Buddhist book culture in Parchin

Modern studies in the field of confessional book culture (CBC) face a lot of questions. One of the most important is as follows: is there a typological similarity in CBC beyond ethnic and religious specificity? The phenomenon I consider in this paper is a symbiosis of philosophy (scholastic studies) and religious practice (ritual) in CBC. Results of my fieldwork of Buddhist book culture in Buryatia indicate that the Phar phyin (Prajna-paramita) texts are central and bivalent in CBC (i.e. involving both scholastic philosophy and religious ritual). I do emphasize that while studying this problem the methods of social archaeography are very important. I focus on not only a book per se but also on socio-cultural context around it. Phar phyin (Prajna-Paramita) literature is a foundation of scholastic education in Buryatia. Phar phyin literature in Buryat monastic education system can be divided into two groups: 1. translations of original Indian works (root texts); 2. Tibetan and Mongolian commentaries. In the Buryat monastic tradition it is accepted to divide Tibetan and Mongolian commentaries into four groups: (1) pre-Geluk authors, (2) those penned by great reformer Je Tsongkapa and his disciples, (3) Jamyang Shepa and his contemporaries, (4) authors (17-20 ) from Gomang college of Drepung Monastery, Sera Monastery (Lhasa, Central Tibet), monasteries of Amdo (Northeastern Tibet), Mongolia and Buryatia . Phar phyin books kept by Buryat Buddhist laymen usually include: (1) a great collection of Shataskhasrika-Prajnaparamita (Prajnaparamita in One Hundred Thousand Verses), (2) a collection of Ashtasahasrika-Prajnaparamita (Prajnaparamita in Eight Thousand Verses), and (3) Vajrachhedika Prajnaparamita (Diamond Prajnaparamita). Thus, in cultural reality of Buddhist Buryatia, Phar phyin literature exists on two levels: as a scholastic manual and an everyday ritualistic literature. Therefore, the paper forwards a hypothesis that confessional texts may have a bivalent character, and the nature of CBC lies in interaction of ritual and philosophy.

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