central deity of the cult at Nechung Monastery.
This is a detailed historical study of the cult of the Tibetan Buddhist protector deity named Peh... more This is a detailed historical study of the cult of the Tibetan Buddhist protector deity named Pehar (Tib. Pe har) as it grew to prominence at Nechung Monastery (Tib. Gnas chung dgon) in seventeenth-century Lhasa under the auspices of the Fifth Dalai Lama’s burgeoning government. This study explores Pehar’s mythic and iconographic characteristics, liturgical development, and monastic and institutional deployment at this crucial juncture in Tibetan history. Deity cults are ubiquitous in world religions, but the precise form that they take in Tibetan Buddhism and the dynamics driving the changing popularity of specific deities over the centuries has been inadequately studied. Given his centrality in Tibetan religious history, a sustained examination of Pehar’s cult at Nechung Monastery and its influence in later centuries will act as a case study that will significantly enhance our understanding of deity cults within Buddhism and within religious traditions more broadly.
A central dynamic of Tibetan Buddhism is its extensive pantheon of supernatural beings, which collectively function as key players in religious practices across time, space, institutional histories, and sectarian intersections. Perhaps the most fascinating type of such beings is the hybrid figure of the Tibetan Dharma protector (chos skyong), each of which has complex histories, profoundly local associations, and yet resolutely Buddhist characteristics. Pehar is one of the most significant of such Dharma protectors since he possesses multiple forms and is venerated within all major Tibetan Buddhist sects. According to popular legend, Pehar was subjugated by the great Indian tantric exorcist Padmasambhava in the eighth century and assigned as a protector deity of Samyé Monastery (Bsam yas dgon pa), Tibet’s first Buddhist monastery. Pehar’s significance increased dramatically during the seventeenth century, when he became intimately linked with the Fifth Dalai Lama and his administration.
The central argument of this study is that the cult of Pehar at Nechung Monastery experienced a meteoric rise in popularity in the seventeenth century primarily through the deliberate efforts of the Fifth Dalai Lama and his regent Sangyé Gyatso in reliance upon multiple mythic, ritual, and institutional devices. Pehar was given greater attention than other deities because of his numerous connections to the Fifth Dalai Lama, which included ancestral, transmissional, institutional, and geopolitical ties. These connections made the deity an ideal choice for inclusion within the larger ritual management of the Fifth Dalai Lama’s government.
Prophecy in the New Millennium: When Prophecies Persist, 2013
Though not often acknowledged, Tibetan Buddhism contains a rich history of prophecy. This is emb... more Though not often acknowledged, Tibetan Buddhism contains a rich history of prophecy. This is embodied in numerous Tibetan divinatory manuals, records of prophecies espoused by important religious masters, and clairvoyant proclamations spoken by oracles possessed by protective divinities. This chapter will provide a brief overview of the common methods for and sources of prophetic advice, as well as the various contexts in which prophecy is important and even essential—both in daily Tibetan lives and in the maintenance of important institutions.
Various forms of divination include interpreting visions and signs, using ritual objects such as arrows, rosaries, butter lamps, and dice, and reading animal bones or deciphering animal behavior. Furthermore, astrology is often used alongside these types of divination and other prophetic methods in order to determine auspicious or inauspicious days for certain activities. All of these provide a means for recognizing certain portents in order to come to an informed decision. They are generally used for practical concerns, such as important business dealings, deciding which trade route to take, or to ensure a deity has been properly propitiated. Sometimes they are used to buttress more institutional forms of generating prophecy, such as oracles.
Tibetan oracles are perhaps the most widely recognized source of Tibetan prophecy, made especially famous by the Nechung Oracle, the most important state oracle of Tibet. Before 1959 there were other state oracles, and indeed many other oracles not utilized by the state. Oracles are mediums who fall into a trance state and become possessed by a protective deity—and sometimes several deities in a single trance session. During these trances, state oracles traditionally gave prophetic pronouncements about the future of the government and would offer often cryptic advice on important matters of state. These oracles could also be consulted by individuals on personal matters, though this was often the preserve of those oracles not endorsed by the state.
Other forms of prophecy include those composed by important religious leaders, such as the eighth-century tantric exorcist Padmasambhava or the Dalai Lamas. In particular, the Dalai Lamas would usually record a prophecy indicating the location of their next rebirth. The state oracles would then often be approached to augment the prophecy with more details. Sometimes other methods of divination would be further employed to insure an accurate interpretation, since all of these forms of prophecy are prone to ambiguous meanings. In this way, the various prophetic means inform and support one another depending on the context, and all of them make up an important element of Tibetan Buddhism in practice.
