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Dumje: paradox and resolution in Sherpa ritual symbolism
Author(s) -
PAUL ROBERT A.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
american ethnologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.875
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1548-1425
pISSN - 0094-0496
DOI - 10.1525/ae.1979.6.2.02a00040
Subject(s) - buddhism , value (mathematics) , aesthetics , epistemology , sociology , resolution (logic) , the symbolic , philosophy , psychology , psychoanalysis , computer science , theology , artificial intelligence , machine learning
Ritual may be usefully viewed as a symbolic attempt to resolve contradictory ideas and affects within a single cultural tradition. One such paradox faced by Buddhism in practice is the necessity of simultaneously affirming and denying the value of worldly existence. The Sherpa seasonal festival of Dumje may be understood as an attempt periodically to express and resolve this problem through a complex juxtaposition of sexual, aggressive, and ecological metaphors and symbols.