Oldal 364 [364]
OCR
MONGOLIAN ‘PHO BA PRACTICES FOR REBIRTH IN SAMBHALA Vesna A. Wallace University of California, Santa Barbara Among the abundant Tibetan-language sources in Mongolia that date from the late 19" and early 20" centuries, one finds a notable number of ritual texts and prayers dealing with imagination and visualization practices pertaining to rebirth in Sambhala. The basis for this article are Agwaan Damdinsiiren’s (Tib. Ngag dbang rta mgrin bsrung) The Swift Path to Kalapa: A Compilation of the Layout of Sambhala and Ritual Offering to The Dharma Kings and Kalkis, Minjitir Dechin Shiirew’s The Jewel Steps of a Fortunate Disciple, A Prayer for a Sure Rebirth in the Land of Siddhi, in the Land that Captivates a Persons a Person for a Sure Rebirth in the Land of Raudra Kalki, and Dsawa Damdin’s (Blo bzang rta dbyangs) Elucidation of the Swift Path —A Guidance Manual to Transference to the Pure Land of Sambhala. These three ritual pho ba texts were composed in the early 20" century, on the eve of the Communist revolution and shortly after, during the period of the imminent peril of Buddhism in Mongolia. The anxiety caused by social and personal crises and the sense of helplessness intensified desire for escape into an alternate world of experiences and enhanced the proliferation of literature related to ‘pho ba practices for rebirth in early 20" century, on the eve of the Communist revolution and shortly after, during the period of the imminent peril of Buddhism in Mongolia. The anxiety caused by social and personal crises and the sense of helplessness intensified desire for escape into an alternate world of experiences and enhanced the proliferation of literature related to ‘pho ba practices for rebirth in Sambhala. As one would expect, the imagination and visualization practices described in these ‘pho ba texts are about transformation from death in this troubled and perilous world to a new life in the idyllic Sambhala, in the enduring realm of Buddha Dharma. The imagination and visualization practices in the mentioned texts can be viewed as contemplative, trans-historical processes that look beyond the present world and its troubling circumstances. As we will see later on, in the context of these ‘pho ba practices, the prescribed visualizations mutually differ in their contents, structures, functions, and applications. For this reason, it is difficult, if not impossible, to apply a single, theoretical model to all of them. Although, the procedures and contents of visualizations in these ‘pho ba practices are shaped by theoretical assumptions shared by the Gelug community of Mongolian KGlacakratantra practitioners, the observable, procedural and visual differences may be an outcome of the authors’ affiliations with different Gelug monastic lineages in Mongolia and Tibet. Mental images and their cognitive effects, hidden away from the external observer, remain within the inner, subjective space and discrete experience, shaped by one’s 362
