Review of Arts and Humanities

Reincarnation, Time, and History in Contemporary Tibetan Religious Cosmology
Xing Wang

Abstract
The perception of time and history is never the same in different societies and cultures, and time and history are never always perceived as a linear reality. The understanding of the pattern of time and history is deeply rooted in a specific cultural context and a collectively imagined cultural reality. Tibetan Buddhism centralizes the reincarnation of the eminent lamas and believers expect their spiritual and religious masters to come back to them repeatedly. Following this logic the collective history of Tibet is perceived as a cyclic movement with a repetitive pattern, and that each period of time will always replay the same scenario of the glorious imperial dynasties. The Hidden Treasure tradition in Tibet sees the excavated ancient holy object in Tibet as a proof of such a cyclic history. Ancient Tibetan Buddhist masters buried these items for the restoration of Buddhism in Tibet in the future time of crisis.

Full Text: PDF     DOI: 10.15640/rah.v7n1a1