The White Cotton Robe

Charisma and Clothes in Tibetan Buddhism Today

in Religion and Society
Author:
Magdalena Maria Turek Bonn University turek@uni-bonn.de

Search for other papers by Magdalena Maria Turek in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3167/arrs.2017.080111
Keywords:
charisma; clothing; Milarepa; Tantric training; Tibet; tummo; ves-timentary practices
Restricted access

All currencies in US Dollar

PayPal Logo

ABSTRACT

Contextualized in discussions around charisma as originally conceived by Max Weber, this article examines the case of Tsültrim Tarchin, a charismatic adept from Eastern Tibet whose everyday dress consists of a specialized garment, a white cotton robe. Earned as a mark of virtuosity in the Tantric tummo practice and worn as a sign of an ascetic lifestyle, this robe functions as a key instrument in Tsültrim Tarchin’s charismatic actions. More than a repository of power and beyond insignia that signify privilege or superiority, the religious garment I consider in this article does not merely channel the routinized charisma of the lineage. It also effectively augments the master’s personal power through the performativity of its symbolism, while its real potency lies in structuring all meanings within the master’s network of influence.

Contributor Notes

MAGDALENA MARIA TUREK obtained her PhD in Tibetan Studies from Humboldt University Berlin and is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at Bonn University. Her work focuses on the contemporary religious and ethnic revival in Eastern Tibet, especially in the former kingdoms of Nangchen and Dege. Specific research interests include sainthood, charisma, and materiality in Tibetan societies and Buddhism in general as well as histories and the production of memory in Eastern Tibet today. E-mail: turek@uni-bonn.de

  • Collapse
  • Expand

Religion and Society

Advances in Research

Cover Religion and Society
Article Category:
Research Article
Page Count:
16
Keywords:
charisma; clothing; Milarepa; Tantric training; Tibet; tummo; ves-timentary practices
Print Publication Date:
01 Sep 2017
Online Publication Date:
01 Sep 2017
Copyright:
© Berghahn Books 2017

  • Abeysekara, Ananda. 2002. Colors of the Robe: Religion, Identity, and Difference. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press.

  • Berthomé, François, and Michael Houseman. 2010. “Ritual and Emotions: Moving Relations, Patterned Effusions.” Religion and Society: Advances in Research 1: 57–75.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Bilu, Yoram. 2013. “Habad, Messianism, and the Phantom Charisma of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson.” In Lindholm 2013a, 213–238.

  • Clark, William. 2006. Academic Charisma and the Origins of the Research University. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

  • Csordas, Thomas J. 1997. Language, Charisma, and Creativity: The Ritual Life of a Religious Movement. Berkeley: University of California Press.

  • DiValerio, David M. 2015. The Holy Madmen of Tibet. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  • Feuchtwang, Stephan. 2008. “Suggestions for a Redefinition of Charisma.” Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions 12 (2): 90–105.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Gonsalves, Peter. 2010. Clothing for Liberation: a Communication Analysis of Gandhi’s Swadeshi Revolution. New Delhi: Sage.

  • Goossaert, Vincent, and David Ownby. 2008. “Mapping Charisma in Chinese Religion: Introduction and Glossary.” Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions 12 (2): 3–11.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Grigo, Jacqueline. 2015. Religiöse Kleidung: Vestimentäre Praxis zwischen Identität und Differenz. Bielefeld: Transcript Verlag.

  • Huang, C. Julia. 2008. “Gendered Charisma in the Buddhist Tzu Chi (Ciji) Movement.” Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions 12 (2): 29–47.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Kelley, Eric Michael. 2013. “The Routinization of Improvisation in Avá-Guaraní Shamanic Leadership.” In Lindholm 2013a, 169–190.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Kieschnick, John. 1999. “The Symbolism of the Monk’s Robe in China.” Asia Major 12 (1): 9–32.

  • Kieschnick, John. 2007. “Material Culture.” In The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Emotion, ed. John Corrigan, 223–237. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Kleinberg, Aviad M. 1992. Prophets in Their Own Country: Living Saints and the Making of Sainthood in the Later Middle Ages. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Larsson, Stefan. 2012. Crazy for Wisdom: The Making of a Mad Yogin in Fifteenth-Century Tibet. Leiden: Brill.

  • Lindholm, Charles. 2013a. The Anthropology of Religious Charisma: Ecstasies and Institutions. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

  • Lindholm, Charles. 2013b. “Introduction: Charisma in Theory and Practice.” In Lindholm 2013a, 1–30.

  • Martin, Dan. 1994. “Pearls from Bones: Relics, Chortens, Tertons and the Signs of Saintly Death in Tibet.” Numen 41 (3): 273–324.

  • Palmer, David A. 2008. “Embodying Utopia: Charisma in the Post-Mao Qigong Craze.” Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions 12 (2): 69–89.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Perinbanayagam, Robert S. 1971. “The Dialectics of Charisma.” Sociological Quarterly 12 (3): 387–402.

  • Quintman, Andrew. 2014. The Yogin and the Madman: Reading the Biographical Corpus of Tibet’s Great Saint Milarepa. New York: Columbia University Press.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Ray, Reginald A. 1994. Buddhist Saints in India: A Study in Buddhist Values and Orientations. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  • Sharf, Robert H. 1999. “On the Allure of Buddhist Relics.” Representations 66: 75–99.

  • sKu rgyal karma ‘phrin las ‘od zer. 1982. Dpal ‘ba’ rom pa chen po’i brgyud pa gser gyi phreng ba [The Golden Garland: The lineage of the glorious Barom Kagyu]. New Delhi: Karma Trinley Woeser.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Sperling, Elliot. 1987. “Lama to the King of Hsia.” Journal of the Tibet Society 7: 31–50.

  • Tambiah, Stanley J. 1984. The Buddhist Saints of the Forest and the Cult of Amulets: A Study in Charisma, Hagiography, Sectarianism, and Millennial Buddhism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Tanabe, Willa Jane. 2004. “Robes and Clothing.” In Encyclopedia of Buddhism, vol. 2, ed. Robert E. Buswell, Jr., 731–735. New York: Macmillan Reference USA.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Tsomu, Yudru. 2014. The Rise of Gönpo Namgyel in Kham: The Blind Warrior of Nyarong. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.

  • Turek, Maria M. 2013. “‘In This Body and Life’: The Religious and Social Significance of Hermits and Hermitages in Eastern Tibet Today and During Recent History.” PhD diss., Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Weber, Max. (1922) 1980. Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft: Grundriß der verstehenden Soziologie. ed. Johannes Winckelmann. Tübingen: Mohr.

  • Wu, Keping. 2013. “Performing the Charismatic Ritual.” In Lindholm 2013a, 33–57.

  • Zhang Yisun. 1985. Bod rgya tshig mdzod chen mo [The great Tibetan-Chinese dictionary]. Vol. 2. Beijing: Mi rigs dpe skrun khang.

Metrics

All Time Past Year Past 30 Days
Abstract Views 6821 4454 447
Full Text Views 60 7 4
PDF Downloads 80 12 4