Apart from Islam and Christianity, Buddhism belongs to the most popular religions that are commonly practiced in Asian countries. It encompasses a wide range of specific traditions, beliefs about the nature of things and the meaning of life, and spiritual disciplines aimed at facilitating one’s personal development. In Buddhism, the best path to freedom from suffering can be understood differently depending on the geographic region, and the degree of primary religious texts’ canonicity can also vary. Tibetan Buddhism is a branch of the discussed religion practiced in the territories of the former Tibetan Empire. Being extremely popular among ethnic Tibetans and other nations for hundreds of years, Tibetan Buddhism makes a significant contribution to its practitioners’ culture, history, political decisions, and philosophy of self.
Buddhism has a long history in Tibet, which makes its development an interesting research question. According to modern historians, it is widely believed that the religion based on the Buddha’s teachings first came to Tibet in the seventh century of the Common Era, with the period of its most active dissemination taking place between the seventh and the ninth centuries. Since the religious movement originated in India, the visits of the so-called panditas or the Indian Buddhist scholars given the right to teach others became extremely common. Indian Buddhism gradually became prevalent in Tibet to reduce the influence of other movements. However, modern researchers’ opinions on the most popular beliefs in pre-Buddhist Tibet are drastically different. For example, people practicing Bon, the religion that is similar to Buddhism, claim that it was the basis of the Tibetan people’s worldview even before the emergence of Tibetan Buddhism. At the same time, due to the number of traits and religious concepts demonstrating similarities between Buddhism and the Bon religion, researchers in the West tend to criticize this version. Therefore, due to culture-based conflicts and some groups’ willingness to prove their independence from the religious majority in modern Tibet, there are still some points at issue in the history of Tibetan Buddhism.
The period between the seventh and the ninth centuries is among the key milestones in the religious history of Tibet. Then, the key Buddhist sacred texts were translated from Sanskrit into the Classical Tibetan language due to the concerted efforts of local monks and panditas. The creation of neologisms was required to find the most adequate equivalents for the key Buddhist notions, and the term “lama” emerged to substitute “guru” and facilitate the process of religious assimilation. Three hundred years of the growth of Tibetan Buddhism were followed by its rapid decline in popularity due to the efforts of the last Tibetan Emperor, Langdarma, who believed in the superiority of Bon over Buddhism and initiated religious persecution supported by the aristocracy. During his reign, the Tibetan Empire was constantly shaken by protests, disorders, and civil wars, which could also contribute to the instability of the official status of Tibetan Buddhism.
The so-called Renaissance of Tibet is the next important milestone related both to the region’s prevailing power structure and religious history. At the beginning of the eleventh century, after the death of many Bon practitioners in the position of power, the influence of Buddhist doctrines increased together with the activity of new translators of religious texts and groups founding new temples. After the construction of the Toling Monastery used as the key translation center in the late tenth century, the practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism increased their influence even more by building a range of monasteries and schools, the concentration of which was especially high in the agricultural areas of Western Tibet. Despite the ongoing armed conflicts between different kingdoms during the eleventh century, Tibetan Buddhism was able to maintain ground, and the number of new religious schools did not stop growing, leading to further popularization of meditation and other practices associated with the religion.
Throughout history, religious life in Tibet was impacted by numerous socio-political factors, including the reign of the Mongolian clans. Despite the period of Mongol dominance taking place from the eleventh to the fourteenth centuries, Tibetan Buddhism did not lose its positions – instead, being a Tantric-style religion, it became extremely popular among different Asian peoples. Despite becoming a part of the Mongol Empire, Tibet did not lose its independence in terms of religious and cultural life, and Tibetan Buddhism was chosen by the Yuan Dynasty as the official religion. Following the reduction of the Mongol influence, the fourteenth and the fifteenth centuries became the period when the rate of Buddhist temple construction dropped in all macro-regions of Tibet, but it did not cause a significant rise of Bon. During the period of Tibet’s independence lasting up to the eighteenth century, Buddhist teachers managed to turn Tibetan Buddhism into the leading religion, which also resulted in the emergence of numerous sects and further sophistication of the structure of Buddhism.
Later, the creation of new branches of Tibetan Buddhism led to the growth of religion-based conflicts in Tibet. Thus, during the reign of the Qing dynasty, three schools of Tibetan Buddhism and some Bon practitioners united their teachings to curtail the growing influence of the Gelug movement. Despite these inter-school clashes in the past, Bon and all four schools of Tibetan Buddhism such as Gelug, Kagyu, Nyingma, and Sakya managed to survive and still have a lot of adepts in Tibet and other regions, including even some Western countries. Despite some organizational differences, all the mentioned schools are based on the interpretations of the Indian Buddhist doctrines, and this is why the key beliefs typical for all branches of Tibetan Buddhism can be singled out.
