Buddhism, Power, Identity: The Transnational Buryat Buddhist Living Tradition

Abstract

The article views the ethno-cultural map of the Eurasian space through the lens of Buryatia by focusing on its transnational living Buddhist tradition. It discusses the evolution of this tradition and the underlying forces that shaped Buryat Buddhist mobility amidst political and socio-economic transformations and intricate power dynamics. Based on new evidence, the study uncovers the legacy of Buryats who advanced Buddhism beyond national frontiers, thereby creating a transnational community rooted in a shared cultural code, and reveals emerging trends and reconfigurations in the post-Soviet Buryat Buddhist renaissance. This heritage could reposition Buryatia in the transnational landscape and lead to a rethinking of collective identity, agency and global interdependence in the twenty-first century.

Acknowledgement

The author is grateful to Geshe Dobdon for useful Tibetan translation and interpretation; Aldar-lama for helpful research assistance; the anonymous reviewers and editors of Europe-Asia Studies, Nikolay Tsyrempilov and participants of the 26th Annual World Convention of the Association for the Study of Nationalities for constructive comments; and, above all, the Buryat community for invaluable contributions to this study.

Disclosure statement:

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1 Administrative-territorial units such as raion have been reorganised and renamed several times over the years. The article uses their current names.

2 Datsan were generally named after their location and had more than one name in view of varying reference points used in the area. Historically, they have also had Tibetan names. For example, the Khilgantuiskii datsan, named after the Khilganta area, is also known as the Tsongolskii datsan, based on the Tsongol clan to which Damba-Dorzhi Zayaev belonged, and as Baldan Breibun, named after the Palden Drepung Tashi Gomang Monastery, where Zayaev studied.

3 When seeking advice, some Buryats prefer to see lamas from their raion, as local lamas know clan-specific protectors, spirits of the area and places of worship and can therefore conduct relevant rituals and accordingly offer serzhem—a liquid such as tea used as an offering to the spirits (interviews with Ayur-lama, Ivolga, 17 July 2021, and Zhalsan-lama, St Petersburg, 6 January 2022). As further observed by the author in her interactions with Buryats in New York, those from rural areas tend to form smaller informal groups within the broader Buryat community based on the deep-rooted territorial-clan principle.

4 Along with Ganden and Sera, Drepung is one of the three Gelug monasteries of Tibetan Buddhism historically comprised of seven datsan including Gomang. Following the Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule in 1959, Drepung was re-established in exile in Mundgod (India). There since have been two Drepung monasteries, in Lhasa and Mundgod. The education system overseen by Gomang consists of four degrees: geshe dorampa, geshe kabchu, geshe tsokrampa and geshe lharampa (with geshe lharampa being the highest degree, obtained by passing an exam in all three monasteries of Drepung, Ganden and Sera).

5 Arkhiv vostokovedov, Institut vostochnykh rukopisei Rossiiskoi akademii nauk, edinitsa khraneniya 132, line 147.

6 Interview with Biligto-lama, via Viber, 30 January 2020.

7 Tsentral’nyi gosudarstvennyi arkhiv Buryatskoi ASSR, f. r-248, op. 3, 1923–1924 g.

8 Gosudarstvennyi arkhiv Respubliki Buryatia (hereafter GARB), f. 84, d. 441, ll. 42–42.

9 The share of Buryats who identify themselves as Buddhists increased from 61.2% in 1999 to 70% in 2011 (Manzanov 2012). In 2017 Buryat Buddhists accounted for 73.9% of the population (Badmatsyrenov & Rodionov 2020).

10 On various occasions, however, the Buryats were concerned about Russian imperialism and its russification-oriented language and religious policies, thereby prompting some segments of the Buryat population to flee to Mongolia (Bogdanov 1926; Galdanova et al. 1983; Montgomery 2005). To decrease the number of yasak-exempt individuals, for instance, the 1748 Decree of the Irkutsk Provincial Chancellery restricted the number of monks, causing discontent amongst Buryats determined to protect and preserve their faith (Natsagdorzh 2012).

11 GARB, f. 248s., op. 4, d. 68, l. 32.

12 Records of Gomang datsan.

13 Interview with Monlam-lama, via Viber, 9 August 2020.

14 Interview with Geshe Tsultim Samten, Mundgod, 19 December 2019.

15 The Lost World of Tibet, BBC Four, 2008.

16 Interview with Khentrul Rinpoche, Mundgod, 15 December 2019.

17 Personal correspondence with Professor Jonathan Silk and Dr Peter Verhagen, August 2020.

18 According to Dagpo Rinpoche, Agvan Nima also visited the Buddhist community in New Jersey, USA.

19 Personal correspondence with Lama Tenzin Jottotshang, April 2021.

20 Interview with Dagpo Rinpoche, via Zoom, 22 December 2021.

21 Interviews with Khensur Lobsang Gyaltsen, Mundgod, 19 December 2019; Geshe Tenpa Choglang, Mundgod, 14 December 2019; Geshe Dhonam, Mundgod, 20 December 2019.

