Szilágyi András (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 26. (Budapest, 2008)

Béla KELÉNYI: 'May It Shine like the Sun and Moon!' Consecration Texts from a Tibetan Stüpa

NOTES 1 See a letter from Ferenc Hopp to a person unknown, Hopp Museum Archives, A 4087, published in: Ferenczy, M. — Kineses, K.: Mandarin öszvérháton [Mandarin on a Mule]. Budapest, 1999, p. 31. 2 On this see Schulemann, Werner: Der Inhalt eines tibetischen mc'od rten'. Zentralasiatische Studien, vol. 3, 1969, pp. 55-75 (hereinafter Schulemann 1969). For the consecration ceremony see Bentor Yael: 'Sûtrastyle Gonsentration in Tibet and its Importance for Understanding the Historical Development of the IndoTibctan Consecration Ritual for Stitpas and Images'. Proceedings of the 5th Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, Narita, 1989, vol. 1, pp. 1-12. 3 The inventory number of the artefact is 2858. 4 Unfortunately, only a delivery certificate made out in 1982 that was found next to the paper ribbons attests that one of the ribbons was subjected to a pre-restoration examination by a staff member of the Newsprint Conservation Section at the National Széchényi Library. 5 Today such a procedure would bring up not only scientific, but also ethical problems. See Reedy, C. L.: 'The Opening of Consecrated Tibetan Bronzes with Interior Contents: Scholarly, Conservation and Ethical Considerations'. Journal of the American Institute for Conserration, 1991, vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 13-34. 6 On this see Bentor, Yael: 'Tibetan Relic Classifications'. Tibetan Studies. Proceedings of the 6th Seminar of the hiternationaLAssociation for Tibetan Studies, ed. Per Kvaerne, Fagernes 1992, pp. 16-30; Bentor, Yael: 'The Content of Stupas and Images and the Indo-Tibetan Concept of Relics'. Tibet Journal, XXVIII, 1-2, 2003, pp. 21-48. See also Schcrrcr-Schaub, Cristina Anna: 'Some Dhärani Written on Paper Functioning as Dharmakaya Relics: A Tentative Approach to IT 350' (hereinafter: ScherrerSchaub 1992). Tibetan Studies. Proceedings of the 6"' Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, ed. Per Kvaerne, Fagernes, 1992, p. 718, as well as Kalsang, Jampa: 'Grundsätzliches zur Füllung von mc'od rten'. Zentralasiatische Studien, vol. 3, 1969, pp. 51—3. 7 Pra dznyA Sha sa: rTen laggings 'bid ba'i yige smin gling plryag b^hedgsos sman gangga'i rgyitn b^ang ('The dhärani for the support in the tradition of the Mindroling Monastery, the healing medicine, the smooth-flowing Ganges', hereinafter: GZUNGS). The present author was given the text in 1998 in Bodnath, by a monk belonging to the Nyingma order. This classification of relics is by and large good for the texts put down by Bentor. 8 GZUNGS, 2a3-2bl. 9 See Bentor 2003, pp. 31-2. 10 Paper, woodcut, height: 3.3 x 53.3 cm. 11 The eight unfavourable states of existence (T.: mi khom brgyad) are to be born in the hells, as a prêta, as an animal, as a long-lived deity, as someone in a world where no Buddha has appeared, as someone in a barbaric region where the Buddha's doctrine is unknown, as someone holding wrong views, or as someone mentally deficient. 12 The celestial and the human worlds. 13 dmigs yul tshe das las ngan sdig sgrib dag / / mi khom dang bra/ mtho ris dpa/ la spyod / / rgyu sbyor las byed nyer 'tshe kun dang bra/ II tshe dpa/ stobs 'byor rigs rgyitd 'phel bar sbog II dge'o 1

1 14 The three lower empires: hell, hungry spirits {prêtas) and animals. 15 The two obscurations are the dimming of the emotions (T.: nyon mongs pa'i sgrib pa) and the dimming of knowledge (T.: shes bya'i sgrib pa). 16 The two accumulations (T.: tshogs gnyis) are the collecting of virtue (T.: bsod nams kyi tshogs) and the collecting of wisdom (Tc.ye shes kyi tshogs). 17 mdor na 'go f—'gro) kun ngan gro'i gnas las thar // mtho ris dpa/ dang dam pa 'i chos la spyod / / sgrib gnyis kun sbyangs tshogs gnyis rah rd^ogs te 11 bla med byang chub go fhang mytir thob sbog II dge'o 11 18 Paper, woodblock print, height: 3.2 x 53.6 cm. 19 I.e. the sutras belonging to Hïnayâna and Mahäyäna Buddhism and the tradition of the tantras belonging to Vajrayäna Buddhism. 20 spif—e/l 11 pban bde ma lus 'byitng ba '/gnas gag bu I / rgyal bstan spyi dang klryad b:=pjar Tsong kha pa'i // mdo sngags bsbad sgntb phyogs dus /hams cad du / / dbyar mtsho Itar rgyas nyi %la Itar gtaisbog / / dge'o 11 21 I.e. the Qianlong Flmperor of China (r. 1736—95), who was seen as the embodiment of the bodhisattva Manjusri (ManjughoSa). On this see Henss, Michael: 'The Bodhisattva-Emperor. Tibeto-Chinese Portraits of Sacred and Secular Rule in the Qing Dynasty'. Oriental Art, 2001, no. 3, pp. 2-16, and no. 5, pp. 71-83. 22 tshig 11 Jam dbyangs gong ma ï sku tshe chab srid brten / / jig rten khams sit nad 'kbrugs muge sags // mi mthitn kun %hi lo phyng dpal 'byor rgyas / / y a rabs chos mthtm spyod pa dar bar slmgl I dge'o 11 23 Marks used in the transcription of the texts: [ä] added to, {ä} corrected, (ä) uninterpretable. 24 Paper, woodblock print, height: 1.5 x 53.8 cm. 25 dri med 'od kyi mchod rten rab gnas kyi sngags / ta dya thA I oAI bi bit la bi ma le brab ra d^in pa re / ba ra ba ra sarba ta thAgata dhA tu garbhe / satyA dhi ShThI te si A hA I A y an tu bbu ba ni svA h A / sarba de bA nAAI A ba ba A mi bu ddhA dhi ShThA na sa ma ye svA hA / 26 See GZUNGS, 40a4-40a5. 27 See Bentor, Yael: 'On the Indian Origins of the Tibetan Practice of Depositing Relics and dhäranh in Stüpas and Images'. Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 115, no. 2 (April-June), 1995, p. 253. See also Pema, Dorjee: Sit/pa and Its Technology. A Tibeto-Buddbist Perspective. Delhi, 1996, p. 44. 28 Paper, woodblock print, height: 1.6 x 54 cm. 29 rten I mchod rten la dgospa dri med 'od kyi sngags j oM sarba