Published in Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies, no. 5, Dec 2009
entitled, "The Practice and Theory of Tibetan Ritual." Beyond the seemingly simple title on the f... more entitled, "The Practice and Theory of Tibetan Ritual." Beyond the seemingly simple title on the front cover there lies a series of articles that form a rich organic whole, despite the different approaches and topics represented. This volume is the first to focus solely on the burgeoning field of Tibetan ritual studies, and it has put its best foot forward. Each of the eleven chapters that make up this work is groundbreaking in its own right, applying methods found within a broad range of disciplines-anthropology, ethnography, history, philology, and textual analysis-to problematize and explore the multifaceted phenomena associated with Tibetan ritual.
This work examines the mythological and ritual significance of an important yet little-known Tibe... more This work examines the mythological and ritual significance of an important yet little-known Tibetan protector deity named Tsiu Marpo (Tsi’u dmar po). Tsiu Marpo is the protector of Samyé Monastery (Bsam yas, est. 779 C.E.), the oldest Buddhist monastery in Tibet. Very little is known of this figure in the available scholarship and what materials there are have their limitations.
Due to this paucity, and in order to better understand this deity and his importance in Tibet, I explore Tsiu Marpo through four venues representative of his influential role. These are his origin story and its connection with Tibetan cultural history, his iconography and its representation of Tibetan expressions of violence, his involvement in apotropaic ritual, and his importance within the Tibetan oracle tradition. This last venue of exploration pulls from all previous ones in order to elaborate on the Tibetan oracle tradition as a dynamic outlet through which the ritual program of the deity is enacted for a social service, and which utilizes iconographically significant ritual implements to submerge the service within a realm of sacrality. Through this detailed case study of one Tibetan protector deity, I hope to provide a template for further studies on protector deities as a whole, an arena of Tibetan Studies that is still dim and disorganized.
My thesis begins with an introduction to Tibetan protector deities, the texts through which they are encountered, and the various sources that have contributed to the figure of Tsiu Marpo and of protector deities in general. From there my focus contracts into a detailed exploration of Tsiu Marpo and expands outward into his iconographic, cosmologic, ritual, and oracular importance. My conclusion ties these observations together in order to illustrate the multifaceted connections between the ritual and the social in Tibetan Buddhism and the importance of protector deities as a cohesive force between multiple cultural milieus, particularly lay and monastic communities.
Book Reviews by Christopher Bell
Published in the International Journal of Buddhist Thought & Culture 29(1), pp.237-243.
Published in the Journal of Asian Studies 78(2), pp.422-424.
Published in Reading Religion: A Publication of the American Academy of Religion, February 24, 20... more Published in Reading Religion: A Publication of the American Academy of Religion, February 24, 2017, http://readingreligion.org/books/life-madman-ü.
Himalayan Art in 108 Objects, 2023
Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines 54, pp.147-195., 2020
Complete translation of a little known biography of the abbot who founded Nechung Monastery
Brill’s Encyclopedia of Buddhism, Vol. 2: Major Personages in Myth, Hagiography and Historical Biography, 2019
This article examines a series of rare murals at Meru Sarpa Monastery in Lhasa, which detail the ... more This article examines a series of rare murals at Meru Sarpa Monastery in Lhasa, which detail the mythic misadventures of the popular Dharma protector Pehar, one of the two major guardian deities of the Dalai Lamas' lineage.
This article provides a complete translation and transcription of the Nechung Record (Tib. Gnas c... more This article provides a complete translation and transcription of the Nechung Record (Tib. Gnas chung dkar chag) wall inscription on the southern gallery of the Nechung Monastery courtyard.
