DATE DOWNLOADED: Wed Jan 27 22:05:25 2021 SOURCE: Content Downloaded from HeinOnline Citations: Bluebook 21st ed. Vesna A. Wallace, Regulations for Mongolian Monasteries Composed by the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Dalai Lamas in Support of Transnational Geluk Monasticism, 5 Buddhism L. & Soc'y 149 (2019-2020). ALWD 6th ed. Wallace, V. A., Regulations for Mongolian Monasteries Composed by the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Dalai Lamas in Support of Transnational Geluk Monasticism, 5 Buddhism L. & Soc'y 149 (2019-2020). APA 7th ed. Wallace, V. A. (2019-2020). Regulations for Mongolian Monasteries Composed by the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Dalai Lamas in Support of Transnational Geluk Monasticism. Buddhism, Law & Society, 5, 149-176. Chicago 17th ed. Vesna A. Wallace, "Regulations for Mongolian Monasteries Composed by the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Dalai Lamas in Support of Transnational Geluk Monasticism," Buddhism, Law & Society 5 (2019-2020): 149-176 McGill Guide 9th ed. Vesna A Wallace, "Regulations for Mongolian Monasteries Composed by the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Dalai Lamas in Support of Transnational Geluk Monasticism" (2019-2020) 5 Buddhism L & Soc'y 149. AGLC 4th ed. Vesna A Wallace, 'Regulations for Mongolian Monasteries Composed by the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Dalai Lamas in Support of Transnational Geluk Monasticism' (2019-2020) 5 Buddhism, Law & Society 149. MLA 8th ed. Wallace, Vesna A. "Regulations for Mongolian Monasteries Composed by the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Dalai Lamas in Support of Transnational Geluk Monasticism." Buddhism, Law & Society, 5, 2019-2020, p. 149-176. HeinOnline. OSCOLA 4th ed. Vesna A Wallace, 'Regulations for Mongolian Monasteries Composed by the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Dalai Lamas in Support of Transnational Geluk Monasticism' (2019-2020) 5 Buddhism L & Soc'y 149 Provided by: Charles B. Sears Law Library -- Your use of this HeinOnline PDF indicates your acceptance of HeinOnline's Terms and Conditions of the license agreement available at https://heinonline.org/HOL/License -- The search text of this PDF is generated from uncorrected OCR text. Regulations for Mongolian Monasteries Composed by the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Dalai Lamas in Support of Transnational Géluk Monasticism VESNA A. WALLACE Department of Religious Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara, vwallace@religion.ucsb.edu Abstract: This paper brings into discussion and comparison two texts of monastic regulations (Mong. ǰayiɣ): a short document composed by the Thirteenth Dalai Lama in 1906 during his visit to Mongolia and on the occasion of his visit to Gandantsenpilling monastery, and a text of rules and regulations for Mongolian monastics, entitled Rules for the Monasteries of Mongolia (Tib. Sog yul kyi dgon sde rnams kyi bca’ khrims), composed by the Fourteenth Dalai Lama in August 2006. A comparison between these two documents sheds some light on the concerns and conditions of monastic life in Mongolia during two different periods—the Bogd Khaan autonomous Mongolian state, established in 1911 after the fall of the Qing dynasty, and the early period of the revitalization of Buddhism in Mongolia after seven decades of communist suppression of religion. Analysis of these two documents also illustrates the ways in which the two Dalai Lamas understood the conditions of Mongolian Buddhist monasticism during their visits and the types of regulations that needed to be instituted for Mongolian monasteries of their times. It also illuminates the intersection of transregional Géluk monastic education and the religious and political authorities.1 Keywords: Thirteenth Dalai Lama, Fourteenth Dalai Lama, Vinaya, monastic regulations, regulatory text, Tsongkhapa, preservation of monas1 I wish to thank to Professors Matthew King and Lhagvademchig Jadamba for their constructive comments that have improved this paper and to my PhD student Erdenebaatar Erdene-Ochir for his assistance in preparing translations of the original texts, and to my PhD student Patrick Lambellet for proofreading this paper. 149 150 BUDDHISM, LAW & SOCIETY [Vol. 5 ticism, Gandantsenpilling, Gandanpuntsogling, Gandantegchenling, Tashichöling, philosophy, Qing, post-socialist Mongolia INTRODUCTION This paper examines two different texts of monastic regulations composed for Mongolian monks, one written by the Thirteenth Dalai Lama, Thupten Gyatso (Thub bstan rgya mtsho, 1876–1933), and another by the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso (Bstan ‘dzin rgya mtsho, b. 1935). As the two texts were composed at the request of Mongolian Buddhists during different periods in the history of Buddhism in Mongolia, they reflect different political and monastic conditions and concerns that arose with respect to monastic life in the early and late twentieth century. While the Thirteenth Dalai Lama’s text is intended for a philosophical college (datsan, Tib. grva tshang) of a specific monastery during the later phase of Qing rule in Mongolia, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama’s regulations are intended for all Mongolian monasteries in post-socialist Mongolia. As we will see, both Dalai Lamas were primarily concerned with the preservation of monasticism and the flourishing of Buddhism in Mongolia, emphasizing the Vinaya as a foundation of the Buddha Dharma. In connection to that, they both equally emphasized the maintenance of external discipline—namely the pratimokṣa, bodhisattva vows, and tantric pledges—as well as the upholding of the yoga of the two stages (generation and completion) as an internal discipline. The fact that both Dalai Lamas were requested to compose their individual sets of internal monastic regulations (Tib. bca’ yig; bca’ khrims)2 indicates that, in the given historical circum- 2 For a more detailed discussion on the bca’ yig genre in general, see Berthe Jansen, The Monastery Rules: Buddhist Monastic Organization in Pre-Modern Tibet (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2018), Ch. 1. Although in Buddhist texts written in the Classical Mongolian, the Tibetan term bca’ yig invariably appears untranslated in its Mongolized version as ǰayiɣ and as jayag in the Modern Mongolian, both the terms bca’ yig and bca’ khrims are interpreted in contemporary Mongolian language dictionaries as “standing rules” (dürem togtool), a “contract” (geree bichig), and as “the established code of law” (tsaaz togtooson bichig, khuuly tsaazyn bichig), suggesting that documents containing the internal monastic ordinances are to be understood by those belonging to a monastery as a formal, binding document. See L. Terbish, Bod sog tshig bdzod chen mo. Tövd Mongol ij büren toly bichig (Tibetan-Mongolian Great Dictionary) (Ulaanbaatar: Soëmbo Printing XXK, 2018), 413; and D. Bürnee and Enkhtör D, 2019–20] Regulations for Mongolian Monasteries 151 stances in Mongolia, both were regarded as the most desirable and authoritative monastic figures to grant monastic ordinances for Mongolian Gélukpa monasteries, which already had monastics in high administrative posts who were qualified to institute internal monastic ordinances. Some of the ordinances that were already in place were most likely seen as ineffective and inadequate in such times of change, which were marked by: (1) the weakening of Qing power and control in Mongolia, accompanied by the deterioration of monastic conduct in the early twentieth century; and (2) efforts to re-establish Gélukpa monasticism in democratic Mongolia, where central Buddhist monastic authority had been absent. Another important factor was the generally great respect and veneration that the majority of Mongolian Buddhists had for the Thirteenth3 and Fourteenth Dalai Lamas. THE THIRTEENTH DALAI LAMA’S MONASTIC ORDINANCES Let us begin with the text containing the regulations (ǰayiɣ, jayag, Tib. bca’ yig) composed by the Thirteenth Dalai Lama, who resided in Mongolia between 1904 and 1906. Close to the end of his stay, in 1906 (the Fire Horse year), the Thirteenth Dalai Lama went to Uliastai, now the capital of Zavkhan Province (aimag) in Western Mongolia, and to Sain Noyon Khan aimag, nowadays in Uyanga District (sum) of Övörkhangai Province (aimag), which was one of four provinces established in Khalkha Bod hor gyi brda yig. Tövd Mongol Toly (Ulaanbaatar: Mongolian National University, the School of Mongolian Language and Culture, 2006), 137. 3 Despite the Eighth Jebtsundampa’s cold reception of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama in Mongolia, according to various archival documents left by Russian scholars and the Russian consul who met the Dalai Lama in Mongolia at that time, he was met by large crowds on his travels in Mongolia. Due to the generous offerings of Mongolian followers, he was able to establish the Dalai Lama Fund, which was his representative office in Ikh Khüree, headed by Sakya monk Jamyang Tenzin. For more information on this and on discussions of the reasons for which the Thirteenth Dalai Lama came to Mongolia, see Sampildondov Chuluun and Uradyn Bulgan, The Thirteenth Dalai Lama on the Run (1904–1906): Archival Documents from Mongolia (Leiden: Brill, 2013). See also, E. Chimeddorji, B. Dovdo, and A. Sukhbaatar, The History of Modern Mongolia 1911–2017 (Ulaanbaatar: Mongolian Scientific and Research Institute for National Freedom, 2018); and Charles Bell, Portrait of a Dalai Lama: The Times and Lives of the Great Thirteenth (London: Wisdom Publications, 1987), 7. 