Gloria I-Ling CHIEN is an assistant professor of Religious Studies at Gonzaga University, where she teaches Buddhism, Buddhist meditation, and religions of Asia.
關鍵詞
Buddhist hagiography; namtar; lojong; Tokmé Zangpo; the jātaka tales
摘要
Tibetan Buddhist lojong (Tib. blo sbyong), or “mind training,” is a specific approach that aims to develop the preeminent ideal of Mahāyāna Buddhism, the cultivation of the awakening mind (bodhicitta). Best known as Gyelsé Tokmé or Ngülchü Tokmé, lojong master Tokmé Zangpo (1295–1369) advocated for the importance of the bodhisattva tenets and lojong teachings. His Thirty-Seven Practices of the Bodhisattvas has drawn the most attention from today’s Tibetan Buddhist masters, such as the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, and laity alike. In spite of this significance, how Tibetan hagiographical texts (namtar, Tib. rnam thar) have portrayed Tokmé Zangpo as a model lojong master and bodhisattva has received little academic attention. By identifying particular themes in an early Tokmé Zangpo namtar written by Zhönnu Gyeltsen, The Guide to Your Devotion: Precious Gyelsé Tokmé’s Life, I offer the first scholarly discussion on how namtar commemorates Tokmé Zangpo’s sanctity. I first reveal how Zhönnu Gyeltsen’s institutional affiliation influenced his promotion of Tokmé Zangpo’s ancestral background. I further argue that the text shapes Tokmé Zangpo’s compassionate character by relating it to his childhood behaviors and extreme magnanimous actions, which mirror the Indian master Asaṅga’s life story and the jātaka tales. Finally, I examine how the text establishes Tokmé Zangpo’s lojong legacy through the lens of his connections with the Tibetan Kadam school and his achievement in visualization meditation. In conclusion, this analysis uncovers rhetorical strategies that concern a prominent master in Tibetan namtar literature. This study moreover contributes to the larger field of Buddhist hagiography and the examination of how its polyvocalic and didactic dimensions present moral behaviors of an exceptional individual, transforming a person from an ordinary figure into a master and thereby inspiring readers to follow and imitate their footsteps.
目次
Abstract Introduction 169 Situating Lojong and Tokmé Zangpo in History 170 Tokmé Zangpo as Portrayed in Guide to Your Devotion 173 Noble Ancestral Background 176 An Unusually Empathetic Child 178 Tokmé Zangpo’s Extraordinarily Moral Behavior 181 Tokmé Zangpo’s Legacy in the Lojong Tradition 187 Conclusion 189 References 199
