Songs of Freedom: A Study of the Religious Poetry of a Sixteenth Century Tibetan Female Master
The Tibetan female master Kuntu Sangmo (1464–1549) is virtually unknown in both Western and Tibetan scholarship. Her “songs of realization” are included in an extensive manuscript biography that was recently discovered in Tibet. Compiled by a male disciple of Kuntu Sangmo in 1551, the text shows that a female could obtain remarkable success and high status in Tibetan Buddhism during this understudied historical period.
Taking the religious poetry of this exceptional woman as its point of departure, this project will investigate Tibetan religious culture and history from the perspective of a female practitioner. Through a comparison of Kuntu Sangmo’s songs with the songs of her male companion, Tsangnyön Heruka, her importance for the specific Buddhist tradition that arose around Tsangnyön will be explored. By translating, presenting, analyzing, and contextualizing her songs, this project will not only discern how gender differences were manifested during this period of Tibetan history, but also will investigate the specific religious roles that were available for a female practitioner in 16th century Tibet.
The project will contribute significant basic research and provide us with important insights into the role of women in Buddhism in general and in Tibetan Buddhism in particular. The project will be interdisciplinary, combining philological rigor with insights into broader theoretical issues within the study of religion, literary studies, and gender studies.
Final report
Scientific Report Project Purpose and Development:
The primary objective of the project has been to translate, present, and analyze the religious poetry/"songs" (Tibetan: mgur) of the Tibetan Buddhist mystic Kuntu Sangmo (1464–1549). These twenty-five songs are included in a hagiography (Tibetan: rnam thar) that was discovered in Tibet a few decades ago. Given that these songs have neither been translated nor studied before, it is particularly important to make them accessible to both scholars and other interested people.
What makes these songs (and the hagiography in which they are found) particularly significant is that they depict a Tibetan woman who, after a dramatic and arduous life, became a recognized and respected religious leader with numerous male and female disciples and benefactors. Considering the extreme scarcity of writings about women in Tibetan Buddhism, and the even fewer songs authored by women within Tibetan Buddhism, the material presented within the scope of this project is undoubtedly extraordinary.
Besides translating and making the content of the songs available, the project's purpose has been to address the following research questions:
• Do Kuntu Sangmo’s songs differ from those of her male partner and teacher, Tsangnyön Heruka (1452–1507)? If there are differences, do they have anything to do with the fact that Kuntu Sangmo was a woman?
• What was Kuntu Sangmo’s relationship with Tsangnyön, and what significance did she have for the tradition to which they belonged?
• Did women who lived as itinerant yogis/ascetics have more influence than women who chose to become nuns and lived in monasteries, or women in other roles and environments in Tibet at that time?
• What opportunities were available for a woman who wanted to dedicate her life to Buddhist studies and practice during this period?
• What did the religious roles available to a woman entail (nun, partner of a male Buddhist master, wandering ascetic, hermit, yogini, etc.)?
Although the songs and the hagiography in which they are found cannot provide definitive answers to these questions, they do provide important perspectives.
At an early stage, it became clear to me that it was necessary not only to focus on the songs but also to carefully study the extensive biographical material surrounding them. This was also pointed out by one of the reviewers of my project proposal. As a result, the project became more extensive and took on a more philological and text-based direction than I had initially anticipated.
The Tibetan hagiography in which the songs are found is a manuscript written by Kuntu Sangmo’s male disciple Khyenrab Wangchuk in 1551. It is written in a relatively difficult-to-read script (Tibetan: dbu med), which, combined with the text’s numerous abbreviations, made studying it both time-consuming and laborious. First, I had to transcribe the text and convert it into more readable Tibetan print script (Tibetan: dbu can). I then devoted a great deal of time to translating and understanding the transcribed text. Thereafter, I consulted skilled language reviewers, and with their help, the translations were improved. Johanna Jörgensen, who serves as a translator at a Buddhist center in Mälarhöjden, was engaged, as well as Tib Shelf—a group of translators I came into contact with when I spent time at Oxford University as part of the research project in the autumn of 2023 (https://www.tibshelf.org/about).
The Three Most Important Results of the Project, along with a Discussion of the Conclusions:
1. The Tibetan manuscript has been transcribed, and all twenty-five songs, as well as large portions of the narrative biographical sections, have been translated from Tibetan into English and carefully reviewed. Thanks to this extensive philological work, I now can publish articles and write a monograph in which this unique material can be made accessible to both scholars and other interested readers. I consider this philological foundational research to be the most important outcome of the project.
2. Kuntu Sangmo’s songs and life example show that it was possible for a woman to achieve high status and a prominent position within Tibetan Buddhism during this previously unexplored period. According to the hagiography, Kuntu Sangmo was empowered to act as Tsangnyön’s successor before he passed away. She then lived a long and successful life as an independent and respected religious leader. Given the rarity of descriptions of authoritative female religious leaders, Kuntu Sangmo’s life example and her songs are unique and significant.
3. A more nuanced picture of Tsangnyön and his tradition has emerged. It has become evident that women participated more actively and played a more prominent role than previous research had suggested.
New Research Questions and Ideas for Future Research:
• It would be interesting to examine the role of ordained monks and nuns within Tsangnyön’s tradition. Particularly intriguing is the learned and influential Sakya monk Ngödrub Pembar (1456–1527), about whom there is also an unexplored hagiography.
• It would be valuable to investigate what happened to the tradition that Kuntu Sangmo belonged to after her death and up to the present day. In what ways did it continue? Does it still exist? If so, how is it expressed?
• Numerous individuals and places are mentioned in the Tibetan texts related to Kuntu Sangmo. It would be interesting to trace and, if possible, identify the people and places mentioned in these texts. This could be done through field studies in combination with textual analysis.
Research Results and Collaboration:
Three professors specializing in Tibetology and the history of religions were the project’s advisors: Hanna Havnevik from the University of Oslo, Franz-Karl Ehrhard from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich, and Per Kværne from the University of Oslo. Their support and advice have been important, and I have met with them on various occasions both before and during the project. For instance, Prof. Kværne gave me the excellent and highly beneficial advice to spend time at Oxford University, which has a very active Tibetology research environment.
Throughout the project, I have continuously presented the research generated, both orally and in writing. The research has also enriched the teaching and supervision I have conducted at the University of Gävle (HiG), where I work and where the project was based.
I have delivered numerous lectures and presentations related to the project in various locations. Several of these have resulted in publications or will do so in the future.
In July 2022, I participated in "The Sixteenth Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies" in Prague, where I presented a paper titled "Comparing the Songs of Kuntu Sangmo with the Songs of Tsangyön Heruka." This presentation was later revised into the article "‘A Female Body is Fortunate’: Comparing Kun tu bzang mo’s Songs with the Songs of gTsang smyon Heruka," which was published in Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines. In this article, I address several of the project's research questions.
In January 2023, I gave an online presentation in the Shang Shung Institute UK's digital lecture series (via Zoom). Additionally, I have regularly presented the project in research seminars at HiG (Spring 2020, Fall 2022, Fall 2024). In Spring 2023, I presented the project at the higher seminar in the history of religions at Lund University. During three weeks in November 2023, I was a visiting researcher at the University of Oxford, where I gave a lecture titled "The Songs of Kuntu Sangmo."
I have also participated in several different workshops. In February 2021, I took part in "Nordic Collaboration in Research and Education on Indian Religions" (via Zoom, due to the pandemic). In May 2022, I attended "Buddhism and Theosophy in the Nordic Countries" at Lund University. The presentation I gave there was later revised into a chapter included in the book Buddhism in the Nordic Countries, which will be published by Routledge this summer. In August 2023, I presented a paper about how Kuntu Sangmo, in her songs, emphasized the importance of putting the Buddhist teachings into practice. The paper was presented in a workshop at Stockholm University titled "Theory and Practice in Asian Traditions."