152 BUDDHISM, LAW & SOCIETY [Vol. 5 during the Qing governance of Mongolia in 1725. This occurred during his visit to Sain Noyon Khan’s Gandantsenpilling (Tib. Dga’ ldan tshe phel ling) monastery, also known as Sain Khany Khüree and Uyangin Khüree, which was built in 1660 and had more than a thousand monks prior to its destruction in 1937. The monastery most likely had the same number of monks at the time of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama’s visit. The Mongolian colophon to the text tells us that “on the auspicious day of the ascending moon, in the first month of the autumn of 1906, the Thirteenth Dalai composed in the Tibetan language a short text of regulations, published in 2011 under the long, descriptive title, Regulations for Tsogkchen of Gandanputsagling Monastery (Sain Noyon Khüree or Uyanga’s Khüree), Composed by the Thirteenth Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso, Who Was Visiting Mongolia, and at the Request of Sain Noën Khan, the Vice-Da [Lama], and Janjin Gün at Gandantsenpilling Monastery of Sain Noyon’s Monastery, in the First Month of Autumn in 1906, in the Fire Horse Year,4 for the philosophical college (datsan, Tib. grva tshang), the Great Assembly (tsogchin, Tib. tshogs chen) called Gandanpuntsogling. As the title and colophon indicate, the Dalai Lama composed the text at the request of the powerful hereditary prince, Sain Noyon Khan (Tögs Ochiryn Namnansüren, 1878—1919), the Vice-Da Lama, and the chief duke (ǰangǰun güng) “for the protection of teachers and disciples.” The years of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama’s visit in Mongolia were already marked with a decline of Qing power in its colonies, and not long after the Thirteenth Dalai Lama’s visit, Sain Noyon Khan became a prominent leader of movement for independence from the Qing; in 1912, he became the prime minister of the autonomous Mongolian monarchy headed by Bogd Khaan, the Eighth Jebtsundampa Khutugtu, and later he became the Minister of Defence. The question that may arise is why Sain Noyon Khan, the chief duke, and the Vice-Da Lama felt that the Thirteenth Dalai Lama should compose the monastic ordinances for their monastery. Was it because Sain Noyon Khan and the chief duke who held the territorial authority of the monastery thought it would be inappropriate for them, as laymen, to write the monastic ordinances, or was it because the monks would take the ordinances 4 “Mongol Orond zalarch baisan XIII Dalai Lam Tüvdenjamts gegeentnee Sain Noyon Khan, ded daa janjin gün naraas güin ailtgaj gal morin jil buyu 1906 ony namryn ekhen sard Sain Noyony Khiid Gandantsenpillindd (Sain Noyony Khüree buyu Uyangyn Khüree) zokhioson Gandanpuntsaglin Khiidiin tsogchin choiryn jayag,” in P. Lham and J. Eröölt, Khüree Khiidiin Jayag (Ulaanbaatar: Publisher Unknown, 2011). 2019–20] Regulations for Mongolian Monasteries 153 more seriously due to the religious authority of the Dalai Lama? As the Dalai Lama’s regulative text suggests, the monks of Sain Noyon Khan’s monastery were engaging in unseemly practices, such as smoking tobacco inside the temple while performing ceremonial services, and the educational system was in need of restoration. This gives the impression that both the eroded Qing power and the authority of the lay local officials was ineffective and inadequate in these matters. The two years during which the Thirteenth Dalai Lama stayed in Mongolia, while escaping British occupation of Tibet, were marked by ongoing unrest and protests in Mongolia caused by the introduction of the Qing dynasty’s New Policies in 1901, which encouraged Chinese colonization in Mongolia and threatened the destruction of the Mongols and their identity.5 The phrase “for the protection of teachers and disciples” mentioned in the colophon strongly suggests that the request to the Thirteenth Dalai Lama to write the monastic regulations also had a political overtone, expressing a nationalistic response to Chinese infiltration into Mongolian territories, which threatened the assimilation of the Khalkha into the Chinese province. This period of uncertainty and discontent was also marked by aggressive Chinese economic exploitation of the Mongols, the drain of Mongolian livestock to China, and the Mongols’ growing debt to Chinese merchants. This coincided with the weakening of the Qing dynasty’s power in Mongolia, and it eventually led to the declaration of Mongolian independence in 1911, five years after the Thirteenth Dalai Lama wrote his regulations for Mongolian monks. In the colophon to the text, the Thirteenth Dalai Lama expresses his hope that the many Mongolian monks contributing to the flourishing of the instruction of the Buddha, as well as Mongolian noblemen, will continue following the main monastic rules without distortion. In his introductory remarks that follow a brief homage to the Buddha Śākyamuni, Maitreya, Mañjuśrī, “the two supreme ones” (Nāgārjuna and Asaṅga), Tsongkhapa, and others, the Thirteenth Dalai Lama states: I am writing here the laws and regulations regarding the moral choice of pure monastic conduct based on thirteen principles, which are the appropriate conduct of the sons of the Conqueror and mandatory aspects of upholding the Noble Dharma. May the following be the words of the offerings as a foreword. Here I 5 Christopher Atwood, Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire (New York: Facts on File, Inc., 2004), 454. 154 BUDDHISM, LAW & SOCIETY [Vol. 5 am writing only the rules for accepting and expelling [someone] from the assembly of Gandanpuntsogling temple.6 The condensed discussion of regulations given in his text pertains to various aspects of monastic activities in the philosophical dastan and the Great Assembly (tsogchin, Tib. tshogs chen). His regulations were not only a response to social and political conditions in Mongolia of that time, but also to certain practices of Mongolian monks that are prohibited by Vinaya, such as gambling with dice, playing chess, smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol, and so on, which he either heard of or witnessed during his travels in Mongolia, and which are mentioned in other sources composed around that period, such as the “Regulations Composed by Khalkha’s Prince Dorjbold” (Qalqa-yin ǰasaɣ güng Dorbulǰal-un ǰokiyaɣsan ǰayiɣ), those composed by the Eighth Bogd Jebtsundampa, and so on. In the Thirteenth Dalai Lama’s regulations, we also see his concern that Mongolian monks studying Buddhist philosophy in Gandanpuntsogling (Dga’ ldan phun tshog gling) follow the same rules as the monks of Drepung Tashi Gomang (‘Bras sprungs bkra shis sgo mang), the oldest college of Drepung monastery. Drepung, the principle seat of the Gélukpa school in Lhasa established in 1416 by one of Tsongkhapa’s main disciples, Jamyang Chöjé Tashi Palden (‘Jam dbyangs Chos rje Bkra shis Dpal ldan, 1397–1449),7 was renowned for its high standard of scholastic training, and a place where a notable number of Mongolian scholastics underwent training in logic and debate. The Thirteenth Dalai Lama’s regulations also shed light on the respect and donations that were to be given to Mongolian monks specializing in philosophy, protecting them from a potential abuse of power by Mongolian noblemen. The Thirteenth Dalai Lama’s regulatory text is brief in comparison to that of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, and his regulations in some part correspond to that written by the Fourteenth Dalai Lama for all Mongolian monks. The main text of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama, which follows the opening words of homage and prayer, reads as follows. 6 “Mongol Orond zalarch baisan XIII Dalai Lam Tüvdenjamts gegeentnee Sain Noyon Khan, ded daa janjin gün naraas güin ailtgaj gal morin jil buyu 1906 ony namryn ekhen sard Sain Noyony Khiid Gandantsenpillindd (Sain Nony Khüree buyu Uyangyn Khüree) zokhioson Gandanpuntsaglin Khiidiin tsogchin choiryn jayag,” in P. Lham and J. Eröölt, Khüree Khiidiin Jayag (Ulaanbaatar: Publisher Unknown, 2011), 29. 7 The specialty of the Gomang dratsang of Drepung monastery was logic and debate. Reportedly, Gomang college had more than 5,000 monks prior to the Chinese invasion of Tibet. 