OK. Hello, everyone, and thank you for coming.
I'd like to welcome today our speaker. Vastly.
She's a social anthropologist who is currently pursuing APHC at the Museum of Cultural History at the University of Oslo, Norway.
Her research is based on long term ethnographic fieldwork amongst Tibetans in Dharamsala,
and her PLDT project is concerned with the practise and performance of Buddhist rituals and daily life amongst laypeople.
She has also contributed to the volume bodies and balance the Tibetan medicine.
That's edited by our Oxford colleague, Teresa Hoefer. In her talk today, Enga will discuss what she refers to as empowered objects,
small objects such as amulets and charms that people wear on their person and to explore the usage,
practise and significance of these objects in terms of their connexion to Tibetans everyday lives, concerns and experiences.
So welcome Enga. And please start your chest pastry.
Thank you. They used the ballot.
OK, I will try to share reproachfully. OK, can you see?
Great. OK. Thank you. Hi.
And thank you for the invitation and for giving me this opportunity to present my work.
I appreciate any questions or comments that you might have.
And yet, before I stop my talk, I also want to add that my research is based on long term ethnographic fieldwork.
It's been a long process and I started doing fieldwork in 2008 for my M.A. continued with a field trip in 2012.
But my peach tea and weeds brief trips to the field in 2013 and 15th.
My main actor will ethnographic field site that's been set up,
but I have also visited other Tibetan settlements in India as well as I have stayed with Tibetans in Kathmandu for about three months.
OK. So let's get started. And I will start with ethnographies.
Suddenly, one morning during Fugere, when I was at home eating breakfast, young Shin phoned Young Shin.
A woman in the early 60s was one of the Tibetans that I spent most time with during fieldwork.
Most of the Tibetans I interacted with and the telling of times came face often stayed with,
with ordinary Tibetans striving to make a life a living in India.
On the phone, Youngson asked me to come to a home in the lower part of the town, lower Dharamsala.
That same day last night, her husband, Dorji, had shared shared with her the news that her material girl had died.
Her uncle had died of old age in this home in a Tibetan settlement in Osaka.
The bungalow. Also, young Shin and Dodi had lived from the mid 1970s until they moved to that until 2005.
Instantly, Young Shin was preparing for immediate departure. She told me on the phone and off the young Shin's call,
I hurried to a home to keep a company for the entire day until the evening when she boarded the overnight bus to Delhi.
Just before Young Shin left her home, she did some last essential preparations.
She took up the clothes that you were already inside their home. A blue flowered shirt and a green skirt.
She'd been found. A black and white wound's doing it. Several small objects attached to it.
She'd put the tread, the roof, her head, so that the objects fell neatly over her chest.
The object, the oil contained with this power.
She covered the objects with a thick green tuba and her colourful as she dressed a transparent plastic bag filled with small orange seeds.
Naturally, it fell for Majuba young shin site.
They don't put the bag somewhere inside the dress. I thought she was ready to leave, so I picked up the bag and headed to the door.
Then I turned to look for her young. She was still inside the living room.
I saw her lightening, but the lamp incense stick. The smoke of the insects filled the room.
Bittersweet. Next, she turned to the Shosha train with her palms pressed together.
Her lips move. She mumbled words I couldn't understand.
The palms still together should turn the body to another wall.
And the pictures of the 14th Dalai Lama and the Buddhist protect your faith is naturally.
I guess that you prayed for a safe journey and a second life there.
She turned to me and smiled. Now I'm ready. We left the house and doorjamb and I would have had to bust them from there.
Supported by Buddhist power. Young Shin embarked on a several days long journey of the Indian companies.
In this talk I want to focus on the small objects that young Shin had attached to
the black and white balloons doing and which she carried as she left her home.
The objects that young Shin carried, as you can see in the picture, are different in different design, but also in age and the objects.
Power was provided by different sources. Leaving your home.
She carried a great number of empowered objects, being prepared to meet potential obstacles.
The layer of ritual protection. Young Shin would not only carry these objects on the person when travelling.
It was an integrated part of what being in everyday life.
So when young she left outside their home, even for daily errands, she carried on a Buddhist temple, small of these powerful objects.
