The Study of Pilgrimage in Tibetan Buddhism: Overview and Recommendations for Instructors

ABSTRACT Throughout the history of Tibet, sacred places such as mountains, lakes, caves, and monasteries have been visited by laypeople and religious elites alike in search of purification, blessings, karma, long life, teachings, and spiritual transformation. More recently, scholars have studied the history and evolving present circumstances of pilgrimages across the Tibetan landscape. While the study of pilgrimage in Tibet remains a relatively small subfield, in the past 30 years, this body of scholarship has grown. This article will provide a short overview of this scholarship on pilgrimage in Tibetan Buddhism. It is intended as an introduction to people new to the field of pilgrimage studies in Tibet, so that they can orient themselves in the literature, find resources on topics of interest, or find teaching resources.