2019–20] Regulations for Mongolian Monasteries 155 According to the teachings of Holy Tsongkhapa, “the essence of all good roots of the worldly and excellent, transcendent virtues and knowledge is a gracious guru.” Thus, the root of all good assemblies depends on accordingly venerating the guru, [who is] a virtuous relative through motivation and interdependence, and on delighting him with offerings of the three doors. Hence, when someone enters the gate of Dharma by being ordained in this monastery, he should first establish his relationship by choosing his own guru. Examine thoroughly whether or not there is an obstacle for him to become a monk. If there is no obstacle, ordain him according to the custom. If he is not ordained, he is not allowed to enjoy the goods and texts with other monks. Teach him all the rules of the monastery and how to respect older or senior monks, how to rely on his teacher accordingly, and how to have a respectful approach to listening and thinking about great texts for studying Buddhist philosophy accordingly. Teach him not to roam around the camp and not to conduct trade for his own sake, annoying householders. Teach him not to waste his human body. He must hold to a śrāvaka conduct externally and uphold the two yogic conducts internally. He must dwell vigilantly at all times. He himself must investigate and choose vows from various monastic vows and regulations. His teacher should give him orders according to the law of Dharma. If one is not vigilant and engages in a brazen act such as drinking alcohol, he must be expelled from the monastery. If one expects material benefits or power, or if one was expelled from another monastery or has engaged in adultery, he must not be admitted into the monastery. A monk must not allow any woman who is engaged in adultery, whether she is angry or humble, even if she is his own kind mother, to enter or to stay overnight in the monastic premises without a permit. If it is necessary for a benefactor [to stay in the monastery], he must get permission from the abbot of the monastery. When a monk who has violated rules is to be punished, a teacher from a philosophical datsan, from a tantric [datsan], or from the Kālacakra datsan, a Da lama of the monastery, or two gesgüis (Tib. dge bskos) of the Great Assembly (tsogchin), or demches, etc. must act. Others, such as noblemen, should not be involved in punishing. The two tsokchin gesgüis (Tib. tshogs chen dge bskos, a proctor of the Great Assembly Hall) of the philosophical datsan must introduce regulations to young gesgüi monks and must prevent them from any potential violations. The degree-holding monks from Ikh Khüree, Labrang, Kumbum, and gavj (Tib. dka’ bcu) from Da Khüree and Gandantegchenling Monastery [in Ikh Khüree] who hold high seats (recognition), who have completed the five volumes of philosophy, must be seated on high seats and should be given the monastery’s monetary offerings. They should not be called to the service of a nobleman. According to Nāgārjuna, “monastic discipline is the root of all good qualities, [it is] like the source and the ground.” Likewise, a monk must study monastic discipline, which is the root of all good qualities. Fully ordained monks (gelen; Tib. dge slong) and getsuls (getsel; Tib. dge tshul) must uphold their vows: the pratimokṣa vows, the bodhisattva vows, and [tantric] samayas. Based on these, they 156 BUDDHISM, LAW & SOCIETY [Vol. 5 should specifically uphold a yoga of the two stages through renunciation, bodhicitta, and right view. Do not commit the four main downfalls and do not be contaminated by alcohol, disputes, mundane pleasures, dice, chess, and cigarettes. The rules, conduct, recess in studies, teachings, and listening in a philosophical datsan must be developed based on the rules of Drepung Tashi Gomang datsan. Four individuals should not be absent even for a single day from the assembly of philosophical debates for the duration of four years. The monastery and laypeople must not give duties to these monks. The gavj (Tib. dka’ bcu) degree must be defended within two days only. Monks must accept monetary offerings dedicated to the welfare of the living and the dead. But they must not accept offerings derived from robbery and cheating. Monks must pay close attention to purifying bad karma and accumulating good virtues by worshipping the Three Jewels, prostrating, making maṇḍala offerings, confessing downfalls, reciting the hundred-syllable mantra, doing retreat for removing all inauspiciousness as obstacles to the path, and accumulating all auspiciousness in order to expand their lifespan and increase virtue, glory, and wealth. Likewise, a working monk must obey the rules of the monastery accordingly and make all of the specific tormas for the pūjās conducted from the first to the twelfth month, prepare torma offerings for dharmapālas, draw the lines for mask (tsam, Tib. cham) performances, and perform [them] in accordance with a chanting rhythm as a practice for the accumulation of merit for this and next lives in order to benefit himself and others. Thus, he must be diligent and studious. The text ends with the Thirteenth Dalai Lama’s words of prayer and aspiration: May Dharma, [which is] the only medicine that cures the suffering of sentient beings and a sole gate to all happiness, be forever-lasting, supported by gains and respect. May the Dharma of Śākyamuni, the fundamental entrance to happiness, spread further! May people practice the noble Dharma! May inauspicious harms and defeats be pacified! May all auspicious happiness prevail! Because Sain Noyon Khan, the Vice-Da [Lama], and Janjin Gün, as well as the assembly of those who have taken the oath to protect Śākyamuni’s Dharma in front of the eyes of the Glorious One asked me to engage without hesitation the work of protecting the teachers and disciples—the saṅgha assembly—by composing monastic rules for Gandanpuntsogling Monastery, may many monks who are making the great preciousness of religion of the Glorious One prosper, and may the responsible noblemen keep following the main rules without distortion and make them continue smoothly! I wrote this in Gandantsepilling, the Sain 2019–20] Regulations for Mongolian Monasteries 157 Noën Monastery, on the auspicious seat day of the ascending moon of the Fire Horse Year.8 THE FOURTEENTH DALAI LAMA’S MONASTIC REGULATIONS Let us now turn to the Fourteenth Dalai Lama’s Law and Regulations for Mongolian Monasteries (Sog yul gyi dgon sde rnams kyi bca’ khrims),9 which he composed on March 6, 1992 in Tegchen Chöling in Dharamsala, a year after his second visit to Mongolia, from September 26–29, 1991.10 The Fourteenth Dalai Lama composed this regulatory text on the request of the abbot, the vice-abbot, and Da Lama of Gandantegchenling Monastery, the official center of Mongolian Buddhists in Ulaanbaatar, the abbot of Tashichöling Monastery in Ulaanbaatar, and others. His Laws and Regulations for Mongolian Monasteries was published in Ulaanbaatar in both versions, in the original Tibetan and in the Mongolian translation, by Gandantegchenling Monastery in the summer of 2006, fourteen years after he composed them, before his visit to Mongolia in the autumn of that year. After the text had been published in Mongolia, copies of it were also taken to Kalmykia as regulations for monasteries in the republic of Kalmykia.11 It is not clear why the translation and publication of his regulatory manual were postponed for fourteen years. According to Mongolian scholar Lhagvademchig Jadamba, it was probably pending approval from the Mongolian government, which might have been concerned about foreign interference in domestic religious affairs.12 Nine years later, in 2015, Gandantegchenling monastery published the General Regulations for 8 Since so far I have been unable to obtain the original Tibetan text, my translation is based on the Modern Mongolian translation of the Tibetan original. I wish to thank Ven. Munkhbaatar Batchuluun for his advice in preparation for this translation. “Mongol Orond zalarch baisan XIII Dalai Lam Tüvdenjamts gegeentnee Sain Noyon Khan, ded daa janjin gün naraas güin ailtgaj gal morin jil buyu 1906 ony namryn ekhen sard Sain Noyony Khiid Gandantsenpillindd (Sain Nony Khüree buyu Uyangyn Khüree) zokhioson Gandanpuntsaglin Khiidiin tsogchin choiryn jayag,” in Khüree Khiidiin Jayag (Ulaanbaatar: Publisher Unknown, 2011), 29–31. 9 Mongolian title: Mongol Orny Khüree Khiidüüdiin Jayag Tsaaz Orshvoi. 10 The Fourteenth Dalai Lama’s first visit to Mongolia was from June 15–18 of 1979. 11 I am grateful to Venerable Telo Rinpoche, the head of Buddhism in Kalmyk Republic, for sharing this information with me. 12 Dr. J. Lhagvademchig expressed this view in our email correspondence in June 2020. 