But I have chosen to call and power objects during my fieldwork.
I learnt that these objects are generally popular amongst Tibetans.
And I observed and learnt by talking to people that people of all ages carry one asylum and pilot objects.
And in this talk, I will explore how my intellectual is used and understood this practise of using empowered objects, to my knowledge,
there is not a singular Tibetan terms that covered used Pokemon objects with protective
qualities commonly applied in daily conversations with the term to which I proposed.
If a local variant of the Tibetan term Sumba protection,
some people also simply use the term to love the children and parent when referring to these objects.
And I follow Geoffrey Samuels and understand Jin love of a blessing, power inherent in sacred sites, objects and landscapes, deities,
and then come to speaking and which contains the quality to transform mere themes or useless objects into potent, effective ones.
And Gin Love is in most instances, the force that makes these objects potent and effective.
Two powerful objects, popularity. Amongst Tibetans, just not the new phenomena.
Two Tibetans in exile from this recession, Tibetan in the 1950s, and then the best ski like Gurewitz wrote a book, Deportment of Dick.
S Quotations start the most important means by which Tibetans tried to come up.
Thousands of flosses rotation stops. He's talking forces.
I hope I'm not. And should be more graphically scrutinised in regard to the context of study.
Usage of empowered objects is also mentioned in more recent studies amongst Tibetans in exile.
For instance, by Jeffrey Semillas Taylor, the team law and due process.
However, in these studies, the usage of empowered objects is mentioned only in passing.
And they're not the focus of study and thus leave the mythical potential of these objects unexplored.
And so I aim to contribute with new insights on the usage of empowered objects in daily life amongst Tibetans living in.
A boat. I mentioned the English term amulets.
This is the term used in a handful of books and articles like one from John Blair, said Mike Douglas Scopes Gay, Lesbian, but and Hildebrandt.
These studies mainly describe variations of empowered objects, often based on Buddhist scriptures.
They do not explore the usage of impact with objects in people's daily life in these writings.
I mean, listen, chummed and tally's my terms applied in this talk.
I used I have avoided the term and let's so show instead.
I suggest term empower the objects are some biolab term to cover all objects infused with Buddhist powers.
The term powderkeg I propose shed light on the dynamic feature of this object.
Jeanne, love is an active pelican for us that can be generated and subsequently transform
marriage things into potent objects through techniques the post can increase,
but true usage. The power of the object can also be reduced just to emphasise this dynamic efficacy
of them powered objects conceptualise the production and usage as a technology.
Right, technology. I'm inspired by the finish of the colleges should be out, Velma,
who had used the concept technology to denote practises of performances rather than ready made things and which might be efficacious.
The methods and beings to production department objects become conduits with protective and sometimes also enhancing qualities.
And the practise of, you know, fusing and powered objects. When conceptualised as a technology, reveal how the potent objects are efficacious,
efficacious and acted on the subjects themselves by shaping interest.
Well, there is a simple activities. I will not turn to variations of them powered objects.
In. But eight to nine Jews.
And she loved the terms used in everyday conversations.
Tibetans also supplied more specific terms, but a different subject than hair.
Get there under the general umbrella and powder it. Amongst the popular objects with infused with these powers that show could.
Protective stuff. So do protective codes that predict protective tread.
So we'll do a commonly produced and distributed teachings and rituals such as the colour cheque, the rituals.
It could also be acquired. But if someone pushes.
Some call it a commonly produced in one mysterious, but also in Mexico.
As is depicted in the next.
Amongst the empowered flushers in this particular object is the mindset of Manushi, as well as astute logical calculations,
but also blessed powder that consisted of piece of clothing previously worn by the 14th Dalai Lama, as well as pulverised precious Pils.
This tumour could contain several powerful ingredients, Tibetan's that I directed with Carrie did and come to light,
for instance, due to the yet to this year being that obstacle years.
And in terms of the Tibetan doing the calendaring and to protect against the many obstacles that could potentially occur during this particular year,
some people also had been advised to acquire this rat for Kong in order to keep a good husband and wife relationship.
So the purpose of using unempowered of Jesh lab manyfold,
then you also there is also the payment set to provide the to Tibetan soldiers
in the Indian army and which were also attractive amongst many soldiers,
too. I was told that it turns out sometimes they're sold at the black market to a high price.
And disempowered objects was quite attractive. I felt, particularly amongst men.
Also a picture of the Dalai Lama or any other accomplished monsters, as well as ritual objects such as the melon or rosary, could be.
Couldn't your vagina transform into an unpowered one? Well, show clothes from Rinpoche.
It could be used as an empowered object this term and powered object.
It's a number of different objects that I also see blessed tub with substances as part of this category,
such naturally natural Chang Min and amongst Annable Manly reboot.
And it was produced at the annual menu ritual that takes place in Sublett coming from some lab,
and they're popular amongst many Tibetans that met and following.
Do we choose the money we built could be obtained at the natural shamans produced during those instances.
When Niching embodies the cutin and touch and new to orange coloured bamboo seeds,
the childnet could be obtained this way too, but it could also be acquired.
Free of charge at the natural ones theory whenever one need to use objects.
And these blessed substances could be eaten.
But people also carry them on their body, like putting one of several time or money reboot in a small box and tied around their neck.
Young people also told me that they used to pay ChildNet terms papers in school aiming for a good school
results and people should put them inside pulses that were shipped to other parts of the country.
And let me also add that there are objects which have not been empowered from both sides, so it would be perceived to contain a natural in power.
And these are still held to be powerful. And then this group of protective objects of various precious stones.
Can go back there, you can see it.
Did you see which perhaps was the most attractive one amongst the Tibetans I interacted with,
the shades of the colours varied for several Tibetans told me that they perceive that the sea,
which was most black in colour, gave the best protection on the surface of the sea.
A circle, pardon me, eyes.
And I was told that this even and I might be had the best protective qualities of the popular stones with protective qualities.
Were Choco's you. You sure do.
And Pearl morphic. Noteworthy age be significant metre in terms of the stones, Perkasie, the old ones considered to be more potent than the new one.
And people also told me that precious stones inherited from late family members added yet another layer to the already powerful object.
An. More all of these objects could also be brought in when the stories in order to have a consecration
at ritual Robinett perform until swimming to potent objects into more powerful ones subsequently.
Also, to protect the qualities would increase his potential to increase the potency underlines the dynamic character of the Jicks power.
Remember that this years as a technology consisting of practises not there where they might.
Oh, well, some people only kept one and powered objects.
Others carried a number of them and not mix between one object and objects with innate or and infused powers and other instances.
What could one could conjure up on to one object?
Great engine increasing the power of the object. A rosary is an example of this process.
The Tibetans I interacted with often kept a rosary and got a everybody on the tool in their hands reciting prayers on my dress.
The Fingers Touch wrote to be that the times simultaneously as the month was a third,
turning to fingers gently from Lumbees to the other as one finished the month out and started repeating
the mantra Use the rosary as a significant device for the daily prayer recitation in general.
To help of the Buddhist potency and to count the number of months.
Once one recited, the rosary was more over not only a device in order to count the number of recited mantras.
I was told that by the entering of my prayers, the rosary was transformed into a powerful object with protective qualities.
It became an empowered object in which the winner of the rosary became actively involved in the production.
Recitation of prayers by a lay person must have always held them perceived to generate powerful objects to increase the potency of the rosary,
the rosary most commonly brought to sites of beings that radiated powerful and to love and to collect some of this love.
Tibetans were constantly vigilant for every possibility to receive Jin.
And then they kept their rosary ready attends when the blessing power was within reach.
For instance, people brought the rosary to rituals such as we truly lament naturally and bodies to including passing the net passing natural.
People held the rosary in their hands, ensuring doesn't it shouldn't within power to object to what is whistling Brent.
The desired potency was also accumulated from, for instance, a TRO used by a push in the Trone.
It was perceived to radiate its wimpishness, blessing.
And in order for a lay person to incorporate some of their blessing,
a common practise just touched their head as well as a rosary or any other object, one to the best.
For instance,
once young children anywhere in the monastery Blackcomb during their rituals ordered and chip a huge tank up what day of the day they heard it inside.
The main thing, though, approaching the Tomka.
Young Shin bent her head, touched the tongue into four heads in respect, but also did gain some of the blessing invoked.
By the time I got there, after a young shin left to Rosarita to come to join up, she explained.
This was a technique to garner gin love that did Tounkara,
I did it and I observed free and I frequently observe this practise in temples, other often teachings by allowing the.
And another source of lab. It's near holy places to which Tibetans bow to each one can perform pilgrimage at.
And significant at any significant length any minute.
A common Tibetan practise is common practise is to collect stones, pinches of soil and other substances and empowered.
We decide to love it, also possible to bring objects from home.
Commonly a rosary to which the gene lover decides can be common.
But every encounter with holy places. Powerful beings, and for each month, I respected the potency of the rosary with enhanced.
This idea of increasing the power, this also underlines the fact that beats from the Dalai Lama's rosary.
I was told was distributed from Michelle Fist to his followers to be perceived to contain much, much to love, to love temple.
And in one obtained one of these potent beats.
This piece of that this piece of the Dalai Lama sorcery would then be attached to one's own, be tied to a string of war around in.
Likewise, I also encounter Tibetans who added to their rosary precious, those inherited from late pioneers.
Well, so this practise, I was told, increased the power of the.
And in this picture, you can see it was taking during colour, right, that's in the guy in 2012.
And it is the statute had been empowered to choose.
And people used their rosary to collect some of the blessing from the St. Jude.
I was told it was such shampoo.
And some Tibetans claim that amongst all add to us available, the rosary could be the most powerful and protective one of us.
If the rosary had been in contact with and refused to love radiating from holy places in pushchairs and powerful and powered object.
I have also aimed to show in this section that Rosary, the rosary powers could be enlarged to several genella generating and gathering techniques.
And with the rosary in their hand, people became actively involved in the making of an empowered object.
And more on the efficacy of DOJ was also based, the other parameters such as trust and the idea of keeping the object key to which I will turn.
So first of all, despite the great number of empowered objects available, people did not critically obtain or used potent objects.
The practise was based upon trust or faith.
And turning to make no Griffy, I should pursue this assertion and explore the parameters of trust in terms of the efficacy of potent objects.
One in the home of dodgin young children, Dudney Dodgier, showed me unempowered dog day designed as a clue.
He said this is made of milk from snow lineman's and it's very powerful touch temple, doGet proclaimed.
Yes. Don't you said the appeal was covered in black.
And they kept it carefully in his palm. My one who was president in the room to start to love.
He added, I don't believe in snow line, Smith and Dodges started to explain, but was only halfway an explanation when he stopped and kept quiet.
Do do I too? I suspected the laughter of my one.
Doug, you put the pill on the train and we did not talk more about guilt consecrated with snow.
Milk. Instead, to underscore the significance of faith as a parameter for the effect of the empowered objects, Dodgier started to tell a story.
This story, Dodger recounted the famous story of the Tibetan who went on pilgrimage from Tibet to India, funded his departure.
His mother requested the army to bring back a relic of the Buddha.
The sun, however, was able to field his mother request yet.
He did not want to arrive home empty handed. That's your phone.
Two to four dug up and meeting his mother. And he presented a Doug Stewart attitude of the Buddha.
The mother was happily who happily received the two faces on the author ambush.
The two daily A.D.s, she received many spiritual realisations as a result of her religious practise.
The story told by doGet emphasise the twist of fate.
That's a significant parameter in the usage and the effect of the empowered object.
Tibetans do not gain them, do not gain the empowered objects, arbitrary or indifferent to the power source.
It is it is significant for the technology of making, if efficient, powerful objects.
Does to vary these powered objects are the body, I argue it's also a performance of trust.
Trust in the abilities of the Buddhist potency to empower and hair and follow.
Martin Mills was argued that trust is never simply a static belief about the world and therefore expressive.
Instead, performance of trust is an essentially instrumental ritual within the moon.
Let me turn to another parameter related to that, to the tune US efficacy, as other mentioned.
A significant parameter for the objects to be effective is gin, love, gin, love,
it's understood as an active and fixed force and subsequently how people engage with it and move the department objects from their body method.
For instance,
the powered object infused with gin of the perceived to be negatively influenced by an activity is generating so much dirt and pollution deep.
