Himalaya, the Journal of theAssociation for Nepal and

Himalayan StudiesVolume 26Number 1 People and Environment: Conservation andManagement of Natural Resources across the HimalayaNo. 1 & 2

Article 17

2006

Tibetan Renaissance: Tantric Buddhism in theRebirth of Tibetan Culture by Ronald M.Davidson; reviewed by Chris HaskettChris Haskett

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Recommended CitationHaskett, Chris (2006) "Tibetan Renaissance: Tantric Buddhism in the Rebirth of Tibetan Culture by Ronald M. Davidson; reviewedby Chris Haskett," Himalaya, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies: Vol. 26: No. 1, Article 17.Available at: http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/himalaya/vol26/iss1/17

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New York: Columbianiversity Press,005. 596 p., wi bib.,ildex, and illus.

or part of the Chinese empire 7 Since the bibliographyexcludes works in Chinese or Himalayan languages,it is not clear that this question is answerable basedon the works in the bibliography. However, it isclear that Marshall's attention to the many English-language works written "against the grain" of empireover the last thirty years exceeds the limitations of theolder imperial archive and will significantly improvethe answers that anyone using the bibliography islikely to give to historical questions about Tibet

The new edition of "Britain and Tibet 1765-1947" isavailable in hardcover or as an eBook, which shouldmake it even more widely available. Not too long ago,bibliographical reference works of this quality were

only available in mimeographed hand lists or well-thumbed card catalogs of specialized institutions.Some bibliographies are migrating to the WorldWide Web which holds the promise of a format thatis easily kept up-to-date. Yet websites can disappearand institutions sometimes cancel subscriptions toeBooks. Whether on the web or between hard covers,this bibliography will remain an indispensableresource for anyone interested in Britain and Tibet

Peter Hansen teaches at Worcester Polytechnic Instituteand is working on a book on the history oj mountainsand modernity since the eighteenth century.

TIBETAN RENAISSANCE: T ANTRIC BUDDHISM IN THE

REBIRTH OF TIBETAN CULTURE

The Buddhism of the Himalayan highlands hasbeen abundantly explored in the past thirty years;the history of Tibet, less so, and still less scholarlyattention has been given to studying how religionhas influenced Tibetan history. Ronald Davidson'sTibetan Renaissance: Tantric Buddhism in the Rebirthoj Tibetan Culture helps fill this gap, taking up aparticularly thorny and, not surprisingly, under-studied chapter of the history of Tibetan culture, theperiod from 950-1200.

This volume follows on Davidson's previous offering,an excellent account of the social circumstances andoutflows of the rise of tantra in India. Summarizingand advancing this work in Chapter One, Davidsonproposes that in the culturally and politicallyfragmented wake of the dissolution of Harsavardana'sempire (607-647 CE), tantric discourses were ableto simultaneously access and undermine the powerof other religious elements. The mandala frameworkwas flexible, expandable, and readily adaptable tofeudal political organization (31).

Such was the situation Tibetans encounteredin medieval India. As Chapter Two depicts, thedomestic Tibetan scene was also shot through withdisorder and with competition among new religiousand social groupings. The Tibetan King Lang Darmahad persecuted Buddhist institutions, most likely toquash competition for resources and bolster revenues(66), and was murdered by a Buddhist monk. Theproblem of his succession divided the realm and inthe absence of an established polity, lawless violenceand brigandry ensued. Chapter Three shows thatwhile the Eastern Vinaya monks were able to re-foundmonastic institutions, monastic Mahayana Buddhismcould not provide the "magical authority" or "ritualsof dominion" (16) that tantra could. However,while tantra had the requisite power, its authenticitywas often in question, and thus translators becamevital links between the ancient established IndianBuddhism and the newly emerging Tibetan forms.

While the cultural importance of the 10 tsa bais well-documented, beginning in Chapter Four

Davidson provides a closer examination of several importantfigures such as Marpa, Ngog, Drokmi, and Rinchen Zangpo.His explanation for their prominence is that their proximityand familiarity with Indian sources buttressed claims ofauthenticity and, subsequently, to authority. In the dangerousand socially disjointed post-imperium atmosphere, themagic and ritual power of tantra was key to control, but withso many actors vying for dominion, the Indic provenanceto which translators could attest legitimated their power.As examples, Davidson details the careers of Marpa andRalo rdo rje grags, and dedicates Chapter Five to the lifeand work of Drokmi ('brog mi shakya ye shes, ca 990-1074CE). The report of Drokmi also makes clear how Indianpanditas such as Gayadhara took advantage of the Tibetandesire for dharma, often composing new texts to fit Tibetanneeds and collecting great quantities of gold. Drokmi is alsoimportant as the translator of the supposedly Indic Root Textof the Margaphala, a seminal text for the Sakya lamdre systemand for Tibetan Buddhism which is presented here for thefirst time. Davidson's exhaustively annotated edition andtranslation of the Margaphala are valuable contributions intheir own right.

