Asses the circumstances in which Buddhism entered Tibet and evaluate their impact on its adoption
Historical and philosophical coordinates of the birth of Buddhism
Buddhism emerged in what is now southern Nepal during the 6th century B.C.; the traditional dates of Buddha Shakyamuni’s life – the spiritual leader and founder of Buddhism - are 563 – 483 B.C. After reaching the state of awakening, Prince Siddhartha Gautama encapsulated all the understanding about the path of overcoming death and suffering into various teachings and instructions. Buddhism, according to Dalai Lama, “advocates the conduct of non-violence on the basis of two simple and obvious premises: as sentient beings, none of us wants suffering, and suffering originates from its cause and conditions”1. An important feature that lies in the core of Buddhist doctrine is the assertion that the root cause of human being’s suffering and pain is found in ignorance and obscured state of mind. Progressing on the path of liberation from suffering, implies, according to Buddha’s teachings, efforts towards breaking the negative tendencies within and elevating our state of mind towards clarity and an authentic existence.
Buddhism emerged in what is considered to be the cradle of human culture, the Indian civilization. Historically, the peaceful and highly spiritual civilization known as Harappa, or the Indus Valley Civilization which existed between 2.800 B.C. and 1.800 B.C., was interrupted by invasion of the “warlike expanding pioneer civilization”2, the Aryans. According to Peter Santina, the Indus Valley Civilization, succumbed to the military force of the Aryans and from 1.500 B.C. up to 500 B.C., the time of Buddha, the Indian history is one of “gradual interaction between those two totally opposed religious views”3. The importance of this historical framing is the understanding of the Buddhist philosophy and religious canon; Buddhism draws its inspiration from the Indus Valley religion and its ideas of renunciation, meditation, karma, rebirth, ultimate liberation. Dr. Santina asserts that “The Buddha himself indicated the Indus Valley origins of his tradition when he said that the path which he taught was an ancient path and the goal to which he pointed, was an ancient goal”4. The ancient path taught by the Buddha - the absolute and permanent cessation of suffering - was again devastated in the Indian plains by the Muslim invasion, but succeeded to prosper in Asian Major - East Iran, Turkestan, China, Japan, Indochina and Indonesia, giving rise to a religion with no culture boundaries.
According to Matthew Kapstein, Buddhism of Tibet “authentically embodies the totality of the Indian Buddhist heritage, faithfully maintained throughout the centuries with little depreciation and innovation”5. The author emphasizes that Tibetan Buddhist tradition was not a static replica of Indian antiquity, but a very subtle and dynamic process of assimilation where “the foreign religion achieved a decisive cultural hegemony”6. Tibetan Buddhism underwent a very complex historical course which was to change in depth the cultural and spiritual patterns of the native people.
Buddhism has come into contact with the animist - shamanist Tibet in the 7th and 8th centuries, facing a wild and cultureless land under the reign of King Srong - btsan sgam - po. This king was glorified as a protector of Buddhism, although himself had very intimate relations to the Bon religion, the ancient religion of Tibet. According to Hoffman, the major writings of Tun - huang library and the Chinese chronicles of the T’ang dynasty, contain valuable details about the ancient religious beliefs of the Tibetans at a time when the Tibetan universal monarchy show no signs of Buddhist adaptation.7 The contemporary reports within the Chinese texts, describe the Bon Tibetans completely dependent and conditioned by the powerful, omnipotent nature of their natural surroundings: “their completely nature-rooted and nature - dominated religious ideas revolved reverently and submissively around the powers and forces of their wild highland landscape whose divinities were reflected in the idea of numerous good and evil spirits...”.8
Although the Buddhist line of reasoning on ritualistic practices and spiritual views of Bon-pos denote contempt, the ancient scripture bKa’ - ‘gyur containing the philosophy of Bon in its fullness, reveals an extraordinary complex spiritual legacy of doctrines, beliefs and practices. According to Samten G. Karmay, the Bon-pos had no reason to contest the fundamental theories of Buddhism such as the ideal of Enlightenment, the doctrines of rebirth, impermanence and emptiness, admitting that the Bon-po texts and the Buddhists are identical. In Bon’s belief and according to their scripture Dran-pa Nam-mkha’, Shakia Muni is revered as one of the emanations (masters) of the founder of Bon, sTon - pa gShen - rab: as dPyad - bu Khri - shes who teaches medicine, as gTo - bu ‘Bum - sangs who teaches ritual, as Kong - tse who teaches astrology and as Shakya Muni who teaches Dharma.9 During the persecution of Tibetan Bon by Buddhists, the entire body of their literature has been whether abandoned or concealed, and their later development took the form “of a gradual rediscovery of those hidden texts”10, gTer - mas or apocryphal manuscripts.
