Concealed Prosperity: Why People and Territorial Deities Need Treasures (Oxford Treasure Seminar Series) (Transcript)

This talk explores the intricate cosmology of territorial deities in Tibet and related concepts of land, prosperity, and fecundity, as well as sociality and socio-political organisation This talk explores the intricate cosmology of territorial deities in Tibet and related concepts of land, prosperity, and fecundity, as well as sociality and socio-political organisation. Tibet hosts a vast number of territorial deities. The most powerful ones occupy the highest glacier-capped mountains. These divine lords guard their lands, and people, and others within. They also guard different kinds of concealed ‘treasures’ (ter, terma) – precious substances hidden within the land, such as metals (typically gold), minerals, stones, medicines, water sources, divine objects (weapons and others), special landscapes, as well as Buddhist statues, texts, and other articles. Such ‘treasures’ are conceptualised as crucial in maintaining the prosperity of the land and the very existence of its inhabitants. The land and its ‘treasures’ belonging to territorial deities hold the crucial forces of life and wellbeing (such as yang, cha, la, chü, trashi, tsé, ngödrup, pel, lungta) that people need to protect and acquire to live, produce offspring, and tackle disease. These underlying principles of Tibeto-Himalayan environmental cosmology have parallels in other cultures.

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The Tibetan Graduates Studies Seminar (TGSS) is a weekly series of colloquia and guest lectures at the Oriental Institute. The intended purpose of the TGSS is to give MPhil and DPhil candidates a platform to present their work-in-progress and receive feedback from staff and affiliated scholars of the field. Additionally, the weekly time slot will also allow visiting scholars to present their current research. They are provided with the opportunity to engage in similar ways with both students and fellows of the Tibetan Studies department.