Books by Nicola Schneider
see “Editorial—Female Specialists between Autonomy and
Ambivalence”, Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines, n... more see “Editorial—Female Specialists between Autonomy and
Ambivalence”, Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines, no. 34, Décembre 2015, pp. i-viii.
Articles by Nicola Schneider
2011, « The Third Dragkar Lama : An Important Figure for Female Monasticism in the Beginning of Twentieth Century Khams », in N. Schneider, A. Travers, T. Myatt, et Kalsang Norbu Gurung (éds.), Revisiting Tibet’s culture and history, Vol. 1, Revue d’études tibétaines, no. 21, p. 45-60.
For the last twenty years, discussions on the institution of full ordination for women have been ... more For the last twenty years, discussions on the institution of full ordination for women have been recurrent in the Tibetan exile community. The controversial debate and consecutive works of research show the importance Tibetans attach to ritual prescriptions, notably when it is a matter of rituals governed by the code of monastic discipline ('dul ba; Skt. vinaya) attributed to the Buddha himself. In this article I propose to examine some of the attitudes held and arguments put forward by the different protagonists over the years. These raise a number of questions pertinent to the 'Tibetan tradition' since the latter has come into contact with other cultures and by means of this with 'modern' ideas.
Parmi les membres de la communauté monastique, il arrive que des doutes, des interrogations ou de... more Parmi les membres de la communauté monastique, il arrive que des doutes, des interrogations ou des difficultés d'adaptation surgissent. Temporaires ou définitifs, ils peuvent déboucher sur une remise en cause de l'engagement dans la carrière monastique et, parfois, ils entraînent le retour à la vie laïque.
Une séance de gUérison chez Une khandroma 1 nicola schneider Une jeune mère tibétaine est assise ... more Une séance de gUérison chez Une khandroma 1 nicola schneider Une jeune mère tibétaine est assise sur le devant du magasin de son mari à Mcleod ganj (dharamsala, inde). elle tient dans ses bras son bébé d'environ six semaines. Tandis que ce dernier, curieux, cherche à observer tout ce qui l'entoure, le regard de sa mère est vide, son corps immobile ; elle semble être complètement coupée de la réalité. cela fait bientôt quatre semaines qu'elle se comporte ainsi et son mari s'inquiète. il l'a accompagnée pour des consultations à Men-Tsee-Khang (sman rtsis khang, 'Tibetan Medical and astrological institute'), à l'hôpital delek (tenu par des réfugiés tibétains, mais pratiquant la biomédecine occidentale), puis à l'hôpital public indien, mais rien n'y a fait, l'état de sa femme est resté inchangé. en occident, le diagnostic serait probablement une psychose puerpérale aiguë, une dépression post-natale sévère, nécessitant une prise en charge urgente, notamment en vue de protéger le nouveau-né. Mais chez les Tibétains, où l'expression culturelle de ce que nous nommons éventuellement dépression est différente 2 , il y a une autre explication: selon eux, cette femme est affectée par des dön (gdon), une catégorie « d'agents pathogènes, non humains, crédités de l'intention de nuire » (Meyer 2000: 252). ce n'est d'ailleurs pas la première fois que cette jeune mère souffre de cette maladie, puisqu'elle présente régulièrement les mêmes symptômes, indépendamment de toute naissance. la médecine tibétaine distingue entre deux catégories de maladies, celles qui sont dues à des causes naturelles et celles qui, à l'inverse, sont dues aux causes surnaturelles, c'est-à-dire aux maléfices des mauvais esprits. Tandis que les premières ont leur traitement dans la médecine tibétaine traditionnelle (gso ba rig pa), les dernières nécessitent bien souvent en plus l'intervention d'un spécialiste religieux: un lama, un médium (lha pa) ou tout autre spécialiste de l'exorcisme (Meyer 1981, samuel 1999. de même, après les échecs de la médecine tibétaine et occidentale, la première réaction de nos jeunes parents était de consulter un devin (phyag mo), puis un lama spécialisé dans les rituels exorcistes, lhochö rinpoche 3 ,
While male incarnation lineages are well known for the religious, political and social roles they... more While male incarnation lineages are well known for the religious, political and social roles they played and continue to play in tibetan societies, not much is known about female lineages, of which there are only very few. a decade ago, the French tibetologist anne chayet raised the question of whether there has been some kind of deliberate restriction on female incarnations, pointing to the fact that several famous historical women are said to have been reborn as men, as was the case for tsong kha pa's mother, shing bza' a chos, for example. 2 another, more recent, instance is the famous rje btsun lo chen rin po che from shug gseb nunnery in central tibet, who indicated that she might reincarnate as a boy. 3 her incarnation was found in 'chi med rdo rje, the son of bde skyong dbang mo from the Phreng ring family. born in 1953, he lives as a layman in lhasa. however, the 14 th dalai lama and the 16 th karmapa have also recognized a female incarnation: rje btsun Padma, daughter of kazi bsod nams stobs rgyas ) from sikkim, previously stationed in tibet and former disciple, together with his wife, of shug gseb lo chen rin po che. 4 in the following article, i would like to consider some of the known female incarnations and lineages in the light of results from previous studies of incarnation and the sprul sku tradition. 5 i will then proceed by examining some of them closely in an attempt to determine if it is possible to detect features that may be specific to female lineages.