Proceedings of the Third International Seminar of Young Tibetologists
This paper explores one of the central mechanisms for the establishment and propagation of the cu... more This paper explores one of the central mechanisms for the establishment and propagation of the cult of the Nechung Dharma protector (Gnas chung chos skyong) Dorjé Drakden (Gnas chung Rdo rje grags ldan): Ritual. I examine three important ritual texts, two of which have made up the central ritual program of Nechung Monastery’s liturgy (bskang gso) since the seventeenth century. These three texts are (1) the "Ten-Chapter Sādhana," a treasure text (gter ma) rediscovered by Nyangrel Nyima Özer (12th cent.); (2) the "Offerings and Praises" by the Second Dalai Lama (16th cent.); and (3) the "Adamantine Melody" of the Fifth Dalai Lama (17th cent.). These rituals illustrate multiple changes occurring in the ritual representation of the cult of Pehar, the Five Sovereign Spirits (Rgyal po sku lnga), and especially the emanation Dorjé Drakden. First, the "Ten-Chapter Sādhana" represents a vivid example of how treasure texts are not static texts but are always evolving in usage, significance, and even content well after they have been discovered. There are four extant editions of this text available, all of which show remarkable differences that speak to changing discourses on deities in the seventeenth century. Second, the "Ten-Chapter Sādhana" is the beginning of a ritual discourse that continues in the Second Dalai Lama’s "Offerings and Praises." This text in turn was greatly expanded upon by the Fifth Dalai Lama in his "Adamantine Melody." Third, beyond their performative uses, ritual texts are also historical documents that can shed light on how a deity’s cult evolves and takes on greater depth or shifts in affiliation. Such emendations are also justified through the system of incarnation, since the Fifth Dalai Lama was believed to be a reincarnation of the Second Dalai Lama and, before him, Nyangrel Nyima Özer. In effect, this ritual was involved in a centuries-long process of emendation and expansion by the same author. Through a careful exegesis of these ritual texts, this article shows how a deity like Dorjé Drakden could go from being a minor emanation of one of Pehar’s five forms, to being the central deity of the cult at Nechung Monastery.
This is a detailed historical study of the cult of the Tibetan Buddhist protector deity named Peh... more This is a detailed historical study of the cult of the Tibetan Buddhist protector deity named Pehar (Tib. Pe har) as it grew to prominence at Nechung Monastery (Tib. Gnas chung dgon) in seventeenth-century Lhasa under the auspices of the Fifth Dalai Lama’s burgeoning government. This study explores Pehar’s mythic and iconographic characteristics, liturgical development, and monastic and institutional deployment at this crucial juncture in Tibetan history. Deity cults are ubiquitous in world religions, but the precise form that they take in Tibetan Buddhism and the dynamics driving the changing popularity of specific deities over the centuries has been inadequately studied. Given his centrality in Tibetan religious history, a sustained examination of Pehar’s cult at Nechung Monastery and its influence in later centuries will act as a case study that will significantly enhance our understanding of deity cults within Buddhism and within religious traditions more broadly.
A central dynamic of Tibetan Buddhism is its extensive pantheon of supernatural beings, which collectively function as key players in religious practices across time, space, institutional histories, and sectarian intersections. Perhaps the most fascinating type of such beings is the hybrid figure of the Tibetan Dharma protector (chos skyong), each of which has complex histories, profoundly local associations, and yet resolutely Buddhist characteristics. Pehar is one of the most significant of such Dharma protectors since he possesses multiple forms and is venerated within all major Tibetan Buddhist sects. According to popular legend, Pehar was subjugated by the great Indian tantric exorcist Padmasambhava in the eighth century and assigned as a protector deity of Samyé Monastery (Bsam yas dgon pa), Tibet’s first Buddhist monastery. Pehar’s significance increased dramatically during the seventeenth century, when he became intimately linked with the Fifth Dalai Lama and his administration.
The central argument of this study is that the cult of Pehar at Nechung Monastery experienced a meteoric rise in popularity in the seventeenth century primarily through the deliberate efforts of the Fifth Dalai Lama and his regent Sangyé Gyatso in reliance upon multiple mythic, ritual, and institutional devices. Pehar was given greater attention than other deities because of his numerous connections to the Fifth Dalai Lama, which included ancestral, transmissional, institutional, and geopolitical ties. These connections made the deity an ideal choice for inclusion within the larger ritual management of the Fifth Dalai Lama’s government.
Prophecy in the New Millennium: When Prophecies Persist, 2013
Though not often acknowledged, Tibetan Buddhism contains a rich history of prophecy. This is emb... more Though not often acknowledged, Tibetan Buddhism contains a rich history of prophecy. This is embodied in numerous Tibetan divinatory manuals, records of prophecies espoused by important religious masters, and clairvoyant proclamations spoken by oracles possessed by protective divinities. This chapter will provide a brief overview of the common methods for and sources of prophetic advice, as well as the various contexts in which prophecy is important and even essential—both in daily Tibetan lives and in the maintenance of important institutions.
