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- Buddhist religious matters exerted a greater influence on Tibet than those from China. This may have been as a result of a historic debate which took place in the eighth century between Chinese monks of the Chan sect and supporters of the Indian or Tantric version of Mahayana Buddhism.Themonksadheringtothelndian version won the debate and the Chinese monks were expelled from Tibet. Until the disappearance of Buddhism from India around 1300, India remained the principal destination of Tibetan pilgrimage and the main source for Buddhist literature, teachers, and works of art. In addition, Indian mystics continued to visit Tibet, greatly influencing the growth of Buddhism.
This strange but potent fusion of the Tantric Buddhism introduced by Padmasam- bhava, the Indian version of Mahayana Buddhism, and the Bon religion, came to be commonly referred to as Tibetan Lamaism (Lama meaning the superior one).
Buddhism was not totally successful in early Tibet, for during the reign of King Langdarma (803-842), who supported the Bon religion, Buddhists were persecuted and the faith suffered a severe setback. The king was eventually assassinated by a pious Buddhist monk, and this brought about the end of the Yarlung dynasty and the disintegration of centralized authority in Tibet into chaotic factions.
An obscure period followed until the late tenth/early eleventh century, when a magnificent flowering of Buddhism took place. This revival, also termed the Second Propagation, primarily occurred through the teachings of the great Indian Buddhist master Atisa (982-1054) who came at the invitation of Yeshe O, the Guge king of western Tibet. The same king also sent the monk, Rinchen Sangpo (958-1055) to India for study so that he could purify the Buddhist faith in Tibet. The rejuvenation of Buddhism in Tibet at this time owes much to these two monk-teachers and to the Guge royal family.
Many Buddhist texts were translated and numerous monasteries and religious orders were founded throughout Tibet during the eleventh and twelfth centuries, as interest in Buddhism became deeper and more genuine. These new orders included: the Kadampa, following Atisa�s lineage; the Sakyapa, following Drogmi and a hereditary lineage of the Khon family; and various branches of the Kagyupa, following the lineage from Tilopa, Noropa, the Tibetan translator�Marpa and his disciple�Milarepa (1040-1123), who became one of the most beloved mystics in Tibet as a model for practice in his attainment of enlightenment through yogism [28].
In the early part of the thirteenth century Tibet submitted to Genghis Khan�s Mongols. After Genghis�s death, his son, Godan, took charge of Tibet and appointed the abbot of Sakya monastery as his regent in Tibet. Thus, a central authority was re-established in Tibet, this time under the powerful Sakya sect. The Sakya hierarch Phakspa (1235-80) even travelled to the Mongol capital in 1253 to meet with Kublai Khan, the founder of the Mongol Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) and future ruler of China. Phakspa became the spiritual guide and mentor for Kublai Khan, who became a convert to Tibetan Buddhism [0 - The relation was known as Yon-mchod or Patron and Priest. Phakspa is also noted for developing a modified form of the Tibetan script to use as a written language for Mongolian, known as the Phakspa script.
Even after the Mongols were driven out of China in 1368, they continued to have a strong presence in Tibet. Although religious ties had been strongest with the Mongol emperors of China, ties did continue with the newly-formed Chinese Ming
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