Books by Flavio A Geisshuesler
Brill, 2021
In The Life and Work of Ernesto de Martino: Italian Perspectives on Apocalypse and Rebirth in the... more In The Life and Work of Ernesto de Martino: Italian Perspectives on Apocalypse and Rebirth in the Modern Study of Religion, Flavio A. Geisshuesler offers a comprehensive study of one of Italy’s most colorful historians of religions. The book inserts de Martino’s dramatic life trajectory within the intellectual climate and the socio-political context of his age in order to offer a fresh perspective on the evolution of the discipline of religious studies during the 20th century. Demonstrating that scholarship on religion was animated by moments of fear of the apocalypse, it brings de Martino’s perspective into conversation with Mircea Eliade, Claude Lévi-Strauss, and Clifford Geertz in order to recover an Italian approach that promises to redeem religious studies as a relevant and revitalizing field of research in the contemporary climate of crisis.
Bloomsbury Academic, 2024
Through a rigorous analysis of original scriptures and later commentaries, this open access book ... more Through a rigorous analysis of original scriptures and later commentaries, this open access book unearths a cornucopia of idiosyncratic motifs pervading the famous Tibetan sky-gazing meditation known as “Skullward Leap” (thod rgal). Flavio Geisshuesler argues that these motifs suggest that the practice did not originate in the context of Buddhism, but rather within indigenous Tibetan culture and in close contact with the early Bön tradition. The book argues that Dzogchen once belonged to a cult centered on the quest for vitality, which involved the worship of the sky as primordial source of life and endorsed the hunting of animals, as they were believed to be endowed with the ability to move in between the divine realm of the heavens and the world of humans.
The book also traces the historical development of the Great Perfection, delineating a complex process of buddhicization that started with the introduction of Buddhism in the 7th century, intensified with the rise of new schools in the 11th century, and reached its climax in the systematization of the teachings by the great scholar-yogi Longchenpa in the 14th century. The study advances an innovative model of meditation as an open-ended practice that animates practitioners to face the most challenging moments of their lives with courage and curiosity, imagination and creativity, and playfulness and excitement; qualities that are oftentimes overlooked in contemporary descriptions of contemplation.
Papers by Flavio A Geisshuesler
Traditions, Translations and Transitions in the Cultural History of Tibet, the Himalayas and Mongolia, 2024
This chapter offers a short introduction to the famous Tibetan sky-gazing practice known as “Skul... more This chapter offers a short introduction to the famous Tibetan sky-gazing practice known as “Skullward Leap” (thod rgal). The meditation represents the highest practice of the Great Perfection (rdzogs chen), the most esoteric teaching of the Ancient School (rNying ma) of Tibetan Buddhism. Imbued with an emphasis on the sky, which has usually been understood as an expression of its philosophy of primordial freedom, rdzogs chen has become phenomenally popular amongst contemporary Western practitioners as it corresponds well with our own culture’s emphasis on the values of individuality, liberalism, and freedom. In this chapter, I move beyond the archetypical symbol of the sky and the modernist ethos of freedom to study thod rgal as part of a larger “contemplative system.” This methodological intervention, performing a shift in emphasis from a focus on the sky to the contextual frames that surround it, has far-reaching consequences for our understanding of the rdzogs chen tradition and its sky-gazing meditation. More specifically, by taking a closer look at five contextual frames (place, time, community, body, and material culture), the short introduction reveals that the Skullward Leap meditation is pervaded by a series of motifs that are not Buddhist, but much rather Tibetan in nature. While leaving aside the thorny question of the precise historical origins of the Great Perfection tradition, the chapter nonetheless argues that the tradition’s fascination with the sky is fundamentally driven by a Tibetan “ethos of vitality” that centers on the procurement, embodiment, and distribution of a life-sustaining energy, whose primordial source is a heavenly realm in the sky. Skullward Leap, a practice that developed within a minor religious tradition on the periphery of the orthodox Buddhist world, should therefore be considered as part of a rich collection of remarkably diverse mythical-ritual-contemplative systems concerned with the quest for life, which developed over millennia in the wider Tibetosphere.