his special issue is based upon an international symposium on autonomous religious women held dur... more his special issue is based upon an international symposium on autonomous religious women held during 2013. 1 It offers a new, comparative perspective on women as visionaries, healers and agents of social transformation in Tibet, the Himalayas and Mongolia. The contributions form a collection of ethnographically based case studies of autonomous female specialists from across this wide, but rarely compared region, which is culturally coherent in respect to the sharing of both shamanic and Buddhist traditions, and yet historically, politically and socially diverse. Notably, most of these case studies share certain dramatic and fundamentally disruptive socio-political changes that had previously created a vacuum of religious and secular education and practices. These were followed by revivals or recoveries of religion and educationwhether this concerns Tibet after the Cultural Revolution beginning in the 1980s, post-socialist Mongolia and democratisation in Bhutan starting in the 1990s, or post-Maoist democratisation and outmigration of Nepalese male labourers in the new millennium. These times of revivals made space for innovation and new opportunities, which several female specialists have seized in different ways, allowing them to become more autonomous. The case studies also allow comparison of different religious and ritual specialists, from female shamanic to meditative Buddhist practitioners, along with two female professionals in Tibetan literature and medicine. Concerning the religious practitioners, however, boundaries between their specialisations are blurred, meanings differ locally, and their roles-at times in need of recognition by a higher (male) authority-can change within one T
Films by Nicola Schneider
Drafts by Nicola Schneider
Professional life and personal identification via one's profession are fundamental to any social ... more Professional life and personal identification via one's profession are fundamental to any social standing and the building of one's identity. This is also evident in Tibetan culture and for Tibetan women. In most cases, their placement in labor is strongly influenced by traditionally assigned gender roles. The documentation of Tibetan women's professions, their professional lives, and their achievements have rarely been the subject of written, oral or filmed accounts. Furthermore, if one thinks of Tibetan women, images of the nomadic women milking the dris, the rural women tilling their fields, and the wine-red clothed nuns with their wooden rosaries are evoked. However, if one puts women's realities-historical and contemporary-under the spotlight, one finds a dazzling diversity ranging from women in commerce, in hospitality services, in handicraft, in clerical roles as well as teachers, academics, diplomats, civil servants and so forth. Some are able to comfortably pursue their career paths while others have to free themselves from social shackles in order to achieve their goals. This panel seeks to highlight the variety of occupations women take in the Tibetan cultural sphere and how they create their place in the social tissue. It also seeks to shed light on women's behavioural patterns, their expectations, and the obstacles that they confront. Besides, the panel will discuss the career goals that Tibetan women pursue, how they combine family values with their work, and how labour is distributed, negotiated, and accepted between women and men. We welcome papers assessing both current and historical professional occupations of women within Tibet and in peripheral areas. This session is being co-organized by Nicola Schneider (CRCAO, Paris) and Chandra Chiara Ehm (CRCAO-EPHE/LMU).
Call for Papers:
-deadline for abstract: 21st of June 2019
-workshop: 30-31st of January 2020
Edited volumes / special issues by Nicola Schneider
Religions, 2022
In Buddhist monasticism, women are relegated to second rank, mainly for two reasons: first, they ... more In Buddhist monasticism, women are relegated to second rank, mainly for two reasons: first, they do not always have access to the same level of education as their male counterparts and are therefore not credited with the same learning (erudition); second, in some countries, they are excluded from one or all ordination rites. Thus, we have, on the one hand, full-fledged monks, and on the other, female religious practitioners who, in several Asian countries, are not ordained (Burma, Sri Lanka and Thailand) or are only semi-ordained (India, Mongolia, Nepal and Tibet). As for Chinese and Korean monasticisms, there are fully ordained nuns, but they still have to respect traditional norms regarding gender hierarchy. The resulting asymmetry between ordained men and women is a facet of living Buddhism. This is a sensitive and much-debated topic, rarely approached from a scholarly perspective, which has caused debate over the last years among Asian and Western feminists, and also in the wider Buddhist monastic community. ...
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Books by Nicola Schneider
Ambivalence”, Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines, no. 34, Décembre 2015, pp. i-viii.
Articles by Nicola Schneider
Films by Nicola Schneider
Drafts by Nicola Schneider
Edited volumes / special issues by Nicola Schneider
Ambivalence”, Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines, no. 34, Décembre 2015, pp. i-viii.
The Bhutanese Buddhist state was founded by a Tibetan Lama and many important Tibet-born Buddhist authorities directly impacted Bhutan by spreading the Buddhist teachings there in person. Still, in present discourse, Bhutanese exclusively refer to their Buddhist practice as Vajrayana and Mahayana Buddhism, rather than ‘Tibetan Buddhism’, and when talking about their liturgical language solely use the term chos skad (“dharma language”), avoiding the English term “Classical Tibetan” at all costs. Obviously, there is a politically motivated necessity to protect the tiny state’s sover- eignty by means of emphasising its distinctive culture which is not to be equalled with Tibetan culture, stressing Bhutan’s ‘Non-Tibetanness’.
When researching Bhutan’s communal Vajrayana festivals, I was often taken aback, how different Bhutanese practice of ‘cham festivals is in comparison to all festivals I had observed in Ladakhi/Zanskari and Tibetan-exile monasteries in India and what I knew from literature about ‘chams located in Tibet. As a consequence, I started to understand Bhutanese practice of ‘Tibetan Buddhism’ as syncretism, a “creative blend- ing of indigenous and foreign beliefs or practices into new cultural forms” (Havilland 2013), resulting in ‘Bhutaneseness’ of Vajrayana Buddhism in Bhutan, rather than ‘Ti- betanness’. Drawing on my field research, I would like to discuss ‘Non-Tibetanness’ and the transformation of ‘Tibetanness’ into ‘Bhutaneseness’ using the example of communal ‘cham festivals in Bhutan.