Future Plans:
I will submit two articles to academic journals: “The Mothers of Tsangnyön Heruka” to Numen and “A Female Tibetan Mystic Sings about How to Put the Buddhist Teachings into Practice” to Journal of Tibetan Literature or Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines. These articles are nearly completed but need editing. In the fall, I will participate in a workshop on piety in religions at Stockholm University, where my contribution will focus on how piety is described in Kuntu Sangmo’s songs. Hopefully, this will be published in a forthcoming special issue of Chaos: Skandinavisk tidsskrift for religionshistoriske studier.
I plan to apply for an RJ sabbatical to complete a monograph based on the research project. Once the monograph and articles are finished. I also intend to write an entry on Kuntu Sangmo for Treasury of Lives (https://treasuryoflives.org/) and present my research findings in various forums. When this is done, I will consider the research project completed and move on to other research topics.
The primary objective of the project has been to translate, present, and analyze the religious poetry/"songs" (Tibetan: mgur) of the Tibetan Buddhist mystic Kuntu Sangmo (1464–1549). These twenty-five songs are included in a hagiography (Tibetan: rnam thar) that was discovered in Tibet a few decades ago. Given that these songs have neither been translated nor studied before, it is particularly important to make them accessible to both scholars and other interested people.
What makes these songs (and the hagiography in which they are found) particularly significant is that they depict a Tibetan woman who, after a dramatic and arduous life, became a recognized and respected religious leader with numerous male and female disciples and benefactors. Considering the extreme scarcity of writings about women in Tibetan Buddhism, and the even fewer songs authored by women within Tibetan Buddhism, the material presented within the scope of this project is undoubtedly extraordinary.
Besides translating and making the content of the songs available, the project's purpose has been to address the following research questions:
• Do Kuntu Sangmo’s songs differ from those of her male partner and teacher, Tsangnyön Heruka (1452–1507)? If there are differences, do they have anything to do with the fact that Kuntu Sangmo was a woman?
• What was Kuntu Sangmo’s relationship with Tsangnyön, and what significance did she have for the tradition to which they belonged?
• Did women who lived as itinerant yogis/ascetics have more influence than women who chose to become nuns and lived in monasteries, or women in other roles and environments in Tibet at that time?
• What opportunities were available for a woman who wanted to dedicate her life to Buddhist studies and practice during this period?
• What did the religious roles available to a woman entail (nun, partner of a male Buddhist master, wandering ascetic, hermit, yogini, etc.)?
Although the songs and the hagiography in which they are found cannot provide definitive answers to these questions, they do provide important perspectives.
At an early stage, it became clear to me that it was necessary not only to focus on the songs but also to carefully study the extensive biographical material surrounding them. This was also pointed out by one of the reviewers of my project proposal. As a result, the project became more extensive and took on a more philological and text-based direction than I had initially anticipated.
The Tibetan hagiography in which the songs are found is a manuscript written by Kuntu Sangmo’s male disciple Khyenrab Wangchuk in 1551. It is written in a relatively difficult-to-read script (Tibetan: dbu med), which, combined with the text’s numerous abbreviations, made studying it both time-consuming and laborious. First, I had to transcribe the text and convert it into more readable Tibetan print script (Tibetan: dbu can). I then devoted a great deal of time to translating and understanding the transcribed text. Thereafter, I consulted skilled language reviewers, and with their help, the translations were improved. Johanna Jörgensen, who serves as a translator at a Buddhist center in Mälarhöjden, was engaged, as well as Tib Shelf—a group of translators I came into contact with when I spent time at Oxford University as part of the research project in the autumn of 2023 (https://www.tibshelf.org/about).
The Three Most Important Results of the Project, along with a Discussion of the Conclusions:
1. The Tibetan manuscript has been transcribed, and all twenty-five songs, as well as large portions of the narrative biographical sections, have been translated from Tibetan into English and carefully reviewed. Thanks to this extensive philological work, I now can publish articles and write a monograph in which this unique material can be made accessible to both scholars and other interested readers. I consider this philological foundational research to be the most important outcome of the project.