Chapter 6 treats the difficult phenomenon of Terma (gter-ma) or Treasure Texts with careful attention, and showsthe connection of Terma to the remaining temple structureof the old imperium. We also see that while the novelty ofTerma was grounds for suspicion, it also propelled Tibet tolegitimacy as a new source for Buddhist texts. In Chapter 7,Davidson follows the consolidation of power and authority aspowerful clans and aristocracy conjoined the Eastern Vinayanetwork of religious sites, the new Indian translations, andthe "spiritual" powers of both old and new tantrists into a fullyassimilated Buddhist social system in the eleventh century.By the twelfth century, Tibetan Buddhism had become anindependent force to be reckoned with, and while Turkicinvaders forced a deluge of Indian monks into U-Tsang,Tibetans were now beginning to articulate and implementBuddhism on their own terms. Institutional developmentand stabilization of lineages allowed the gains of the past twocenturies to become lasting factors in Tibetan culture.

Tibetan Renaissance is replete with historical detail, whichmay form one of its few shortcomings. Scholars will findthis richness rewarding, but those less familiar with Tibetangeography, personages, history, and texts may find themselvesoverwhelmed. Davidson mitigates this somewhat, stylistically,by concluding each chapter with a review of its contents, andhis writing is clear, artful, and enjoyable. Moreover, much ofwhat makes this book shine is that we can now see the manyfactors that make up Tibetan Buddhism in relation to oneanother-Tantra, Mahayana, Terma, and Vinaya; Kadampa,Kagyu, Nyingma, and Sakya; monks, yogins, translators,and warlords; Dakpa Gyaltsen, Sakya Pandita, the DalaiLamas, Khubilai Khan, Padampa Sangye, Marpa, Milarepa,Atisa, Domton, and Rinchen Zangpo; and dozens of lesswell-known elements and personages of Tibetan Buddhism

appear here in an all-star cast and are presented in a sensible,accessible narrative. Davidson brings together a vast range oftexts, many for the first time, as well as diverse philosophicaldoctrines, religious practices, and geographical locales. Theattentive reader has much to learn from his work.

But does all this add up to a Tantric Renaissance? CanDavidson claim that it was tantra that led to a "rebirth" ofTibetan society? Davidson entitles one section of TibetanRenaissance "History as the Victory of Great Ideas andGood Organization" and for religio-political systems tosucceed, they must have both. We are given here a verycomplete account of how systems of religious transmission,institutional succession, and intellectual exchange anddevelopment emerged and transformed one another.However, Davidson's claim for tantra as a transformer ofculture is not fully substantiated in Tibetan Renaissancebecause, although we have excellent support for the GreatIdeas, the program is very much der Gipfel sehen deinander.The all-important valleys-where so many Tibetans live-are out of the picture. The exchange of ideas and texts amongelites, rulers, and literati is well-documented; what is lackingis a sense of how tantra allowed for social order and stability,collection of revenues, consolidation of polities, and all theother organizational factors that make up a society. Davidsontells us, for example, that... the twelfth century was the time when the organization

of Tibetan social life offered by the clan structure throughoutCentral Tibet became a reality for most of the monastic ordersand great denominations that prospered during the century(321)

I cannot see, at least from this account, how institutionalorganization of monasteries, teaching lineages, etc.,translated into social organization. I would propose thatthe magical wonder and ritual authority of tantra, to whichDavidson repeatedly alludes, are most likely what made thatpossible, but a fully worked-out understanding of the internaldynamics of that process is not to be had here. To be certain,though, the intellectual and institutional developmentsthat Davidson has so masterfully chronicled provided theframework for the ritual programs that integrated Tibetansociety, and for his large addition to our understanding ofTibet and its history, we should be grateful.

Chris Haskett is a PhD candidate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where his work focuses on the cultural and social historyof Buddhism in South Asia. In 2008 he will be a Fulbright-HaysFellow in India, studying the history of papadesana in IndianBuddhism.