Tibetan Buddhism

Buddhism is a unique and fascinating practice. Unique is a very accurate term to

characterize this practice because it is neither classified as a religion, like Christianity or
Hinduism, or a philosophy, like Confucianism or Taoism. In many ways, this practice dwells in
both categories (Liusuwan). On one hand, it may be classified as a philosophy because of the
truth-deciphering nature of Buddhism. The Buddha’s teachings emphasize, above all, individual
practice and following a moral principle. As such, it is seen by many as a practical guideline to
find happiness and reach enlightenment. On the other hand, most of the world’s population
categorizes it as a religion. The Buddha mentioned many metaphysical aspects of this practice,
including an afterlife and the concept of being rebirth. It is also important to note that there are
different types of Buddhism today, including Theravada Buddhism, the original form of
Buddhism, and Mahayana Buddhism, which includes Zen Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism
(“Buddhism”). While Theravada Buddhism is much more philosophical in its nature, Mahayana
Buddhism contains many religious qualities, such as the presence of deities. This paper will
focus primarily one a type of Mahayana Buddhism called Tibetan Buddhism which spread to the
Tibetan Empire in the middle of the 7th Century and is still prevalent now in the Tibetan Plateau,
Mongolia, northern Nepal, Kalmykia, Siberia, and Northeast China.
Before the spread of Tibetan Buddhism throughout the Tibetan Empire in the middle of
th
the 7 century, a different religion resided amongst the people of the Tibetan Empire, known as
Bon. This animistic and shamanistic religion had much influence on Tibetan Buddhism,
meaning that not all characteristics of this form of Buddhism came from Theravada Buddhism
(O'Brien). Despite this apparent influence on Tibetan Buddhism, very little is known about the
Bon religion. When and by whom this religion was founded is unknown. In fact, the only
information we have on the Bon religion is from a Buddhist perspective, which strived to
discredit it. This is because Bon was persecuted under Buddhist rulers after Buddhism was
pushed onto the people of the Tibetan empire. Much of the influence of the Bon religion on
Tibetan Buddhism can be seen today, such as the presence of former Bon demons who became
fierce Buddhist protector deities after Buddhism was introduced to Tibet. Many Tibetan
Buddhists refused to travel at certain times to avoid dangerous spirits, or even performed a
divination in order to find the most auspicious time to travel. As such, it is clear that the Bon
religion had a large role in creating Tibetan Buddhism.
The spread of Tibetan Buddhism in the Tibetan Empire is credited to King Songstsen
Gampo’s two Buddhist wives, Princess Bhrikuti of Nepal and Princess Wen Cheng of China,
after he militarily united Tibet into an empire in 650 CE. King Songstsen Gampo created a
Tibetan scripture around this time as well, which played a major role in the spread of Tibetan
Buddhism among his empire. The Tibetan script allowed the translation of different Buddhist
sutras from Sanskrit, which was the primary language the Sutras were made in, to Tibetan. The
spread of Tibetan Buddhism was even more amplified after King Trison Detsen, the King of the
Tibetan Empire around 755 CE, invited Shantarakshita and Padmasambhava, who is known as
Guru Rinpoche (Precious Master) in Tibetan, to his court (O'Brien). These two major figures in
Tibetan Buddhism wrote many important Tibetan Buddhist scriptures. Padmasambhava also
founded the first Tibetan monastery by the name of Samye. According to Tibetan Buddhist
legends, Padmasambhava was the person who pacified the Bon demons and turned them into the
protector deities they are known to be today.
 The monastery Padmasambhava founded, Samye, is thought to have been built around
755 CE, when Trison Detsen invited the Buddhist Guru to the Tibetan Empire ("Samye
Monastery”). It is a truly complex structure with much meaning and beauty. The monastery
complex’s layout forms a giant mandalas, a spiritual symbol in many religions, including
Buddhism and Hinduism. In Tibetan Buddhism, it is known to be the symbolic picture of the
universe (“BBC - Religions - Buddhism: Sacred Mandala”). As such, the complex is built based
on the Buddhist universe. The monastery is based on the Indian center of Buddhist learning
called Odantapuri, which was in modern day Bihar, India. However, this building is no longer
standing. In fact, the only evidence that it existed is from Tibetan Buddhist text. As a result of
this influence, Samye’s architecture is heavily based on Indian architecture. Unfortunately,
much of the monastery was destroyed in a civil war in the 11th century, a fire later in the 11th
century, and an earthquake in the 18th century. Although some buildings survived, many had to
be restored. As a result, some buildings have more of a modern form of architecture.
According to Buddhist literacy, the center of the Buddhist universe contains a large
mountain called Mount Meru. The center main temple, or utse, in the complex represents this
mountain. Mount Meru is surrounded by a “great ocean” with four cardinal continents, which
each of the four continents containing two subcontinents. This too is represented in the large
monastery complex by four large temples, or lingshi, surrounding the great temple in the center,
with two smaller temples, or lingtren, next to each of these four buildings. Two temples in the
monastery are dedicated to the sun and the moon, with the sun, or nyima, being on the north side
of the complex, and the moon, or dawa, on the south. The complex has four stupas (chortens in
Tibetan), which are Buddhist shrines that serve as a monument to the Buddha. Each of these
stupas are a different color – red, green, white, and black – and seem to have a more modern feel
to them. As such, it is likely these stupas were built or restored after one of the four disasters
that occurred to Samye throughout history. The wall that surrounds Samye is made up of 1008
small stupas, which represents the ring of mountains around the Buddhist universe. Today, the
wall is made out of concrete after it was reconstructed (“Sacred Destinations”).
Samye’s main temple is a six story building, with its first story holding the most extravagant
objects. In the main chapel, an enormous Buddha statue is seen setting down. The statue is
gilded with gold and has many precious stones such as turquoise and coral. The right side of the
assembly hall contains the statues of the former Bon demons who were purified into Buddhist
protector deities by Padmasambhava.
Samye contains an enormous amount of significance in Tibetan Buddhism. It was the
first Tibetan Buddhist monastery built, it was founded by Padmasambhava, who is a patriarch of
Nyingma, one of the major schools in Tibetan Buddhism, and it housed the Great Debate, a very
significant event in Tibetan Buddhism. In the Great Debate, Indian and Chinese Buddhist
teachers held a debate at Samye for about two years regarding whether enlightenment is attained
gradually through activity or suddenly, without activity. The Indian Buddhist practiced a more
conventional form of Mahayana Buddhism while the Chinese Buddhist practiced Zen Buddhism,
a different form of Mahayana Buddhism. The debate took place in front of the then Tibetan
king, Khri-srong-lde-btsan, who declared the Indian Buddhist the winners. As a result, India had
more influence in the development of Tibetan Buddhism than China (“Samye Debate”).

