World of Worldly Gods: The Persistence and Transformation of Shamanic Bon in Buddhist Bhutan Kelzang T. Tashi
World of Worldly Gods: The Persistence and Transformation of Shamanic Bon in Buddhist Bhutan Kelzang T. Tashi
World of Worldly Gods: The Persistence and Transformation of Shamanic Bon in Buddhist Bhutan Kelzang T. Tashi
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World of Worldly Gods
RELIGION, CULTURE, AND HISTORY
SERIES EDITOR
Kristian Petersen, Old Dominion University
MOSES IN AMERICA
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VICTORIAN REFORMATION
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LITTLE BUDDHAS
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GLOBAL TANTRA
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You must not circulate this work in any other form and you must impose this same
condition on any acquirer.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Tashi, Kelzang T., author.
Title: World of worldly gods : the persistence and transformation of
shamanic Bon in Buddhist Bhutan / Kelzang T. Tashi.
Other titles: Contested past, challenging future
Description: New York : Oxford University Press, 2023. |
Series: Religion, culture, and history |
Revision of the author’s thesis (doctoral)—Australian National University, 2020,
under the title: Contested past, challenging future : an ethnography of
pre-Buddhist Bon religious practices in central Bhutan. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2022044647 (print) | LCCN 2022044648 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780197669860 (hardback) | ISBN 9780197669884 (epub) |
ISBN 9780197669891
Subjects: LCSH: Bon (Tibetan religion)—Zhemgang (District) |
Shamanism—Zhemgang (District) | Buddhism—Zhemgang (District) |
Religion and culture—Bhutan—Zhemgang (District) |
Social change—Bhutan—Zhemgang (District) |
Zhemgang (Bhutan : District)—Religious life and customs.
Classification: LCC BQ7964.3.B47 T37 2023 (print) | LCC BQ7964.3.B47 (ebook) |
DDC 299.5/4—dc23/eng/20221013
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022044647
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022044648
DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780197669860.001.0001
In loving memory of my beloved Mother
Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Note on Orthography
1. Introduction
Multiple Identities
Bon in Bhutan
Great and Little Traditions?
Fieldwork and Methodology
Structure of the Book
2. Goleng Village in Zhemgang District
Three Ridges of Zhemgang
Goleng Village
Social Organization: Dung, Kudrung, Pirpön, and Mamai
Lineage Houses
The Goleng Dung Nobility and Lineage Deities
The Founding of Buddhist Temples in Goleng
3. Soul Loss and Retrieval
The Fluidity of Five Life Elements
Common Rituals for Strengthening Declining Life Elements
The Primordial Bon Ritual for Recapturing the Abducted Soul
The Local Divinities of the Golengpa Bon Pantheon
4. Dealing with Threats to Health and Welfare
Protective and Healing Rituals
The Big Gyalpo Beings
Gyalpo Shul Du: The Ritual of Dispatching the Big Gyalpo to His
Palace
The Small or Familial Gyalpo Spirits
Autochthonous Demons
Demonesses and Witches
Discerning the Sondre Host
Shartsen: The Eastern Mountain Deities
Poison Givers: We Are Pure and Clean People
Treating the Poison Attack
Gyalpo, Sondre, and Duk Beings as Economy-Generating Spirits
5. Controlling the Bon Priests
Lu’i Bonpo: Becoming a Lu Specialist
The Ritual of Releasing Trapped Serpent Spirits
Ways of Becoming a Bonpo Shaman
The Shamanic Retrieval of Lost Souls
The Official Bonpos of Zhemgang
The Official Bonpo of Goleng
Bonpos in Court
The Politics of Black Magic Rituals
6. The Annual Rup Ritual
The Significance of Rup to the Dung Nobility
Rup Rules and Consequences
Outline of the Rup Rite
Dham Dham: Rup Divinities, Divinations, and Sealing Rites
The Rites of the First, Second, and Third Days of Rup
Rup and Its Future
7. Phallic Rituals and Pernicious Gossip
Phallic Symbols
The Antigossip Ritual
The Phallic Rituals of the Annual Chodpa
The Buddhist Phallic Ritual Cake
The Phallic Rituals by the Gadpo
8. Buddhist Accommodation of Bon Rites and Practices
The Annual Propitiatory Ritual of Local Deities and Demons
Buddhist Versions of the Odé Gungyal Ritual
Child Gods and Naming Patterns
The Former Clerical Bon Temple
9. The Persistence and Transformation of Golengpa Religiosity
Buddhism, Shamanic Bon, and Clerical Bon
From Oral/Literary to Mundane/Supramundane Distinctions
Syncretism and the Politics of Religion
10. Conclusion
Figures
1.1. Goleng and neighboring villages
2.1. A partial view of Goleng village
3.1. The abode of serpent beings
7.1. The phallic kharam structure
8.1. The ritual cakes depicting the four main local deities
8.2. The journey of god Odé Gungyal
Tables
3.1. The Five Classes of Local Gods and Spirit Beings
6.1. Consequences of Noncompliance with Ritual Rules
6.2. Rup Rites and Rituals
Acknowledgments
This book would not have come to fruition without the support and
generosity of a number of people and institutions. It is first and
foremost to the people of Goleng that I owe a deep and lasting debt
of gratitude for their kindness and hospitality during a year of
fieldwork. They treated me as if I were one of their family members
and tolerated my intrusion into their annual rites and everyday
rituals, which often took place in the face of difficult and serious
situations. My sincere thanks to the village headman, Ugyen Penjore,
who introduced me to Tsultrim Wangmo and her brilliant son Sangay
Dorji. She was the first Golengpa to welcome me to her house and
subsequently became my generous host, while her son helped me as
a long-term research assistant before resuming his studies.