As mentioned before, the spiritual patron of Buddhism in Tibet, King Srong - btsan sgam - po was also renowned for the political liaisons with China and India, which favoured Tibetan society by the introduction of a more civilized social behaviour and a new system of writing. Aiming to achieve a higher culture and civilization for the Tibetan people, the king acknowledged the need for a written language. Thus, he advanced his chief minister into an expedition to Kashmir where, under the tutelage of Buddhist monks, he compiled the Tibetan alphabet. The new language became the perfect medium for the translation of Buddhist texts, for both the administration and the transmission of culture, for the growth of Tibetan literacy and ultimately on the Tibetan thought.
His accomplishments though, are regarded as a political strategy of reinforcing the statutory right of absolute ruler over the Tibetan empire. His beliefs in the old customs and the respect of the forefathers had their origin in the Bon tradition of kingship. According to Dran - pa Nam - mkha’, during the Bon domination, “the kings were great, the priests were dignified, laws were strict and the subjects were happy”.11 The kings were emerging from Heaven, hung by the “cord of dMu”, under the protection of the undefiled gods. The priesthood was absorbed by practicing the exoteric, esoteric and Secret Bon, being proficient in cosmogony, astrology, and highly knowledgeable in metaphysical tradition. According to Bon scriptures, kings were also able to achieve union with wisdom deities, attaining supreme realization and acquiring and exhibiting infinite supernatural powers. This ideal mythological depiction of kingship in pre - Buddhist Tibet was soon to be shadowed by a period of decline, due to calumnies, killings and non virtues between kings and priests. This weak moment in the history of Bon, coincided with the appearance of Buddhist teachings in Tibet, noted by Bon - po as a miraculous sign from the providence:
“A piece of teaching came down from heaven to the king Tho - tho - ri sNyan - shal an image of cintamani...
A sign appeared that Buddhism would come to Tibet
A gold stupa a cubit in height
Sent from the assembly of gods
By the Buddhist protectors of the three kinds
It was thrown from heaven.”12
All the interventions of Srong - btsan sgam - po in the cultural and spiritual sphere of Tibet, created great animosities between the old and the new tradition and royal lineages. The Bon texts argue that due to the kings’ affection to Buddhism and because of “the jealousy of the ‘Royal Divinities’”13, he was struck by a lightning at the age of thirty six and omens of misfortune such as plagues and failed crops appeared once with his death:
“As the king followed Buddhism,
The thirteen ‘Royal Divinities’
And the gods of Tibet withdrew into heaven
The country was filled with confusion and unhappiness
It was thought to be due to the acceptance of Buddhism
And Buddhism was suppressed for a time.” 14
(Srid-rgyud- The Treasury of Good Sayings: A Tibetan History of Bon, translated by Samten G. Karmay)
Kingship continued as tradition in Tibet and Buddhism reinforced the authority of the absolute, divine king through the convention of the divine embodiment or emanation of a powerful and protecting deity - Avalokiteshvara - endowed with complete illumination and compassion. The reverberation of the Tibetan sacral kingship in the time of Buddhist thrive, has lead to a religious and social syncretism which developed throughout history, in a unique and elaborate means.
Early Buddhism of Tibet
The decision of assimilating Buddhism or not, seemed to have been a political endeavour and struggle between kings from different traditions and domination spheres, to preserve their autonomy and supremacy within the “Land of Snows”. Buddhism in Tibet brought along with the doctrine, a new religious and social structure. Geoffrey Samuels asserts that early Buddhism, whether having shamanic or clerical expression, had the potentiality to “create and shape the reality within those who accept it”, and that a close analysis of the religious process can complete a better understanding of the complex issues of human culture: “We can see early Buddhism as an attempt to create a framework that could reconcile the literate, rationalized, hierarchical society that was coming into being with the human values of the older, shamanic form of society”.15
Early Buddhism of India and likewise in Tibet profoundly maintained the shamanic ideal, as a source of power outside the established social order represented by the clergy. Early Buddhism attempted to pacify both by applying “a series of moral teachings for the general population, centred around the doctrine of karma and a system of training for the minority that was in effect a reformulated version of the shamanic training”16
Soteriological Buddhism was officially a matter of the monks, although, according to Dunhuang Tibetan esoteric fragments, there were orientations in evidence outside the officially sponsored monastic institutions.
The early scriptures, or the Sutras which codified all the Buddha’s teachings, were considered by the Tibetans only a part of a complete doctrine, which came to complete realization by the union with Mahayana - revealed by the gods and the nagas - and with Vajrayana philosophy. According to Samuel Geoffrey, if we are to regard the Mahayana Sutras as “part of shamanic insight, than we can understand the Tibetans to be saying that the later Sutras and also the Tantras were part of an ongoing process in which the insight of early Buddhism was constantly reformulated and recreated.”17 For Tibetans the name of the historical Buddha is replaced by their own terminology, sanggye, representing a universal ideal and potential for humanity rather than a character trapped in a particular space or time.
