Speaking Realization into Existence: Oral History and the Creation of Hagiographic Truths

In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, hagiography (rnam thar) is a vast and popular genre of literature that tells the life-stories of Buddhist figures. Although hagiographic literature itself points to a complex relationship with oral narratives, scholars tend to categorize hagiography as written expression that is both stylized and distinct from history. This paper examines two ethnographic accounts of the life of a religious master – one oral history given by a 25-year-old lama and another account by his teacher. The lama presents a life that is filled with self-doubt, non-religious desires, and fatigue with his position. His teacher presents a narrative of miracles, extraordinary signs and an exaggerated educational history. This paper examines oral history as a dialectic process between intersubjective interlocutors, suggesting that by understanding this dialogic process we must rethink the stability of the hagiographic text and imagine the narrative interests of hagiographic-ethnographers of the past.