Christine Boedler
Christine Boedler studied Anthropology, Sociology, and Psychology at the University of Bonn and the Free University of Berlin. She obtained her MA degree (Diploma) in 1982 with a thesis on Mexican Indigenous Development Policy from the Institute of Latin American Studies in Berlin. She then worked for an international consulting company in Germany and abroad and for UNHCR in the assistance programs for Central-American refugees in Mexico. In 1987 she joined the German Political Foundation Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung, Department of International Development Projects and was transferred to Brazil in 1991, where she served as director for projects in the fields of political education, public administration, environment, and human rights programs. From early on, she became interested in Buddhism and travelled extensively in Asia, and in 1997 she began to systematically dedicate herself to the study and practice of Tibetan Buddhism. Since 2001 she is a resident of ”Khadro Ling” in Três Coroas, the seat of lCags-mdud-sprul-sku Padma-gar-gyi-dbang-phyug Rinpoche, where between 2005 and 2009 she has been in charge of the coordination of the overall art work (murals, statues and stūpa) of the newly built Zangs mdog dpal ri temple, working closely with the Asian artists and with Rig-’dzin-bsam-grub, a traditional Bhutanese bla ma, skilled in the practice of construction and consecration of sacred Tibetan Buddhist structures.
Based on her valuable practical experience, her special research interests now lie in the underlying theories and instructions related to the filling and consecration of sacred Tibetan Buddhist structures such as statues and stūpas, with special emphasis on fillings containing mantras and dhāraṇīs. In order to deepen her knowledge she is now studying the autochthonous manual used during the field work, the rTen la nang gzhug ’bul ba’i lag len lugs srol kun gsal dri bral nor bu chu shel gyi me long (contained in TBRC-W23723) by Kong-sprul Blo-gros-mtha’-yas (1813–1899). She is currently working on a critical edition and a translation of this manual and pursuing a PhD at the Department of Indian and Tibetan Studies, Asia-Africa Institute, University of Hamburg, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Dorji Wangchuk.
e-mail: chboedler@gmail.com