Professional Documents
Culture Documents
T H E DR E A DL O C K S
T R E AT I S E : O N TA N T R I C
HAIRSTYLES IN
T I B E TA N BU D DH I S M
1
The Tibet Album, Monks at Kargyu Monastery 05 Dec. 2006, The Pitt Rivers Museum,
http://tibet.prm.ox.ac.uk/photo_1998.131.131.html.
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Dreadlocks Treatise
hair. He wore at discs of spiral-curved ivory in his ears and rings on his
ngerssurely unusual for a monk.2 Most unusual, indeed.
Although the word monk is used to translate a number of different
Tibetan terms (ranging from colloquial words with a broad semantic
range, such as trapa,3 to technical terms indicating a precise ordination
status, such as gelong), the central gure in Chapmans photograph would
not be considered a monk by Tibetans and would not be referred to with
any of those terms. The word Tibetans would use to refer to this type of
religious gure is ngakpa, a term that lacks a precise correlate in Western
religions or languages. A translation of the Sanskrit term mantrinone
who recites mantrasthe Tibetan word ngakpa came to denote a class of
noncelibate tantric priests. Chapmans misidentication of the unusual
monk reects his confusion about categories that do not precisely correspond with those of European monastic traditions. However, questions
about the status of the ngakpa do not arise from foreign attempts at interpretation alone. The long and often contentious history of the gures of
the monk and the ngakpa has played a central role in the constitution
of Tibetan Buddhism. Modern scholars have frequently employed the
dichotomy of monk and ngakpa as an organizing structure for their representations of Tibetan Buddhism. In Tibetan literature, the ngakpa has
embodied a challenge to monastic denitions of Buddhism that has been
alternately gloried and condemned over the course of a millennium.
The works of the seventeenth-century Tibetan Buddhist lama and painter
Yolmo Tendzin Norbu (15981644) display a strong interest in questions
about the gure of the ngakpa and his relationship to monks. This interest
was highly personal, as Tendzin Norbu himself was a monk until his
mid-twenties, when he decided to become a ngakpa. Interestingly, his
writings about ngakpas focus on precisely what struck Frederick Spencer
Chapman in 1936 and which stands out when looking at the photograph
today: the mass of dreadlocks bound above the ngakpas head. This focus
on external appearances challenges assumptions that locate questions of
religious identity in some immaterial interior. The importance of the supercial is repeated throughout Tendzin Norbus autobiography and given
polemical expression in his short treatise entitled The Heros Roaring
Laughter: An Exegesis of the Dreadlocks Worn by Yogins Who Practice
2 Frederick Spencer Chapman, Lhasa: The Holy City (London: Chatto & Windhus,
1938), 26.
3
Tibetan words in the body of this article are transcribed according to the THDL Simplied Transcription System (http://www.thdl.org). Bibliographic references in the notes (of
interest primarily to Tibetan specialists) use the Wylie transliteration system.
History of Religions
87
the Secret Mantra.4 Aside from the unique insights that the treatise provides into the understanding of hairstyles in seventeenth-century Tibetan
Buddhism (a fascinating topic in its own right), Yolmo Tendzin Norbus
sophisticated engagement with the subject raises questions about the
identity of the ngakpa and the broader symbolism of hair.
ii. hair in the study of religion
The human body has long been recognized by scholars as a central location
for the expression of social and cultural messages, at least since the pioneering work of Marcel Mauss on les techniques du corps.5 However,
despite the burgeoning literature on the history of the body,6 studies of
religion have often retained a dualistic conception that locates religious
practice in two domains, the mind and the body. In this conception, the
corporeal is secondary to the spiritual in at least two senses. The products
of the mindwhether they take the form of meditation, prayer, vows, or
exegesisare generally deemed superior to those of the body.7 Second,
the physical signs of the body are seen as derivative manifestations of
mind, thought, or belief.
