Twin sprul sku: A Case Study of Gyayag Rinpoche from Kumbum

BĚLKA, Luboš. Twin sprul sku: A Case Study of Gyayag Rinpoche from Kumbum. In Dynamics of Power: Political, Sociocultural, Religious, and Economic Structures in Past and Present Amdo, Praha. 2017.

Basic information

• Original name: Twin sprul sku: A Case Study of Gyayag Rinpoche from Kumbum
• Name in Czech: Rozdvojený sprul sku: Případová studie džajag rinpočhe z Kumbumu
• Authors: BĚLKA, Luboš.
• Edition: Dynamics of Power: Political, Sociocultural, Religious, and Economic Structures in Past and Present Amdo, Praha, 2017.

Other information

• Original language: English
• Type of outcome: Presentations at conferences
• Field of Study: 60304 Religious studies
• Country of publisher: Czech Republic
• Confidentiality degree: is not subject to a state or trade secret
• Organization unit: Faculty of Arts
• Keywords in English: Buryat Buddhism; Tibetan Buddhism; sprul sku; Gyayag Rinpoche; Amdo; Kumbum; Bidia D. Dandaron
• Tags: International impact

Abstract

The contribution is focused on rare phenomenon of twin sprul sku (i. e. duplication of Bodhisattvas or reincarnations) demonstrated on the fate of Bidia D. Dandaron (1914–1974), a Buryat Buddhist scholar and Tibetan Lama Gyayag Rinpoche from Kumbum. In the 1930s, all monasteries in the region were closed down, a part of monks were executed, a part imprisoned and the rest had to disrobe. In the mid-1960s, during the period of the first criticism of Stalin’s cult, a small, nevertheless important Buddhist community originated in Ulan-Ude. An unofficial or clandestine micro-sangha formed around Bidia D. Dandaron, which existed until 1972, the year of Dandaron’s imprisonment. Subsequently he was sentenced to five years in the gulag. The origination of a new form of Buddhism within the traditional Buryat sangha dates back to the middle of the 20th century. After World War II, the so-called first restoration emerges, consisting in the effort to rescue religious life following a decade of reprisals.