Tibetan Buddhism

Tibetan Buddhism is a form of Buddhism prevailing in the Tibet region of China, Bhutan, the state of Sikkim in India, Mongolia, and parts of Siberia and Southwest China. It is sometimes called Lamaism, from the name of the Tibetan monks, the lamas [superior ones]. The religion is derived from the Indian Mahayana form of Buddhism, but much of its ritual is based on the esoteric mysticism of Tantra and on the ancient shamanism and sorcery of Bon, a primitive animistic religion of Tibet. It is also called Tantrayana [tantra vehicle] or Vajrayana [vehicle of the thunderbolt].

Beliefs and Practices

The most dedicated Tibetan Buddhists seek nirvana, but for the common people the religion retains shamanistic elements. The worship also includes reciting prayers and intoning hymns, often to the sound of great horns and drums. A protective formula of esoteric significance, Om mani padme hum [Om, the jewel in the lotus], is repeated endlessly; it is inscribed on rocks and walls, tallied on prayer wheels, and displayed on banners and streamers. In addition to a large pantheon of spirits, ghouls, and genii, many Buddhas and bodhisattvas (future Buddhas) are worshiped along with their ferocious consorts, or Taras. The monastic orders include abbots, ordained religious mendicants, novices (candidates), and neophytes (children on probation). The standing of nuns is inferior.

Early History

The traditional account of its origin is that Buddhism was introduced into Tibet by a Nepali and a Chinese princess, devout Buddhists, who became (7th cent. a.d.) the wives of the Tibetan king Srongtsen Gampo. The new religion was actually established, however, by one of the successors of that king when he called from India the monk Padmasambhava, who founded (c.750) a Buddhist monastery near Lhasa. Buddhist writings were later translated from Sanskrit in two sections: the Kanjur [translated word], a collection of sacred texts, and the Tanjur [translated treatises], a collection of commentaries (see Buddhist literature).

The early lamas and their successors, constituting the so-called Red Hat sects, rapidly built up power. The Bon shamans, however, fought back successfully, and for over a century the new faith was suppressed. In 1042 a reformer, Atisa (982–1054), a monk from India, arrived in Tibet, unified the priesthood, improved the moral tone by enforcing monastic rules, and tried to eliminate any vestiges of Bon ritual from the religion. He was the founder of the Kadampa sect. Another sect, the Kargyupa, was founded by the translator Marpa (1012–97) and his famous disciple Milarepa.

Tibetan Theocracy

In the 13th cent. Kublai Khan, after his conversion, bestowed temporal rule upon the abbots of the Sas-Kya monastery, who subsequently ruled W Tibet from c.1270 to 1340. Their years of political control, marked by corruption and venality, generated much public cynicism. Finally, a great reformer, the lama Tsong-kha-pa (d. 1419), reorganized the orders, strengthened monastic discipline, introduced a rigid rule of celibacy, and prescribed rigorous routines for meetings, confessions, and retreats. This reform movement called itself the Gelukpa [virtuous] sect and is generally known as the Yellow Hat sect.

Soon Yellow Hat influence spread to Mongolia, and in 1641 a ruling Mongol prince bestowed temporal and spiritual control of all Tibet upon the fifth grand lama of the order, whose title was Ta-lai or Dalai [ocean-wide] Lama. The Dalai Lama was proclaimed a divine reincarnation of the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, ancestor of the Tibetan people, and was installed in the Potala (palace) in Lhasa. He soon became the temporal leader of Tibet, while spiritual supremacy resided with the chief abbot of the powerful Tashi Lumpo monastery near Xigazê, who is known as the Tashi or Panchen Lama. The Panchen Lama is a reincarnation of Amitabha, the Buddha of Light.

The succession to grand lama, either Dalai or Panchen, depends on direct reincarnation. Upon the death of either, his spirit is believed to pass into the body of some infant just born. An exacting series of tests and divinations determine the proper boy, who is then carefully trained for his great responsibility.

