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Long lives and untimely deaths [electronic resource] : life-span concepts and longevity practices among Tibetans in the Darjeeling Hills, India / by Barbara Gerke.
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Gerke, Barbara, 1966-
- Series:
- Brill's Tibetan studies library ; v. 27.
- Brill's Tibetan studies library, 1568-6183 ; v. 27
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Tibetans--India--Darjeeling (District)--Social conditions.
- Tibetans.
- Tibetans--India--Darjeeling (District)--Religion.
- Longevity--India--Darjeeling (District).
- Longevity.
- Life span, Productive--India--Darjeeling (District).
- Life span, Productive.
- Old age--India--Darjeeling (District).
- Old age.
- Darjeeling (India : District)--Religious life and customs.
- Darjeeling (India : District).
- Darjeeling (India : District)--Social life and customs.
- Physical Description:
- 1 online resource (386 p.)
- Place of Publication:
- Boston : Brill, c2012.
- Language Note:
- English
- Summary:
- Longevity and long-life practices have been a pan-Tibetan concern for a very long time, but have hardly been studied by anthropologists. This book presents ethnographic accounts and textual material demonstrating how Tibetans in the Darjeeling Hills, India, view the life-span and map out certain life-forces in various areas of knowledge. These life-forces follow daily, monthly, and annual cycles. Divinations and astrological calculations are widely but varyingly used by Tibetans to assess the strength of life-forces and forecast difficult periods in their lives. Loss, exhaustion, or periodic weaknesses of life-forces are treated medically or through Tibetan Buddhist practices and rituals. In all these events, temporality and agency are deeply interlinked in the ways in which Tibetans enhance their vitality, prolong their life-spans, and avoid ‘untimely deaths.’
- Contents:
- pt. 1. Ethnographic settings and analytical frameworks
- pt. 2. The field site and Tibetan areas of knowledge
- pt. 3. The life-span and life-forces in Tibetan medical contexts
- pt. 4. The life-span in astrological and divinatory context
- pt. 5. Tibetan Buddhist long-life empowerments.
- Notes:
- Description based upon print version of record.
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- ISBN:
- 1-283-39586-X
- 9786613395863
- 90-04-21748-7
- OCLC:
- 769927281
- Publisher Number:
- 10.1163/9789004217485 DOI
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