Another major component of Buddhism in Tibet was the assimilation of meditational or yogic practices which according to early Buddhist Sutras had two primary aspects, samadhi or concentration and smrti or mindfulness. These practices cultivated the withdrawal from sensory awareness and its perpetual distraction, inducing the practitioner into a particular pattern of clarity, calmness, visionary state, etc. The Tibetan Buddhist yogin, gradually induced the intensive techniques to attain a detached, non-involved awareness, free from desire, aversion, ego-clinging, or conceptual and dualistic thinking. The concept of the self or atman must be dissolved into a more elevated state, beyond any attempt of textual explanation. The mastering of the exalted state during the meditative practices is compared by Geoffrey with “the shaman’s ability to master and control a single ‘visionary’ state.”18 The practice of Tibetan ancient yogis involves reconciliation of apparent polarities, such as the pranic force and mind’s infinite potentiality, relating this to theoretical and ritualistic implications of tantrism.
Tantra developed in Tibet during the 10th and 11th century, and was subject to strong despotic influence of the early kings who controlled its translation and practice , attempting to subdue the hereditary shamanic force who represented the old and maybe authentic Tantric tradition of their time. An account of the Buddhist king Yeshe Od, states that:
“Now that the good karma of living beings is exhausted and the law of the kings is impaired,
False Doctrines called Dzogch’en are flourishing in Tibet.
Their views are false and wrong.
Heretical Tantras, pretending to be Buddhist, are spread in Tibet...”19
During the time of Atisha, both Tantric and Sutra traditions were combined, in spite of the political attempts to establish a fully rationalized non-tantric tradition in Tibet. Any attempt of keeping alive the old shamanic power, was considered a threat to the authority of state, and thus, was deliberately absorbed and subordinated to the clerical and rational forms of religion.
Conclusion
The Tibetan cultural, spiritual and political patterns in which Buddhism emerged are very complex and still in debate among the researchers in the field. Buddhism crystallised into the collective consciousness of a people marked by the paradoxes which emerged from prejudiced policies and a traditional authentic and uncorrupted but “civilized shamanic” existence.
The “enlightened ones” that were trained and perfected in the Tibetan Buddhism, went beyond any conceptual understanding of mundane concerns and decided to practice one of the most beautiful virtues realization can offer: assisting all sentient beings until reaching the perfected state. The Tibetan master and poet Naropa exemplifies very accurately the character and essence of Buddhist thought in his poem “The summary of Mahamudra”:
“Thinking self-liberated is great wisdom,
Non-dual equality is dharmakaya.
Like the continuous flow of a great river,
Whatever you do is meaningful,
This is the eternal awakened state,
The great bliss, leaving no place for Samasara.
All things are empty of their own identities.
This concept fixed on emptiness has dissolved in itself.
Free of concept, holding nothing in mind,
Is in itself the path of the Buddhas.
For the most fortunate ones.”
References:
1. Bstan – dzin-rgya – mtsho, Dalai Lama xiv, The World of Tibetan Buddhism, Ch. 1, London: Thames and Hudson, 1984
2. Dr. Peter D. Santina, Fundamentals of Buddhism, Buddha Dharma Education Association Inc., Singapore, 1984, p. 17
3. Dr. Peter D. Santina, Fundamentals of Buddhism, Buddha Dharma Education Association Inc., Singapore, 1984, p. 18
4.Matthew T. Kapstein, The Tibetan Assimilation of Buddhism, Conversation, Contestation and Memory, Introduction, Oxford University Press 2000, p. 3
5. Matthew T. Kapstein, The Tibetan Assimilation of Buddhism, Conversation, Contestation and Memory, Introduction, Oxford University Press 2000, p. 4
6. Helmut Hoffmann, The Religions of Tibet, Translated by Edward Fitzgerald, Ch.1 The Bon Religion, The Macmillan Company, New York 1961, p. 16
7. Helmut Hoffmann, The Religions of Tibet, Translated by Edward Fitzgerald, Ch.1 The Bon Religion, The Macmillan Company, New York 1961, p. 17
8. Ibid
9. Semten G. Karmay, The Treasure of Good Sayings: A Tibetan History of Bon, Introduction, London Oxford University Press, New York Toronto 1972, xxxii
10. Ibid
11. Ibid
12. Semten G. Karmay, The Treasure of Good Sayings: A Tibetan History of Bon, Introduction, London Oxford University Press, New York Toronto 1972, p.76
13. Semten G. Karmay, The Treasure of Good Sayings: A Tibetan History of Bon, Introduction, London Oxford University Press, New York Toronto 1972, p.79
14. Ibid
15. Geoffrey Samuel, Civilized Shamans, Buddhism in Tibetan Societies, Ch. From Structure to Process, Smithsonian Institute Press, Washington and London, p.361
16. Geoffrey Samuel, Civilized Shamans, Buddhism in Tibetan Societies, Ch. India: Buddhist Beginnings, Smithsonian Institute Press, Washington and London, p.371
17. Ibid
18. Geoffrey Samuel, Civilized Shamans, Buddhism in Tibetan Societies, Ch. India: Tantra and the Buddhist Siddhas, Smithsonian Institute Press, Washington and London, p.411
19. Geoffrey Samuel, Civilized Shamans, Buddhism in Tibetan Societies, Ch. Tibet: The Local Hegemonic Period, Smithsonian Institute Press, Washington and London, p.467
Source
[[Category:]Mahayana]