The 14th Dalai Lama was installed in 1940 and the 10th Panchen Lama in 1944. In 1959, following the Tibetan revolt against Chinese rule (see Tibet), the Dalai Lama went into exile in India, and the Chinese installed the Panchen Lama (d. 1989) in his place as ruler. Until the Chinese repression of Buddhism in Tibet in the 1960s, nearly a fifth of the population resided in lamaseries. Since the 1980s there has been greater tolerance of religious practice in Tibet. In 1995, however, the Chinese government rejected the boy who was confirmed by the Dalai Lama as the new Panchen Lama and forced the selection of a different boy, and in Jan., 2000, the head lama of the Karmapa order fled Tibet for India.

Bibliography

See W. Y. Evans-Wentz, Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrine (1935, repr. 1958); P. H. Pott, God and Demon in Buddhism (1962); L. A. Waddell, Buddhism of Tibet (2d ed. 1939, repr. 1973); C. Bell, The Religion of Tibet (1931, repr. 1987); I. Hilton, The Search for the Panchen Lama (2000).

(Source: Columbia 2004: Entry 47369, http://www.bartleby.com/65/ti/TibetanB.html)

See also: Five Schools - Vajrayana, Nagarjuna, Atisha, Tsong Khapa

The Dalai Lama's (especially His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso) are great Buddhist Monk Tripitaka Masters (Tripitakacharya), thus please see also: Tripitaka (1. Sutras, 2. Vinaya, 3. Shastras or Abhidharma, or Tantra), Taisho Catalog Numbering System, Dharma, and names of individual sutras (such as Shurangama Sutra, Avatamsaka Sutra [Flower Adornment Sutra], Lotus Sutra [Wonderful Dharma Flower Sutra], Earth Store Sutra, Dharani Sutra, Brahma Net Sutra, Medicine Master Buddha Sutra, Prajna Paramita Heart Sutra, Vajracchedika Prajna Paramita Diamond, Sixth Patriarch Platform Sutra, Sutra in 42 Sections, Sutra on the Buddha's Bequeathed Teaching, Vimalakirti Nirdesha Sutra, et al. Schools: Hwa-Yen School, Tyan-tai School, Geluk [or Gelug: Nagarjuna-Atisha-Tsongkhapa-Dalai-Lama] School of Tibetan Buddhism

Destiny Fulfilled, Ganden Lhagyama - the Guru Yoga of Jetsun Manjunatha Tsongkhapa

Related Websites: www.tsongkhapa-lamrim.com

(NOTE: Numerous corrections and enhancements have been made under Shastra tradition and "Fair Use" by an Anonymous Buddhist Monk Redactor (Compiler) of this Online Buddhist Encyclopedia Compilation)

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(as found in the scripture storehouse of the Indian Sanskrit-Siddham, Chinese, Tibetan and Japanese traditions of the Nalanda Tradition of ancient Nalanda University) of Shakyamuni Buddha, and his Arya Sagely Bodhisattva Bhikshu Monk and Upasaka disciples.

These Good and Wise Advisors (Kaliyanamitra) Dharma Master teachers include Arya Venerables Nagarjuna, Ashvaghosha, Aryasura, Kumarajiva, Shantideva, Chandrakirti, Chandragomin, Vasubandhu, Asanga, Hui Neng, Atisha, Kamalashila, Dharmarakshita, Tsong Khapa, Thogme Zangpo, Patanjali, Sushruta, Charaka, Vagbhata, Nichiren, Hsu Yun, Hsuan Hua, Shen Kai, Tenzin Gyatso, Kyabje Zopa, Ajahn Chah, Vasant Lad, and other modern day masters. We consider them to be in accord with Master Hsuan Hua’s "Seven Guidelines for Recognizing Genuine Teachers"

Nalanda Online University's teachings are based especially on the Dharma Flower Lotus Sutra, the Avatamsaka Sutra, the Shurangama Sutra, the Ksitigarbha Sutra, the Bhaisajya Guru Sutra, the Dharani Sutra, the Vajra Sutra, the Prajna Paramita Hridayam Sutra, the Guhyasamaja, the Kalachakra and their commentaries (shastras) by the above Arya Tripitakacharya Dharma Masters.

