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Religion of Tibet |
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Bon was the indigenous religion of
Tibet that, when partly absorbed by the Buddhist traditions introduced from
India in the 8th century, gave Tibetan Buddhism much of its distinctive
character.
Little was known to the outside world of this once flourishing religion until
recently due to the fact that its followers were subject to severe persecution.
With the growth in the popularity of Tibet as a tourist destination and an
increasing interest in the region's history, studies have been carried out into
the traditions of Bon.
Shamanistic in nature, in as much as it is based on the concept of a world
pervaded by good and evil spirits, it is believed to have originated in the land
of Olmo Lungring. It was introduced into the ancient Kingdom of Shang Shung,
which once covered much of today's Tibetan territory by Tonpa Shenrab Miwo. He
was born a prince and had experiences similar to those of Sakyamuni, his
Buddhist counterpart and was said to have subdued a number of demons. A
fundamental belief of the followers of Bon was that in their heaven, to which
they referred as 'Sridpa Yesang', there were three deities who controlled the
world. These were Dagpa, Salba and Shepa, one of whom controlled the past,
another the present and the third controlled the future. It was they who held
the key to Bon doctrines and Tonpa Shenrab Miwo claimed to be their earthly
incarnation endowed with the power to control the current time. In the eighth
century, Songtsen Gampo conquered Shang Shung and established a unified Tibet,
introducing Buddhism as the chosen religion. As the Bon priests tried to
exercise influence in royal and political affairs by claiming supernatural
powers, the ruling Tubo family encouraged Buddhism while banning the practice of
Bon. It was during the reign of Lang Darma that the followers of Bon endeavoured
to eradicate Buddhism but this was to fail following the assassination of Lang
Darma. Buddhism rose in popularity while Bon went into decline.
In order that their faith should not be entirely wiped out, the followers of the
Bon doctrines introduced reforms and adopted aspects of Buddhism. Despite its
suppression, Bon traditions survived under difficult conditions and continued to
develop aspects of metaphysics, cosmology, philosophy and an extensive written
canon. In 1998 a Tibetan Tibetologist produced statistics which showed that some
90 monasteries in the Tibet Autonomous Region, the majority being in Dengchen (a
county in Chambo) had a population of some 3000 monks, about 90 reincarnated
high monks and over 130 thousand Bon followers. In the main, there are now three
Bon sects, these being the Old Bon, The Yungdrung Bon and the New Bon. |
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