This is an open access chapter distributed under the terms of the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license. Let th... more This is an open access chapter distributed under the terms of the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license. Let the Earth Shake: From Crisis-Born Hero to Master of Civilizational Crisis A short while ago, the atrocious news of the earthquake of Messina had reached Naples and the people stood bewildered in light of a tragedy, which seemed to be of cosmic proportions. As people were learning hour by hour more terrifying particulars, their imagination fabricated even greater terror. The night before I was born, a convoy for collecting clothing for the sufferers from the earthquake from Calabria and Sicily was passing through Via Fonseca. My mother used to tell me that, upon the signals by the men of the convoy, which emerged as high-pitched shouts and invocations, the windows of the high apartment buildings would open up, the balconies would fill up with people, and the women would throw down offerings: Bed sheets, gowns, shirts, underwear, socks, shoes, infant straps, skirts, blouses for women and suits for men. In this downpour of paraphernalia, the shouting of those who were giving and those who were receiving, the crying of the women, and the clamor of the low gateways out of which ever more donors surfaced, the street was transformed into an immense oblative phantasmagoria. It was difficult to distinguish pain from celebration, pity from gratitude, receiving from giving. My mother, excited and moved, was also on the balcony to make her offering. Then, so she used to say, upon seeing a Sicilian refugee in mourning sitting on top of a wagon of this convoy with a baby on her breast, she at once felt her legs buckle. Asking for support from her neighbors, she was carried home. They sat her down in the nearest chair. […] When she regained consciousness, she looked around with her eyes veiled in tears and murmured: "We are ready." The labor had started.
Intentional Transformative Experiences Theorizing Self-Cultivation in Religion and Esotericism, 2024
This chapter explores a particularly esoteric Tibetan Buddhist meditation known as “Direct Transc... more This chapter explores a particularly esoteric Tibetan Buddhist meditation known as “Direct Transcendence” (Tögal) from the perspective of cognitive science. Characterized by sky-gazing and other forms of visual deprivation, Tögal aims to induce spontaneous visionary experiences—vivid appearances of lights, patterns, and eventually fully formed divine maṇḍalas—without intentional mental fabrication. Drawing on early Great Perfection (Dzogchen) scriptures, classical commentaries, and current research in perception and cognition, the chapter examines how practitioners attempt to “intentionally cultivate non-intention.” While the tradition aspires toward states of pure, unconstructed “naked vision,” the cognitive evidence suggests that perception is never truly free from underlying mental processes. Instead, internal mechanisms continually shape, structure, and attribute meaning to visual stimuli. By comparing the phenomenology of Tögal visions with insights from modern neuroscience—such as sensory deprivation experiments, the theory of mind, and enactive approaches to cognition—this chapter argues that even the most refined contemplative states are permeated by the inherent intentionality of human perception. Ultimately, Tögal illuminates both the transformative potential of stripping away habitual constructs and the fundamental impossibility of attaining a fully non-intentional, unmediated form of seeing.
Religions, 2020
This contribution explores the development of the highest teachings of the “Old School” (rnying m... more This contribution explores the development of the highest teachings of the “Old School” (rnying ma) of Tibetan Buddhism, known as the Great Perfection (rdzogs chen). Between the tenth and the twelfth centuries, when the “New Schools” (gsar ma) rose to prominence and challenged the legitimacy of the established ones, Dzogchen underwent radical transformations and grew into a complex of contradictory voices. Unlike existing scholarship, which relies exclusively on textual–philological analysis to elucidate the conflictual relationships between sub-traditions like the Mind Series (sems sde), the Seminal Heart (snying thig), and the Crown Pith (spyi ti), this article proffers a transdisciplinary perspective, which complements history with psychological investigations into myth and cognition. Introducing research from cognitive science, trauma studies, attachment theory, and dissociation, it scrutinizes fascinating Dzogchen myths of luminous bodies, playful children, and abusive grandmot...
