History and Myth
Mahāmudrā Lineage Accounts in the 12th-Century Xixia Buddhist Literature
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3587700 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Linghui Zhang (0009-0005-3782-0314, University of Virginia, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2019 |
| Volume | 10 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 187 |
| Publication date | 2019-03-12 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Religions (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444 |
| Publisher | MDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT) |
| DOI | 10.3390/rel10030187 |
| OpenAlex | W2920817804 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 7 |
Mahāmudrā-an Indo-Tibetan phenomenon of Buddhist spirituality-constitutes in its systematic presentation a path that maps out the mystical quest for direct experience of ultimate reality. Despite the post-15th century bKa'-brgyud attempts at a codified Mahāmudrā genealogy, the early Tibetan sources speak little with regards to how the different Indian Mahāmudrā threads made their way over the Himalayas. To fill this gap, the article investigates, via philological and historical approaches, the lineage accounts in the 12th-century Xixia Mahāmudrā materials against the Indo-Tibetan Buddhist landscape. Three transmission lines are detected. Among them, two lines are attested by later Tibetan historiographical accounts about Mahāmudrā, and thus belong to an Indo-Tibetan continuum of the constructed Buddhist yogic past based upon historical realities-at least as understood by Tibetans of the time. The third one is more of a collage patching together different claims to spiritual legacy and religious authority-be they historically based or introspectively projected. Not only does the Mahāmudrā topography, jointly fueled by these three transmissions, reveal the Xixia recognition and imagination of the Indo-Tibetan Buddhist legacies, it also captures the complexities of the multi-faceted picture of Mahāmudrā on its way over the Himalayas during the 11th/12th century
Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Buddhism · Historiography · Literature · Mysticism · Mythology · Spirituality · Chinese history and philosophy · Classics · Eurasian Exchange Networks · History · Indian and Buddhist Studies · Medicine
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,29 |
| Citation span | 2019 - 2025 (7) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |