The dialogue between traditional religious accounts of buddhism and tibetan studies research

Abstract

Over  the  past  twenty  years,  the  au-thor’s  research  on  the  history  and  an-thropology of religions, concretely in the field  of  Buddhism  and  Tibetan  studies,  has  combined  the  translation  of  tradi-tional  Tibetan  texts,  fieldwork  in  Asia,  and participant observation in seminars offered  by  Tibetan  spiritual  teachers.  This  interdisciplinary  approach  enables  a broader vision than would result from the application of only one of these meth-ods. The emic voice of the traditional vi-sion, as expressed in the traditional texts and by Tibetan spiritual masters, is com-plemented by fieldwork and by scholar-ship  in  the  history  of  religions,  even  if  in  some  cases  these  different  sources  of  knowledge do not come together into a coherent  whole.  The  researcher’s  task  is  to  create  a  broader  vision  composed  of  different elements originating in diverse methods and disciplines. The traditional voice  is  not,  in  this  case,  a  dead  voice.  On  the  contrary,  it  provides  form  and  context  for  many  spiritual  experiences  that are closely linked to the social, his-torical and political reality of the Tibet-an people.