Tibetan Buddhism

About Tibetan Buddhism


'Tibetan Buddhism' is the body of religious Buddhist doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet, the Himalayan region which includes northern Nepal, Bhutan, India (Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh and Sikkim), Mongolia, Russia (Kalmykia, Buryatia and Tuva) and northeastern China (Manchuria: Heilongjiang, Jilin). It includes the teachings of the three vehicles (or yanas in Sanskrit) of Buddhism: Hinayana, Mahayana, and Vajrayana (also known as Tantrayana). The invasion and occupation of Tibet by China in 1959 (which has become known as the Tibetan Diaspora) eventually led to the spread of Tibetan Buddhism to many Western countries where the tradition has gained great popularity. In the past, Tibetan Buddhism was referred to by some as "Lamaism" but this is now considered by many to be based on a misunderstanding of the practice of guru devotion ('guru' is the Sanskrit equivalent of the Tibetan word 'lama' and means 'spiritual teacher') in Tibetan Buddhism. Tibetan Buddhists generally find the term "lamaism" offensive.

Contents
Introduction
Vajrayana
Schools of Tibetan Buddhism
Red Hat and Yellow Hat Sects, Ka'ma and Sarma traditions
Bön, Minor Schools, and Movements
Study of tenet systems in Tibetan Buddhism
Monasticism
History of Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism in the contemporary world
See also
References
Further reading
External links

Introduction


Tibetan Buddhism is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition, meaning that the goal of all practice is to achieve full enlightenment (or Buddhahood) in order to remove all limitation on one's ability to help all other living beings to attain this state. This motivation for practice is called Bodhichitta (a Sanskrit word meaning 'mind of enlightenment').
Founder of Tibetan Buddhism: Guru Rinpoche - Padmasambhava

Buddhahood is defined as freedom from the obstructions to liberation (or negative states of mind such as hatred and desirous attachment) and the obstructions to omniscience (which are the imprints of negative minds, or delusions). When one is freed from mental obscurations one is said to attain a state of unimaginable, continuous bliss where all limitations on one's ability to help all other living beings are removed. This includes the attainment of omniscience - that is all obstructions to knowing all phenomena (including knowing perfectly the minds of all sentient beings) are removed. In the Tibetan Buddhist view, when one perceives or conceives of a particular object the mind (carried upon a subtle energy - 'prana' in Sanskrit and 'lung' in Tibetan) goes to that object. Thus it is said that upon the attainment of omniscience, one's mind becomes omnipresent.
There are said to be countless beings that have attained Buddhahood, or in other words there are countless Buddhas. Buddhas spontaneously, naturally and continuously perform activities to benefit all sentient beings. However it is believed that sentient beings' karma (or actions and results) has equal power to Buddhas. Thus, although Buddhas possess no limitation from their side on their ability to help others, sentient beings continue to experience suffering as a result of their own negative actions (usually committed in previous lifetimes).

Vajrayana


Tibetan Buddhism encompasses Vajrayana (a Sanskrit word that is a conjunction of vajra which may be translated as diamond, thunder or indestructible and yana or vehicle). It is said that Vajrayana practice is the fastest method for attaining Buddhahood, however this is only the case for advanced practitioners who have a grounding in the preliminary practices (which may be categorised as renunciation, Bodhichitta and wisdom - specifically, the wisdom perceiving emptiness). For practitioners who are not qualified, Vajrayana practise is in fact dangerous, and will only lead to suffering if it is not practised with the pure motivation of Bodhichitta. For this reason also, Vajrayana should only ever be practised after receiving an appropriate initiation (also known as an empowerment) from a qualified lama.

Schools of Tibetan Buddhism


Tibetan Buddhism has four main traditions (the suffix ''pa'' is comparable to "er" in English):

★ 'Nyingma(pa)', ''The Ancient Ones'', the oldest and original order founded by Padmasambhava, a Tibetan master, and relies on very early esoteric scriptures known as tantras. In this school there is a good deal of emphasis placed on meditation.