22 Phone conversation with Professor David Seyfort Ruegg, 22 August 2020.

23 Interviews with Geshe Tenpa Choglang, Mundgod, 14 December 2019; Geshe Dhonam, Mundgod, 20 December 2019; Choi-Dorzhi Budaev, via Messenger, 3 August 2020.

24 Interview with Shivalha Rinpoche, via Viber, 5 February 2022.

25 Interview with Geshe Tenpa Choglang, Mundgod, 14 December 2019.

26 Interview with Dagpo Rinpoche, via Zoom, 22 December 2021. According to Gomang’s records, in 1959 there were 3,300–5,500 monks in Gomang in Tibet. In 2020, around 2,000 monks studied in Gomang in India, which was down to 1,700 in 2022 due to pandemic-related constraints.

27 Interview with Geshe Dobdon, via WhatsApp, 16 April 2021.

28 Interview with Dagpo Rinpoche, via Zoom, 22 December 2021.

29 Interviews with Denis-lama, Mundgod, 19 December 2019; Sokto-lama, Mundgod, 18 December 2019; Aldar-lama, Mundgod, 19 December 2019; Zhamyan-lama, Mundgod, 18 December 2019; Tsyren-lama, Mundgod, 21 December 2019.

30 Interview with Ayur-lama, Ivolga, 17 July 2021.

31 Interview with Geshe Dhonam, Mundgod, 20 December 2019.

32 Interview with Gonchok-lama, Selenginskii raion, 11 August 2021.

33 Interview with Bair-lama, Kizhinga, 30 July 2021.

34 Internal records of the Buddhist Traditional Sangha of Russia shared by Zhargal-lama and Bair-lama.

35 Interview with Khambo Lama Damba Ayusheev, Ivolga, 20 August 2021.

36 The decreasing number of khubarag can be explained by two key trends. One, according to Geshe Dymbryl, is the declining population that has resulted in a smaller pool of children who can become monks. Based on the latest census, a third of all families in Buryatia have one child, 16% have two children, and just 0.1% have five or more children. The second trend, in my view, can be attributed to changed economic conditions and societal patterns following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The transition to a market-based economy provided more educational and occupational options for Buryats and shifted preferences amongst families away from monastic studies.

37 Interviews with Geshe Dymbryl, via WhatsApp, 15 April 2021, and Ivolga, 20 August 2021.

38 Interviews with Legtsog-lama, via Viber, 4 October 2020, and Khorinskii raion, 31 July 2021.

39 Interviews with Legtsog-lama, via Viber, 4 October 2020, and Khorinskii raion, 31 July 2021.

40 Interview with Bazar-lama, Kizhinga, 30 July 2021.

41 Interview with Chingis-lama, via Viber, 12 August 2020.

42 For example, the Buryat monk Samdan-lama, a native of the Shenekhen area in Inner Mongolia now studying in India, went home to specifically learn oboo takhilga from his Buryat teacher at Shenekhen dugan (interview with Samdan-lama, via Viber, 22 November 2020). The Shenekhen area became home to thousands of Buryats fleeing the Soviet regime in the twentieth century and is notable for having preserved Buryat traditions, culture and language (Diaspory 2007).

43 Interview with Chingis-lama, via Viber, 12 August 2020.

44 Interview with Liubov Dugarova, via WhatsApp, 20 August 2020.

45 In the Mongolic languages, shabgansa has two meanings: ‘nun’ and ‘old woman’.

46 Interviews with Ochir-Khanda Nanzanova, via Zoom, 2 April 2022; Andrei Buyantuev, via Zoom, 5 April 2022; Bairma Shirapova, via Zoom, 5 April 2022; Baldan-lama, via Messenger, 22 April 2022.

47 Interview with Dandar-lama, via Viber, 21 August 2020.

48 Author’s observations, Buryatia, July–August 2021.

49 Internal records of the Buryat monastic community in Gomang.

50 Interview with Raisa Pagmaeva, via Viber, 26 March 2022.

51 Interview with Geshe Dymbryl, via WhatsApp, 15 April 2021.

52 Interview with Geshe Dobdon, via WhatsApp, 16 April 2021.

53 Interview with Geshe Dymbryl, via WhatsApp, 15 April 2021.

54 Interview with Kundeling Rinpoche, Mundgod, 15 December 2019.

55 Interview with Geshe Tenzin Chopel, Mundgod, 21 December 2019.

56 Interview with Geshe Dymbryl, via WhatsApp, 15 April 2021.

57 Interview with Liubov Dugarova, via WhatsApp, 20 August 2020.

58 Interview with Geshe Dobdon, via WhatsApp, 16 April 2021.

59 Interview with Ayur-lama, Ivolga, 17 July 2021.

60 Interview with Geshe Dobdon, via WhatsApp, 16 April 2021.

61 Interview with geninma Badma-Khanda, Ulan-Ude, 24 July 2021.

62 Interview with Tenzin Chodron (Irina Urbanaeva), Ulan-Ude, 15 July 2021.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Esuna Dugarova

Esuna Dugarova, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA. Email: [email protected]