The privileged position of the mind is not assumed only by students
of religion. The traditional Buddhist triad of body, speech, and mind is
understood in ascending order of importance. As Patrick Olivelle has
noted, attempts to interpret the religious body (and hair, in particular)
have sometimes further suffered from the fact that as with most condensed and central symbols of society, indigenous exegesis of hair is
neither extensive nor frequent.8 Yolmo Tendzin Norbus brief treatise
4
Yol mo Bstan dzin nor bu, Gsang sngags spyod pai rnal byor pa rnams la nye bar kho
ba ral pai rnam bshad dpa bo gad rgyangs (hereafter, Ral pai rnam bshad), in Collected
Writings of Yol-mo Sprul-sku Bstan-dzin-nor-bu, reproduced from a manuscript collection
from the Library of Bla-ma Senge of Yol-mo (Delhi: Dawa Lama, 1982), 8793.
5
Marcel Mauss, Les techniques du corps, Journal de psychologie 32, nos. 34 (1934),
translated by Ben Brewster, Techniques of the Body, Economy and Society 2, no. 1 (1973):
7088.
6
For an overview, see Roy Porter, History of the Body Reconsidered, in New Perspectives
on Historical Writing, ed. Peter Burke (University Park: Pennsylvania State University
Press, 1992), 23360. For a useful bibliography, see Barbara Duden, A Repertory of Body
History, in Fragments for a History of the Human Body: Zone 5, pt. 3, ed. Michael Feher,
with Ramona Naddaff and Nadia Tazi (New York: Urzone, 1989), 471554.
7
The profound inuence of the thought/action dichotomy on ritual studies has been
examined in Catherine Bell, Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice (New York: Oxford University
Press, 1992). For other works on religion and the body, see Sarah Coakley, ed., Religion and
the Body (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997); Jane Marie Law, ed., Religious
Reections on the Human Body (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1995).
8
Patrick Olivelle, Hair and Society: Social Signicance of Hair in South Asian Societies,
in Hair: Its Power and Meaning in Asian Cultures, ed. Alf Hiltebeitel and Barbara D. Miller
(Albany: State University of New York Press, 1998), 28.
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Dreadlocks Treatise
9 E. E. Sikes, Hair and Nails, in Encyclopdia of Religion and Ethics, ed. James Hastings
(Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1912), 474.
10
Edmund R. Leach, Magical Hair, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 88
(1953): 154.
History of Religions
89
11
90
Dreadlocks Treatise
15
The autobiographical manuscript paintings have been reproduced as line drawings in
Yolmo Bstan dzin nor bu, Untitled (illustrations to the autobiography), in The Autobiography and Collected Writings (Gsu thor bu) of the Third Rig-dzin Yol-mo-ba Sprul-sku Bstandzin Nor-bu, 2 vols. (Dalhousie, 1977), 1:4561. David Jacksons A History of Tibetan
Painting: The Great Tibetan Painters and Their Traditions ([Vienna: Verlag der sterreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1996], 197) mentions a nineteenth-century painter
who sought out a painting of Tendzin Norbus to use as a model for his own work. The Fifth
Dalai Lama describes his admiration for Tendzin Norbu in his own autobiography (Ngag
dbang blo bzang rgya mthso, Dalai Lama V, Za hor gyi ban de ngag dbang blo bzang rgya
mtshoi di snang khrul bai rol rtsed rtogs brjod kyi tshul du bkod pa du ku lai gos bzang
[Lhasa: Bod ljongs mi dmangs dpe skrun khang, 1989], 1:236) and quotes from Tendzin
Norbus autobiography throughout his biography of Rinzin Ngaki Wangpo (Ngag dbang blo
bzang rgya mthso, Dalai Lama V, Byang pa rig dzin chen po Ngag gi dbang poi rnam par
thar pa ngo mtshar bkod pa rgya mtsho, in Bka ma mdo dbang gi bla ma brgyud pai rnam
thar, Smanrtsis shesrig spendzod, vol. 37 [Leh: S. W. Tashigangpa, 1972], 427553).
16
According to this tradition, a realized lama may consciously choose rebirth. The disciples
of a deceased lama will then try to identify and recognize the lama during childhood. Upon
recognition, the child is referred to as a trlku (Tibetan: sprul sku; Sanskrit: nirmanakaya).