2. Kuntu Sangmo’s songs and life example show that it was possible for a woman to achieve high status and a prominent position within Tibetan Buddhism during this previously unexplored period. According to the hagiography, Kuntu Sangmo was empowered to act as Tsangnyön’s successor before he passed away. She then lived a long and successful life as an independent and respected religious leader. Given the rarity of descriptions of authoritative female religious leaders, Kuntu Sangmo’s life example and her songs are unique and significant.
3. A more nuanced picture of Tsangnyön and his tradition has emerged. It has become evident that women participated more actively and played a more prominent role than previous research had suggested.
New Research Questions and Ideas for Future Research:
• It would be interesting to examine the role of ordained monks and nuns within Tsangnyön’s tradition. Particularly intriguing is the learned and influential Sakya monk Ngödrub Pembar (1456–1527), about whom there is also an unexplored hagiography.
• It would be valuable to investigate what happened to the tradition that Kuntu Sangmo belonged to after her death and up to the present day. In what ways did it continue? Does it still exist? If so, how is it expressed?
• Numerous individuals and places are mentioned in the Tibetan texts related to Kuntu Sangmo. It would be interesting to trace and, if possible, identify the people and places mentioned in these texts. This could be done through field studies in combination with textual analysis.
Research Results and Collaboration:
Three professors specializing in Tibetology and the history of religions were the project’s advisors: Hanna Havnevik from the University of Oslo, Franz-Karl Ehrhard from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich, and Per Kværne from the University of Oslo. Their support and advice have been important, and I have met with them on various occasions both before and during the project. For instance, Prof. Kværne gave me the excellent and highly beneficial advice to spend time at Oxford University, which has a very active Tibetology research environment.
Throughout the project, I have continuously presented the research generated, both orally and in writing. The research has also enriched the teaching and supervision I have conducted at the University of Gävle (HiG), where I work and where the project was based.
I have delivered numerous lectures and presentations related to the project in various locations. Several of these have resulted in publications or will do so in the future.
In July 2022, I participated in "The Sixteenth Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies" in Prague, where I presented a paper titled "Comparing the Songs of Kuntu Sangmo with the Songs of Tsangyön Heruka." This presentation was later revised into the article "‘A Female Body is Fortunate’: Comparing Kun tu bzang mo’s Songs with the Songs of gTsang smyon Heruka," which was published in Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines. In this article, I address several of the project's research questions.
In January 2023, I gave an online presentation in the Shang Shung Institute UK's digital lecture series (via Zoom). Additionally, I have regularly presented the project in research seminars at HiG (Spring 2020, Fall 2022, Fall 2024). In Spring 2023, I presented the project at the higher seminar in the history of religions at Lund University. During three weeks in November 2023, I was a visiting researcher at the University of Oxford, where I gave a lecture titled "The Songs of Kuntu Sangmo."
I have also participated in several different workshops. In February 2021, I took part in "Nordic Collaboration in Research and Education on Indian Religions" (via Zoom, due to the pandemic). In May 2022, I attended "Buddhism and Theosophy in the Nordic Countries" at Lund University. The presentation I gave there was later revised into a chapter included in the book Buddhism in the Nordic Countries, which will be published by Routledge this summer. In August 2023, I presented a paper about how Kuntu Sangmo, in her songs, emphasized the importance of putting the Buddhist teachings into practice. The paper was presented in a workshop at Stockholm University titled "Theory and Practice in Asian Traditions."
Future Plans:
I will submit two articles to academic journals: “The Mothers of Tsangnyön Heruka” to Numen and “A Female Tibetan Mystic Sings about How to Put the Buddhist Teachings into Practice” to Journal of Tibetan Literature or Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines. These articles are nearly completed but need editing. In the fall, I will participate in a workshop on piety in religions at Stockholm University, where my contribution will focus on how piety is described in Kuntu Sangmo’s songs. Hopefully, this will be published in a forthcoming special issue of Chaos: Skandinavisk tidsskrift for religionshistoriske studier.
I plan to apply for an RJ sabbatical to complete a monograph based on the research project. Once the monograph and articles are finished. I also intend to write an entry on Kuntu Sangmo for Treasury of Lives (https://treasuryoflives.org/) and present my research findings in various forums. When this is done, I will consider the research project completed and move on to other research topics.