158 BUDDHISM, LAW & SOCIETY [Vol. 5 Monasteries in Mongolia (Mongolyn Burkhany shashintny khiid ornuudyn niitleg dürem), which is an expanded and more detailed version of the ordinances given by the Fourteenth Dalai Lama in his Laws and Regulations for Mongolian Monasteries. The new regulations were approved by the Council of Head Lamas of Mongolia of the Center of Mongolian Buddhists. The “foreword” to the text, issued by the administrative office of the Abbot of Gandantegchenling monastery, begins by asserting, “Indeed it is the result of our meritorious deeds that made us Mongols be blessed by Buddhism, especially by Holy Tsongkhapa’s religion that comprises Mahāyāna sūtras and tantras,” thus again emphasizing the Géluk monastic education. The authors of the foreword also inform us that although as many Buddhist temples and monasteries as possible had been built in this democratic period, it was impossible to create a unified position with regard to monastic regulations. The time had thus come to pay attention to the fact that if these rebuilt monasteries followed the common regulations and the monks strengthened and kept their vows, it would become the main foundation for the flourishing of the Buddhist tradition. The members of the Council of Head Monks (tergüün lam) agreed to include in this new collection of monastic regulations several sets of different laws: laws pertaining to the relation between the state and religion; laws observed by the Mongol state based on the regulations of Mongolian monasteries; traditional regulations (ulamjlalt jayaguud); and laws relevant to contemporary conditions.13 Although the Fourteenth Dalai Lama’s regulations for Mongolian monasteries were not observed in all Mongolian monasteries, as indicated by the authors of the foreword, they inspired the preparation of a new regulatory manual that in part incorporated the Dalai Lama’s regulations, referred to by some as “traditional regulations.” The authors of the foreword conclude by citing the Dalai Lama’s statement from his Laws and Regulations for Mongolian Monasteries, in which he writes that he wrote his regulatory manual for the restoration of Buddhism and the clarification of the essential principles of moral choices based on the Vinaya rules, in accordance with the features of spatial and temporal circumstances, emphasizing that it is befitting for Mongolian monasteries that observe Mongolian monastic regulations to implement all the main, common regulations after adjusting those of their own laws and regulations that accord with their own particular, regulatory tradition. 13 Mongolyn Burkhany shashintny khiid ornuudyn niitleg dürem (Ulaanbaatar: Gandantechenling Monastery, 2015), 4. 2019–20] Regulations for Mongolian Monasteries 159 A year prior to the Fourteenth Dalai Lama’s visit to Mongolia in 1991, Mongolia went through a peaceful democratic revolution, which overthrew the Mongolian People’s Republic and ended the seventy-year period of socialism and suppression of religious expression. By the time the Dalai Lama visited Mongolia in 1991, 150 temples and monasteries had already been rebuilt, although they hardly had any fully ordained, celibate monks and they had separate, internal ordinances (jayag). While the Thirteenth Dalai Lama’s relation with the Eighth Bogd Jebtsundampa was strained to a certain degree, for which reason he was unable to spend much time in Urga during his stay in Mongolia,14 the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, after offering the eulogy to the Buddha and the great Buddhist masters of India, Tibet, and Mongolia in the opening section of the text, expresses his veneration to the incarnations of Jebtsundampas with these words: I venerate the successive incarnations of Jebtsundampa, Who have become the defenders of their disciples in the land of Mongolia With special authority of their aspiration of generating bodhicitta, And who are the embodiment of the ocean of enlightened deeds in training [their] disciples.15 It is worth mentioning here that since his visit to Mongolia in September of 1991, the Dalai Lama was involved in the recognition of the ninth Jebtsundampa, who was later, in August of 2010 granted Mongolian citizenship and enthroned as the head of Mongolian Buddhism in 2011.16 14 According to the report of the Russian consul, the Eighth Jebtsundampa avoided the meeting with the Thirteenth Dalai Lama out of concern that his own reputation among Mongols would diminish. According to the report of the Russian scholar Kozlov, the Dalai Lama confided in him, saying that Jebtsundampa not only refused to meet him in Ikh Khüree because of the alleged Peking position toward Mongolia, but that he also allowed that Dalai Lama’s seat to be removed from Ikh Khüree. See Chimeddorji, Dovdo, and Sukhbaatar, The History of Modern Mongolia 1911-2017 and Bell, Portrait of a Dalai Lama, 16. According to orally transmitted reports, the two were secretly meeting at night, with the Dalai Lama leaving his tent on a horse at midnight on several occasions. 15 XIV Dalai Lam Danzanjamts, Sog yul gyi dgon sde rnams kyi bca’ khrims bzhugs so (Ulaanbaatar: Gandantegchenlin Khiid, 2016), 5. 16 The Ninth Jebtsundampa’s application for a Mongolian visa was declined in 1995 out of concern about foreign interference in Mongolian internal religious affairs and due to the persistence of the old communist law prohibiting a recognition of incarnations. During his first visit to Mongolia in 1999, the Ninth Jebtsundampa was 160 BUDDHISM, LAW & SOCIETY [Vol. 5 During his last visit to Mongolia, in 2016, the Dalai Lama was also involved in the public announcement of the Jebtsundampa’s tenth incarnation six years later. When speaking of a strong connection established between Tibet and the great Mongol empire in the thirteenth century, followed by the third and fourth Dalai Lamas’ connections to Mongolian Buddhism in the sixteenth century, and the respectful reception given to the Thirteenth Dalai Lama during his visit to Mongolia, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama points to the contribution that Tibetans made to Mongols’ monastic education and Mongolian scholars’ contribution to Buddhist scholarship, stating: Many among those people, passing through hardships such as that of long distance and so forth, enrolled in Tibetan monasteries. They were diligently engaged in learning curricula with accomplishments of study, reflection, and meditation, and became great scholars and realized masters. Consequently, they also composed numerous volumes of Buddhist texts that have become tremendously valuable sources for us to study and practice. … The firm spiritual relation in terms of religion and culture between the two nations cannot be destroyed by an external power, and both Tibetans and Mongolians sincerely enjoy the fact that our genuine connection that has come down through generations is being restored. As for myself, I will make effort to help the revival of Buddhism in Mongolia in so far as possible. … However, nowadays when one can freely practice, by choice, the exoteric and esoteric Buddhist teachings based on Vinaya rules, monks should not violate the principles of moral choices that are in accordance with the Dharma taught by the Buddha, a non-mistaken teacher. [7–10] Aware of the new political conditions and regional circumstances in Mongolia, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, according to his own words, wrote his monastic regulations with the intention to facilitate a restoration of monasticism in Mongolia. He also acknowledges the importance of the regulations being appropriate to a particular region, stating that “stability of the precious teaching of the Buddha in a particular region chiefly depends on the appropriateness of rules, conducts, theory and practice, enthroned as the Head of Mongolian Buddhism by Mongolian monks in Erdene Zuu Monastery, located far from the capital, but the enthronement was officially disapproved by Mongolian government. For more details on this, see Jhagvademchig Jadamba, “Double Headed Mongolian Buddhism: A Historical and Anthropological Study of Identity Politics Inside the Mongolian Buddhist Institution” (PhD diss., The University of Shiga Prefecture, School of Human Culture: Department of Intercultural Communication, 2017); and Lhagvademchig Jadambaand Bernhard Schittich, “Negotiating Self and Other: Transnational Cultural Flows and the Reinvention of Mongolian Buddhism,” Internationales Asienforum 4, no. 1–2 (2020): 83–102. 2019–20] Regulations for Mongolian Monasteries 161 educational procedure, and administration of the monastic orders of that region.” [6] He writes: Nowadays, the concepts of freedom, democracy, and equality are favored throughout the world. Due to the change of time, the twilight of the new, fortunate era of the enjoyment of freedom has been shining all over the world, especially in the countries that used to be under Soviet influence, such as Mongolia and other ethnic Mongol regions. [8] I have written this regulatory manual for the restoration of Buddhism and for the clarification of the essential principles of moral choices based on the Vinaya rules, in accordance with characteristics of the spatial and temporal circumstances. It is my hope that this will benefit Buddhism, especially the young monastics of the future. While referring to the Vinaya as a basis of Buddhist teachings, he cites Tsongkhapa and the Sūtra of Cherishing the Monks (Bhikṣupriyasūtra) to argue for monastic discipline as the first of the three trainings and a cause of Buddhahood. The Dalai Lama further asserts that the precious teachings of the Buddha depend on a monastic community that upholds and disseminates them and follows unpolluted, conscientious monastic discipline. This he sees to be of particular importance in the early phase of the revitalization of Mongolian Buddhism, in which the criticism of religion in general, and of monasticism in particular––which was widespread during the communist period––has not entirely perished. With regard to that, he writes: Today, in the time of the five degenerations, Buddhism and its adherents tend to be looked upon critically, so it is important for Buddhists, especially monastics, to behave in accordance with the Vinaya teachings and to be genuinely engaged in learning, reflection, and meditation on the complete practices of the entire Buddhist teachings. The basis of these rules is the four divisions of the Vinaya scriptures (‘dul ba lung sde bzhi) in general and particularly, the commitments to uphold the intentions of the Buddha, maintaining the practices of abstinence, observances, and authorizations, including how to examine a potential person before giving precepts and so forth, in accordance with the spatial and temporal circumstances. [10] Likewise, …all monks must perform the rituals of the three grounds in conformity with the core Vinaya textual tradition and with detailed accuracy. For the assembly rituals of the three grounds, such as the bimonthly mending-purification rite, all the monastics with uncorrupted [monastic] discipline must take part in it. Those who have serious illness or who are in retreat should perform the Vinaya rituals of aspiration and purification offerings. 