Gesar

One of the main aims of this book is to dispel the misconceptions and disinformation that Yungdrung Bön is a kind of Tibetan shamanism using blood sacrifices and black magic which later took on some aspects of Indian Buddhism in a deliberate attempt to appear more ‘Buddhist’. We dismantle this myth from many sides: firstly, by looking into the history and doctrines of Yungdrung Bön itself, which are the teachings of Tönpa Shenrab Miwo, the Central Asian Buddha who – according to traditional Bönpo reckoning – predates the later Indian Buddha Shakyamuni by many thousands of years; secondly, by detailing the differences and similarities between the multiple aspects of various types of Tibetan Bön; thirdly, by methodically comparing Yungdrung Bön’s base, view, path, myths, beliefs, rituals and deities with those of Tibetan Buddhism, Prehistoric Bön in general and Buryatian Bө Murgel in particular. It is my hope that the materials presented here will aid the reader in gaining a better understanding of the true relationship between Yungdrung Bön and Buddhism and thereby contribute to overcoming sectarianism, a serious obstacle for practice and study both among Tibetans and in the West.
The other tradition we shall examine in detail is Bө Murgel of Buryatia. We shall demonstrate that Bө Murgel, sometimes called Tengrism by Russian scholars, is in reality a syncretic tradition embracing several kinds of Prehistoric Bön akin to Tibetan Lha Bön and Düd Bön which, possibly, includes fragments of Yungdrung Bön along with methods from other Siberian spiritual and cultural streams. Because of this rich diversity and the many layers contained within it, and because it is a living tradition related to Tibetan Bön which can still be studied from ‘within’, Buryatian Bө Murgel can play a unique and important role in shedding light on the origins and culture of Bön. Through the comparative study of the views, myths and practical methods of Bө Murgel and what we know about the Prehistoric Bön of Tibet, poorly understood aspects of both belief systems can be further illuminated.
Our examination of living traditions and historical sources will also demonstrate that a prehistoric form, or forms, of Bön was most likely practised by many peoples over many eons in many diverse locations in Eurasia and elsewhere with considerable impact on the development of subsequent belief systems.
As for so-called ‘shamanism’, it is my hope that the detailed exposition covering the initiation process, lives and techniques of Buryatian Bө and Utgan found in this book will help to lift the veil of ignorance surrounding the indispensable qualities needed to become a shaman and the tremendous challenges, responsibilities and suffering this calling entails.
Finally, by making available hitherto unpublished materials and pictures pertaining to both Yungdrung Bön and Bө Murgel, I hope the reader will gain a wider understanding and appreciation of these little known traditions which are in fact an important part of our common world heritage.
In this study, I take an approach which may be somewhat unorthodox for research into comparative religions, namely that of an ‘insider’. That means that, while reference is made to other sources, the main core of presentations on Yungdrung Bön and Bө Murgel is based on traditional texts and information given by adherents to these traditions. This includes matters relating to the origin of the teachings, their history, mythology and so on. Although I am aware that some of the traditional dates – especially as regards Bön – are disputed by some Western and Buddhist scholars, I have chosen to follow the traditional reckoning, following the premise of ‘innocent until proven guilty’: although there is insufficient hard proof to support these ancient dates at present, they cannot be simply discarded outright as there is equally insufficient evidence to disprove traditional chronology. In Chapter XV in particular, I put forward some arguments based on scientific findings and theories which may support the antiquity of the founder of Yungdrung Bön, Tönpa Shenrab Miwo, and his teachings. As regards the study of rituals, in many instances I draw upon my own experiences and observations in both Yungdrung Bön and Bө Murgel which are pinned against materials contained in works of prominent scholars in the fields of Bön and Siberian Shamanism. I have been privileged to work closely with Yongdzin Lopön Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche and with his kind permission have included some lengthy excerpts from edited transcripts of his teachings, as well as interviews and presentations given for the purpose of this publication.
Although I have consulted many knowledgeable scholars and practitioners of both Yungdrung Bön and Bө Murgel in the course of my research, I must point out that the ideas presented in this book and the conclusions I have drawn are my own and do not represent the views of the individual practitioners or informants from Yungdrung Bön, Tibetan Buddhism or Bө Murgel unless otherwise stated. The nature of the field of this research allows for different interpretations depending on the angle from which a topic is observed and which aspects are emphasised. Research is in a state of constant flux and as new facts come to light, assumptions based on outdated information are naturally challenged. I invite readers to keep an open mind and make their own judgement on the materials and views presented here.

In recent years, there has been a resurgence of attention towards the Tibetan oral epic Gesar in the People’s Republic of China (P.R.C.). On the surface, it appears that Gesar re-enters the sight of the general public in China after the Chinese application to UNESCO was successful in 2009, by which the Gesar epic tradition is accepted and inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Immediately following the recognition from UNESCO, the Chinese
publication of, on, and about Gesar exponentially thrived. All these celebrations of Gesar sounded so merry and joyous that it almost seemed a natural gesture by UNESCO, without taking into account the role of the Chinese State Apparatuses.

