Taking two early Tibetan texts as his starting point, Jacob P. Dalton explores the ways in which violence has been integral to the development of Tibetan Buddhism. Paying particular attention to the so-called age of fragmentation, Tibet's dark age from 842 to 986 C.E., he draws on previously unstudied manuscripts discovered in the famous "library cave" near Dunhuang, on the old Silk Road. These demonstrate how this supposedly inactive period in Tibetan history was in fact crucial to the Tibetan assimilation of Buddhism, and particularly to the spread of the violent themes of tantric Buddhism, at both the local and the popular levels. From the late tenth century onward, this period and its mythic and ritual themes of violence, demon taming, and blood sacrifice came to play important symbolic roles in Tibetan history and politics. Despite its reputation as a tradition utterly opposed to violence, Tibetan Buddhism has long been haunted by violent rituals and imaginative associations. The resulting history challenges our own tendencies to romanticize or demonize the rich and ancient culture of Tibet.

Taming of the Demons: Violence and Liberation in Tibetan Buddhism, Jacob P. Dalton, Yale University Press, Paperback, 312 pp, $35.00

Jacob P. Dalton is assistant professor of Tibetan Buddhist studies in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures and the Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley. He gained exceptional access to the Dunhuang manuscripts at the British Library while conducting research for the International Dunhuang Project. He lives in Berkeley, CA.

	Contents: The Taming of the Demons: Violence and Liberation in Tibetan Buddhism
	Acknowledgments	ix
	Introduction	1
One	Evil and Ignorance in Tantric Buddhism	23
Two	Demons in the Dark	44
Three	A Buddhist Manual for Human Sacrifice?	77
Four	Sacrifice and the Law	95
Five	Foundational Violence	110
Six	Buddhist Warfare	126
Seven	Conclusions: Violence in the Mirror	144
	Appendix A. The Subjugation of Rudra	159
	Appendix B. Dunhuang Liberation Rite (Transcription of PT42/ITJ419)	207
	Appendix C. Dunhuang Liberation Rite II (Translation and Transliteration of PT840/1)	210
	Notes	219
	Glossary of Tibetan Titles and Terms	279
	Bibliography	285
	Index	305