Jeffrey Kotyk. 2017. ‘Buddhist Astrology And Astral Magic In The Tang Dynasty’. PhD Dissertation, Leiden University. [archive.org/details/buddhistastrologykotyk] [PDF] [author: @JeffreyKotyk]
Kotyk (2017), Buddhist Astral Magic in the Tang
Richardson (2016), Murals at Shalu
Richardson, Sarah Aoife. 2016. ‘Painted Books for Plaster Walls: Visual Words in the Fourteenth-century Murals at the Tibetan Buddhist Temple of Shalu.’ PhD diss., University of Toronto. 271+146+186 pp. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/1807/73147.
From the Abstract: Elaborate mural paintings made after a major renovation of the temple in the early fourteenth century included long Tibetan inscriptions, displaying sometimes large passages of Tibetan sacred texts as part of their communicative pictorial program. By variously projecting books onto the walls, the temple’s abbot, Butön Rinchen Drup (Bu ston rin chen ‘grub, 1290-1364) placed new textual collections, inherently scholastic and elite projects, assertively into a more public domain.
Emms, Two Mūlasarvāstivādin Vinaya Traditions (2012)
Christopher D. Emms. Evidence for Two Mūlasarvāstivādin Vinaya Traditions in the Gilgit Prātimokṣa-sūtras. M.A. thesis, McMaster University, 2012. 127 pp. Open Access Dissertations and Theses, Paper 7337. [URI/PDF]
From the abstract
The Sanskrit prātimokṣa-sūtras contained in the Gilgit Buddhist manuscripts have been identified as belonging to the Mūlasarvāstivāda school. However, the identification of these manuscripts as Mūlasarvāstivādin texts is problematic. A key factor for determining the school affiliation of a prātimokṣa is the rule order. The Gilgit prātimokṣa-sūtras, however, differ in their rule order. In this thesis, I explore the relationship of these Gilgit prātimokṣa-sūtras to Mūlasarvāstivādin literature. […] I argue that we have evidence for two distinct Mūlasarvāstivādin Vinaya traditions within the Gilgit prātimokṣa-sūtras.
Dinnell, ‘Sāmrājyalakṣmīpīṭhikā: An Imperial Tantric Manual from Vijayanagara’ (2011)
Darry Dinnell. ‘Sāmrājyalakṣmīpīṭhikā: An Imperial Tantric Manual from Vijayanagara’. M. A. Thesis, McGill University, 2011. 142 pp. [official site]
From the Abstract
This thesis examines the Sāmrājyalakṣmīpīṭhikā, a tantric manual for kingship created during the rule of the Vijayanagara Empire of early sixteenth-century South India. After establishing the plural, inclusive nature of religion at Vijayanagara in this period, this study identifies two crucial ways in which the text’s titular goddess Sāmrājyalakṣmī rewards kings who correctly propitiate her: firstly, by helping them to actualize god-like status on earth, and secondly, by allowing them to absolve themselves of sin (pāpa) without curbing their ability to perform the violence necessitated by their caste affiliation. In this way, Sāmrājyalakṣmīpīṭhikā articulates a solution to the classical Indian quandary of kingly dependence upon (and inferiority to) Brahmins, in the process offering kings unprecedented ritual power which translates directly into political power and, ultimately, universal overlordship (sāmrājya). The text provides another example of how tantric practices can be and were central to Indian society, aiding in statecraft and kingship.
Young, ‘The 14th Dalai Lama, Nationalism, and Ris med‘ (2011)
Young, Elena. ‘The Boundaries of Identity: The Fourteenth Dalai Lama, Nationalism, and Ris med(non-sectarian) Identity in the Tibetan Diaspora’. M.A. thesis, McGill University, 2011. 107 pp. [official site]
Will Tuladhar-Douglas had a theory that the Ris med pas drew their inspiration from Lhasa Newars. Until we hear more on that, there’s Elena Young’s Masters’ thesis:
From the Abstract
This thesis examines the complex process by which Tenzin Gyatso (Bstan ‘dzin rgya mtsho), the fourteenth Dalai Lama, has publicly and consciously sought to rise above traditional structures of sectarianism in order to forge a coherent Tibetan identity in exile. […] I argue in this thesis that this “non-sectarianism” can be historically traced back to the nineteenth century ris med (“non-bias” or “non-sectarian”) movement, a trend spearheaded in the eastern region of Khams, Tibet. In this way, the current Dalai Lama’s efforts to unify Tibet under a rubric that delineates a non-sectarian identity, indeed parallels an earlier moment in the story of Tibet, one that was equally unstable and yet central to the historical narrative of Khams. Employing a historical and textual analysis based on primary and secondary sources, this thesis is a study of the fourteenth Dalai Lama’s appropriation of the historical ris med model, and an investigation of the techniques and modes of “non-sectarian” representation adopted and disseminated by this leader and his administration-in-exile.
Turenne, ‘Śākya mchog ldan & 5 treatises of Maitreya’ (2011)
Philippe Turenne. ‘Interpretations of unity: Hermeneutics in ŚĀKYA MCHOG LDAN’s Interpretation of the Five Treatises of Maitreya’. PhD diss., McGill University, 2011. 271 pp. [official site/PDF (may not work)]
Includes a partial translation of the Byams chos lnga’i nges don rab tu gsal ba of Śākya mchog ldan.
From the Abstract
This dissertation is a study of the process through which Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, by synthesizing doctrines and texts into consistent models, integrates views of reality within doctrinal and soteriological systems. […] the dissertation surveys and analyzes Tibetan interpretation of the set of texts referred to as the Five Treatises of Maitreya (byams chos sde lnga), and at the way those interpretations deal with the doctrinal tensions found in that set of text[s]. In addition to providing a recension of major interpretations of the Five Treatises developed between 1100 and 1500, a detailed account is given of the model of interpretation given by gSer mdog Paṇ chen Śākya mchog ldan, a famous teacher of the Sa skya school of Tibetan Buddhism.