Concerning the doctrines and practices popular among the practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism, they relate to many components of the mind map such as religion, self, and time. According to the doctrine of cyclic existence, Tibetan Buddhists believe that a person’s life is a component of “the beginningless series of incarnations” that is almost impossible to control. These incarnations are interrelated and are not random since actions committed during the previous life heavily impact the circumstances of the next incarnation, shaping the widely known concept of karma. The two notions contribute to the religion-specific definitions of right and wrong and justify the need to avoid doing evil. Also, cyclic existence and karma impact people’s understandings of the self, preventing them from limiting it to their current physical body and temporary personality traits. As a result, the belief in reincarnation heavily impacts various aspects of Tibetan Buddhists’ life.
Apart from explaining the complicated structure of human experience, the doctrine of cyclic existence helps to set the goals of spiritual development, which makes it connected to such elements as the self and culture. According to the Tibetan Buddhist interpretation of the Buddha’s teachings, there is an opportunity “to break the vicious cycle and escape from the suffering” by increasing knowledge and overcoming ignorance. To approach the final goal of spiritual growth, one is expected to become dissatisfied with the cycle of life and death and follow the great teacher’s example that involves developing mental calmness and absolute equanimity. This part of the doctrine clearly influences Tibetan Buddhists’ relationships with themselves, encouraging them to keep track of any of their emotional reactions to understand the root causes of suffering and become dispassionate. Moreover, from the cultural viewpoint, the goal to stop the reincarnation cycle contributes to the culture of meditation, which involves diverse practices and techniques helping to achieve mental stability.
One of the key components of the Tibetan Buddhist philosophy of life is the importance of spiritual leadership. Stressing the significant role of the teacher, Tibetan Buddhists structure many of the key spiritual practices around Lamaism. Lamaism and Tibetan Buddhism are terms that are sometimes used interchangeably, whereas their connotations are drastically dissimilar. Being widely criticized by Western scholars and regarded as a religious “deformity unique to Tibet,” the practice of Lamaism involves finding new spiritual leaders to replace the previous ones, and choices are often made based on people’s wisdom atypical for their age. The practice of choosing lamas originates from the belief in the cycle of reincarnations, and the new lama is typically regarded as the previous teacher’s spirit in a new physical body. In general, since it impacts the structure of religious institutions, Lamaism can have implications to such elements of the mind map as time and politics. To begin with, in terms of time, the existence of teachers given the title of lamas helps to structure religious traditions and pass them down from generation to generation. At the same time, given that they enjoy prestige with common Tibetan Buddhists, lamas can influence Tibet’s political life to make sure that it does not run counter to the key religious principles.
The views on the nature of reality supported by Tibetan Buddhists are also an important part of the religious doctrine. Even though researchers specializing in religious studies have dissimilar opinions about the references to anatman in the Buddha’s teachings, different schools of Tibetan Buddhism have no disputes concerning the concept of no-self. The representatives of this branch of Buddhism support the idea that “beliefs in a self or soul” derive from “false imputations,” and a range of meditative practices used in Tibetan Buddhism is aimed at dispelling this illusion, thus promoting mental calmness. Contributing to the need for meditation, the acceptance of no-self can be analyzed in the context of culture and identity. To begin with, anatman is central to the Tibetan Buddhist culture of meditation since the ability to get distracted from the illusion of separate beings is also a goal of meditative practices that involve visualization and mantra recitation. Speaking about the dimension of identity, it is possible to suppose that such views on reality impact people’s aspirations in life and reduce problems caused by competitiveness and egocentrism.
In conclusion, there have been many highs and lows in the history of Tibet and the emergence of Tibetan Buddhism since its introduction in the seventh century. Despite the efforts of people practicing Bon and conflicts between various schools of Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism is still the most popular religion among the Tibetan people. The religious practices and doctrines peculiar to this form of the Buddhist tradition have strong links with politics, culture, people’s identity, and other aspects of life.
Bibliography
- Lopez Jr., Donald S. Prisoners of Shangri-la: Tibetan Buddhism and the West. 20th ed. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2018.
- Powers, John. Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism. New York: Show Lion Publications, 2007.
- Ryavec, Karl E. A Historical Atlas of Tibet. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2015.
- Samuel, Geoffrey. Civilized Shamans: Buddhism in Tibetan Societies. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1993.