Steps toward a Tibetan Understanding of Purity: A Semantic and Textual Analysis by James E. Morrison. Pickwick Publications, 2025. 300 pages. ISBN-13: 979-8385208760. Available from Press and Amazon.
Is purity a theme in Tibetan Buddhism, let alone a strong concept in Tibetan Buddhism, or even a concept at all?
When you walk into a temple with mantras and music, with colorful walls and vivid images, it is hard to connect it all to the theme of purity. James Morrison will take you on a journey to both prove and explore the depth of the purity concept in Tibetan Buddhism. More than this, the book introduces the Tibetan Buddhist worldview and history and in the closing chapters there is a missiological exposé on how purity should be used more when sharing the gospel to Tibetan Buddhists.
The book has been modified from his thesis to make it easier to read, but it still has much of the structure and way of reasoning as a thesis. The book has five chapters, but it is better to think of it as three main parts. The first part sets the scene of Tibetan Buddhism with its history and trends. The second part explores and proves how extensive purity thinking is in Tibetan literature and texts. The third part, the fifth chapter, is the conclusion with a missiological reflection.
The first part is a very good introduction to the Tibetan worldview. It is not easy to grasp the Tibetan worldview, with its very different thought patterns compared to what we are normally used to. But Morrison has done a good job, and I can strongly recommend this overview to understand more of the Tibetan context where Tibetan Buddhism is set. The schools, what could be compared to denominations for the Christian church, are also not easy to grasp and describe in a concise way but Morrison does it succinctly and in a clear way to give just enough information to paint the setting of different thought strains for Tibetan Buddhism.
The second part gives a very extensive exposé of purity in different Tibetan texts. Most of the texts are of religious nature, but some are wisdom, proverbs, and prayers from the wider context. They are referred to as less religious, but with the lack of alternatives—and still very much religious in nature—it also shows how deep the history and background of the religious influence are in society. Purity is looked upon from different aspects and how it is regarded in life. There are different ways to reach purity and practicing confession is one way to clear the path; other ways are using the vajra or merging with deities. These are used and needed for good karma and reincarnation until reaching the most important, enlightenment. Morrison states (p. 146), “The confessional, preliminary, tantra and incantation texts, have shown that Tibetans believe ontologically that there exists a state of defilement caused by both moral infractions and through conducting the quotidian affairs of mundane samsaric existence- and from both of these one needs to be cleansed.”
In stating that purification is possible and highly desirable, it challenges our understanding of Tibetan culture. But I cannot help but question how this links to major trends of Buddhism and secondly how widely it is seen in praxis and understood by the majority of people. He stresses that “purification is the root of future happiness and spiritual realizations” (p. 96) and that there are different realms of purity and blessings aspired and searched for. “This deep longing to be born in a pure land of bliss remains a remarkably constant thread of Tibetan existence.” (p. 169)
A transformation from failings, broken vows, defiling obscurations is possible through tantric practices. These practices need to be repeated regularly, and often within a certain time from the defilement until the final state of purified enlightenment is reached.
These mantras and prayers are used in a similar manner, are described by Morrison as incantations or “magical formulas believed to affect a particular desired outcome” and are very significant to the Tibetan Buddhism and are said to be a major reason for its widespread influence.
Morrison claims purity is foundational in the Tibetan Buddhist thinking, but for the extensive research in texts I miss how it is applied and received or even exists among the broad masses. My biggest concern in reading, which I kept wrestling with in the journey of reading about Tibetan purity thoughts, is how we and they regard purity and defilement. Purity is handled here ontologically and soteriologically, and it gives a good understanding of the process and expectations, but as for soteriology it seems to me more about the path than final “salvation”. In my understanding, it is not really seen as a hindrance to the enlightenment or within samsara. The defilement is in nature a roadblock to understanding and therefore does not always need to be removed. Is it a defilement in general terms as any filth—wicked or immoral—or is it only according to the Eightfold Path? I miss how it is compared to the biblical use of purity, where it is used in a context of holiness and absence of sin. While bringing it into comparison with the Bible, the research and study of it from a theological perspective is lacking and even if holiness is mentioned it is not brought to real comparison in the study. It stays as a word, and in my mind, does not go far enough.
I also question the reference to the 3D Gospel booklet, which I see as a weak study as far as material as the concept of fear–shame and guilt culture studies go. To be fair, it is written as a popular pocketbook and therefore may not be the best source for an academic study. In Jayson George’s book, purity is linked to the shame–honor framework, while the natural understanding of purity would belong with holiness and the guilt–innocence paradigm. In my understanding, Tibetan culture is dominantly fear–power (fear–shalom is a better reference in my understanding but left here for the sake of clarity) culture and as such it influences how they look at purity in terms of reference to deities and relationship to them. This paradigm of fear–power is the weakest part in the 3D Gospel book and therefore least relevant to be used as a standard for this discussion. In addition, it is on the weak side in theology too and there must be stronger studies to approach this comparison of purity in connection to fear–power.
The research in this book is a great tool for understanding the Tibetan Buddhist context and system. It touches on many interesting areas such as symbols, desire for a pure land and the process of karma and samsara, and how they shape the pursuit of enlightenment. I can see how significant this is to help the understanding of karma and the samsara circle, and how there are counteracts to the negative karma and obstacles. It is a first step and probes into this area of study, and my hope is that there can be a wider understanding of the concept of purity and with a deeper comparison to Scripture and how this theme can serve as a bridge for the gospel.
Our thanks to Pickwick Publications for providing a copy of Steps toward a Tibetan Understanding of Purity: A Semantic and Textual Analysis by James E. Morrison for this review.
