Love Letters From Golok [Paperback] Gayley Holly

Love Letters from Golok chronicles the courtship between two Buddhist tantric masters, Tare Lhamo (1938-2002) and Namtrul Rinpoche (1944-2011), and their passion for reinvigorating Buddhism in eastern Tibet during the post-Mao era. In fifty-six letters exchanged from 1978 to 1980, the two envisioned a shared destiny to 'heal the damage' done to Buddhism during the years leading up to and including the Cultural Revolution. Holly Gayley retrieves the personal and prophetic dimensions of their courtship and its consummation in a twenty-year religious career that informs issues of gender and agency in Buddhism, cultural preservation among Tibetan communities, and alternative histories for minorities in China.

This is the first collection of 'love letters' to come to light in Tibetan literature. Blending tantric imagery with poetic and folk song styles, it has a fresh vernacular tone comparable to the love songs of the Sixth Dalai Lama, but with an eastern Tibetan flavor. With special attention to Tare Lhamo's role as a tantric heroine and her hagiographic fusion with Namtrul Rinpoche, Gayley vividly shows how Buddhist masters have adapted Tibetan literary genres to share private intimacies and address contemporary social concerns.

This Indian edition now makes the book accessible for the large Tibetan diaspora in South Asia.

‰Û÷Anextraordinary set of letters between a man and woman lie at the heart of thisstudy of love, religious transcendence, and cultural trauma in post-CulturalRevolution Tibet. I know of no body of material that gives a more intricatepicture of how Tibetan Tantric Buddhism could penetrate and transform worldlytroubles and politics into the sublime aspirations of tantric vision. Gayleyoffers us an unparalleled view of twentieth-century Tibetan religion as ittouched every aspect of human life. Plus an astonishing account of a femalemaster whose romance with another master elevated them both into heroes forEastern Tibet during most challenging times.‰۪ - Janet Gyatso, HersheyProfessor of Buddhist Studies, Harvard University

‰Û÷HollyGayley has that rarest of gifts, a scholar's eye and a story-teller's ear. Herbook is filled with nuance and insight about the power of Tibetan culturalnarratives of gendered spiritual prowess and the navigation of codedrelationships. Never merely theoretical, Gayley grounds every observation indynamic detail and a story-line compelling as any novel.‰۪ - Anne C. Klein, RiceUniversity, co-founder of Dawn Mountain, author of Meeting theGreat Bliss Queen, translator of Khetsun Sangpo‰۪s Strand ofJewels

‰Û÷Gayleyweaves together life writing, ethnography, and letters in an unprecedentedfashion, and it pays off: her treatment of difficult primary sources ‰ÛÓtranslated here for the first time ‰ÛÓ is inviting and engaging. Love Lettersfrom Golok addresses issues of real and abiding concern in contemporaryChina.‰۪ - Kurtis R. Schaeffer,University of Virginia

‰Û÷Thistale of love and healing should be read by anyone in the fields of TibetanStudies, gender studies, and religious studies, and is accessible to undergraduatesas well as scholars of religion.‰۪ - Reading Religion