A much lesser known Tibetan

A complex much less known and much less extravagant than Samye is the Yerpa
Hermitage. It was founded around the time of King Songtsen Gamo’s reign, 650 CE, by his
Tibetan Queen Monza Triucha, who founded the first chapel (the largest one in the left picture).
Many important figures in Tibetan Buddhism meditated at the caves in the mountain, including
Songtsen Gampo, Monza Triucha, and Padmasambhava. The caves that Padmasambhava and
Songtsen Gampo meditated all contain a gold-plated statue recently built representing each of
these significant figures. A monastery near the Yerpa caves, known as Yerpa Drubde, was
founded in the 11th Century (Tibetan Drak Yerpa Monastery Close to Lhasa - Tibet as Seen by a
Monk”). Unfortunately, similar to many Buddhist monasteries, it was destroyed during China’s
cultural revolution and is only partially restored. As a result, today no one lives in the
monastery. However, the monastery and caves used to house about 300 monks. The Yerpa
Hermitage contained a sky burial site for the deceased on the opposite side of the main caves.
Typically in sky burial sites, human corpses were placed on the mountain top in order to
decompose while they are exposed to the Buddhist elements and eaten by the scavenger animals
("Drak Yerpa"). Although lesser known, the Yerpa Hermitage represents the Buddhist ideals to
a greater extent than the Samye monastery. The hermitage seems to exemplify the
individualistic and simplistic qualities of which the Buddha stressed whereas, while it did contain
much symbolism, the Samye monastery had lots of expensive and extravagant items that seemed
to “show off” rather than represent the true ideals of Tibetan Buddhism.

Sutras are a very important aspect of Buddhism in general, and especially in Tibetan
Buddhism. A sutra is a religious literature in many Asian religions, including Hinduism,
Jainism, and Buddhism. In Sanskrit, the original language of Buddhism, sutra means
“discourse.” Per Buddhist tradition, the main disciple of Buddha orally repeated the
“discourses” of Buddha before the 1st century (O'Brien). After the 1st century, the sutras began
to be recorded in Pali, an Indo-European language very related to Sanskrit. Soon, after new
Buddhist schools opened, including the Mahayana Buddhist school, the form of Buddhism that
Tibetan Buddhism is based on, also began to create texts on complicated topics including
emptiness and fear. One sutra that is very prevalent and well known in Tibetan Buddhism is the
Diamond-Cutter Sutra. This Sutra is based on emptiness or “Wisdom Gone Beyond” ("Vajra
Cutter Sutra"). The oldest Diamond Cutter Sutra was found was one made around 800. The two
pictures above are two examples of Diamond Cutter Sutras, each individually distinguished in
some ways. While the Sutra on the left was made with gold on burnished and indigo dyed
papers, the one on the right was made with gold, silver, and mineral pigments on just burnished
paper. The pigments on the sutra to the right is made of yak brain with burnt pinewood mixed
into a pigment, with a specific coloring powder for each individual color. The gold pigments on
the sutra to the left is made of ground flax seed and gold mixed together. It was common for the
burnished paper to made from the inner trunk of trees in the upper Himalayas. The reason why
the Sutras’ papers are so long and narrow is because palm leaf, which had a similar shape, was
used in India before. The habit of dying the burnished paper in indigo is a technique which
distinguishes Tibetan manuscript culture (Helman-WazÌny). Gold on blue is in general a very
attractive combination of colors, which is why this practice is so common in Tibetan Buddhism.

Although the two sutras above are hand-written, after xylography was invented, many
Buddhist manuscripts started to become block printed, as this procedure is much faster and
efficient. The handwritten, ornate, and unique books were not intended for mass distribution but
rather as offerings, or as means of accumulating spiritual merit (Helman-WazÌny). Most
monasteries have printing houses and use these to print most of the Buddhist scriptures from
woodblocks. No complicated pigments are used when woodblock printing – black ink is rubbed
on the woodblock and stamped onto the paper. Xylographic printing tend to have a box-like
outline around the text. An example of this is the page from a Diamond Cutter Sutra on the
picture above to the right.
Tibetan Buddhism is a very unique and intriguing culture. Despite the presence of
deities, it is very difficult to call it a religion or a philosophy due to its characteristics that are
only present in philosophies or religions. Despite this, even among Buddhism, it is a very unique
ideology due to the presence of Bon influence. Its monasteries are both beautiful and unique,
both extravagant and secluded. Its texts are full of complex philosophical ideas very difficult to
comprehend but enlightening when understood. Its history is vast and full of diverse cultural
influences. There are many philosophies in the world, many religions, and many ideologies, but
Tibetan Buddhism is very fascinating in its own distinguishable way.
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