Political Ritual and Ritual Theory in a Tibetan Royal Consecratory Rite

This talk treats the contents and contexts of the Blazing Gem of Sovereignty (Tib. Mnga’ dbang rin chen ’bar ba), a 14th-century Tibetan royal consecration rite that was used to enthrone two of Tibet’s most powerful rulers of the early modern era: the Desi Sangyé Gyatso (r. 1679–1703) and the Miwang Pholhané Sonam Tobgyé (r. 1727–1747). This revelatory scripture was discovered by the adept Gödemchen, posthumously the first Dorjé Drak incarnation, and transmitted through his Northern Treasure (byang gter) tradition, several of whose 17th-century leaders were active at the court of the sovereign Fifth Dalai Lama and contributed to shaping the ideology and aesthetics of Tibetan theo-political authority.

My aim is to use this Blazing Gem to reflect on the role of such sources for thinking historically about political ritual. This work is in fact an anthology of short texts that also explain the origins of the titular rite, its scriptural underpinnings, and the meaning and purposes of its proper use. It exhibits a marked degree of self-awareness; it both instructs and theorizes the constitution of power. Whereas in prior work I have focused on the social and political circumstances around the Blazing Gem, here, drawing also on supplementary literature by the Jangdak Tashi Topgyal (late 16th c.) and Lelung Shepai Dorjé (18th c.), I want to reflect more on the words of the work itself and how we might read them to understand the power wielded by these rulers. What part do such ritual texts play in conceiving and creating authority? For that matter what is a “ritual text” and how was it understood and used in this setting? How did Tibet’s political elites think and act ritually, and how does their understanding relate to what we find articulated in this source?