Twin sprul sku: A Case Study of Gyayag Rinpoche from Kumbum
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| Year of publication | 2017 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Description | 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. |