Long Essay Instructions and Questions

Length: 2000 words (+/- 10%)
Assessment: 50% of total
Objective: The long essay for this unit is designed to assess your comprehension of the unit
materials as well as your ability to craft an academic essay appropriate to second-year study
in the Faculty of Arts. Students will be required to conduct basic research beyond what is
presented in this unit and integrate evidence from the variety of readings with a clear
response to an essay question. Students will also demonstrate their ability to read
analytically, that is, you may compare and contrast evidence and arguments from different
readings, and to develop a formal argumentative essay.
Task: respond to ONE of the following questions. Be sure to specify at the beginning of your
essay which of these questions you will be answering.
Q1: What characterises Tibetan Buddhism and distinguishes it from other kinds of Buddhism
as presented in this unit? In your response on the characteristics of Tibetan Buddhism, you
should also feel free to draw on the particular history and politics of Tibet from the Tibetan
imperial period to the establishment of monastic orders and the political ascension of the
Gelugpa. How has this historical politics shaped the development of Tibetan Buddhism and
contributed to its present form?
Q2: Part of the corpus of Tibetan Buddhism are ritual actions, ranging from smokepurification offerings conducted by clerical and lay persons to more specialized activity such
as treasure revelation performed only by certain adepts. Focusing on an example of ritual
presented in this unit, describe how it is performed—that is, what are its main constituent
elements—and how it is informed by characteristics that Samuel (1993: 7) has described as
‘clerical’ and ‘shamanic’ in Tibetan Buddhism. Do these characteristics display a tension, or
not, and how?
Q3: Framed within the view that Tibetan Buddhism is practice-oriented, how would you
reply to the statement that Tibetan Buddhism is not a ‘religion’ and therefore that
arguments of its secularisation do not apply. In your response, use concrete examples both
from the readings and from real-life to illustrate your argument. It may also help you to
refer to and compare readings and examples from within the Tibetan plateau and from
beyond.