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ABSTRACT
Since the end of the socialist period, Mongolia has experienced economic instabilities, growing inequalities, and increasing urbanisation. Prosperity (dallaga) rituals, once predominantly carried out by nomadic herders at specific times of the year, are now also held regularly within Ulaanbaatar’s Buddhist temples. In these ceremonies, Buddhist lamas and lay participants attempt to ‘call’ or ‘pull’ wealth to the household. In this urban context, prosperity rituals are overtly about money, combining nomadic notions of wealth, sedentary ideas of growth and multiplication, and contemporary anxieties regarding growing corruption and inequality. Following from nomadic ideas that link prosperity with movement, dallaga rituals attempt to influence the ways that money travels around the economy. As money has seed like qualities, one must be careful to ensure that the right kind of money is attracted to the household so that it does not multiply the misfortunes that are thought to characterise money made through ill-gotten means.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1 See Comaroff and Comaroff (Citation1999) for economic parallels that arose with the growth of occult economies in South Africa.
2 Ger neighbourhoods are areas of land that are made up of fenced enclosures that contain within them one or a number of gers (nomadic felt tents) and sometimes one or more concrete house structures. They frequently lack basic infrastructure such as running water.
3 This paper will use the word ‘lama’ to refer to robed monastics as it follows from the local term lam. The term does not imply advancement in Buddhist hierarchies as it does in some Tibetan Buddhist usages.
4 A region that extends from south of the Mongolian border within China, to north of the Mongolian border within Russia and includes the Kalmyk area of Western Russia.
5 It was estimated to me by lamas in Gandan’s administration that 300 lamas working at Gandan received a salary and a further 500 were connected to Gandan in some other informal or formal way, carrying out rituals or otherwise participating in temple activities.
6 The eight auspicious signs are: the white conch shell symbolising the call to awakening through the sound of the Buddhist teachings; the parasol symbolising protection; the victory banner symbolising victory against the impurities of body, speech and mind; the two golden fish symbolising fearlessness; the Dharma wheel symbolising the turning of the wheel of Dharma and the spreading of the Buddhist teachings; the endless knot symbolising interdependence; the lotus flower symbolising the possibility of enlightenment growing from impurity and suffering; the vase symbolising the treasures of health, longevity and prosperity.
7 The Mongolian sky, due to its distance from the ocean, is often unobstructed by clouds. There are around 250 sunny days a year in Mongolia.
8 Talk of pulling wealth is also present amongst the Urapmin (Robbins Citation1999: 95).
9 A deel is a traditional Mongolian costume. It is a long silk tunic tied together with a sash. It is worn by lay people for trips to the countryside or on festive occasions, and as a winter uniform for lamas. Many Mongolian lamas wear deels that are burgundy or yellow with sky blue (tsenher) up-turned cuffs at the bottom of the sleeves.
10 A Vajra (ochir) is a ritual object that represents rapid awakening. It is said to assist awakening that is as fast as a thunderbolt and as cutting as a diamond.
11 I was told to hand the lamas the bag as this was my first ceremony. I was the only person to do so as all the other participants likely had their bags already at home on the shrine.
12 Bodhisattvas are enlightened beings who have delayed their own enlightenment to help others. Dharmapālas are Buddhist protectors.
13 Handbags are treated with a great deal of respect in Mongolia and are never placed on the floor. To place a handbag on the floor is thought to disrespect their contents.
14 Buddhist institutions whose central aim is to educate the lay population about Buddhist philosophy and transformative practices. There are a number of these in Ulaanbaatar. The bulk of my fieldwork was carried out at two transnational Dharma Centers, Jampa Ling located to the west of the city centre which is an organisation headed by Panchen Ötrul Rinpoche a Tibetan born lama that now lives in Ireland, and the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition’s Shredrup Ling which is located in the city centre. I spent around 22 months carrying out fieldwork in Ulaanbaatar from 2009-2010 and again in 2013, 2015 and 2016. The people with whom I communicated were from a range of backgrounds. Those I met in my daily life in the centre of the city where I lived, tended to be from middle-class backgrounds. The lamas I spoke to and the friends and acquaintances I made at the Dharma Centers I spent time at, were from a range of socio-economic backgrounds, some having experienced severe poverty.
15 These strategies were common of the Buddhist monks I spoke to in the Buddhist pilgrimage town in Bodh Gaya, India.
16 See also Robbins (Citation1999).