Returning from the dead: Contested continuities in Tibetan Buddhism

Abstract

In this paper, I chronicle the cleavages in Tibetan Buddhist ideology and practice made apparent in the posthumous continuation of a spiritual exemplar’s life story. Traversing the life, death and purported transmigration of this figure into the body of another person, this paper examines the extension of life beyond biological confines. Death, in Tibetan Buddhist contexts, can be influenced by religious practice and the life course of a person can continue through time in new bodies. In Tibetan Buddhism the vectors of this extension commonly include sanctified institutions such as recognised reincarnation and embodiment in relics, but there are other less documented ways in which life continues. This paper will explore the phenomenon of rolang or the reanimation of the corpse, a topic that inspires new directions in death studies.