Various forms of divination include interpreting visions and signs, using ritual objects such as arrows, rosaries, butter lamps, and dice, and reading animal bones or deciphering animal behavior. Furthermore, astrology is often used alongside these types of divination and other prophetic methods in order to determine auspicious or inauspicious days for certain activities. All of these provide a means for recognizing certain portents in order to come to an informed decision. They are generally used for practical concerns, such as important business dealings, deciding which trade route to take, or to ensure a deity has been properly propitiated. Sometimes they are used to buttress more institutional forms of generating prophecy, such as oracles.
Tibetan oracles are perhaps the most widely recognized source of Tibetan prophecy, made especially famous by the Nechung Oracle, the most important state oracle of Tibet. Before 1959 there were other state oracles, and indeed many other oracles not utilized by the state. Oracles are mediums who fall into a trance state and become possessed by a protective deity—and sometimes several deities in a single trance session. During these trances, state oracles traditionally gave prophetic pronouncements about the future of the government and would offer often cryptic advice on important matters of state. These oracles could also be consulted by individuals on personal matters, though this was often the preserve of those oracles not endorsed by the state.
Other forms of prophecy include those composed by important religious leaders, such as the eighth-century tantric exorcist Padmasambhava or the Dalai Lamas. In particular, the Dalai Lamas would usually record a prophecy indicating the location of their next rebirth. The state oracles would then often be approached to augment the prophecy with more details. Sometimes other methods of divination would be further employed to insure an accurate interpretation, since all of these forms of prophecy are prone to ambiguous meanings. In this way, the various prophetic means inform and support one another depending on the context, and all of them make up an important element of Tibetan Buddhism in practice.
Published in Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies, no. 5, Dec 2009
entitled, "The Practice and Theory of Tibetan Ritual." Beyond the seemingly simple title on the f... more entitled, "The Practice and Theory of Tibetan Ritual." Beyond the seemingly simple title on the front cover there lies a series of articles that form a rich organic whole, despite the different approaches and topics represented. This volume is the first to focus solely on the burgeoning field of Tibetan ritual studies, and it has put its best foot forward. Each of the eleven chapters that make up this work is groundbreaking in its own right, applying methods found within a broad range of disciplines-anthropology, ethnography, history, philology, and textual analysis-to problematize and explore the multifaceted phenomena associated with Tibetan ritual.
This work examines the mythological and ritual significance of an important yet little-known Tibe... more This work examines the mythological and ritual significance of an important yet little-known Tibetan protector deity named Tsiu Marpo (Tsi’u dmar po). Tsiu Marpo is the protector of Samyé Monastery (Bsam yas, est. 779 C.E.), the oldest Buddhist monastery in Tibet. Very little is known of this figure in the available scholarship and what materials there are have their limitations.
Due to this paucity, and in order to better understand this deity and his importance in Tibet, I explore Tsiu Marpo through four venues representative of his influential role. These are his origin story and its connection with Tibetan cultural history, his iconography and its representation of Tibetan expressions of violence, his involvement in apotropaic ritual, and his importance within the Tibetan oracle tradition. This last venue of exploration pulls from all previous ones in order to elaborate on the Tibetan oracle tradition as a dynamic outlet through which the ritual program of the deity is enacted for a social service, and which utilizes iconographically significant ritual implements to submerge the service within a realm of sacrality. Through this detailed case study of one Tibetan protector deity, I hope to provide a template for further studies on protector deities as a whole, an arena of Tibetan Studies that is still dim and disorganized.
My thesis begins with an introduction to Tibetan protector deities, the texts through which they are encountered, and the various sources that have contributed to the figure of Tsiu Marpo and of protector deities in general. From there my focus contracts into a detailed exploration of Tsiu Marpo and expands outward into his iconographic, cosmologic, ritual, and oracular importance. My conclusion ties these observations together in order to illustrate the multifaceted connections between the ritual and the social in Tibetan Buddhism and the importance of protector deities as a cohesive force between multiple cultural milieus, particularly lay and monastic communities.
Published in the International Journal of Buddhist Thought & Culture 29(1), pp.237-243.
Published in the Journal of Asian Studies 78(2), pp.422-424.
Published in Reading Religion: A Publication of the American Academy of Religion, February 24, 20... more Published in Reading Religion: A Publication of the American Academy of Religion, February 24, 2017, http://readingreligion.org/books/life-madman-ü.