Thanks are also due to Dechen Wangdi, Kinzang Wangchuck,
Jambay Tshering, Ugyen Dema, Jambay Kelzang, Tshering Dorji,
Kinley Wangdi, Kinley Yangzom, Kinely Namgyal, Dorji, Nima
Tshering, and Kunley for their contributions to this project. My
grateful thanks are extended to Tshultrim Dorji, who accompanied
me to Shobleng village, introduced me to Bonpos there, and hosted
me at his mother-in-law’s house during their annual rup rite. The
same goes for Yeshi Dorji, who took me to Ngangla in the southern
part of Zhemgang, and Phuba—the janitor of Kumbum temple in
Wangdiphodrang—who welcomed me despite odd hours.
I am especially indebted to Bonpo Chungla, Bonpo Pemala, and
Bonpo Sangay of Goleng, Bonpo Tempala of Shobleng, pamo Karma
of Berti, a Chungdu pawo from a nearby village in Nangkor county,
and Bonpo Dophu of Bumthang, all of whom invited me to attend
various rituals and provided invaluable insights by patiently
answering my endless questions. Heartfelt thanks go to lay Buddhist
chöpas in equal measure, particularly to Lopön Pema Wangchuk,
who very kindly not only invited me to attend various Buddhist rites
but also contributed many invaluable insights and provided advice.
Besides Golengpas, I am grateful to the former district governor
(Dzongdag) of Zhemgang, Harka Singh Tamang, and the county
headman of Nangkor, Dorji Wangchuk, for allowing me to conduct
research in Goleng, which is under their direct jurisdiction.
I owe a deepest and inestimable gratitude to my PhD supervisor
at the Australian National University (ANU), Nicolas Peterson,
without whose constant guidance, support, and generosity
throughout this journey this project would have been impossible.
During my doctoral research, he not only provided a detailed
commentary on each chapter but also supported the final months of
my fieldwork with additional funding from his research fund. Most
importantly, he taught me how to think anthropologically and
reminded me of the importance of clear and simple writing over an
opaque style. Despite his retirement, he was generous with his
precious time and continued to provide the most invaluable
comments and suggestions on the revised draft of this book. Nic
continues to be my constant source of inspiration and guidance.
I would like to offer my special thanks to my supervisory panel
members, Patrick Guinness (ANU) and Dorji Penjore (Centre for
Bhutan Studies). It was Dorji Penjore who not only introduced me to
Nicolas Peterson but also recommended Goleng as an ideal study
location. He was involved in the formulation of the thesis proposal,
and during the fieldwork he provided me with crucial advice and
support. Patrick Guinness read the earlier drafts of Chapters 5, 6,
and 7 and provided valuable comments and suggestions in the
Thesis Writing Group. Philip Taylor, Christine Helliwell, Caroline
Schuster, and Simone Dennis introduced me to anthropology as a
first-year PhD student, and without their support and guidance I
would not have found a home in anthropology. I greatly appreciated
the support that I received from Yasmine Musharbash and Chris
Gregory during my studies. Thanks in particular go to Meera Ashar,
Philip Taylor, and Assa Doron, all of whom served as my interim
supervisors at different stages of my first-year PhD program.
My research was generously supported by Endeavour
Scholarships and Fellowships (2016–2020) provided by the
Australian Government’s Department of Education and Training.
