The relationship between temporal and religious authority has been an issue of perennial inquiry in Tibetan history, culminating in the notion of chos srid zung ‘brel, the merging of religious and temporal authority. This religio-political model of governance was conceptually advanced and institutionally developed into a systematic governmental structure by the Central Tibetan Ganden Phodrang government in the seventeenth century. Much of the scholarship on Tibetan social structure and its political system centers on understanding concepts such as chos srid zung ‘brel or the mchod yon (preceptor-donor) relationship and their transformations over time. Most studies have focused on the religious leaders of Central Tibet, such as the well-known figures of the Dalai Lamas, and their relationships with Manchu or Mongol emperors. Dominique Townsend's A Buddhist Sensibility makes an important contribution to Tibetan and Buddhist political theory and practice through an in-depth study of a single monastic institution and its unique role in shaping the religio-political model of governance in the early decades of the Ganden Phodrang government.

Mindröling is a Nyingma sect monastery in Lhoka, just southeast of Lhasa, that was founded in 1676 by Terdak Lingpa (1646–1714) with the support of the fifth Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso (1617–82). Comparing it with Samye monastery (built in the eighth century), Townsend argues that Mindröling was the product of a shared vision of temporal and religious authorities that served as “a civilizational center” in early modern Tibet, stressing its unique position and relationship with the newly established Geluk government (pp. 1–2). Townsend's broader argument is that aesthetics was one of the connective tissues between the religious and worldly realms, as demonstrated by Mindröling's role as an exemplary learning center of ritual performances, musical liturgies, and the subjects of arts and sciences or rikné (Tib. rig gnas), which helped the institution forge a cohesive sensibility across time and space (p. 17). To present how aesthetic practices and materiality connected the religious and temporal worlds, Townsend organizes the book into five chapters with an epilogue.

In the first two chapters, Townsend offers a rich account of the Nyö clan's historical position in Central Tibet as descendants of an important family from imperial Tibet. As a member of that aristocratic clan, Terdak Lingpa was able to found Mindröling with the assistance of the fifth Dalai Lama. Analyzing monastic histories and recently published catalogs, Townsend argues that the Nyö clan played an important role in shaping the religio-political model of governance because its members had been both aristocrats and tantric experts since the eleventh century (p. 34). Terdak Lingpa's renown as a terton (treasure revealer) also played an important role in forging necessary connections, including with the Dalai Lama, who marveled at his mastery of the Great Perfection tradition. Townsend contends that Mindröling's formal liturgies, ritual performance, curriculum, and Rimé (Tib. ris med) or ecumenical approach to the Great Perfection tradition all contributed to making Mindröling a “cosmopolitan” institution, drawing attention across the Tibetan cultural sphere to its open, diverse, and inclusive atmosphere for females as well as nontraditional lay students and practitioners (pp. 55–58).

The third chapter carefully examines a set of letters sent by the Dalai Lama to Terdak Lingpa as well as the latter's letters to political leaders like Desi Sangye Gyatso, the regent. These letters demonstrate the nature of the relationship between the Dalai Lama and Terdak Lingpa and their shared concerns. Townsend notes that the two main themes in the Dalai Lama's letters are interdependent relationships (Tib. rten ‘brel) and the application of Buddhist teachings to life in the world (p. 90). These letters not only indicate the exalted position of Terdak Lingpa but also of Mindröling and its significance in unifying Tibetans of Greater Tibet. Meanwhile, Terdak Lingpa's letters are instructive because they reflect on Buddhist ideals of nonattachment and equanimity in the context of encountering the challenges of living a moral life (p. 106). Townsend is especially attentive to the poetics and literary elements of these letters, stressing the place of aesthetics and literature in the lives of a tantric practitioner and a Buddhist ruler.

In the fourth chapter, Townsend analyzes sections of the educational curriculum in the monastic constitution (Tib. bca’ yig) of Mindröling. She argues that Terdak Lingpa's emphasis on the study of rikné as the “arts and sciences,” including fields such as literary arts, astrology, and medicine, offered an educational model that became highly authoritative and influential (p. 123). Although Terdak Lingpa did not create this system, his curriculum demonstrated a considerable amount of flexibility and openness toward the different aspirations and capabilities of a diverse group of students and practitioners, including lay aristocrats, monks, lamas, yogins, and nuns. This element of flexibility and attention to individuality, which Townsend likens to a contemporary liberal arts education in the West, was one of the features that attracted many students to Mindröling.

The last chapter, “Taming the Aristocrats,” addresses Mindröling's unique role in educating Lhasa aristocrats and government officials. That role was of enormous importance to the institution's influence and revival in the aftermath of its destruction by the Dzungar Mongols in 1717. Drawing on the theoretical frameworks of Claude Lévi-Strauss and Roland Barthes, Townsend analyzes the relationship between writing and authority and how Mindröling's apprenticeship in the arts and sciences produced a number of aristocrats whose ability to write served multiple purposes, including the composition of autobiographies. Studying biographical literature from the period, Townsend notes that not only did Mindröling supply government officials, but teachers of the official schools of aristocratic families were also trained at Mindröling (p. 172). Mindröling's education of lay aristocrats and future leaders of Tibet placed the institution in a privileged position because their status and patronage allowed the reproduction of Mindröling's authority and influence across the Tibetan cultural sphere (p. 170). Beyond training in the arts and sciences, Mindröling's ritual and artistic media practices became models for other monasteries across the Tibetan Buddhist world. Meanwhile, Mindröling's special relationship with the political center as a site of religious and cultural production was also a source of apprehension and even enmity from its rival Geluk monasteries.

My remarks no doubt have to do with the nature of available sources (or lack thereof), since Mindröling experienced two major destructions—in 1717 by the Dzungars and in 1959 by the Chinese. However, I believe there are two areas where this study could be improved if new sources are unearthed or the available sources can generate such information. Highlighting the familial connections of the prominent figures trained at Mindröling would not necessarily affect Townsend's overall argument, but it is noteworthy that Lhasa bureaucrats like Dokhar and Doring, on the one hand, and the Dalai Lama and Terdak Lingpa's consort Ngodrup Pelzom, on the other, were all related to each other. It would be worthwhile to further explore the role of these familial connections. Again, if sources allow, a list of Mindröling alumni who served the Tibetan government would help illustrate the rise and fall of the institution's prestige and power as a center of religious and cultural production. Second, a broader discussion and analysis of the rikné program in Central Tibetan monastic institutions would give context to why and how Mindröling's approach was particularly effective and appealing. Comparing it with other Geluk or Nyingma institutions in Central Tibet and analyzing Mindröling's program in contrast to other pedagogical approaches would undoubtedly be highly productive in illustrating the institution's position and power.

Wading through a wide range of sources from monastic catalogs and guidelines to letters and biographies, Townsend has written a fascinatingly rich and well-argued study on one of Tibet's most important monastic institutions. A Buddhist Sensibility is an important contribution to the fields of political theology, aesthetics and religion, Buddhist studies, and Tibetan history. It should be required reading for anyone interested in Tibetan political theory and practice.