★ 'Kagyu(pa)', ''Oral Lineage'', has one major subsect and one minor subsect. The first, the Dagpo Kagyu, encompasses those Kagyu schools that trace back to Gampopa. In turn, the Dagpo Kagyu consists of four major sub-sects: the Karma Kagyu, headed by the Karmapa, the Tsalpa Kagyu, the Barom Kagyu, and Pagtru Kagyu; as well as eight minor sub-sects, all of which trace their root to Pagtru Kagyu. Among the eight sub-sects the most notable of are the Drikung Kagyu and the Drukpa Kagyu. The once-obscure Shangpa Kagyu, which was famously represented by the 20th century teacher Kalu Rinpoche, traces its history back to the Indian master Niguma, sister of Kagyu lineage holder Naropa. This is an oral tradition which is very much concerned with the experiential dimension of meditation. Its most famous exponent was Milarepa, an eleventh century mystic who meditated for many years in mountain caves before eventually reaching enlightenment.

★ 'Sakya(pa)', ''Grey Earth'', headed by the Sakya Trizin, founded by Khon Konchog Gyalpo, a disciple of the great translator Drokmi Lotsawa. Sakya Pandita 1182–1251CE was the great grand-son of Khon Konchog Gyalpo. This school very much represents the scholarly tradition.
''Statue of Tsongkhapa, founder of the Gelugpa Sect, on the altar in His Temple (His birth place) in Kumbum Monastery, near Xining, Qinghai (Amdo), China. Foto by writer Mario Biondi, july 7, 2006''


★ 'Gelug(pa)', ''Way of Virtue'', also known as ''Yellow Hats'', whose spiritual head is the Ganden Tripa and whose temporal head is the Dalai Lama, who was ruler of Tibet from the mid-17th to mid-20th centuries. It was founded in the 14th to 15th century by Je Tsongkhapa, based on the foundations of the Kadampa tradition. Tsongkhapa was renowned for both his scholasticism and his virtue. The Dalai Lama heads the Gelukpa school and is regarded as the embodiment of Chenrezig, the Bodhisattva of Compassion (the equivalent of Avalokitesvara).
See Tibetan Buddhist canon for a list of important tantric texts recognized by different traditions.
Red Hat and Yellow Hat Sects, Ka'ma and Sarma traditions

The schools are sometimes divided into the "Old Translation", or Nyingma, and "New Translation" (Sarma) traditions, with the Kagyu, Sakya and Kadam/Gelug among the latter. They are also sometimes classified as "Red Hat" and "Yellow Hat" schools, with the Nyingma, Kagyu and Sakya among the former and the Gelug comprising the latter. The terms "Old Translation" and "New Translation" particularly designate translations and lineages of various Tantric texts.
Bön, Minor Schools, and Movements

Besides the above main schools, there are a number of minor ones like Jonang, Zhije, Bodong and Buton. The Jonangpa were suppressed by the rival Gelukpa in the 1600s and were once thought extinct, but are now known to survive in Eastern Tibet.
There is also an ecumenical movement known as Rime (alternative spelling:''Rimed'').
The Bön religion, which predated Buddhism in Tibet, has now been formally honoured by the Dalai Lama as the fifth religious tradition of Tibet. Bön practitioners honour Tonpa Shenrab Miwoche as their founder instead of Shakyamuni Buddha.

Study of tenet systems in Tibetan Buddhism


Tibetan Buddhists divide Buddhist philosophy as transmitted from India into four main streams of philosophical tenets:
Two belong to the older Hinayana path (Skt. for ''Lesser Vehicle'', Tib. theg dman). (Hinayana is sometimes referred to as ÅšravakayÄna (Skt. ''Vehicle of Hearers'') because "lesser" may be considered derogatory):

★ Vaibhasika (Tib. ''bye-brag smra-ba'')

★ Sautrantika (Tib. ''mdo-sde-pa'')
Primary source for the former is the Abhidharmakosha by Vasubandhu and commentaries. The Abhidharmakosha is also an important source for the Sautrantikas, Dignaga and Dharmakirti are their most prominent exponents.
The other two are Mahayana (Skt. ''Greater Vehicle'') (Tib. ''theg-chen''):

★ Yogacara, also called Cittamatra (Tib. ''sems-tsam-pa''), ''Mind-Only''

