
Echoes of Enlightenment explores the issues of gender and sainthood raised by the recently discovered "liberation story" of the fourteenth-century Tibetan female Buddhist practitioner Sönam Peldren. Born in 1328, Sönam Peldren spent most of her adult life as a nomad in eastern Tibet until her death in 1372. She is believed to have been illiterate, lacking religious education, and unconnected to established religious institutions. For that reason, and because as a woman her claims of religious authority would have been constantly questioned, Sönam Peldren's success in legitimizing her claims of divine identity appear all the more remarkable. Today the site of her death is recognized as sacred by local residents. Suzanne Bessenger draws on the new-found biography of the saint to understand how the written record of the saint's life is shaped both by the hagiographical agendas of its multiple authors and by the dictates of the genres of Tibetan religious literature, including biography and poetry. She considers Sönam Peldren's enduring historical legacy as a fascinating piece of Tibetan history that reveals much about the social and textual machinations of saint production. Finally, she identifies Sönam Peldren as one of the earliest recorded instances of a historical Tibetan woman successfully using the uniquely Tibetan hermeneutic of deity emanation to achieve religious authority.
How did a fourteenth-century Tibetan woman without formal education or institutional ties successfully establish and maintain a legacy of divine authority? Suzanne M. Bessenger, a scholar of Tibetan religious history, investigates the recently discovered liberation story of Sönam Peldren to analyze the intersection of gender, sainthood, and textual production. By examining the hagiographical construction of Peldren's life, the author argues that Peldren utilized the specific Tibetan hermeneutic of deity emanation to navigate social constraints and secure her status as a recognized saint.
What You Will Find
Scope Limits
Scholars in the field of Tibetan studies recognize this work as a significant contribution to the understanding of gender dynamics and religious authority in pre-modern Tibet. Readers frequently note the academic rigor and the clear, methodical approach the author takes in deconstructing complex hagiographical texts.
Page Count:
312
Publication Date:
2016-01-01
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
019062468X
ISBN-13:
9780190624682
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