My thesis is a profile of the Tibetan Buddhist protector deity Rāhula (Tib: Khyab 'jug chen po), particularly the ritual/magic and mythic complex that surrounds the cult of this deity. However, I will be using Rāhula as a case study to make a larger theoretical point. Namely, I will argue that the cult of Rāhula, as it developed in Tibet, was part of a broader Buddhist campaign to demonize the landscape of Tibet for missionizing and political purposes, in what we might call the mandalization of Tibet. While this took place in Tibet approximately from the twelfth century through the seventeenth, I will further argue that Buddhism, since its inception and as it developed in India, rested firmly on the foundation of a cosmology teeming with spirits (or daimons, to use a Greek umbrella term for a host of different kinds of beings). That is to say, conceptions of daimons like Rāhula have historically been intimately connected with Buddhist doctrine and philosophy. As such, I will critique both the borrowing model and (to a lesser extent) the substratum model which both suggest that daimon cults are somehow an amalgamation or epiphenomenon in Buddhism. I am particularly interested in using Rāhula as a case study because he represents a peculiar case of Tibetan elaboration upon an Indian antecedent. Rāhula, or Rāhu in Indian conceptions, has been a more or less abstract cosmological force that is synonymous with malignancy. While all the other planets (Skt. graha, Tib. gza') are deemed to be gods, Rāhula alone is an asura (demon or titan), in fact the only asura to have tasted the elixir of immortality. Thus he is regarded as a particularly fierce enemy of the gods. By the early second millennium in Tibet, Rāhula has become a high-level Buddhist dharma protector (specifically of the Dzokchen (Rdzogs chen) tradition of Nyingma (Rnying ma) philosophy) and an emanation of the bodhisattva Mañjuśrī (or often, Vajrapāṇi). He has historically been heavily associated with destructive rites or war magic, and weather-making magic. There are a number of specific questions concerning this particular deity that I intend to answer in my thesis, in particular: How do the mythology and astrological functions of Rāhula in Tibet relate to Indian antecedents? Why might Buddhists have transformed a relatively minor figure in Hindu mythology in such a significant way? Who were some of the Tibetan figures involved in valorizing this deity? What larger social and political climate in Tibet might have contributed to this transformation? How might Rāhula's mythology relate to Buddhist philosophy, specifically Dzokchen thought? / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Religion in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Religion. / Spring Semester, 2012. / April 2, 2012. / Buddhism, Deities, India, Protectors, Tibet / Includes bibliographical references. / Bryan Cuevas, Professor Directing Thesis; Jimmy Yu, Committee Member; Kathleen Erndl, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_185057 |
| Contributors | Bailey, Cameron (authoraut), Cuevas, Bryan (professor directing thesis), Yu, Jimmy (committee member), Erndl, Kathleen (committee member), Department of Religion (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
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