‘Review: Lauren Gawne and Nathan Wayne Hill (eds.): Evidential Systems of Tibetan Languages (Trends in Linguistics Studies and Monographs, 302.) 472 pp. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2017. £91. ISBN 978 3 11 046018 6. doi: 10.1017/S0041977X19000181’, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 82 (1): 190-192.

This chapter explores how the pharmaceuticalization of Sowa Rigpa has affected the material representations of Tibetan precious pills (rin chen ril bu). With the example of a translated leaflet of the precious pill “Jikmé’s Old Turquoise-70” (’jigs med g.yu rnying bdun cu), made in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), I analyze how the current trend towards an expanding pharmaceuticalization of precious pills reflects in their material representation and specific instructions offered in bi- or tri-lingual leaflets. I show that in the PRC Sowa Rigpa’s specific terminology and disease etiologies are largely sidelined while catering to a Chinese-speaking patient and consumer clientele, whereas in India we find elements from Buddhism and Tibetan identity integrated in the presentation and packaging of precious pills. Each serves the commodification of precious pills, but in different ways. I also highlight how the commodification and over-the-counter sales of precious pills, found largely in the PRC but also at certain clinics in India, might easily lead to their misuse. Gerke, Barbara. 2019. "Material Presentations and Cultural Drug Translations of Contemporary Tibetan Precious Pills." In Knowledge and Context in the Tibetan Medical Tradition. PIATS 2016: Tibetan Studies: Proceedings of the Fourteenth Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, Bergen, 2016, edited by William McGrath, 337-367. Leiden: Brill.

Conflict affects clergy’s response to the call. Unresolved conflict negatively influences their decision to remain in full-time pastoral ministry. This contributes to a shortage of clergy in the Roman Catholic Church but to a lesser extent the Protestant church, as it faces a distribution or displacement challenge. This shortage of clergy poses a risk to the continued existence of the church as clergy equip congregants to live the faith and transmit it to the next generation. The purpose of this study was to discover what factors are involved in responding to the call to full-time pastoral ministry. A practical theological grounded theory approach was used to discover the properties of the category conflict. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and data coded using Glaser and Strauss’ grounded theory methodology in order to determine a basic social psychological process, namely responding to the call. The category of conflict includes properties such immaturity in dealing with conflict, conflict due to miscommunication, congregational conflict, dealing with favoritism, conflict with leadership, and managing conflict or leaving due to conflict. Osmer’s descriptive-empirical model was used to view the category conflict from a practical theological perspective. The results of this study indicate three responses to the call by clergy who left full-time pastoral ministry: not being called in the first place, a dual call (being bi-vocational or it was ‘seasonal’), and being called but leaving anyway due to, among other factors, conflict. Possibilities for equipping clergy in conflict management are considered.

This paper introduces Tibetan pill traditions and examines two exceptional pill formulas that emerged from an early Buddhist-medical interface in Tibet, but followed different trajectories due to the increased specialization of religious and medical knowledge. "Black pills" are the most revered consecrated healing compound of the Karmapas (the incarnate heads of the Karma Kagyü School of Tibetan Buddhism), while the "Cold Compound Black Pill"-a precious pill known as Rinchen Drangjor-is one of Tibetan medicine's most complex formulas still produced today. Based on both textual research and ethnographic fieldwork in India, I critically explore the principal factors that link these black pill traditions. I argue that parallels in the use of potent substances and their processing offer examples of how strongly entangled medical and religious approaches are with respect to healing practices that include blessings, protection, spiritual support, and medical treatment. My findings reveal that although there are distinct areas of medical and religious specialized practices in the black pill traditions, consecrated multi-compounds are added to both types of black pills to enhance potency and ensure the continuation of lineage affiliations to certain Buddhist schools. I also show how political and sectarian conflicts within certain Buddhist schools may affect some of these rare pill practices.