Therefore, it is necessary to contextualize this event within the long and winding six decades of history of Gesar study in China, which has always been impossible to separate from political intentions. Constituted and powered by a gigantic and complex socio-cultural and political mechanism, which has been in motion behind the scenes long before 2009, many of these seemingly natural and spontaneous progressions of the modern image or representation of Gesar as a collective whole have always been carefully crafted.

The main goal of the thesis is to identify the national ideology governing Gesar, and to show how the three main active sectors, which consist of the government, academia, and the publishing world, interact, function as, and formulate themselves into what Althusser describes as Ideological State Apparatuses, in order to reterritorialize Tibet and Tibetan culture through representing Gesar. Lastly, the final chapter is dedicated to efforts made, no matter how feeble, scattered, or spontaneous, struggling to deterritorialize the Chinese representation supported and endorsed by the hegemonic Ideological State Apparatuses.

This paper focuses on a motif sequence common to some Central Eurasian heroic epics – the different variations of the North Caucasian Nart Epic and a Tibetan, as well as a Mongolian version of the Gesar Epic. The core of the episode is the hunt of the protagonist, where the hero tries to bring down the wonderful deer that appears in front of them. Later it turns out that this animal is actually not a deer, but the daughter of a foreign king, while in the Mongolian Geser Epic she is the daughter of the Dragon King and sister of the powerful Monster. Although the Mongolian Geser Saga is of Tibetan origin, the main motifs and characters of the Chapter VI are of North Central Asian (Scytho-Siberian and probably Hsiung-nu)1 origin: two heroes, hunting, the fleeing wonderful deer, traces leading to the castle, where the chased animal is no longer waiting for its’ pursuers in the shape of a deer, but as a woman, and at last marriage (all this is most probably valid for the Tibetan version ultimately as well). With the methods of comparative motif analysis, I intend to prove, that even if the figures of the Monster’s sister and the Dragon King are originated from the Buddhist culture, their mythical function is inherited from the shamanic rituals, origin myths, and later times from the heroic epic of the Central Eurasian steppe region.

Scholars and observers have noticed an emerging pattern in the world wherein communities that have suffered a period of cultural and religious repression, when faced with freedom, experience a sudden surge in certain aspects of cultural practice. The most interesting of these are the so-called “involuntary” practices, such as trance, and spontaneous spirit possession.  Why is it that, in the period of freedom when many missionary groups, traditional and foreign, arrive to make claims on souls, we see a disproportionate resurgence of indigenous, non-missionary practices?  And why especially those practices in which the practitioner has no conscious control?

I aim to explore the significance of the revival of indigenous practices, both voluntary and involuntary, their connection to the assertion of cultural identity after a period of intense repression, and their significance to the formation of development and research approaches in such regions.  In this paper, I will look at two examples of cultural revival: Böö Mörgöl (commonly referred to as “Mongolian Shamanism” or “Tengerism”) in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, and the revival of Gesar cultural and religious practices in Kham, Tibet, primarily in Yushu, Qinghai province, China.

The oral recitations of the modern Tibetan epic bard Grags pa (1906-1986) were transcribed and published extensively by the Gesar Research Institute of Tibet University in Lhasa. The publication of these recitations raise many questions about the nature of the Gesar Epic and claims about its length and coherence as a corpus. This article addresses such questions as well as providing a translation (from Tibetan) of a biography of Grags-pa, and a full translation of his narration of the birth of the epic hero.

The textual and oral Tibetan traditions concerning Gling Gesar exist in a relationship of symbiosis. Most of the textual versions owe a direct debt to oral performances of the epic. But as this article shows, oral performers, even illiterate ones such as the late Bard Bsam-grub, can reproduce almost verbatim entire passages one also finds in textual, literary sources. This suggests quite clearly how texts can also influence the oral tradition, as well as vice versa.

The Tibetan Gesar bard Bsam-grub (1922-2011) was arguably the greatest Tibetan epic singer of modern times. His recitations of the Gesar epic are rich and poetic, and have been published at length. Though illiterate his recitations incorporated both orala nd literary elements drawn from the textual tradition (as shown in FitzHerbert 2009. This is a short article in praise of Bsam-grub which includes a translation from his bardic prelude to the episode in which Gesar slays the Demon of the North.

Ce volume rend hommage aux travaux pionniers de Mireille Helffer qui s’étendent sur plus d’un demi-siècle. Musicienne, ethnomusicologue pas­sionnée, elle s’est rendue dès la fin des années 1960 d’abord au Népal, puis en Inde et au Tibet. Elle a su inspirer plusieurs générations de chercheurs en Occident et en Asie. Si les études rassemblées ici sont, pour la plupart, consacrées aux thèmes qui lui sont chers — littérature orale au Népal, épopée tibétaine de Gesar, musique liturgique et danses sacrées — une large part est laissée au bouddhisme, à la littérature et à l’art tibétains.