162 BUDDHISM, LAW & SOCIETY [Vol. 5 The Fourteenth Dalai Lama’s Laws and Regulations for Monasteries of Mongolia consists of eight chapters, dealing with these main topics: 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) Monks’ entering into an ethical choice (rab byung rnams kyis blang dor la) Having few desires and remaining content (‘dod pa chung zhing chog shes bsten pa) Gathering for the assembly and allocating in the rows [of seats] (tshogs su ‘du zhing gral du ‘khod tshul) How to engage in effort to study (thos brtson la ji ltar ‘jug pa’i tshul la) How to take examinations (rgyugs sprod) Meditation practice (sgom sgrub) General rules of a monastery (dgon pa’i spyi khrims) Appendix (zhar byung): About the fundamental wellbeing of the community and monastic administrators (spyi tshogs kyi bde rtsa dang | las sna skor | ) As indicated by the general titles of chapters 1 through 6 and their contents, the parts of which will be given in some detail below, the Dalai Lama structured the rules and regulations pertaining to the given themes into the three main categories of Buddhist training, often referred to as the “three pillars of Buddhism”—ethics, wisdom, and samādhi. From among the topics covered in the eight chapters, it is the rules pertaining to the Géluk monastic system of education and examination, covered in sections 3 to 5, that he discusses in more detail than those covering other topics in other sections. The Dalai Lama, who has been actively engaged in the establishment of Tibetan Buddhist monastic institutions and education in India among Tibetan refugees, saw the urgency for the reestablishment and development of monastic education after its complete demise and sevendecade long disruption in post-socialist Mongolia, which had been predominantly associated with the Gélukpa school since the late seventeenth century. However, although Gélukpa-oriented Buddhism remains predominant in Mongolia, the temples and monasteries associated with other Tibetan forms of Buddhism—namely, Sakya, Kagyu-Nyingma, Jonang, and even Bön—have found their homes in present-day Mongolia. Some of these regulations may not be entirely applicable to them; hence, further research is required into this matter. 2019–20] Regulations for Mongolian Monasteries 163 The Dalai Lama’s text follows the regulations related to the aforementioned eight topics with a prayer for the protection of the Dharma and monastics in Mongolia, and with a colophon, where he points out that his Laws and Regulations for Monasteries in Mongolia are in accordance with the Sthavira School. Throughout the text, to support and illustrate his own regulatory statements, he cites the Vinayakṣudrakavastu (‘Dul ba phran tsheg kyi gzhi), Vinayasūtra (‘Dul ba’i mdo), and Bhikṣupriyā Sūtra (Tib. Dge slong la rab tu gces pa), in addition to the Udānavarga (Tib. Tshoms), the Prajñādaṇḍa (Shes rab sdong bu), traditionally attributed to Nāgārjuna, the Abhidharmakośa, Candrapradīpa Sūtra, Suhṛllekhā, and sayings of Indian and Tibetan authors like Śāntideva, Milarepa, and Drügpa Sangyé Dorjé (‘Brug pa sangs rgyas rdo rje). In the section on monks’ entering into an ethical choice, the Dalai Lama lays out the basic guidelines as to what kind of person is eligible for entering a monastic community. This was written in part as a response to the reopened monasteries’ eagerness to acquire the adequate numbers of monks by ordaining anyone interested in joining the monasteries, at times without proper examination of the candidates’ suitability. The Dalai Lama emphasizes here that the appropriate candidate is someone who is neither too old nor too young to observe monastic regulations, who is not concerned with mundane concerns, and who is free from obstacles to maintaining the monastic discipline and appropriate physical condition. The qualifications of the person desiring ordination should be examined in accordance with Vinaya. The newcomers should rely on teachers in accordance with their faith and desire, and the teachers should train them in monastic regulations such as moral conduct, memorization, review, and the like with regard to relevant terms and their meanings. The administration of the monastery should appoint a qualified senior teacher, someone familiar with the monastic moral conduct, who will introduce the newcomers to their respective primary instructions of training within three weeks and who will occasionally give the monastics teachings on the essential moral conducts of the three vows, based on their root texts and the detailed explanations of monastic regulations. [12] The Dalai Lama encourages the newcomers to a monastic community to fear any conduct that would cause the depreciation of major monastic vows, including acts such as gathering in monastic cells or the monastery’s roundabout path to gossip, jumping, running, singing, walking in a seductive or arrogant manner or while holding hands, urinating and defecating in a standing position, gambling, intervening in family disputes, smoking, 164 BUDDHISM, LAW & SOCIETY [Vol. 5 carrying a knife, and so on. Having observed Mongolian monks wearing robes resembling Mongolian traditional dress (deel), which were originally designed by the first Bogd Jebtsundamba, Zanabazar (1635–1823), in order to suit the cold Mongolian climate and nomadic lifestyle (as early monasteries at the time of Zanabazar were nomadic, tent monasteries), the Dalai Lama urges them to use “appropriate monastic possessions such as the three monastic robes free from the two extremes: neither ragged nor dashing.” Concerning the local climate, traditional clothes such as special types of monastic hats, garments with sleeves, trousers, and the like that are not unpleasant to sight can be worn in the wintertime inside your cell or during necessary instances such as traveling, but do not wear them in the monastic assemblies or stubbornly at all times! . . . Wear your lower garment spherically, making it neither too short nor too long. [13] . . . Wear your monastic vest, gown, and hat in accordance with their symbolism . . . Should a violation of these rules arise, make the offender recite confession prayers and give him suitable penalties. [14] In this section of the text, the Dalai Lama calls for impartiality in punishing the violators of monastic rules, with punishments appropriate to the seriousness of the violations, and in the case of perpetrators deserving excommunication, he calls for disregarding their hierarchical status or family relations, rejecting flattery, bribes, and so on. [14] While the second section is chiefly dedicated to encouraging the monks’ cultivation of contentment and to rules demanding the avoidance of works contrary to Dharma, such as farming, pasturing, working as a household servant, and so on, the third section deals with hygiene, social courtesy, and respect for monastic seniors. Cleaning one’s residence is the first of the preliminary practices; therefore, as a manner of staying in good health during virtuous activities, you should always clean the inside and outside of the walled enclosures, assembly halls, kitchen, and around your monastic cells, visualizing them as a field for inviting an object of the accumulation of merit. As for the vicinity, do not pollute it with mucus, trash, etc., and keep it pleasant! When the call for an assembly sounds, gather in an elegant manner! Take seats equally on the two sides of the hall. For a small assembly, the disciplinarian should arrange the seats adding more monks from the back to the front rows. As for sitting, sit in the upward position, not too much backward or bending over, [but] lining up in straight rows! Do not be discourteous by covering your face, twisting your body, looking around, leaning against a pillar or a wall, chattering, winking at one another, giving facial expressions, sleeping, playing with your hands, staring vacantly, devaluing cushions, and so on, spilling tea between the rows, leaving trash, taking the food carelessly during 2019–20] Regulations for Mongolian Monasteries 165 the mealtime, making the sound of blowing at food, licking, biting a too big [piece], cramming your mouth before swallowing, holding out a bowl for tea, etc. before they come close to you, spitting out your mucus during mealtime, and so on. When you are seated, or at other times, you must pay attention to the seniority of ordination. [16] Citing the Vinayakṣudrakavastu and Vinayasūtra, the Dalai Lama instructs the monks to continually pay attention to showing respect to senior monastics, those who are senior in ordination, the abbot, administrator, and others by taking off a hat, putting down a shawl next to them, seating them at the head of the rows of seats, and respectfully asking the disciplinarian to leave the assembly, if the need arises. [17] Also, throughout the text as well as in the fourth section, the Dalai Lama contextualizes the prescribed monastic rules in the contemporary conditions of that time. For instance, in section 4, dedicated to the rules pertaining to study and debate, he contemporizes the rules that he prescribes by pointing to the importance of integrating philosophical training, modern secular education, and training in multiple languages and literary studies. In that regard, he writes: It is very important for monasteries to be able to progress, without conflicting the Dharma, along with general attitudes of people in today’s new world, the social manners, the conditions of countries, the development of science, and so on. These days, the light of Buddhism, complete with [its] exoteric and esoteric teachings, which were disseminated to Tibet and Mongolia, is pervading over most parts of the world. At the same time, it is imperative to ascertain the precious Buddhist teachings with learning and reflecting by means of scriptures and reasoning and then promulgate it to others through explanations. . . There are monasteries that, instead of providing [monks] with methods of understanding the meaning of Dharma by means of study and reflection on the essence of its literal meaning, are emphasizing only the maintenance of the old traditions of memorizing prayers, performing ritual dances, creating maṇḍalas, and chanting prayers. This is not the right way to uphold and protect Buddhist teachings. Therefore, we must exert ourselves well to understand the essences of the profound and extensive teachings … Thus, you should be trained in Buddhist philosophy first. … Moreover, monastics should also receive modern education. Thus, schools that belong to monasteries but, at the same time, meet the standards of secular grade levels, where one can get the required subjects of modern education, must be established for the interest of young monks. [18] In these schools, monks should for five years be taught reading and writing in the Tibetan and Mongolian languages as well as other foreign and local languages, and additional linguistic studies according to need and appropriateness, in order to meet the standards of formal literary studies. [19] 166 BUDDHISM, LAW & SOCIETY [Vol. 5 Outlining the course of study for Mongolian monastic students that accords with the learning tradition of great monastic centers in Lhasa, he makes it imperative that students first memorize the ritual and core philosophical texts important for Gélukpa training—such as the Abhisamayālaṃkāra and Madhyamakāvatāra, then the great five volumes on the topics of the Pramāṇa, Prajñāpāramitā, Madhyamaka, Abhidharma, and Vinaya, comprising the “great five volumes,” and their commentarial works, composed by Indian and Tibetan Buddhist masters, as well as writings of Tsongkhapa and his renowned disciples—followed by training in ritual performing and creative arts. Students and teachers are further told: A successful learning depends on memorization and review, so ignoring heat, cold, and other difficulties, memorize every morning the particular text that you are studying at the moment in your class! Study the text with your teacher! The teachers should also remind their students to study with care and teach them accordant with their intellectual abilities. [19] Spend your evening with study reviews! Hold two separate assemblies of debate session in the daytime and evening, respectively! During debate session, discuss in dialogues of two by two at the designated area of your class! From time to time, gather with your classmates for a group debate! Everyone should carry on serious debates without hesitation due to [things] such as exhaustion! The members of the higher classes should attend a group debate session of the lower classes to encourage them or to review their forgotten topics. Regardless of the importance of the debate session, whether it is a group or a dual debate session, respond with formal answers—“I accept the proposition,” “The reason is invalid,” “The proposition is without a reason,” and “The reason does not follow the proposition!” Do not use a colloquial answer such as “It is,” “It isn’t,” “It does,” or “It doesn’t!” When you challenge [someone] with a debate, argue with scriptural and logical reasonings for your proposition, without failing the model of the great monasteries, by clearly choosing a subject along with a proposition and your reason, the trio of which qualifies a usage of the three spheres of contradiction and the spheres of implication! Otherwise, with a wrong intention, never abash others with refutations, do not insult, offend, accuse, or rebuke [them] to cause schism among monastics! A day of break in a weekend and the winter and summer recesses should be regulated in accordance with modern convention. Apart from these, should there be a necessity for exception, ask the abbot, a disciplinarian, or an administrator for the excuse. Otherwise, coming to the assemblies of the debate session is mandatory. During an assembly of the debate session, do not go somewhere else for the sake of [performing] a ritual for the laity; do not go somewhere else to study Dharma, and do not be too enthusiastic to go for a pilgrimage or for a religious tour, thinking that it is more important. [20] … In other words, until you finish the debating defense of your study and reflection, do not go around too much! In general, instead of directing what you have learned outwardly, learn how to turn around the arrowhead of Dharma 2019–20] Regulations for Mongolian Monasteries 167 towards yourself and practice! You must include in your practice that what you know from the quintessence of the topics you have studied with diligence: the individual advices of the three vows, and the meanings of the short and extensive Lamrim (Stages of the Path) texts. It is recommended to receive a sermon on the Lamrim annually either in the fall or in the spring. [21] Recognizing that the philosophical positions of non-Buddhist opponents whose ideas were traditionally studied and argued against in Buddhist monasteries in India and Tibet may not be as relevant to contemporary Mongolian monastics exposed to Western philosophical views and trends as they were to their predecessors, the Dalai Lama writes: The viewpoints of the non-Buddhist tenets taken as opposing in our Buddhist textual tradition nowadays have mostly declined. It is clear that their philosophical positions were taught in Buddhist texts to [serve] like steps to understanding the essential profundity of Buddhist philosophical views. However, today there is no concern that the adherents of those non-Buddhist tenets might challenge Buddhists with debate or destroy the Buddhist textual tradition. On the other hand, Western philosophies and the function and influence of the sciences that examine internal and external material substances have been widely expanded in today’s world, where scientific proofs are predominantly required for an assurance of any knowledge. Similarly, when Buddhist philosophers ascertained knowledge based on the four types of reliance, they had to prove it with either of the three pure reasons so that the stated intent does not conflict with the three valid cognitions. Study the knowledge of Western philosophies and the findings of science that are useful but not illuminated in our textual tradition. [21] Establish a curriculum that properly administers such studies, and translate them into the Tibetan and Mongolian languages. It is also important to make effort to offer Buddhist scholars’ works to future students, translating the teachings of Buddhism and other topics of traditional knowledge into foreign languages … Moreover, in following the Mongolian old tradition in which medicine was studied through dialectical analyses, when the opportunity arises to establish a monastic medical college, make sure to complete all of its traditions, including its pedagogical method! In any case, having recruited the interested students, organize a separate class to develop the study of the Four Medical Tantras (rgyud bzhi) and gradually prepare professional physicians. For those seniors who have lost their ability to attend monastic schools or to study the texts of the exoteric and esoteric traditions, the monastery should organize activities of learning and practice suitable for them or workshops to teach the appropriate monastic artworks. [22] In the following section, focused on the rule of examination, the Dalai Lama writes: Establish a routine for giving exams in general monastic schools and professional colleges of the exoteric and esoteric studies, and make regulatory rules for the procedure. For both types of institutions, settle particular periods for monthly, 168 BUDDHISM, LAW & SOCIETY [Vol. 5 annual, and final examinations! Give students of general monastic schools the type of exams that are primarily for memorization, writing, reading, and linguistics. [22] In addition, give them annual exams mainly for ritual dance, maṇḍala creation, chanting, playing instruments, etc.! As for students in professional colleges of exoteric and esoteric studies, give them exams that are primarily for memorizations of great, core philosophical texts and debate. … The examination procedure should not be too easy, as if merely observing the tradition, so it needs to be tough, and the best examinees should be ranked and awarded with certifications. Failed students need to retake the classes and be urged to study hard. Those who repeatedly failed the exams for three years should be excluded from the school. Those who, studying and reflecting with the integration of diligence and wisdom, have reached the level of outstanding scholars for presenting the meanings of the Buddha’s scriptures, should be awarded as following. After completing the topics of the Pramāṇavārttika and Prajñāpāramitā studies, they should be awarded with the lower degree. For completing the Madhyamaka, the medium degree, and for the Abhidharmakośa and Vinaya, the upper degree should be awarded respectively. Furthermore, after passing the esoteric studies exam, they should be awarded the high graduate degree. In addition to these studies, those who have written compositions should be given the highest degree. As the results of these consecutive studies, the traditional degrees—the Ka Rapjam (bka’ rab ’byams) and Ngagram (sngags rams)—and other appropriate titles should be awarded along with certificates of recognition. Similarly, those who have mastered the traditional topics of knowledge, such as history, composition, art, etc., must also be officially recognized. [23–24] In the sixth section, dedicated to meditation, the Dalai Lama asserts that for the purpose of reaching the heights of wisdom, meditation, and ethical conduct, monasteries should secure the appropriate conditions for those seeking the life of renunciation, doing retreats on tutelary deities, and practicing the yogas of the stages of generation and completion. The Dalai Lama was also aware that during that early phase of Buddhist revival in Mongolia, monasteries struggled financially, sought to attract young men into monastic life, and carried out rituals for laity for the sake of providing income for monasteries. Monasteries mutually competed to increase the number of monks by offering better salaries than their competitors, while many new monks continued to live as laymen. Therefore, in the seventh section, dedicated to the general rules of the monastery, the Dalai Lama cautions monastic administrators not to give importance to the growth of the numbers of monks, “as if following only income and fame,” or to popular trends, and sets the rules of Vinayic rituals. In lieu of that, he states: 2019–20] Regulations for Mongolian Monasteries 169 In principal, it is essential to make effort in creating an authentic monastery focused on teaching, debating, and writing as well as on study, reflection, and meditation. As for the monastic prayer recitations, it is important to keep the essential texts compiled by great holy beings of the past. Monks should recite prayers all together in one voice, devoid of haste and delay, roaring with the appropriate melody in harmony with a chanting master. [25] Make sure that the hand-drums, bells, other instruments, etc. should also sound timely! Also, when you perform the rituals of Heruka, Guhyasamāja, and Vajrabhairava—the main visualization and offering ritual practices—and other rites associated with any of the four [classes of] tantras, it is very important to complete all the conditions taught in the basic, core texts such as the permissions, guiding instructions, transmissions, etc. in addition to receiving the required empowerments and accomplishing the initiatory retreats. [26] Here also, underscoring the importance of Vinaya as the basis of Buddhist teachings, the Dalai Lama calls on monks to perform the rituals of the three grounds, in conformity with the core Vinaya textual tradition and with detailed accuracy, adding the following words. For the assembly rituals of the three grounds, such as a bimonthly mendingpurification rite, all monks with uncorrupted discipline must take part in it. Those who have serious illness or are in retreat should perform the Vinaya rituals of aspiration and purification offering. During the rainy season retreat, do not obscure this [practice] by repeatedly going to the city and the like, using the blessing ritual of exceptions. Should necessity arise for the excuse from either of the rituals of the three grounds, for the assembly, or for the debate session, request for a permit, explaining a reason, to the administration in accordance with monastic internal rules. If you need to go to the city for more than ten days, try not to stay there too long, even if you have a permit. Make a boundary between the monastery and the city, and do not let women stay within the monastery’s boundary line over the night. The daily lunch and evening tea should be in accordance with the time allotted for them, and not too long, as that would hinder the study time. Make a separate regulation to excuse students of a monastic school from the daily tea assembly and debate session. [26] . . . Kindly take care of old monks or those who are sick! The monastery’s administration should supervise an equal share, providing them with the services of medication, rites of aid, livelihood, and so on. The monastery’s storekeepers should take the responsibility to distribute tea and donations offered by patrons to monastics. Refuse to go after fame and reputation or to hoard any income that is deceitfully gained, such as by doing business with the expenditures of ritual ceremonies. Be exceptionally cautious with wages that should be distributed to others, without making up excuses to hold them. The livelihood of monastics is entirely due to the faithful offerings of patrons. Therefore, do not do anything that is unpleasant, like throwing away things that monastics did not want, or treating lay people as slaves for some small income. Doing so is an unwholesome deed that 170 BUDDHISM, LAW & SOCIETY [Vol. 5 leads monks to a wrong way of life in terms of method and exertion; hence, as a result, you will have to go to a lower rebirth. [27] In the opening words of the appendix to the text, the Dalai Lama encourages monastic administrators to follow the example of social activism and humanitarian work practiced by other religious groups, whose missionary activities in a new democratic Mongolia extended to various humanitarian projects. Today, the conventions to promote education, to assist victims of illnesses and poverty, and particularly to protect living beings, including birds and mammals, have been widely practiced throughout the world. On the one hand, the institutions, clerics, and practitioners of other religions are establishing schools and hospitals and serving as teachers, physicians, medical assistants, and the like for the sake of others’ well-being. On the other hand, the type of Buddhism that has been disseminated in Tibet and Mongolia is the Mahāyāna tradition that has integrated both exoteric and esoteric teachings and that holds the purpose of benefiting others as its essence. Our core texts also teach us that we should not be [solely] content with the doctrine of Mahāyāna, but that we need to become genuine practitioners of Mahāyāna. Accordingly, it is essential to make effort to be engaged in the practices of Mahāyāna and to be also involved in such modern activities of benefiting others. Therefore, as their budgets allow, monasteries should establish schools, hospitals, and retirement homes for both laity and monastics. I request the monasteries to make persistent effort to organize the monastics who have either already graduated, who are unable to graduate, or do not want to graduate in monastic schools, to contribute to social actions suitable to their skills, specifically, to work for both secular and religious purposes, educational operations, and appropriate teaching workshops for teachers, physicians, medical assistants, and the public. [28] These words were particularly relevant for Mongolian monasteries of the early democratic period, characterized by social instability, economic hardships, and distrust of Buddhism on the part of a segment of society, which was influenced by the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Government, which disparaged Buddhist monasteries as feudal institutions. Once the country opened its door to the rest of the world, it enabled a massive inflow of Christian missionaries, who furthered their proselytizing activities by means of various social services and attracted Mongolia’s youth in large numbers. The Dalai Lama’s guidelines for monasteries to engage in social activism and train monks in both religious and secular subjects were his response to the challenges of revitalizing, promoting, and preserving the Buddhist tradition at the time of the broadening of the religious market in Mongolia. 2019–20] Regulations for Mongolian Monasteries 171 In the same appendix, the Dalai Lama holds the monasteries’ abbots responsible for monks’ morality and for their monasteries’ internal rules and regulations, and administrators for fulfilling their own requirements. Therefore, he claims, “the abbot must be one who properly upholds the morality of the Vinaya teachings and who has enriched his mind with accomplishments of study, reflection, and meditation. The chanting masters and the other monastic officials should have mastered their individual duties and be responsible. Other administrators should also be skilful and honest, without any private or public fraud. Regarding the appointments of abbots and other administrators of a monastery, the Dalai Lama writes: The administrators, such as the abbot, must be appointed for a duration suitable for the individual position. Except in exceptional cases, the positions should be decided by the majority’s vote. Depending on the importance of the matter, make decisions by discussing in either smaller or large groups. At the time of transferring the positions, perform stocktaking of the monastery’s properties. The stocktaking must be done transparently. In brief, a guidebook is necessary for the details of the monastery’s educational curriculum, internal rules, officials, administration, and so on. [29] The text concludes with the Dalai Lama’s four-versed prayer for the flourishing of Mongolian monasteries and for the Mongolian region to be filled with the assemblies of monastics, and with a colophon: Tenzin Gyatso, the bhikṣu of the Śākya clan, known as the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, virtuously composed this text at Tegchen Chöling in Dharamsala of Kangra District, Himachal Pradesh State, India, in the Land of ryas, in the 2536th year after the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa, according to the well-known Sthavira School, and on the second day of the first month of the Water Monkey year of the seventeenth sixty-year cycle of the Tibetan calendar, or March 6, 1992 of the Gregorian calendar. [30] CONCLUSION As we can see from the examined texts of monastic rules and regulations composed by the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Dalai Lamas, despite their temporal differences, these texts demonstrate these two Dalai Lamas’ common view of monasticism as an agent of the preservation and propagation of Buddhism. Likewise, although they wrote their regulations for Mongolian monks in different social and political conditions, they both expressed through their regulations the awareness that monastic rules are always in an interactive, and at times, dialectical relationship with politi- 172 BUDDHISM, LAW & SOCIETY [Vol. 5 cal, cultural, and economic circumstances. Although they were writing to different Mongolian monastic communities of different periods, as Gélukpas writing for Mongolian Gélukpa monasteries, both Dalai Lamas reference Tsongkhapa and Nāgārjuna in the matters of Vinaya and the adherence to inner and outer monastic conduct. At the very beginning of their regulatory texts, they both also demonstrate their concern regarding the application of the rules of monastic ordination and the system of education. Their involvement in Mongolian Buddhist monasticism during the two critical periods in the modern history of Mongolia—the last years of the Qing’s dominance and the early period of the revitalization of Buddhism in the post-socialist period—exemplifies the role of a transregional Buddhist authority of Dalai Lamas in the management of Mongolian Géluk monastic education. As we saw, the Thirteenth Dalai Lama’s ordinances require that the rules, conduct, and philosophical training in the philosophical datsan of Gandanpuntsogling datsan (Tib. grwa tshang) be developed and based on the example of Gomang datsan in Drepung (‘Bras spungs) monastery in Lhasa—known for the high standard of Buddhist scholasticism, where many Mongolian and Buryat monks went for their philosophical training—in addition to other Géluk institutions in Tibet, such as Labrang Tashikyil (Bla Brang brka shis ‘khyil) and Kumbum (Sku ‘bum) in the Amdo region, and Ikh Khüree in Mongolia. This particular ordinance attests that the Géluk monastic educational system of the early twentieth century was still considered higher than that in Ikh Khüree, which was the principle center of higher monastic education in Khalkha Mongolia, and where three philosophical colleges, Dashchoimbel (Tib. Bkra shis chos ‘phel) and Güngacholing (Kun dga’ chos gling) datsans adopted the respective curricula of Gomang (Sgo mang) and Loselling (Blo gsal gling) monastic colleges of Drepung monastery; and Idgachoinziling (Yid dga’ chos ‘dzin gling) dastan, which followed the curriculum of the Séra Jey (Se ra byes) monastic school of Séra monastery in Lhasa. These three colleges granted the gavju (Tib. bka’ cu) as well as one of the highest philosophical academic degrees (gaaramba, Tib. bka’ rams pa). Those who desired the further, highest scholastic degrees like the lharam (Tib. lha rams) and tsogram (Tib. tshog rams) had to continue their education in the aforementioned large monasteries of Tibet. The Thirteenth Dalai Lama’s regulations also reveal that he, like some Khalkha scholastics in Ikh Khüree, was concerned with the preservation of traditional Géluk monastic life and the primacy of Buddhist knowledge at the time when advances in scientific European knowledge and culture had 2019–20] Regulations for Mongolian Monasteries 173 begun to penetrate Inner Asia and to pose a possible threat to the coherence of Buddhist knowledge and authority.17 In contrast, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, who is equally concerned with the preservation of traditional Buddhist learning, saw a pressing need for integrating secular, scientific discoveries into modern Buddhist monastic education of the late twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Recognizing the pervasive influence of secular science on society, he himself has actively engaged in cross-cultural dialogues and promoted the understanding of scientific knowledge for more than two decades. In his introduction to the Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics, Vol. 1: The Physical World, the Dalai Lama acknowledges that there is “no aspect of human life not impacted by science and technology,” and that “science occupies a central place in both our personal and our professional lives.” Hence, he asserts that there was no choice but for him “to learn about science and embrace it with the sense of urgency” in hope that dialogues across cultures and disciplines “will serve humanity through a unique interface of contemporary science and mind science.” He also acknowledges that “not only is the breath of the world’s knowledge vast,” but that “advances are being made year by year that expand human knowledge.” With that in mind, he further writes: “Not only do Buddhism and science have much to learn from each other, there is also a great need for a way of knowing that encompasses both mind and body.”18 It is on this view that his ordinance for Mongolian monasteries to establish a comprehensive curriculum that properly integrates the studies of Western philosophy and scientific knowledge into traditional Buddhist learning is based. This integrative type of curriculum of study would also bring Mongolian Géluk monastic education into accord with the implementation and sustainability of the science programs in Tibetan monasteries and nunneries in India, which the Dalai Lama began to envision and promote in the 1990s. Other areas that the Fourteenth Dalai Lama’s ordinance brings into focus, in 17 On the excellent discussion on different ways in which some Khalkha and Buryat scholastics responded to new European scientific knowledge in the wake of the revolutionary period, see Matthew King, “Modernities, Sense Making, and the Inscription of Mongolian Buddhist Place,” in Buddhism in Mongolian History, Culture, and Society, ed. Vesna A. Wallace (New York: Oxford University Press, 2015), 53–69; and his recent volume Ocean of Milk, Ocean of Blood: A Mongolian Monk in the Ruins of Qing Empire (New York: Columbia University Press), 2019. 18 His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics, Vol 1: The Physical World, ed. Thupten Jinpa (Boston: Wisdom, 2017), 3–5. 174 BUDDHISM, LAW & SOCIETY [Vol. 5 contrast to those of his predecessor, are environmental and humanitarian concerns that are at the heart of social activism, without which monastic institutions would become irrelevant in the modern world. Thus, in conclusion, not only do the regulatory works of both Dalai Lamas illuminate the manners in which they give attention to the preservation and advancement of the deteriorated monastic conduct, structure, and educational systems in Khalkha Mongolia in two different critical periods in the history of Buddhism in Mongolia, but they also shed light on some aspects of the intersection of monastic education and transregional religious and political authority, expressed in the institutional ties between Mongolian scholastic institutions and culture and the Géluk institutions in Central Tibet and India during the late Qing and early post-socialist periods. REFERENCES XIV Dalai Lam Danzanjamts. Sog yul gyi dgon sde rnams kyi bca’ khrims bzhugs so (Mongol orny khüree khiidüüdiin jayag tsaaz orshvoi). Ulaanbaatar: Gandatechenliin Khiid, 2006. Bell, Charles. Portrait of a Dalai Lama: The Times and Lives of the Great Thirteenth. London: Wisdom Publications, 1987. Bürnee, D. and D. Enkhtör. 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