Cogent Psychology, 2019
Sharecopy and redistribute the material in any medium or format. Adaptremix, transform, and build... more Sharecopy and redistribute the material in any medium or format. Adaptremix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially. The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms. Under the following terms: Attribution-You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. No additional restrictions You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, 2022
This contribution explores the contemplative system of the famous Tibetan Buddhist tradition know... more This contribution explores the contemplative system of the famous Tibetan Buddhist tradition known as the Great Perfection (rdzogs chen, Dzogchen), with a special emphasis on 'Direct Transcendence' (thod rgal, Tögal), its most esoteric meditation practice. Scholars have generally argued that this religious tradition is marked by a particular conception of freedom that differs from classical Indian models inasmuch as it is not something that needs to be achieved through effort, but rather something that can simply be recognized as our fundamental nature. Because humans are always and already free, Dzogchen meditation is dominated by such values as naturalness, spontaneity, and effortlessness. Through a close reading of the early scriptures as well as the writings of later exegetes of the tradition, this article critically evaluates this 'ethos of freedom' by showing that Dzogchen is also pervaded by opposite tendencies, such as confinement, limitation, and incarceration. It not only expands on existing scholarship, which has brought to light such constricting tendencies in the philosophical and ethical systems of the Great Perfection, but it also demonstrates that confinement plays a central role in the tradition’s contemplative system overall. More innovatively, this study delves into the visionary practice of Direct Transcendence to reveal that it frequently prioritizes confinement over freedom and active liberation over spontaneous self-recognition. Ultimately, it appears that the ethos of freedom should be altogether abandoned, but it should rather be refined and redefined to account for a dialectical conception of liberation in Dzogchen Buddhism.
Religions, 2020
This contribution explores the development of the highest teachings of the "Old School" (rnying m... more This contribution explores the development of the highest teachings of the "Old School" (rnying ma) of Tibetan Buddhism, known as the Great Perfection (rdzogs chen). Between the tenth and the twelfth centuries, when the "New Schools" (gsar ma) rose to prominence and challenged the legitimacy of the established ones, Dzogchen underwent radical transformations and grew into a complex of contradictory voices. Unlike existing scholarship, which relies exclusively on textual-philological analysis to elucidate the conflictual relationships between sub-traditions like the Mind Series (sems sde), the Seminal Heart (snying thig), and the Crown Pith (spyi ti), this article proffers a transdisciplinary perspective, which complements history with psychological investigations into myth and cognition. Introducing research from cognitive science, trauma studies, attachment theory, and dissociation, it scrutinizes fascinating Dzogchen myths of luminous bodies, playful children, and abusive grandmothers. Ultimately, this transdisciplinary approach results in a new interpretation of the early history of the Great Perfection, as marked by an internal division in the tradition that was the direct result of a historical trauma, which was first processed, then internalized, and finally perpetuated.
International Journal of Buddhist Thought & Culture, 2020
The Great Perfection (rdzogs chen) is both one of the most famous and one of the most controversi... more The Great Perfection (rdzogs chen) is both one of the most famous and one of the most controversial Buddhist traditions of Tibet. Forming part of the Ancient School (rnying ma), Dzogchen boasts a contemplative system in which practices are said to be effortless and liberation consists solely in the revelation of our already perfected Buddha-nature. This contribution focuses on controversial ideas such as this, and explores their origin, their place within the world of Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, and their underlying mode of functioning. As for the origin of the Dzogchen teachings, this paper argues that they must be located in two collective traumas that affected the founders of the Ancient School during the tradition’s formative years, namely the collapse of the Tibetan empire (ninth century CE) and the marginalization suffered after the rise of the New Schools (gsar ma) in the subsequent centuries. As for the tradition’s position within the religious landscape of the Himalayas, it should not only be explored in relationship to other “crisis cults,” such as the Kālacakra Tantra that emerged during the advent of Muslim rule in India, but also to the treasure tradition (gter ma). Finally, this study explores the key underlying functioning of the doctrine of effortless enlightenment by means of the concept of the “ground” (gzhi / sa), which is central to both Dzogchen and Terma. Reading the Dzogchen myth of the “epiphany of the ground” side by side with accounts of how “earth treasures” (sa gter) are unearthed out of the Tibetan soil, the paper shows that the ground was fundamental to the success of Nyingmapa Buddhism. By allowing its adherents to infuse the present with past energy, the repetition of old narratives with innovative meanings, and the attitude of receptivity with agency, the mythical- historical ground of the Ancient School is not only a means to overcome its collective traumas, but also laid the foundation for the teaching of effortless enlightenment that marks the tradition until today.
