Teaching Tibetan Buddhism in Chinese on Behalf of Mañjuśrī: “Great Perfection” (dzokchen / dayuanman 大圓滿) and Related Tantric Practices among Han Chinese and Taiwanese Believers in Sertar and Beyond

In the year 1987, Jigme Phuntsok, founder of the Larung gar Five Sciences Buddhist Academy in Sertar (Sichuan), led hundreds of disciples on pilgrimage to Mt. Wutai, suggesting that Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva himself had invited him to go there. Many Han Chinese then followed him back to Sertar, which became a place of retreat and a pilgrimage spot for thousands of Chinese devotees ever since. Works and textbooks produced at Larung gar are also employed to instruct Han Chinese practitioners in different Buddhist centres in China, Taiwan and abroad. The principal objective of this study is to outline the spread of Larung gar dzok chen teachings among Chinese speaking practitioners both in Sertar and beyond. Following a brief presentation of Taipei’s Nyingmapa Larung Teksum Chöling Buddhist Institute (the “Taiwanese connection”), I will focus on the history of the Larung gar in Sertar – seen as a place of practice for Han Chinese followers; then I will analyse the contents and strategies of its teaching activities. Special attention shall be paid to the specific dzok chen doctrines and practices that are transmitted to Han Chinese monastics and lay Buddhists. To conclude, an attempt shall be made to understand reasons, backgrounds and implications of this growing contemporary phenomenon.