Adam Krug introduces the Grub pa sde bdun as a practical canon (gzhung) of Indian Mahāmudrā Works and its role in hagiography.
This talk will begin with an introduction to the Grub pa sde bdun that touches upon their importance to Indic Buddhist traditions, their transmission to Tibet in the mid-eleventh century, and the role that they played in the Karma Kagyü’s formulation of a practical canon of Indian Mahāmudrā Works (phyag chen rgya gzhung) at the turn of the sixteenth century. The presentation will then focus on the preservation of a hagiographic tradition among the Drikung Kagyü identifying the Grub pa sde bdun as a textual record for the transmission of the Oḍiyāna Mahāmudrā lineage. It will conclude with a discussion of how this history of the formulation and transmission of the Grub pa sde bdun invites a shift in our own approach as scholars toward understanding Buddhist textual traditions as active participants in the creation and continuation of Buddhist communities and institutions.