And. Yet generated by polluting substances and one handling of the object.
Dust notwithstanding differences in design, quality and purpose.
Well, an object had to be handled with care in order to not be used to power.
For instance, these objects should not be stepped over in the same way as the dog bodies dumped in.
Such an eye. I was told, would generate so fat and potentially reduce cancer potency, making them useless.
Similarily one should not put too much. When a chair or a pillow, which one normally was symptom would should better remove it.
When sleeping during sexual intercourse. Once when I talk to a person who had participated in war carrying the total.
He suggested that the powerful empowered objects could not protect soldiers were
killed because it had been contaminated by activity that generated so far death.
So really. So where are we moving the protective objects from?
People's bodies. The objects,
they usually put them in the home transgression or any place in the room at a considerable high level to make sure that the objects were kept clean.
Exploring different parameters.
That is constitutive for the efficacy of the empowered object, show how their production and usage of two can be understood as a process,
as a technology and the ready things in production of them pound objects and the use and Petain and the day the electical coming into being.
And the idea that certain activities could potentially reduce the power of the object to
let the object actually led the object to into influencing people's treatment of it.
It is that idea, correct? Wait.
We got to handling of subject I supposed to trust what a placement together Reggie Love that is constitutive of the efficacy of the.
And the object was not something added to religious practise. It was an integrated part of it.
And he uses everyday life. People told me that they felt that they were using them powered objects.
Still, the potent objects do not only hold an emotional effect.
One took one of my intellectual's. Emphasise this to me when you said it is not only emotional to not want to have a real protective effect.
I will not turn to some of obstacles to the obstacles that the objects work to protect the users against.
Previously, I showed the picture opted to not provided by the histology Department of Mexican Doe Jakes provided
from this department can be made a central purpose was tailor made for this specific purpose.
Such a categorisation, I think, is relevant for oil empowered, obtain specific purposes could be particular illnesses.
And one why I mentioned some power objects can exemplify this point.
One of the objects that was tight, that was tied to the black and white one Twente that you carry as a session.
When a body was object coloured by the clothes, she explained about the object like pointing to a box that light up on the table in her living room.
She said this wax is the. Laughter But Devecser hair.
She nodded to us. The object wrapped in a red glow.
It's more special because of not the mantra has been recited on its back, its legacy and protects from stroke and epilepsy.
One time we fainted and my mother became very worried. Worried for me, she asked my uncle, who lived in seeking to visit my living in this vicinity.
My uncle had to ride a horse for two days to reach dilemma and to get this.
Young should emphasise the difference between a marriage in the works and then the pilot one.
Upon which a number of mantras have been recited. It also pointed out the usefulness of Perdis potency in terms of recovery and maintenance of how.
Also, the object was acquired long time ago, and this exemplifies some of the potency of the object, was an independent in play of time.
As long as it looks clean. And.
As already mentioned, some people also carried empowered powered objects to counteract misfortune during
their four years and others to counteract harm that might be caused by gossip,
gossip or backed by a misunderstanding is exemplified with the words of Pamela.
She said, When I'm out in the street, I always meet people who like me and who don't like me, the people who don't like me.
My back by car were my to protect me against.
Bye bye. But after Tomas backbite will make many of the lazy and give high headache in the evening.
Flotations. More, our Dharamsala is the site for a potential major earthquake in 2012.
The town experienced a number of minor earthquakes and during that time, dam powered objects became significant to.
Some people also stopped to sleep. The dam powered optics around a body inputting natural children under the pillow when sleeping.
The objects were important to to protect against earthquake,
although people would generally say that as long as the Dalai Lama lived in town, nothing dangerous could happen.
The Dalai Lama's power was perceived to come direct, even a major earthquake.
And in general. A general, the people I acted with navigated daily life with these empowered objects to protect against obstacles.
Meeting was unfortunate. Plus by fortune at that point, I explained to that to this very important.
For example, let's say two people are travelling on a bus. One person is staring at the other, one missional.
Then an accident happens. The bus driver stopped the road and followed them.
At that time, if somebody would survive the accident, it would lead the person who lives to West.
Pamela's example suggests that in those cases, when major obstacles such as accidents encountered them,
powered up object will be protected and can even save a person's life.