History of Religions
91
17
Yol mo Bstan dzin nor bu, Rang gi rtogs pa brjod pa rdo rje sgra mai rgyud mangs
(hereafter, Rang gi rtogs brjod), in Collected Writings of Yol-mo Sprul-sku Bstan-dzin-nor-bu,
reproduced from a manuscript collection from the Library of Bla-ma Senge of Yol-mo (Delhi:
Dawa Lama, 1982), 96.
18
Yolmo Bstan dzin nor bu, Untitled (illustrations to the autobiography) (see n. 15
above).
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Dreadlocks Treatise
19
On the body in Theravada monasticism, see Steven Collins, The Body in Theravada
Buddhist Monasticism, in Religion and the Body, ed. Sarah Coakley (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2000), 185204. For an insightful analysis of Buddhist hair practices and
gender differences, see Karen Lang, Shaven Heads and Loose Hair: Buddhist Attitudes
toward Hair and Sexuality, in Off with Her Head! The Denial of Womens Identity in Myth,
Religion, and Culture, ed. Howard Eilberg-Schwartz and Wendy Doniger (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995), 3252.
20
From The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha: A New Translation of the Majjhima Nikaya, trans. Bhikkhu Naamoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi (Boston: Wisdom Publications,
1995), 256.
History of Religions
93
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the most famous ngakpas of the time. Although hesitant at rst, Tendzin
Norbus veneration for Rindzin Ngaki Wangpo quickly grew; for a number
of years, he traveled back and forth between his monastery and the mixed
dharma encampment of Rindzin Ngaki Wangpos disciples. Although
he remained a monk throughout this period, his growing admiration for
the ngakpa found expression in various ways. While attending a debate
festival at the monastery of his preceptor, the Zhamar Rinpoch, Tendzin
Norbu altered the traditional dedication of merit:24
The king of dharma [Zhamar Rinpoch] said, [I dedicate the merit that results
from this event] to all people until they reach enlightenment. I said, I dedicate
the merit [to the wish that] having reached the enlightenment of a buddha, I will
then become a lord of the family in the style of one with dreadlocks tied in a
topknot and ornamented with a jewel at the crown. The learned scholars
laughed heartily. . . . The next day at the teaching, the Victorious [Zhamar]
looked at me and remembering what I had said the previous day, he laughed.25
History of Religions
95
96
Dreadlocks Treatise
had their own marks.30 In Tibet as well, there are different hats for each type.
They are not attractive, but they must be worn. They are indicative of the
philosophical tenets one holds. In that regard, these accoutrementsthe dreadlocks and the white undyed clothesdisplay a natural and uncontrived state.
These are the accoutrements of the accomplished ones (grub thob, siddha)
and the holders of the mantra[s power] (sngags chang, mantradharin).31
place in the Tibetan doxography of philosophical views (where they are classied as either
Vaibhasika (bye brag smra ba) or Sautrantika (mdo sde pa). I am not familiar with any
sources that discuss distinctive robes differentiating the adherents of the different sects.
30
Here, Tendzin Norbu seems to equate names for various classes of non-Buddhist Indian
religious as categories that would be visibly marked. Indeed, the hairstyles, robes, and facial
markings worn by various groups of Indian ascetics do indicate sectarian allegiances.
31
Bstan dzin nor bu, Rang gi rtogs brjod, 157.
History of Religions
97
98
Dreadlocks Treatise
drink beer carelessly. Now, this situation has befallen me. Still, its all in agreement with the discipline of akyamuni. Its also in accordance with the tantras
of Vajradhara and the secret instructions of Orgyen Pema [Padmasambhava].
For me, it ts very well. For others, [it is better] to remain [as monks].
Yol mo Bstan dzin nor bu, Ral pai rnam bshad, 87.
These lines are from Sakya Panditas classic work on the relationship of the three
classes of Buddhist vows (pratimoksa, bodhisattva, and tantric samaya). See Sakya Pandita
Kunga Gyaltsen, A Clear Differentiation of the Three Codes, trans. Jared Rhoton (Albany:
State University of New York Press, 2002), 13132.
