| This thesis situates the three-vow texts written by the founders of the new (sarma) schools within the broader processes of school-formation during the "Tibetan Renaissance" (950 to 1250 CE). The texts of focus are authored by Atisa, Gampopa, Drakpa Gyeltsen, and Drigung Jikten Gonpo. In order to expand our understanding of these under-studied texts I examine them from three perspectives, with each perspective defined by a different set of goals that guided the authors. First, I explain how these texts describe and arrange the three sets of vows (the pratimoks&dotbelow;a, bodhisattva, and tantric vows) in order to clarify the commitments of a vow holder. Second, I show how the positions taken in these texts are connected to the process of monastic institutionalization. Third, I show how some of the texts engaged in public polemics in order to assert the supremacy of the author and his school. |