★ Madhyamaka (Tib. ''dbu-ma-pa'')
Yogacarin base their views on texts from Maitreya, Asanga and Vasubandhu, Madhyamikas on Nagarjuna and Aryadeva. There is a further classification of Madhyamaka into Svatantrika-Madhyamaka and Prasangika-Madhyamaka. The former stems from Bhavaviveka, Santaraksita and Kamalashila and the latter from Buddhapalita and Chandrakirti.
It is not clear, if these four streams ever actually existed as distinct traditions in India or if this classification was introduced by Tibetan Scholars only after the transmission to Tibet.
The tenet system is used in the monasteries and colleges to teach buddhist philosophy in a systematic way. Therein the four schools can be seen as a gradual path from a rather easy to grasp, "realistic" philosophical point of view to more and more complex and more subtle views on the ultimate nature of reality, that is on emptiness and dependent arising, culminating in the philosophy of the Madhyamikas, which is widely believed to present the most sophisticated point of view.

Monasticism


Lamayuru monastery.

Although there were many householder-yogis in Tibet, monasticism was the foundation of Buddhism in Tibet. It is estimated that in the period from the 16th century through to the Chinese invasion in 1959 as much as 25% of the population of Tibet were monks
. There were thousands of monasteries in Tibet, and nearly all were ransacked and destoyed by the Chinese communists. Most of the major ones have been at least partially re-established.
In Mongolia during the 1920s approximately one third of the male population were monks, though many lived outside monasteries. These monasteries were largely dismantled during Communist rule, but many have been reestablished with the Buddhist revival in Mongolia following the fall of Communism.
Monasteries generally adhere to one particular school. Some of the major centers in each tradition are as follows:
'Gelug'
The three most important centers of the Gelugpa lineage are Sera, Drepung and Ganden Monasteries.

★ Drepung Monastery — the home monastery of the Dalai Lama

★ Jokhang Monastery — said to have been King Songtsen Gampo in 647 AD, a major pilgrimage site

★ Ganden Monastery — the seat of the Ganden Tripa

★ Sera Monastery — the largest monastery in Tibet, containing numerous colleges

★ Tashi Lhunpo Monastery — the seat of the Panchen Lama
'Kagyu'
Many Kagyu monasteries are in Kham, eastern Tibet. Tsurphu, one of the most important, is in central Tibet, as is Ralung.

★ Palpung Monastery — the seat of the Tai Situpa and Jamgon Kongtrul

★ Ralung Monastery -- the seat of the Gyalwang Drukpa

★ Surmang Monastery — the seat of the Trungpa tülkus

★ Tsurphu Monastery — the seat of H.H. the Gyalwa Karmapa
'Nyingma'
The Nyingma lineage is said to have "six mother monasteries," although the composition of the six has changed over time:

★ Dorje Drak

★ Dzogchen

★ Kathok

★ Mindroling

★ Palyul

★ Shechen
Also of note is

★ Samye — the first monastery in Tibet, established by Padmasambhava and Shantarakshita
'Sakya'

★ Sakya Monastery — the seat of H.H. the Sakya Trizin
Tibetan Buddhist monks at a monastery in Sikkim