35
History of Religions
99
This quotation is followed by a reference to a proclamation of Tri Songdeutsen, the eighth-century king credited with establishing Buddhism in
Tibet, which emphasizes the distinct identities of these two teachings: the
sutra-based Mahayana and the tantra-based Mahayana. Tendzin Norbu
draws upon these authorities as voices for the harmonious coexistence of
two distinct Mahayana paths, embodied by the monk and the ngakpa.
But Tendzin Norbu observes that not everyone shares this harmonious
vision: some monks develop an extreme attachment to the monastic code
and denigrate all who do not follow it. These extremists spread a deeply
negative and mistaken view of ngakpas. As the karmic result of this
erroneous view will be severe, Tendzin Norbu explains that he has really
written this polemical tract out of the compassionate desire to protect
these ignorant slanderers from rebirth in hell. Merely seeing the holders
of the wisdom-mantra with their hair tied-up in a topknot and wearing
white robes, their minds blaze with anger like violent ames. The shouts
of their baseless slander resound like echoes. Seeing that without a doubt
this slander of the view and conduct of secret mantra will lead to hell,
unbearable pity for these people arose. Therefore, I composed this brief
explanation of the appropriateness of this comportment. This is the explanation of the topic of the discourse.36 The structure and style of the entire
treatise reprise the curious mixture of righteous indignation and sympathetic understanding that the author claims in this passage. Conceding that
some of the criticisms leveled are in fact legitimate critiques of a majority
of ngakpas, Tendzin Norbu then fervently defends the authenticity and
superiority of the ngakpa tradition, understood and practiced correctly.
The treatise formally mimics the polemics of Tibetan scholastic debate
in a way that seems to insist that ngakpas not be excluded from the
scholastic realm at the same time that it seems to suggest that since some
monks cannot understand dreadlocks on their own, he will explain it in
language they can understand.
Following the conventions of Tibetan polemical literature, Tendzin
Norbu raises objections to dreadlocks and then replies to those objections
with logical arguments built around quotations from scriptural sources.
The rst objection, attributed to the scholar akya Chokden (14281507),
argues that the custom of wearing long dreadlocks only dates back to the
eleventh century and has no earlier basis. As in the autobiography, Tendzin
Norbu here refers to religious images in the way that scholastics refer to
the authority of scripture, pointing out that many of the most important
gures from the eighth century beginnings of Buddhism in Tibet are
depicted in precisely this way, with dreadlocks tied above the head in a
topknot.
36
Yol mo Bstan dzin nor bu, Ral pai rnam bshad, 88.
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Dreadlocks Treatise
Ibid., 89.
The Tibetan Buddhist canon purports to consist entirely of translations of Sanskrit scriptures. This amazing feat of translation took place during two different periods referred to by
Tibetan historians as the Early Translations (seventh to ninth centuries) and the Later
Translations (eleventh to thirteenth centuries). As the Buddhist canon in India never closed,
the texts translated during each period represent distinctly different strata of late Indian
Buddhism. In the period of the Later Translations, various traditions of exegesis and practice
developed and were eventually institutionalized. Those relying on the earlier translations
became known as the Ancients (Nyingmapa), whereas those relying on the new translations
were called the New Schools (Sarmapa). The scholars responsible for compiling and editing
the Tibetan canon excluded many works of the earlier translations that were preserved in the
Collected Tantras of the Ancients (Nyingma Gybum).
39
See David Snellgrove, The Hevajra Tantra: A Critical Study (London: Oxford University
Press, 1959), 6465. Snellgrove notes that although all the manuscripts (and Tibetan translations) read cauryakeakrtam, the only sensible reading (following Kanhas commentary) is
caudakea. Thus, his translation reads, should arrange his piled-up hair as a crest. Tendzin
Norbu clearly follows the Tibetan tradition by quoting rkun mai skra (= a thiefs hair).
40
Glu blangs kyi rgyud. I have not yet been able to identify this tantra.
