Women religious; Religious expression; Tibetan Buddhism; Songs; Nuns; Kinnaur; India; Philosophy, religion and theology; Communication and the arts; Social sciences; Buddhism
摘要
Jomos are nuns, celibate women devoted to the practice of Buddhism; Kinnaur is a Himalayan tribal district on the Tibet border in Himachal Pradesh, India. This dissertation, a first study of Kinnauri jomos, draws on fifteen months of field research focused on the songs and self-narrated lives of these Indian women in the context of village Buddhism in Kinnaur. Buddhism is known for its ability to integrate local beliefs and traditions, and this ability is one of its greatest strengths. While Mumford (1989) and Ortner (1978) have studied the encounter between Buddhism and local traditions by focusing on lama-shaman relationships and rituals, this dissertation focuses on nuns' lives and oral traditions. It argues that jomos have been major agents of Buddhism's assimilation in Kinnaur. The jomos have accomplished this in two ways. First, they compose and/or sing songs in Kinnauri vernacular ( githang) and in Tibetan (mgurma) that present Buddhist narratives, history, and ideology in local formats, language, and contexts. For example, some of the jomos' songs represent indigenous “Hindu” village gods as supporters of Buddhist projects. Secondly, jomos have created (or inherited) lifestyles and identities that are liminal, neither fully lay nor fully renunciant; and their life stories reveal their struggles to balance these two sides: on the one hand, their need to work (for family, temple, or survival) and on the other hand, their devotional and intellectual ambitions to study and practice Buddhism. This dissertation argues that because or in spite of their ambiguous position, jomos are key figures in embodying and expressing the process by which Buddhism is reproduced and given meaning locally. Chapter 1 is an overview of jomos' lives; chapter 2 looks at ideal and actual gurus and disciples; chapter 3 compares the two song genres; and chapter 4 examines jomos' self-presentations in songs and stories and asks why jomos as a rule do not sing about jomos.
目次
TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments iv Note on Languages vii Introduction 1 Kinnauri background 3 Geography Ethnicity/caste Language Kinnauri women Two religions Origins of Buddhism in Kinnaur Beginning the research 37 Research methods and materials 41 Thesis outline 57 Chapter 1 Jomos of Kinnaur 60 Who are the jomos of Kinnaur? 62 History of the jomos' lineage 69 Becoming a jomo 76 Living as a jomo 84 Religious work: Learning and practicing texts, prayers, and rituals 90 Jomos' song traditions 99 Case study: Jomos of Kanum village 106 Leaving Kanum A Kanum nun's story Chapter 2 Gurus and Disciples 122 Buddhist ideals and images of the guru 123 Gurus in nuns' songs Actual (nun) gurus and disciples 144 Chandra Mani: The biography of a (nun) guru Chapter 3 Chapter 3 Song in Kinnauri Buddhism: Githang and Mgurma 172 Two genres 173 Githang 178 Song of Negi Rinpoche, version l Song of Negi Rinpoche, version 2 Song of Lotsa Rinchen Zangbo, version l Song of Lotsa Rinchen Zangbo, version 2 Song on Impermanence Mgurma 208 Ga Rinpoche's mgurma Lama Topgyal's (Ani Dolma's) mgurna Sung-gur I Chapter 4 Kinnauri Nuns' Self-Presentation in Song and Life Story 228 Self-presentation in nuns' songs 229 Songs about female renunciation Songs in which appear female Buddhas, goddesses, and dakinis Songs about the singer/composer's (male) guru (and the guru's mother) Songs about temples, villages, miraculous events Mgurma, songs composed by lamas and written down in Tibetan Self-presentation in nuns' life stories 259 Suffering and hardship Chos Nyid Zangmo's story Upal Devi's story Renunciation Tenzin Dolma's story Acquiring knowledge (and other achievements) Chosem Dolma's story l Chosem Dolma's story 2 Bogti's story Self-presentation: Some conclusions 282 Postscript: Why don't nuns sing about nuns? 283 Chapter 5 Conclusions 288 Appendix 1 List of Jomos, lamas, and scholars 299 Appendix 2 Chos Nyid Zangmo interview 303 Appendix 3 Githang 315 Appendix 4 Mgurma 359 Appendix 5 The death of Negi Rinpoche: Tenzin Dolma's and Bogti's stories 372 Plates 394 Bibliography 407