Fieldwork was funded by an ANU Higher Degree Research Grant with
the award of an additional Vice-Chancellor’s Travel Grant (2017–
2018). My sincere thanks to both the funding agencies, without
which this work would not have been possible. This book has been
greatly improved by the constructive comments and thoughtful
suggestions from five anonymous reviewers. I am grateful to the
three thesis examiners whom I know to be Geoffrey Samuel, David
Holmberg, and Tsering Shakya. Unanimously recommending the
award of the PhD, they provided generous and illuminating
comments, inspiring me to push myself to think theoretically as well
as transnationally in new ways.
At the American Academy of Religion, I am forever indebted to
the erudite editor of the Religion, Culture, and History series, Robert
Yelle, for his kind guidance, support, and encouragement right
through the initial phase of the book proposal to the blind peer
review process. I am grateful to two reviewers of the book
manuscript, one of whom I know to be Daniel Berounský, for their
valuable feedback and suggestions. Their crucial comments and
critiques greatly improved the overall clarity of the manuscript. At
Oxford University Press in New York, my deepest gratitude is due to
Cynthia Read, Steve Wiggins, Theo Calderara, project editor Paloma
Escovedo, project manager Suganya Elango (Newgen), book cover
designer James Perales, and most importantly the judicious
copyeditor Richard Isomaki for their kind assistance and guidance
throughout the publication process.
At the University of Toronto, I am grateful to Christoph Emmrich
and Michael Lambek for their generosity and support for my work
during my affiliation with the Centre for South Asian Studies at Munk
School of Global Affairs, where I was a research associate. At the
London School of Economics and Political Science, I am equally
grateful to Catherine Allerton and Katy Gardner for their interest in
my work and the support given to me as a visiting fellow in the
Department of Anthropology.
I gratefully acknowledge that a part of the final revision of this
book was undertaken during my affiliation as a postdoctoral fellow
with National University of Singapore (NUS). I must express my
sincere gratitude to the Asia Research Institute for a postdoctoral
fellowship, and to Jamie Davidson, who has been a gracious mentor
and guide at NUS. I have been also extremely fortunate to have the
support and guidance of William Sax at Heidelberg University as I
embark upon a new research project.
My special thanks to the participants of the Department of
Anthropology’s Thesis Writing Group (2019) at ANU for stimulating
discussions. Fay Styman, Ian Pollock, Meng Cao, Shamim Homayun,
Shaun Gessler, Kirsty Wissing, Simon Theobald, Alexander D’Aloia,
Shamim Homayun, and Stefanie Puszka all provided useful
comments on the earlier drafts of Chapters 5, 6, and 7. Thanks are
also due to the panel organizers and participants of the Australian
Anthropological Society Annual Conference (2019), the American
Anthropological Association / Canadian Anthropological Society
Annual Meeting (2019), and the Association of Social Anthropologists
of the UK and Commonwealth Annual Conference (2019), where I
have presented some sections of Chapters 2, 3, and 5. I gave a talk
on Chapter 9 at the University of Toronto as part of the Centre for
South Asian Studies Pathbreaker Series. Some information on social
organization in Chapter 2 appeared in my article in the Journal of
Anthropological Research (2022). The friendship and support of a
group of Bhutanese academics in Canberra, particularly Dendup
Chophel and Lhawang Ugyel, is greatly appreciated.
Lastly but most importantly, I would like to thank my family. My
dearest mother Sherab Yangchen was a devout Buddhist born into a
deeply religious family with a long line of hereditary lamas. She was
my source of inspiration and primary refuge, without whose support
and blessings I would not be where I am today. Her sudden demise
in mid-2018 when I barely started writing my dissertation devastated
and traumatized me for many months, rendering my life completely
empty and meaningless. My father, Gyembo, is an equally devout
Buddhist with great discipline and integrity. Despite his own enduring
grief, my father kept encouraging me and constantly prayed for the
successful completion of my studies. He is my guide and a role
model that I look up to. My sincere thanks go to my siblings and
relatives, who always support me. Thanks in particular go to my
elder brother Khenpo Kencho Tenzin for helping me with the Wylie
transliteration and for his unfailing encouragement and prayers. Most
importantly, I want to thank my dearest son Norbu Yoedbar for his
patience, as he had to separate from his mother to support his
father’s ambitions. Finally, I want to thank my amazing wife Dema
Yangzom from the bottom of my heart for her love and constant
support, and for everything else.
Note on Orthography
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