domingo, 11 de marzo de 2018


Australasian Association of Buddhist Studies (AABS)
Dear list members,

Our next seminar will be at 6:00-7:30pm on Thursday March 15 in Lecture Theater S325 of the John Woolley Building, University of Sydney.

We hope you can attend.

Kind regards,
AABS Executive


Meditation in Tibetan Buddhism: Mind, Mahāmudrā and the Rhetoric of Immediacy

Training the mind (often labelled ‘meditation’) is one of the various aspects of Buddhist practice. Among Buddhist traditions, those of Tibet perhaps stand out most for their blend of meditative systems, centred on specific instructions (gdams ngag) and their lineages. The Great Seal (mahāmudrā) practised in the various Kagyü lineages is one such meditative technique. Tradition claims that it contains instructions for achieving Buddhahood by directly perceiving the nature of mind. A similar rhetoric of immediacy can be recognized in other Tibetan contemplative systems. When examining such, we certainly must analyse their terminologies, doctrinal developments, and systematizations. Indeed, doctrinal classification and apologetics were carried out extensively in the writings of, among others, Karmapa Mikyö Dorje (1507–54) and Drugchen Pema Karpo (1527–92). But beyond doctrinal debates and systematizations, it is the teacher who often is mentioned as the necessary condition for any approach to the Great Seal. After offering an overview of key Tibetan contemplative systems, this paper examines the function of confidence (dad pa) and devotion (mos gus) in the Great Seal traditions of Tibet. Focusing on the formative period of 13th to 17th century Tibet, this presentation illustrates these elements with some concrete examples from so far unstudied instructions. It also suggests analysing Buddhist instructions for the acquisition of meditative insight, more specifically those of the Tibetan Kagyüpa mahāmudrā, as a pragmatic heuristic adapted to the needs of different disciples.

Jim Rheingans is the Khyentse-UBEF Lecturer for Tibetan Buddhism at the University of Sydney. He holds an MA in Tibetan Studies from the University of Hamburg and a PhD from the University of the West of England. Next to various postdoctoral research projects at the University of Hamburg, he has taught at the University of Copenhagen and as Acting Professor for Tibetan Studies in Bonn. His research focuses on Tibetan literary genres, religious history and meditative traditions. Recent publications include Tibetan Literary Genres, Texts, and Text Types (2015) and the monograph The Eighth Karmapa’s Life and His Interpretation of the Great Seal (2017). 


Buddhist reliquary stupa

Gold leaf covered schist reliquary in the form of a stupa.  Kusana period, North Western India. National Museum, Karachi, Pakistan. Copyright: Huntington, John C. and Susan L.Huntington Archive