Tibet Before and After Buddhism

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Tibet Before and After Buddhism

• Jeffrey L. Richey, Ph.D.
• REL 231
• Religions of India and Tibet
• Berea College
• Fall 2003

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TIBETAN RELIGION BEFORE THE 7TH CENTURY CE

• Cult of divine king
• Descendant of celestial beings who reach earth
  via sky rope
• Perennially reborn essence of royal ancestors
• Giver of law ( cosmic order)
• Priestly class (also regarded as incarnations of
  predecessors)
• Bon (reciters) preside over coronations,
  funerals, sacrifices
• Shen shamans who communicate with spirit world
• Since 1000 CE, Bönpo tradition has claimed
  continuity with pre-Buddhist Tibetan religion

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THE ADVENT OF BUDDHISM IN TIBET

• By 600s CE, Tibet is major unified power in Asia,
  rivaling both Chinese Tang Empire (618-907) and
  Hindu kingdoms in India
• During reign of King Songtsen Gampo (c. 627-650),
  Chinese- and Nepalese-born Buddhist wives
  allegedly bring Buddhist traditions to the
  Tibetan court
• With Buddhist traditions come Sanskrit and
  development of Sanskrit-based written script for
  Tibetan language
• By 700s, Indian (Tantric) Buddhist missionaries
  active in Tibet, and indigenous religion
  suppressed by royal decree

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THE VAJRAYANA (TANTRIC) TRADITION

• Rooted in tantra (Sanskrit warp of loom,
  strands of braid) Indian esoteric tradition
  in Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism
• Outgrowth of Mahayana speculation about
  Buddha-nature and sudden enlightenment, as
  well as interaction with Hindu bhakti
• Devotees regard the universe (macrocosm) as
  concrete manifestation of enlightened
  consciousness that creates and maintains it
• Using the body and other microcosms of universe,
  devotees utilize power of enlightened
  consciousness for liberation

• Devotees visualize and identify with Buddhas and
  bodhisattvas within in order to achieve
  enlightenment, using ritual elements as catalysts
  for transforming consciousness
• kama (desire, especially sexual)
• mantra (sacred words)
• mandala (cosmic diagrams)
• mudra (ritual gestures)
• Strong emphasis on authority of guru (Tibetan
  lama), who may be an incarnate Buddha or
  bodhisattva
• Right-handed tantra tends toward
  internalization and spiritualization of practice
  (knowing-oriented)
• Left-handed tantra tends toward externalization
  and concretization of practice (doing-oriented)

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THE FALL AND RISE OF TIBETAN BUDDHISM

• Padmasambhava, an Indian Tantric master later
  regarded as a Buddha by Tibetans, establishes the
  first Tibetan Buddhist monastery (c. 779)
• Last of Tibetan kings, Lang Darma (r. 836-842),
  persecutes Buddhism, destroying monasteries and
  texts
• His subsequent assassination leads to 200-year
  period of disunity in which Buddhist and Bönpo
  partisans struggle for supremacy
• By 1000, Buddhism reintroduced and ties with
  Indian Buddhism renewed at a time of increasing
  peril for Buddhism in India

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TIBETAN BUDDHISM AND THE TIBETAN STATE

• Mongol annexation of Tibet (c. 1200) leads to
  establishment of Sakya Pandita (d. 1251), monk of
  Sakyapa sect, as viceroy of Tibet
• During Mongol (Yuan) reign over China
  (1280-1368), rule of Tibet by Sakyapa leaders
  continues (extending Tibetan Buddhist influence
  to China)
• As Mongol rule wanes, Tibetan Buddhism takes on
  nationalistic, xenophobic flavor, marked by
  discovery of gTer-ma (treasure texts) from
  India supposedly long hidden and karmically
  timed to be revealed at opportune moments

• By 1400, Tibetan Buddhism increasingly
  independent of both Chinese-Mongol political
  control and Indian religious influence
• The Madhyamika scholar Tsong Kha-pa (1357-1419)
  leads reform of Buddhist sects, revival of
  intellectual rigor, and promotion of monastic
  discipline in Tibet
• Leaders of his Gelugpa (system of virtue) sect,
  called Dalai Lama (Mongolian Ocean Guru),
  regarded as tulku (incarnations) of
  Avalokitesvara
• In 1642, fifth Dalai Lama becomes
  spiritual-political ruler of Tibet and asserts
  himself as equal to Chinese and Mongol heads of
  state

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THE MANDALA IN TIBETAN BUDDHISM

• Mandala is Tantric tool for accessing and
  utilizing the enlightened consciousness both
  without (in Buddhas) and within (in
  Buddha-nature) that creates and sustains universe
• Mandala is grid or template for tracking flow of
  power in universe, with source at center and all
  else radiating outward, becoming instrument for
  manipulating ones consciousness
• Thus, mandala mesocosm that bridges microcosm
  (human body) and macrocosm (universe)
• Mandalas constructed of painted sand often
  destroyed to symbolize truth of impermanence

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INVASION AND EXILE (1904-PRESENT)

• 1904 British invade Tibet to force acceptance of
  trade treaty
• 1907 Manchurian rulers of China invade Tibet to
  assert Chinese claim of political supremacy
• 1912 Manchurian (Qing) dynasty falls,
  temporarily ending threat
• 1959 14th Dalai Lama escapes to India to avoid
  assassination by Chinese following 1950 invasion
• 1959-1979 95 of Tibetan monasteries destroyed
  and Tibetan population displaced by massive
  Chinese immigration
• 1989 14th Dalai Lama awarded Nobel Peace Prize
  for efforts to negotiate settlement with China

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