In 4QInstruction: Divisions and Hierarchies, Benjamin Wold addresses several different relationships in 4QInstruction, those of: speaker/sage to addressee/understanding one (Chapter 1), spirit and flesh (Chapter 2), and the "mystery of existence" (רז נהיה) to the Mosaic Torah (Chapter 3). These three chapters taken together help to assess this composition within the broader context of late Second Temple Jewish sapiential discourse and the development of wisdom in the period. One goal of this monograph is to argue against a prevailing view that sees 4QInstruction as as dualistic and deterministic composition. Instead, 4QInstruction sees people as having moral agency and they are expected to seek knowledge of good and evil as found in creation, which is expressed in part with the רז נהיה. The relationship of the "mystery of existence," which is conveyed with a tripartite division of time including the totality of creation from beginning to end, raises questions about the place of Sinai and Mosaic Torah in 4QInstruction. The final chapter turns to debates about Torah in this composition concluding that the reason Torah is never thematized nor mentioned is that the "mystery of existence" (equated with "truth") is given precedent over Sinai. Review Quotes: "This very important work is to be shelved next to the major commentaries, translations, and text editions of Instruction. No study of Instruction is complete without treating both its proposed readings and its hypotheses." Jonathan Kampen, Dead Sea Discoveries, 2021. "Wold is to be commended for a meticulous and careful analysis of 4QInstruction. This is a significant contribution to Qumran studies that is both thought‐provoking and replete with fresh insights." The Journal of Theological Studies, Seulgi L. Byun, 2020. "With a close textual reading and some comparative contexts in Second Temple and early Christian texts, Wold questions a reading of 4QInstruction as deterministic, (consistently) dualistic, apocalyptic and elitist. In fact, 4QInstruction proclaims the universal challenge of actualizing and maintaining wisdom in life.…Wold yields findings significant for both early Jewish and Christian studies." Lindsey A. Askin, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 2019. "Wold hat eine erfrischende, anregende und dabei sehr sorgfältig argumentierte Studie vorgelegt, deren Thesen man eine entsprechende Verbreitung wünscht... In jedem Falle illustriert das Werk gewinnbringend die große Bedeutung der Weisheit für das Verständnis der Schriften und den theologischen Ort der Qumrangemeinschaft." Peter Porzig, Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft, 2019. "Di proficua lettura per chi desideri approfondire l’antropologia dell’antico Israele, la ridefinizione di «Israele» tra le nazioni, o si interessi alla prima recezione di taluni scritti della Bibbia ebraica." Marco Settembrini, Gregorianum, 2019.

This article examines the politics of "war magic" — that is to say rituals aimed at repelling armies (tib: dmag bzlog) — during the creation of the Ganden Phodrang state in 17th century Tibet. Using Tibetan-language ritual texts as historical sources, the article presents such ritual war magic as a form premodern "war propaganda" which played a crucial role in the establishment of the Tibetan state. The article examines the strategies personally pursued by the Fifth Dalai Lama Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso and then by his successor, Desi Sangyé Gyatso, to project an image of ritual power as a key component in the construction of the Ganden Phodrang as a "theatre state". Cet article examine la politique de la « magie de guerre » – c’est-à-dire des rituels visant à repousser les armées (tib. dmag bzlog) – au moment de la création de l’État tibétain du Ganden Phodrang au XVIIe siècle. Utilisant des textes rituels en langue tibétaine comme sources historiques, l’article présente la « magie de guerre » comme une forme pré-moderne de propagande de guerre qui a joué un rôle crucial dans la formation de l’État tibétain. Au début du XVIIe siècle, la « magie de guerre » tibétaine, une tradition qui puisait ses racines en Inde, s’était développée pour devenir un domaine extrêmement compétitif, imprégné d’une rhétorique selon laquelle il fallait repousser les « armées démoniaques des régions frontalières » et en particulier les Mongols. Le fait que l’existence du gouvernement du Ganden Phodrang dépendait du soutien militaire des Mongols Qoshot représentait un important défi en terme de propagande. L’article examine les différentes stratégies que le Cinquième Dalaï-lama Ngawang Lozang Gyatso a personnellement mises en œuvre pour résoudre ce problème, ce qui lui a permis, avec son successeur le régent Sanggyé Gyatso, de déployer avec succès l’arsenal très impressionnant des « pouvoirs magiques » (tib. mthu) du Ganden Phodrang. Cela incluait notamment le patronage des traditions ésotériques de rituels violents des Trésors du Nord, la rédaction, par le Cinquième Dalaï-lama lui-même, de nombreux textes rituels sur des thèmes connexes et enfin l’institution de cérémonies d’État pour mettre en scène publiquement ces pratiques.