Making Sense of Local Gods and Earth Enemies
Prof. Martin A. Mills
Abstract
Tibetan ritual practices and mythic cycles almost invariably make direct or oblique reference to the cosmology of sa bdag, or 'earth owners', whose omnipresence speaks to a deeply tellurian aspect of Tibetan culture overall, an aspect that is often uncomfortably labelled under the rubric of bon. Throughout its history, Tibetan Studies more has sought to make sense of the combined existence of the relationship between this and the more transcendent or otherworldly aspects of Tibetan Buddhism. In this workshop, we will bring out and talk through the various analytic and theoretical frameworks available for understanding this complex relationship.
About the Speaker
Prof. Martin A. Mills is Chair in Anthropology at the University of Aberdeen and Director of the Scottish Centre for Himalayan Research. Author of Identity, Ritual and State in Tibetan Buddhism, he has published widely on matters of Tibetan Buddhism, history and state, and works with communities in Ladakh, Zanskar and Himachal Pradesh. Until 2021, he was secretary on Tibetan affairs for the Cross-Party Group on Tibet in the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. He also convenes interdisciplinary projects with geologists and glaciologists, and is main author of the Scottish Parliament's inquiry into climate change in the Third Pole region.
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