UC Santa Barbara

This dissertation provides an introduction to Buddhist prophecy (lung bstan) in Tibet, a phenomenon that is found in a wide range of literary genres. Prophecy is not limited to the literary realm alone, and together with the closely related phenomenon of divination, plays an important part in the daily life of Tibetans. This dissertation, however, confines itself to literary prophecy and excludes any deep investigation of interpretive, divinatory practices and the predictions that accompany them. Although prophecies appear throughout Tibetan history, this dissertation focuses on the fourteenth century, a time not only of the flourishing and systematization for Buddhist traditions, but also of tumult, marked by Mongol invasion and political factionalism. The fourteenth century was also the time of a world pandemic caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. This is the historical context of the texts examined in this dissertation, a context that was especially fertile for the emergence of prophecy.Different prophetic texts—and this dissertation examines several different examples—call for different interpretive approaches. In some cases, the focus is on the content of prophecy: its structure, prominent themes, and their links to the historical events that influenced their appearance and tone. In other cases, the emphasis is on the function of prophecy: how it legitimates the status of individuals, teachings, lineages, practices, doctrines, and histories. While the raw material of this study is texts, the dissertation employs historical, structural, and functional approaches to examine this literature.The reader will find all these themes and approaches throughout the dissertation's four chapters. Chapter One discusses the South Asian antecedents of Tibetan prophecy through examining the etymology, semantic range, and uses of the Sanskrit term vyākaraṇa. Chapter Two provides an overview of prophecy in Tibet by exploring different facets, themes, and functions of prophecy. It emphasizes prophecies of treasure tradition (gter ma), which are replete with allusions to the final, five-hundred-year period of the Buddha's teachings on earth, and the depravity that marks that time. Selections from Orgyen Lingpa's (O rgyan gling pa, b. 1323) Padma Chronicles (Padma bka' thang) and Sanggyé Lingpa's (Sangs rgyas gling pa, 1340-1396) Catalogue of Secret Prophecies of the Future (Ma 'ongs lung bstan gsang ba'i dkar chag bkod pa) comprise the bulk of texts examined. Chapter Three explores prophecies related to hidden lands (sbas yul), which reflect the upheaval of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and present safe locations to which select individuals can flee in order to reestablish political and religious lineages. It primarily draws upon texts attributed to Rigdzin Gödem (Rig 'dzin rgod ldem, 1337–1409). In the final chapter, the structure of prophecies is explored through an examination of the texts of Lhodrak Namkha Gyeltsen (Lho brag grub chen nam mkha' rgyal mtshan, 1326–1401)Several recurring, interconnected themes, such as decline, revitalization, and ethical intervention, will emerge throughout the chapters. For example, explicit injunctions to avoid impropriety or to cultivate virtue accompany the prophetic narratives of decline and revitalization. Improper conduct is thus believed to hasten decline and degeneration and, vice versa, virtue can reverse or at least slow it down. Prophecy can therefore serve as a vehicle to convey teachings and moral exhortations, having a didactic function. For their recipients, prophecies provide insight into normally occluded aspects of human life, such as the future, and the advice that often accompanies prophecies assists those recipients in skillfully navigating their prophesied future, which will be influenced by the choices they make in the present.