The Sherpas Of Nepal In The Tibetan Cultural Context

Robert A. Paul presents a comprehensive interpretation of Tibetan cultural symbolism from a theoretical position that integrates psychoanalytic theory with aspects of structuralism and symbolic anthropology. He shows that may features of the culture of the Sherpas of Nepal as well as many of the best -know monuments of Tibetan literature and religion are symbolic responses to a central paradox inherent in the succession of generations.  Since society endures, while the individuals who compose it are mortal, individuals can be seen as both identical with, and at the same time different from and opposed to, the individuals whom they succeed and who will in turn succeed them. The author shows that this fundamental contradiction is at the core of an apparently disparate array of symbolic forms and institutions, including Sherpa ideas of descent and inheritance; the Sherpa cosmology, pantheon, religious roles, and rituals: such Tibetan literary works as the Harvest Festival Dramas, the Life of Padma Sambhava, the Life of Milarepa, and the Gesar epic; and the rich body of lore surrounding the Tibetan theocracy.