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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).
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