41
Throughout this section the author refers numerous times to a text called the Black
Dreadlocks Weapons of Battle Tantra (Ral nag mtshon khrug gi rgyud ) and concludes the
discussion of various styles of dreadlocks by referring interested readers to that tantra. A text
with that title is included in the Collected Tantras of the Ancients (Mtshams brag 578, vol. 31,
text 20: 766.6773.7). The rst chapter consists of a very brief version of the subjugation of
Rudra, noting that the subjugator plundered Rudras ornaments, ayed him, and departed.
The second chapter opens with a series of questions about the origins, qualities, and enumerations of dreadlocks and proceeds to answer each one. Interestingly, the dreadlocks atop
Rudras head are only one source of dreadlocks; different groups of dreadlocks of different
colors are said to have arisen from his sense organs, his intestines, his bones, etc. Each of
these groups of dreadlocks are then explained as analogous to a group from tantras vast pantheon of divine beings (e.g., the fourteen red dreadlocks that emerged from Rudras intestines
indicate the compassionate activities of the fourteen wisdom dakinis). Different actions involving dreadlocks are interpreted in the text. For example, Waving the dreadlocks in the
sky three times binds the gods and demons of the sky to oaths. The third chapter is similarly
structured with the consistent substitution of drums for dreadlocks. Finally, the fourth chapter
exalts the power and superiority of the tantra itself. The tantras association of dreadlocks
with Rudra does suggest a connection with aiva traditions.
38
History of Religions
101
Aside from this erudite display of what is surely one of the more arcane
appendages of the tantric literary corpus, Tendzin Norbu offers a defense
of dreadlocks on the basis of their meaning. The unaltered hairdreadlocksand the undyed cloth of white are the signs of not being contrived
and therefore are the marks of the ngakpa or yogin.42 The ngakpas dreadlocks, although often arrayed in intricate styles above the head, are never
cut or combed. Accordingly, they are understood as unalteredhair in its
natural state. This is the most frequently offered explication of the symbol
provided by the ngakpas themselves: their uncontrived hair represents
the uncontrived mind of the meditator, absorbed in contemplation of the
nature of reality. In this sense, the dreadlocks may be read as an assertion
that the bearer has transcended the need for monastic discipline symbolized
by the shaved head. While the monk must shave his head at least once a
month,43 the ngakpas hairstyle is effortless and natural. The freedom from
this monastic need to repeatedly shave the head connects the ngakpa with
akyamuni. It is said that after akyamuni cut his hair upon leaving the
palace, it stayed the same length without ever being cut again.44
While these discussions defend dreadlocks through recourse to scripture
and reasoning, Tendzin Norbu also employs a slightly different argument.
The ritual manuals for many different tantric practices contain instructions indicating how to arrange ones hair. Much of tantric ritual consists
of embodying buddhahood, and many tantric buddhas have long hair.
Tendzin Norbu asks how the authenticity of dreadlocks as a proper
Buddhist symbol could possibly be denied when these practice manuals
indicate how dreadlocks should be arranged on the head, including
details as specic as what color cloth should be used to tie the topknot
and where on the topknot the cloth should be tied. Here the argument shifts
from defending the authenticity and validity of dreadlocks to asserting
their necessity. This claim is reinforced by the fact that monastic performances of tantric rituals often involve costumes that include stylized
dreadlocks and topknots. Though such hairpieces might be sufcient for
carrying out the ritual instructions, in light of the signicance ascribed
to the ngakpas dreadlocksuncontrived naturalnessthere is a certain
incongruity in the practice of using articial ones.
42
Yol mo Bstan dzin nor bu, Ral pai rnam bshad, 88.689.1. The repetition of the word
uncontrived (Tibetan: ma bcos; Sanskrit: akrtrima) in this passage invokes a long tradition of
Buddhist literature in which the mental state of a realized being is described as uncontrived.
43
Although shaving practices vary between different traditions and monastic communities,
the general rule is that hair cannot grow longer than two nger breadths (Cullavagga V.2.2).
Monks in Thailand shave their heads in a monthly communal ritual the day before the full
moon. Elsewhere, individuals are responsible for maintaining acceptable hair length.