History of Tibetan Buddhism


According to a Tibetan legendary tradition, Buddhist scriptures (among them the Karandavyuha Sutra) and relics (among them the Cintamani) arrived in southern Tibet during the reign of Lha Thothori Nyantsen, the 28th "king of Tibet" (fifth century), who was probably just a local chief in the Yarlung valley. The tale is miraculous (the objects fell from the sky on the roof of the king's palace), but it may have an historical background (arrival of Buddhist missionaries).[1]
The earliest well-documented influence of Buddhism in Tibet dates from the reign of king Songtsän Gampo, who died in 650. He married a Chinese Buddhist princess, Wencheng. According to a Tibetan legendary tradition, he also married a Nepalese Buddhist princess, Bhrikuti; but Bhrikuti, who bears the name of a goddess, is not mentioned in reliable sources. Songtsän Gampo founded the first Buddhist temples. By the second half of the 8th century he was already regarded as an embodiment of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara.[2]
The successors of Songtsän Gampo seem to have been less enthusiastic about the propagation of Buddhism. But in the 8th century, emperor Trisong Detsen (755-797) established Buddhism as the official religion of the state.[3] He invited Indian Buddhist scholars to his court. In his age the famous tantric mystic Padmasambhava arrived in Tibet according to the Tibetan tradition. It was Padmasambhava (more commonly known in the region as ''Guru Rinpoche'') who merged tantric Buddhism with the local Bön religion to form what we now recognize as Tibetan Buddhism. In addition to writing a number of important scriptures (some of which he hid for future ''tertons'' to find), Padmasambhava established the Nyingma school from which all schools of Tibetan Buddhism are derived.
Tibetan Buddhism exerted a strong influence from the 11th century AD among the peoples of Central Asia, especially in Mongolia and Manchuria. It was adopted as an official state religion by the Mongol Yuan dynasty and the Manchu Qing dynasty that ruled China.

Tibetan Buddhism in the contemporary world


The statue of Buddha in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Today, Tibetan Buddhism is adhered to widely in the Tibetan Plateau, Nepal, Bhutan, Mongolia, Kalmykia (on the north-east shore of the Caspian), Siberia (central Russia, specifically Buryatia and Chita Oblast), and the Russian Far East (concentrated in Tyva). In the wake of the Tibetan diaspora, Tibetan Buddhism has gained adherents in the West and throughout the world; there are estimated to be tens of thousands of practitioners in Europe and the Americas. Western celebrity Tibetan Buddhism practitioners include Richard Gere, Adam Yauch, Allen Ginsberg; Philip Glass, and Steven Seagal, who has been proclaimed a tulku.[4]

See also



★ Dzogchen

★ Mahamudra

★ Mahayana

★ Vajrayana

★ Tibetan Buddhist canon

★

★ Traditional Tibetan medicine
;Organizations

★ Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition

References


1. Studholme, Alexander: ''The Origins of Om Manipadme Hum'', Albany, NY 2002, p. 14.
2. Macdonald, Alexander: ''Religion in Tibet at the time of Srong-btsan sgam-po: myth as history'', in: ''The History of Tibet'', ed. Alex McKay, Vol. 1, London 2003, p. 354-363 (for the queens see p. 355); Dargyay, Eva: ''Srong-btsan sgam-po of Tibet: Bodhisattva and king'', in: ''The History of Tibet'', ed. Alex McKay, Vol. 1, London 2003, p. 364-378 (for the queens see p. 373).
3. Beckwith, C.I.: ''The revolt of 755 in Tibet'', in: ''The History of Tibet'', ed. Alex McKay, Vol. 1, London 2003, p. 273-285 (discusses the political background and the motives of the ruler).
4. Steven Seagal - "The Action Lama"

Further reading


;Introductory books

★ Wallace, B. Alan (October 25, 1993). ''Tibetan Buddhism From the Ground Up: A Practical Approach for Modern Life''. Wisdom Publications. ISBN-10: 0861710754, ISBN-13: 978-0861710751
;Other books

★ Coleman, Graham, ed. (1993). ''A Handbook of Tibetan Culture''. Boston: Shambhala Publications, Inc.. ISBN 1-57062-002-4.

★ The Ri-Me Philosophy of Jamgon Kongtrul the Great: A Study of the Buddhist Lineages of Tibet by Ringu Tulku, ISBN 1-59030-286-9, Shambhala Publications

★ Smith, E. Gene (2001). ''Among Tibetan Texts: History and Literature of the Himalayan Plateau''. Boston: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-179-3

External links



★

★ LamRim.com - Tibetan Buddhist Internet Radio

★ The Tibetan and Himalayan Digital Library

★ The Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center

★ Famous Monasteries of Tibet

★ Tibetan Buddhism: History and the Four Traditions

★ The extensive archives of teachings from Alexander Berzin

★ Lotsawa House | Tibetan Buddhist Texts | Translations

★ Tibetan Buddhism in the West by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche

★ Shambhala Sun - Tibetan Buddhism

★ Documentary feature film about how to follow a Vajrayana Buddhist teacher

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