At Nalanda Online University we practice daily and introduce you to (via downloadable multimedia MP3 audio and WMV video lectures) the teachings and practices of the Five Traditions transmitted by the Buddha Shakyamuni:

1. Teaching School (Mahayana Sutrayana - Paramitayana - Hua Yan and Tian Tai, Yogachara, Nalanda Prasangika Madhyamika, Theravada Sutta)

See also: Tripitaka (1. Sutras, 2. Vinaya, 3. Shastras or Abhidharma, or Tantra), Taisho Catalog Numbering System, Dharma, and names of individual sutras (such as Shurangama Sutra, Avatamsaka Sutra [Flower Adornment Sutra], Lotus Sutra [Wonderful Dharma Flower Sutra], Earth Store Sutra, Dharani Sutra, Brahma Net Sutra, Medicine Master Buddha Sutra, Sixth Patriarch Platform Sutra, Sutra in 42 Sections, Sutra on the Buddha's Bequeathed Teaching, et al.

2. Moral Regulations School (Vinaya Pratimoksha Shila - Bodhisattva Pranidhana - Vajrayana-Samaya - Yogic Yama)

3. Esoteric School (Vajrayana - Mantrayana - Tantrayana - Dharani - Secret School of the Mahayana)

4. Meditation School (Indian Dhyana Samadhi - Shamatha - Vipassana, Chinese Chan, Japanese Zen,
        Tibetan Mahamudra of Kagyupa, and Tibetan Dzogchen of Nyingmapa)

5. Pure Land Devotional School (Bhakti Puja - Buddha-Bodhisattva Mindfulness and Nama Japa --
         Name Recitation of Buddhas Amitabha-Amitayus, Medicine Buddha - Bhaisajya Guru - Akshobhya,
         and Bodhisattvas: Avalokiteshvara-Guanyin-Chenrezig-Mahakala, Tara, Samantabhadra Universal Worthy,
         Manjushri-Kalarupa Great Wisdom, Maitreya Great Loving-Kindness, Mahasthamaprapta Great Strength,
         Ksitigarbha - Earth Store Great Vows, Vajrapani, Vajrasattva,
         Chandraprabha Moonlight Radiance, Suryaprabha Sunlight Radiance, Medicine King Bodhisattva, Medicine Superior Bodhisattva
         and others Dharma Protecting Dharmapala Lokapala Bodhisattvas, Gods and Goddesses)

Compilation Sources for the Above Material on the Teachings of the Buddha:

Primary Compilation Source: Epstein, Ronald B., Ph.D, compiler, Buddhist Text Translation Society's Buddhism A to Z, Burlingame, California: Buddhist Text Translation Society, 2003. ISBN: 0881393533 Paperback: 284 pages. www.BTTSOnline.org www.Amazon.com
http://www.bttsonline.org/product.aspx?pid=118 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0881393533/ref=ase_medicinebuddh-20

Secondary Compilation Source: The Seeker’s Glossary of Buddhism, 2nd ed., San Francisco, California: Sutra Translation Committee of the United States and Canada, 1998: www.budaedu.org.tw

Secondary Compilation Source: Muller, Charles, editor, Digital Dictionary of Buddhism [DDB], Toyo Gakuen University, Japan, 2007: Username is "guest", with no password.
http://buddhism-dict.net/ddb - Based in large part on the Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms with Sanskrit and English Equivalents (by Soothill and Hodous) Delhi, India: Motilal Banarsidass, 1997.

Secondary Compilation Source: Ehrhard, Diener, Fischer, et al, The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen, Boston, Massachusetts: Shambhala Publications, 1991. 296 pages. ISBN 978-0-87773-520-5 www.Shambhala.com, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0877735204/ref=ase_medicinebuddh-20,
http://www.shambhala.com/html/catalog/items/isbn/978-0-87773-520-5.cfm

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Updated May 10, 2008