Ritual is one of the most pervasive religious phenomena in the Tibetan cultural world. Despite its ubiquity and importance to Tibetan cultural life, however, only in recent years has Tibetan ritual been given the attention it deserves. This is the first scholarly collection to focus on this important subject. Unique in its historical, geographical and disciplinary breadth, this book brings together eleven essays by an international cast of scholars working on ritual texts, institutions and practices in the greater Tibetan cultural world - Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, and Mongolia. While most of the chapters focus on Buddhism, two deal with ritual in Tibet's indigenous Bon religion. All of the essays are original to this volume. An extensive introduction by the editor provides a broad overview of Tibetan ritual and contextualizes the chapters within the field of Buddhist and Tibetan studies. The book should find use in advanced undergraduate courses and graduate seminars on Tibetan religion. It will also be of interest to students and scholars of ritual generally.

Introduction - José Ignacio Cabezón
1: Written Texts at the Juncture of the Local and the Global: Some Anthropological Considerations on a Local Corpus of Tantric Ritual Manuals (Lower Mustang, Nepal) - Nicolas Sihlé
2: Tibetan Indigenous Myths and Rituals with Reference to the Ancient Bön Text: The Nyenbum (Gnyan 'bum) - Samten Karmay
3: Continuity and Change in Tibetan Mah?yoga Ritual: Some Evidence from the Tabzhag (Thabs zhags) Manuscript and other Dunhuang Texts - Robert Mayer and Cathy Cantwell
4: The Convergence of Theoretical and Practical Concerns in a Single Verse of the Guhyasam?ja Tantra - Yael Bentor
5: Chilu ('Chi bslu): Rituals for "Deceiving Death" - Irmgard Mengele
6: Representations of Efficacy: the Ritual Expulsion of Mongol Armies in the Consolidation and Expansion of the Tsang (Gtsang) Dynasty - James Gentry
7: The ?Calf's Nipple? (Be'u bum) of Ju Mipam ('Ju Mi pham): A Handbook of Tibetan Ritual Magic - Bryan J. Cuevas
8: Tamdrin (Rta mgrin) Rituals in the Bön Tradition: Transforming Poison and Eliminating Noxious Spirits with Burning Stones - Marc des Jardins
9: Texts as Deities: Mongols' Rituals of Worshipping S?tras and Rituals of Accomplishing Various Goals by Means of S?tras - Vesna Wallace
10: The Ritual Veneration of Mongolia's Mountains - Jared Lindahl
11: Encounter With a Dream: Bhutanese Pilgrims in Tibet. Performing a Ritual? - Françoise Pommaret
Bibliography
Index