Ritual is one of the most pervasive religious phenomena in the Tibetan cultural world. Despite its ubiquity and importance to Tibetan cultural life, however, only in recent years has Tibetan ritual been given the attention it deserves. This is the first scholarly collection to focus on this important subject. Unique in its historical, geographical and disciplinary breadth, this book brings together eleven essays by an international cast of scholars working on ritual texts, institutions and practices in the greater Tibetan cultural world - Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, and Mongolia. While most of the chapters focus on Buddhism, two deal with ritual in Tibet's indigenous Bon religion. All of the essays are original to this volume. An extensive introduction by the editor provides a broad overview of Tibetan ritual and contextualizes the chapters within the field of Buddhist and Tibetan studies. The book should find use in advanced undergraduate courses and graduate seminars on Tibetan religion. It will also be of interest to students and scholars of ritual generally.

Introduction - Jos? Ignacio Cabez?n1: Written Texts at the Juncture of the Local and the Global: Some Anthropological Considerations on a Local Corpus of Tantric Ritual Manuals (Lower Mustang, Nepal) - Nicolas Sihl?2: Tibetan Indigenous Myths and Rituals with Reference to the Ancient B?n Text: The Nyenbum (Gnyan 'bum) - Samten Karmay3: Continuity and Change in Tibetan Mah?yoga Ritual: Some Evidence from the Tabzhag (Thabs zhags) Manuscript and other Dunhuang Texts - Robert Mayer and Cathy Cantwell4: The Convergence of Theoretical and Practical Concerns in a Single Verse of the Guhyasam?ja Tantra - Yael Bentor5: Chilu ('Chi bslu): Rituals for "Deceiving Death" - Irmgard Mengele6: Representations of Efficacy: the Ritual Expulsion of Mongol Armies in the Consolidation and Expansion of the Tsang (Gtsang) Dynasty - James Gentry7: The "Calf's Nipple" (Be'u bum) of Ju Mipam ('Ju Mi pham): A Handbook of Tibetan Ritual Magic - Bryan J. Cuevas8: Tamdrin (Rta mgrin) Rituals in the B?n Tradition: Transforming Poison and Eliminating Noxious Spirits with Burning Stones - Marc des Jardins9: Texts as Deities: Mongols' Rituals of Worshipping S?tras and Rituals of Accomplishing Various Goals by Means of S?tras - Vesna Wallace10: The Ritual Veneration of Mongolia's Mountains - Jared Lindahl11: Encounter With a Dream: Bhutanese Pilgrims in Tibet. Performing a Ritual? - Fran?oise PommaretBibliographyIndex