That is, if the person still embodied the life would say.
Similarly against religious tench, astrologer Tensen underlined the connexion between a powered object and then Brundidge life was set.
Tensing told me quotation stops Life is like a but the time will come when the lumps.
But there has finished. But with the help to love, it is possible the hands of the best from vanishing due to encounter obstacles.
Quotations stuck.
In other words, the empowered objects had its benefits as long as the embodied lifeless [INAUDIBLE] was still existing and exhausted.
Disempowered objects are, as shown, used for general, but also for particular purposes.
In any case, the practise of carrying gift objects, objects,
they argue can be understood as a technology, but object and object can be used as actively involved.
Recent technology applied to maintain health in a broad sense of the work,
as well as two powerful objects, became an empowering tool to proactively engage with everyday life,
to gain a sense of control over the uncertainties related, for instance, to a major earthquake or otherwise,
and in which the materialisation of Blessing's provided, quote, complete comfort and a ritual protection.
And the end of this presentation, I will turn to a story I shared with me by a Tibetan pashing.
Kashi is a man in the 50s, born in Tibet, but escaped in there in the 1980s, coming to India from Tibet as a teenager.
She spent his first guest in India as a student that efforts to be an arm's length keeping Dennis.
He was eager to return to Tibet, if only for a visit to his family.
He told me that the returned to Tibet less dangerous because he had escaped some years ahead.
And since he was not in possession of a passport nor a visa notwithstanding,
he set out on the journey and he had to cross the borders between the past and Tibet without any radical documentation.
This is how Tashi and narrated how he was able to cross the border to Tibet.
He said, quote, My family members stayed behind in Tibet.
So we've flown in India. And I miss them very much. Therefore, I decided to go to Tibet even if I knew the trip would not be easy.
It was even dangerous. I did not have any passport. I became very nervous when I approached the border between the PA and Tibet.
I had heard so many stories of torture of Tibetans by Chinese officials.
I remember that I was behind some Nepali business people. When I crossed the border, I was shown I was in my hand and pocket.
I carried Natural Chung-In while I crossed the border. I also requested natural place.
And somehow I was able to cross without any asking questions.
I felt so relieved. A woman from Purser asked how I had been able to cross the border without any papers.
I don't know how it happened in my thinking. It was due to natural power.
China's is tough, shameful. And I also carried Chung meant to give it to my family in Tibet.
Fundaments remembers the orange colour balancing some power, but by natural,
the Tibetan Buddhist protector and Tashi stories shows how how Buddhist powers in metallised forms are used by people.
Also, movement movements in present days to political realities.
The empowered objects had a transformative effect on the social environment.
Moreover, influence uses movements, perceptions and emotions to trust.
Performed by recitation of prayers and the practise of using a pilot object,
natural's power was perceived to bring protection and principle in border crossing between the potential death.
It must employ to enhance one's being and to navigate the political border regime.
Also, people seem to have prayers ready at hand if misfortune threatens anyone needed support and protection,
for instance, depraved to female day-care daughter, mothers, couple of DuraSite during troubled times to pray for my.
Is a short one from time to time. So that's how I was perceived to invoke the goddess potency for support and protection to those echoing the words.
I became curious why it was necessary to carry and powered objects on the body.
And there was a recitation of prayer, seemed to encompass the same effect, asking this question to my own.
He said. Prayer service every Sunday the same.
And when polls showed in their pocket, Tibetans could go to temples for shopping.
But since we cannot know when we are hit by parch your net, but it is better to use much every day.
Do not be seen as a double security quotation ends to her,
it does not come to see him as a double security or as a layer of protection and as one of several ways
to actively engage with and to work on local mundane concerns and in certain peace of daily life.
And similarly to understanding that the month of Dolma would invoke powers that affect the device.
The listener and environment. So did the empowered objective fact he used to sort of blow this social environment somewhat aside,
yet potent and with his powers that a powered object for EU, for everyone.
And it was a way to empower oneself. Dynamic technology.
Less, more overt, I hope. In part, constitutive in the communication of a Tibetan Buddhist lifeform.
OK. Thank you. Thank you.
Enga.