The Mythic Journey and its Symbolism: a Study of the Development of Buddhist Guidebooks to Sambhala in Relation to their Antecedents in Hindu Mythology
The theme of the mythic journey has provided a powerful vehicle for symbolism expressing the deepest concerns of many different religious and cultural traditions. This dissertation examines the treatment and development of this theme in guidebooks to Sambhala, an earthly paradise of Indian and Tibetan mythology that is said to hold the highest of Buddhist teachings for a time in the future when Buddhism will be lost in the world outside. After presenting a survey of indigenous literature and translations of key Tibetan texts, the dissertation analyzes the myth of Sambhala into its three basic themes of the messianic history and prophecy, the earthly paradise, and the mythic journey. It traces the development of these themes in Tibet and examines the ways in which they have appropriated and transformed material from a variety of sources in Hindu mythology, including the prophecy of the Kalki avatar of Visnu and itineraries to the northern paradise of Uttarakuru in the Ramayana and Mahabharata. This section includes translations from Sanskrit of pertinent passages from the two epics. Drawing on tension and interaction theories of metaphor, the dissertation goes on to formulate and apply the concept of metaphoric juxtaposition as a means of elucidating the underlying process governing the development of the mythic journey to Sambhala and the syncretism found in it. Starting from a comparison with the conquest and search of the four quarters in the Mahabharata and Ramayana, this part of the study shows how the two main guidebooks to Sambhala, the Sambhala'i lam yig and Kalapavatara, reflect the influence of juxtaposition with various conceptions of sadhana and marga--ritual practice and the path to enlightenment in Buddhism. The concluding chapter extends the concept of metaphoric juxtaposition to the other two themes of the myth, showing how they have been shaped by additional root metaphors of kingship and conquest. The conclusion points out the general nature of the approach developed in the dissertation and suggests a number of promising areas for its application in the analysis of doctrine, ritual, pilgrimage, and other religious and cultural phenomena.