Religions, 2019
While the work of the Italian historian of religion, Ernesto de Martino (1908-1965), has frequent... more While the work of the Italian historian of religion, Ernesto de Martino (1908-1965), has frequently been compared to that of Mircea Eliade, Claude Lévi-Strauss, or Clifford Geertz, he has hardly received any attention in anglophone scholarship to date. Taking an all-but-forgotten controversy between de Martino and Eliade at a conference on parapsychology in France in 1956 as its starting point, the article fills part of this lacuna by first reconstructing the philosophical universe underlying the Italian thinker's program of study. In the process, it introduces the reader to three Weimar scientists, who have never before been inserted within the canon of the study of religion, namely the parapsychologist Albert von Schrenck-Notzing (1862-1929), the anthropologist Leo Frobenius (1873-1938), and the biologist and philosopher Hans Driesch (1867-1941). Contextualizing these thinkers within their historical context, it becomes clear that they were part of a larger scientific crisis that affected the Western world during the first half of the twentieth century. Finally, the article uncovers surprising affinities, particularly the fact that the Romanian thinker had his very own parapsychological phase during his youth.
Journal of Cognition and Culture, 2019
This article proposes a 7E model of the human mind, which was developed within the cognitive para... more This article proposes a 7E model of the human mind, which was developed within the cognitive paradigm in religious studies and its primary expression, the Cognitive Science of Religion (CSR). This study draws on the philosophically most sophisticated currents in the cognitive sciences, which have come to define the human mind through a 4E model as embodied, embedded, enactive, and extended. Introducing Catherine Malabou's concept of "plasticity," the study not only confirms the insight of the 4E model of the self as a decentered system, but it also recommends two further traits of the self that have been overlooked in the cognitive sciences, namely the negativity of plasticity and the tension between giving and receiving form. Finally, the article matures these philosophical insights to develop a concrete model of the religious mind, equipping it with three further Es, namely emotional, evolved, and exoconscious.
Cogent Psychology , 2019
This contribution brings psychological theories to bear on complex textual materials in order to ... more This contribution brings psychological theories to bear on complex textual materials in order to provide new perspectives on the formative years (ca. eighth to eleventh centuries) of the famous Tibetan Buddhist tradition known as the Great Perfection (rdzogs chen). Recovering a frequently underestimated trope of “trauma” in the tradition’s early corpus of tantric scriptures, the article modulates earlier scholarship, which argued that Dzogchen is a mystical religious movement that premises its teachings and practices on the disclosure and instantaneous liberation. Employing a critical and interdisciplinary approach, the study presents mythic narratives, historical sources, and evidence from cognitive science in order to argue that Dzogchen coalesced not under banner of “disclosure,” but rather under the pressures of “dissociation.” More specifically, the article focuses on the tradition’s central myth of the “epiphany of the ground” (gzhi snang) to show that it 1) represented an attempt to encode socio-political trauma, 2) served to process a series of specific symptoms of dissociation, 3) points to significant correlations between dissociative trauma suffered by the “Ancients” (rnying ma) and the practical power of tantric techniques imported by the “New Schools” (gsar ma) of Tibetan Buddhism after the eleventh century.
Uploads
Books by Flavio A Geisshuesler
The book also traces the historical development of the Great Perfection, delineating a complex process of buddhicization that started with the introduction of Buddhism in the 7th century, intensified with the rise of new schools in the 11th century, and reached its climax in the systematization of the teachings by the great scholar-yogi Longchenpa in the 14th century. The study advances an innovative model of meditation as an open-ended practice that animates practitioners to face the most challenging moments of their lives with courage and curiosity, imagination and creativity, and playfulness and excitement; qualities that are oftentimes overlooked in contemporary descriptions of contemplation.
Papers by Flavio A Geisshuesler
The book also traces the historical development of the Great Perfection, delineating a complex process of buddhicization that started with the introduction of Buddhism in the 7th century, intensified with the rise of new schools in the 11th century, and reached its climax in the systematization of the teachings by the great scholar-yogi Longchenpa in the 14th century. The study advances an innovative model of meditation as an open-ended practice that animates practitioners to face the most challenging moments of their lives with courage and curiosity, imagination and creativity, and playfulness and excitement; qualities that are oftentimes overlooked in contemporary descriptions of contemplation.