Sentience of the Earth
Eco-Buddhist Mandalizing of Dwelling Place in Amdo, Tibet
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/jsrnc.v8i4.19481Keywords:
Tibet, Lived Buddhism, emplacement, mandalization, ancestral memoryAbstract
I present a case study of Tibetan Buddhism as a lived religion embodied in the greater environment of a village in eastern Amdo, Tibet. Speci?cally, I explore the interconnectedness of place-based Buddhist practices that, I argue, present an example of care for sacred landscapes in Tibetan Buddhism. Based on my ethnographic work, I make a threefold argument. First, Buddhism in Tibet can be viewed as ‘an emplaced religion’ signifying the antecedent role of place in forging the complex intertwinement of the Earth and humans. Second, the sacredness in the local landscape entails a shared, hierarchical entwinement of place, humans, and gods. Third, the way the villagers, especially the lay tantric yogis, consecrate their environment expresses their connection and care for the landscape.
References
———. 2007b. ‘Studying Everyday Religion: Challenges for the Future’, in N.T. Ammerman (ed.), Everyday Religion: Observing Modern Religious Lives (London: Oxford University Press): 219-38. Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195305418.003.0013.
Bender, Barbara. 2002. ‘Time and Landscape’, Current Anthropology 43: S103-S112. Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/339561.
Bender, Courtney. 2012. ‘Practicing Religions’, in Robert Orsi (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Religious Studies (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press): 273-95.
Casey, Edward. 1993. Getting Back into Place: Toward a Renewed Understanding of the Place-World (Bloomington: Indiana University Press).
———. 1997. The Fate of Place: A Philosophical History (Berkeley: University of California Press).
Eliade, M. 1959. The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion (New York: Harper).
Gibson, James J. 1986. The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception (New York: Psychology Press).
Grapard, Allan G. 1982. ‘Flying Mountains and Walkers of Emptiness: Toward a De