44
See, e.g., the Nidanakatha, in Buddhism in Translations, trans. Henry Clarke Warren
(Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1953), 66.
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Dreadlocks Treatise
Although the implications of Tendzin Norbus suggestion that dreadlocks are necessary for the practice of tantra seem to pit monks against
ngakpas, his argument is based on elements of tantric theory that transcend sectarian divisions and span the divide between monks and ngakpas.
Meditation on emptiness is frequently pointed to as the quintessential
Mahayana practice. However, even the Tibetan authors who emphasized
the importance of meditation on emptiness did not consider it sufcient
in itself to secure buddhahood. A classic explanation of this point is found
in the Vajra Tent Tantra (Tibetan: rdo rje gur gyi rgyud; Sanskrit: Vajrapajaratantra). After explaining that emptiness is the antidote to the conception of self but not the cause of buddhahood, the text reads:
A Teacher has the two and thirty signs
As well as all the eighty minor marks,
Therefore the method of achievement
Is to take on the Teachers form.45
A buddha is identied here in corporeal terms, as the teacher with the particular physical characteristics that mark a buddha as such (traditionally
organized into a list of thirty-two major and eighty minor marks).46 The
principle of tantric Buddhist practice that underlies Tendzin Norbus argument about the necessity of dreadlocks is that the method of achievement
is to take on the Teachers form. If taking on the buddhas form means
tying your dreadlocks above your head in a topknot, arent long dreadlocks needed in order to do so?
A possible objection to this argument is that Tendzin Norbu has interpreted far too literally the notion that one should take on the teachers
form. This could be expressed by suggesting that through the tantric path
one gradually progresses toward an enlightenment that will result in the
form of a buddha, but that adopting the appearance of a buddha before
that enlightenment is achieved would be inappropriate at best. Tendzin
Norbu raises and responds to this concern before launching into a very
different critique of his imagined interlocutor.
If you say that it is not appropriate to wear the accoutrements of Heruka until
one has attained the level of Samantabhadra or Vajradhara, then it follows that
it is not appropriate to shave ones head and dye ones robes until the level of
45
The passage from the Vajra Tent Tantra is quoted by Tsongkhapa in his Sngags rim chen
mo. See H.H. the Dalai Lama, Tsong-kha-pa, and Jeffrey Hopkins, Tantra in Tibet (Ithaca,
NY: Snow Lion, 1987), 117.
46
On these marks and the usnisa in particular, see Donald S. Lopoez Jr., Buddha, in
Critical Terms for the Study of Buddhism, ed. Donald S. Lopez Jr. (Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 2005), 1336.
History of Religions
103
Yol mo Bstan dzin nor bu, Ral pai rnam bshad, 92.
The same chain of associations may also be seen in the reports of the Jesuit missionary
Ippolito Desideri on the controversial activities of the Sixth Dalai Lama. See Ippolito Desideri,
An Account of Tibet: The Travels of Ippolito Desideri of Pistoia, S.J., 17121727 (London:
Routledge, 2004), 150: Ignoring the sacred customs of Lamas and monks in Thibet he began
by bestowing care on his hair, then he took to drinking intoxicating liquors, to gambling, and
at length no girl or married woman or good-looking person of either sex was safe from his
unbridled licentiousness.
48
104
Dreadlocks Treatise
History of Religions
105
106
Dreadlocks Treatise
54
Shabkar Tsogdruk Rangdrol, The Life of Shabkar: The Autobiography of a Tibetan Yogin,
trans. Matthieu Ricard (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1994), 108.
55
Ibid.
History of Religions
107
susceptible to the social approval and patronage that led to the excessive
wealth and power of certain monastic institutions. In a playful way,
Shabkars song radically shifts the meaning of his long hair, transforming a stigma into a badge of honor.
This same effort at an intervention in the grammar of hair sybolism
may be seen in a 2003 article by Nyida Heruka, a ngakpa from the
same region as Shabkar Tsokdruk Rangdrol. The author was one of the
founders of the Ngakmang Institute, an organization devoted to research
into the ngakpa tradition and its promotion in Tibet and internationally.
