The writings of the Eighth Karma Mi-bskyod-rdo-rje (1507-1554): origin, transmission and genre; including a descriptive catalogue.

• Applicant: Dr. Jim Rheingans
• Subject Area: Religious Studies and Jewish Studies
• Term: from 2010 to 2017
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 157462092

The Eighth Karmapa Mi-bskyod-rdo-rje (1507-1554) was undoubtedly among the most productive scholars and mystics of the Tibetan Buddhist Karma-Kagyu tradition. He was a key religio-political figure in 16th century Tibet, a period that has seen decisive doctrinal systematizations and the stepwise solidification of religious sects. The publication of the Karmapa's vast writings in 26 volumes 2000-2004 has made important and previously unstudied sources available. Among the approximately 250 texts are commentaries to the scholastic and mystic Indian treatises, important spiritual biographies, letters to local rulers, advices, songs and countless meditation instructions along with evocation rituals. These texts are not only crucial for an examination of the life and literary works of Mi-bskyos-rdo-rje and his contemporaries but also constitute a corpus of important sources for the religious and political history of Tibet as well as more overarching literary and philosophical studies. The primary aim of this project is to make the whole of his writings accessible through exhaustive textual research, early title lists, and hagiographies. The research then critically examines the origin, transmission and reception of the collected writings. This entails an extensive descriptive catalogue along with a chronology of the life and works of the Eighth Karmapa as well as an analysis of the literary and historical contexts. Furthermore, the genre-categorisations of his writings will be portrayed in an exemplary fashion. The methodology is primarily historical-philological with some additional tools of literary studies. This research covers new ground in the religious and literary history of the Tibetan plateau and opens the way for future studies.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants