Assessing and Adapting Rituals That Reproduce a Collectivity: The Large-Scale Rituals of the Repkong Tantrists in Tibet

Résumé En

Tantrists, non-monastic religious specialists of Tibetan Buddhism, constitutea diffuse, non-centralized form of clergy. In an area like Repkong, where they present ahigh demographic density, large-scale supra-local annual ritual gatherings of tantristsare virtually synonymous with, and crucial for, their collective existence. In the largest ofthese rituals, the ‘elders’ meeting’ is in effect an institutionalized procedure for evaluatingthe ritual performance, its conditions and effects, and, if necessary, for adjusting aspectsof the ritual. At a recent meeting, the ‘elders’ decided to abandon a powerful and valuedbut violent and problematical component of the ritual, due to its potential detrimentaleffects on the fabric of social relations on which the ritual depends for its continuedexistence. Thus, a highly scripted, ‘liturgy-centered’ ritual (per Atkinson) can be adaptedto the social context. The specialists of these textual rituals demonstrate collectively anexpertise that extends into the sociological dynamics surrounding the ritual.