Although the language of Nyida Herukas Investigations of Ngakpa
Culture seems to borrow as much from modern Tibetan social science
as it does from classical Buddhist sources, the arguments themselves are
strikingly reminiscent of Tendzin Norbus treatise.56
Although every day there seem to be more and more people taking an interest
in the culture of ngakpas from all over Tibet in modern times, because there
are very few studies or textbooks about ngakpas, many people dont know anything about the culture and costume of those called ngakpas. Among the
groups of Tibetan Buddhists, there are only a rare few who know the special commentaries on the class of those with white robes and long hair [= ngakpas].
Buddhists and Non-Buddhist individuals who pretend to be learned, as well
as some inuenced by idiotic sectarian bias, say that ngakpas are ignorant of
Buddhist scriptures, have not practiced the development and completion [stages
of tantric practice], drink beer, and enjoy women. On the other hand, the identication [of ngakpas] as a type of itinerant Buddhist who is only a village
priest is the cause for them to be degraded and belittled. Moreover, there are
some articles and journals that are very incorrect. Consequently, it seems to be
extremely important to open the minds of the general faithful public, cultural
researchers, and young novice ngakpas with an introduction to the ngakpas
culture.57
Although the realm of public opinion has here moved beyond the village
talk that Tendzin Norbu addressed and into the pages of textbooks and
journals, the charges against ngakpas are largely the same: they are illiterate ritualists primarily interested in alcohol and sex.
Nyida Heruka goes on to offer an erudite and extremely thorough overview of the entire ngakpa tradition, organized under ve topics: (1) the
meaning of the term ngakpa, (2) the ngakpas costume, (3) the ngakpas
education and activities, (4) the ngakpas vows and conduct, and (5) the
56
Nyi zla He ru ka, Sngags pai shes rig la dpyad pai gtam, Sngags pai shes rig dus
deb 6 (2003): 8289. I would like to thank E. Gene Smith of the Tibetan Buddhist Resource
Center for providing me with a copy of this article.
57
Ibid., 82.
108
Dreadlocks Treatise
Ibid., 8889.
Some other differences between the two works include Nyida Herukas approving
mention of the custom of Dudjom Jikdrel Yesh Dorj (190487) washing and brushing the
hair but never cutting it (a popular alternative to dreadlocks for contemporary ngakpas) and
his less enthusiastic description of a trend in Amdo whereby ngakpas shave the circumference
of the head but leave the hair at the crown of the head long. This latter style he suspects of
having a Chinese origin.
59
History of Religions
109
Although all of the apologists for dreadlocks emphasize the uncontrived and naturally occurring qualities of the matted locks, their descriptions of the proper way to wear them include precise instructions on care
and styling. This reects an understanding of the necessity of framing for
the communication of symbolic meaning. Just as the long matted locks of
the ascetic must be artfully bound above the head, the social and religious
understandings of the hairstyle must be shaped and bound through interpretation and explanation. Recognizing that the basic meanings of dreadlocks within the system of tantric Buddhist practice were consistently
misunderstood by Tibetan society, Tendzin Norbu sought to shift this
social meaning through a variety of arguments. Drawing from Buddhist
history and scripture, ritual practice, codes of ethics, and tantric views of
the body, Tendzin Norbu attempted to restyle the ngakpas dreadlocks
from the stigma of ignorance and licentiousness to the essential mark of
tantric practice. In one view, the fact that Shabkar and Nyida Heruka felt
the need to defend ngakpas against the same negative views might suggest
that Tendzin Norbus attempt was not entirely successful. However, all
three authors note the importance of not tting in as one of the dening
characteristics of dreadlocks. If the style became entirely acceptable
throughout society, it would lose its meaning as a symbol of tantric practice. Therefore, a more realistic reading might see the continuity between
Nyida Herukas article, Shabkars song, and Tendzin Norbus treatise as
evidence of their success in maintaining the authenticity and viability of
a tradition that can ourish only at the margins.
Georgetown University