Reaffirming the ‘Origins’ of Mahamudra

S e r i e  O r i e n t a l e  R o m a CVI

Asian Hor izons Gi useppe T ucci’s Bu ddh ist, I n di a n, H i m a laya n a n d Cen t r a l Asi a n St u di es Ed ited by A. A. Di Cast ro a nd D. T em plem a n

Melbou r ne 2 01 5

Contents Preface............................................................................................................. xi Introduction.....................................................................................................xv

PART I 1. Giuseppe Tucci, anti-Orientalist..................................................................3 Gustavo Benavides

2. A glimpse of some archives on Giuseppe Tucci’s scientific expeditions to Tibet: 1929–1939................................................................................... 16 Francesco D’A relli

3. The problem with folk: Giuseppe Tucci and the transformation of folksongs into scientific artefacts.............................................................. 45 Ruth Gamble

4. “A very useful lie”: Giuseppe Tucci, Tibet, and scholarship under dictatorship...............................................................................................68 A lex McK ay

5. The “thought” of Giuseppe Tucci..............................................................83 Francesco Sferra

PART II 6. Reaffirming the “origins” of Mahāmudrā............................................... 113 Giovanni A rca

7. The implication of Giuseppe Tucci’s work for epic and Purāṇic studies........175 Greg Bailey

8. Merchants, mercenaries and monarchs: Christians in Safavid Iran......... 184 James Barry

9. A survey of Sassanian seals.................................................................... 197 Z ohreh Baseri

10. The Bodhisattva Vajrapāṇi’s Laghutantraṭīkā and the rotation of yoginīs: structure of the maṇḍala and dynamic motion....................... 210 Claudio Cicuzza

11. Nibbāna as the fruit of meritorious deeds in the Apadāna....................... 229 Chris Clark

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12. Mapping the Buddhist sacred status of Triloknāth.................................. 241 Diana Cousens

13. Goat heads and goddesses in Swāt , Gandhāra and Kashmir and connected problems................................................................................. 263 A ngelo A ndrea Di Castro

14. The theory and practice of the Mandala: ritual and identity in the Kabīr Panth....................................................................................... 296 P eter Friedlander

15. Philosophical reasoning and spiritual practice: Giuseppe Tucci on Buddhist philosophical systems.............................................................. 313 A ndrew McGarrity

16. The story of Bon in the Naxi Dongba religion.........................................348 Christine M athieu

17. Under the female gaze: Isabella Bird’s travels among the Tibetans.........409 Isabella Ofner

18. The creation of theism personified: a conceptual history of the god-maker Avalokiteśvara....................................................................... 431 I ain Sinclair

19. Revising Tucci’s sixteenth—seventeenth century: new data on Tibet’s Civil War (1603–1621)................................................................. 479 David Templeman

20. Google Earth™ @ Ghazni....................................................................... 495 David Thomas

21. Rediscovering rainbow colour in the textile aesthetic of Bhutan............. 529 A lathea Vavasour

22. The classical Arabs’ thought, Bayazid al-Ansari (1525–1572) and his mystical work Maqsud al-Mu’minin: mysticism and Sunni orthodoxy in the Pakhtun zone.................................................................................544 Dennis Walker

23. Cultures of the body: medical pluralism, bacteria and Tibetan refugees..........585 Tanya Zivkovic

List of Illustations.......................................................................................... 597 Contributors...................................................................................................605 Rome Oriental Series.....................................................................................609

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GIOVANNI ARCA

REAFFIRMING THE "ORIGINS" OF MAHAMUDRA

cultural landscape two great spiritual traditions, In the vast Mahiimudrii and rDzogs chen, have crossed paths many and in many ways. A debate about their origins, similarities and differences developed not later than the twelfth century and went on for many hundreds of years. Socio-political considerations, "technical" aspects of the practice, insti­ "esoteric" value of spiritual transmission may all be considered tutional concurrent in this debate. What stands out in the texts presented and commented on here, however, is the concern of the authors for what can be defined as a "spiritual integrity" of the Mahiimudrii tradition. The main reason for this concern seems to be the effectiveness of the teaching itself, and the difference any "contamination" can make the judgement of results of the relative spiritual practices. This, and not a different teachings, was in fact the fo�us of the debate on the "origins" of Mahiimudrii. MAHAMUDRA, RDZOGS

CHEN, CHAN AND THE TUCCI LEGACY

The debate around the origins of Mahiimudrii is closely connected to the studies on the origins of rDzogs chen, to which Giuseppe Tucci has contributed with his research. Tucci explored the possible connections

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Asian Horizons: Studies in Honour of Giuseppe Tucci and His Legacy

between the Chinese Ch 'an and rDzogs chen, reviewing and updating his arguments when new documents and translations became available.1 His arguments on possible original links between Ch 'an and rDzogs chen have been the obj ect of a variety of reactions: scholars have alternated acceptance, refusal and a varied mix of the two, according to their interpretations and the evidence that became progressively available.2 The difficulty of the subject is clearly by the simple fact that the discussion is still alive today and it does not seem that a conclusive position can be easily reached. It is inevitable that new findings and new evidences inform newer and more precise interpretations of texts and historical phenomena: no pioneer scholarly work can survive intact through time, confronted with new research other scholars have been able to make, which often build on the previous works. What I think is more relevant, though, is that Tucci was able to identify the fundamental element in a of views which spanned many the gradualist and the non-gradualist approach to paths, which encompassed interest in the Tantric traditions, Tibetan Buddhism, the nexus between Chinese and Taoism, and Mongol socio-religious strategies. This approach is the same core element which is present in the around the origins of Mahiimudra and its differences with rDzogs chen, and is also the reason why it represents a fundamental point in this article. It is repeatedly mentioned in the Sa skya bka' 'bum, in reference to a rDzogs chen of "Chinese style". This "Chinese rDzogs chen" was apparently quite close to Ch 'an and possibly influenced by other religious traditions as, for example, Taoism. Evidence of a complex coexistence of different religious elements whose origin is uncertain is provided by the ongoing research on the in particular those related to Ch 'an and Tantric Buddhism.4

Initially in Tucci 1 95 8 : 1 02, with later reflections present in Tucci 1 988: 1 1 1 5 . Among those who highlighted the doctrinal similarities between Ch 'an and rDzogs chen we find Walter Evans Wentz, almost at the same time of Giuseppe Tucci's Minor Buddhist Texts (Evans Wentz 1 954, 2000); Ueyama Daishun (1 983); Jeffrey Broughton (1 983); Carmen Meinert (2002). Among those more inclined to view a relatively more independent origin of the two traditions, distancing themselves from Tucci's view, there are Per Kvaerne (1 983); Samten Karmay (1 988); Raymond E. Robertson and Kenneth K. Tanaka (1 992). From the eighth century to at least the thirteenth century. From the seminal work of Paul Demieville, Le Concile de Lhasa: un controverse sur le quietisme entre bouddhistes de l 'Inde et de la Chine au VJJJe siecle d