Social Life of Tibetan Biography (eBook)

The Social Life of Tibetan Biography outlines the growth of the Buddhist tradition of the Tibetan teacher Tokden Shakya Shri (1853–1919) through charting his biographical tradition and its influence on the development of his community. Tokden Shakya Shri’s tradition is an important exemplar of interpersonal exchange on the margins between East and South Asia, connections between text and social community, and the diversity of Tibetan Buddhist practice and institutional forms at the turn of the twentieth century.

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The Social Life of Tibetan Biography explores the creation of Tibetan religious authority in Tibetan cultural areas throughout East, Inner, and South Asia through engaging with the relationship between textual biography and social community in the case of the Eastern Tibetan yogi Tokden Shakya Shri (18531919). It explores the different mechanisms used by Shakya Shri's community in the creation of his biographical portrait to develop his lineage, including the use of biographical tropes, details of interpersonal connections, educational and patronage networks, and representations of sacred site creation and maintenance. In doing so, this study decenters Tibetan and Himalayan religious history through recognizing that peripheries could act as alternative centers of authority for diverse Tibetan Buddhist communities.