Written for the AQA syllabus by Upeksacitta (Robert Ellis), member of the Western Buddhist Order and a former Head of RS.
Tibetan Buddhism East and West
Tibetan Buddhism in the East
Buddhism in Tibet was imported directly from India between the 8th century and 12th century CE, and thus has preserved many of the features of Indian Buddhism as it had developed up to that time, just before Buddhism in India itself was wiped out. In particular it stresses the Vajrayana (or Tantra), believed to be the third phase of development both of Buddhism as a whole and of the individual practitioner, after those of the Hinayana and Mahayana. The isolation of Tibet, a country which consists of an enormous high-altitude plateau surrounded by the world’s highest mountains, contributed to preserving this form of Buddhism from outside influences.
The Vajrayana, or Tantric Buddhism, applied the reasoning found in the Madhyamika doctrine of Shunyata in a very practical way. If all things are Shunyata, then even the most despised things in the world are part of it, as much as the holiest. In the teaching of the Tantric saints of India, known as siddhas, Buddhist practice must force us to face our prejudices about things we consider impure or immoral, and through ritualisation and meditation, realise their nature as Shunyata and their ultimate purity. Tantric ritual thus incorporated the use of sex, meat, and alcohol, and laid particular stress on direct confrontation with death. It is due to this Tantric influence that figures in Tibetan Buddhist art contain representations of skulls, bowls of blood, severed heads, fearsome animals, monsters, nudity and sexual union. For example, the Padmasambhava figure here is holding a skull-bowl full of blood and is holding a trident with three heads impaled on it in order of their stage of decay. These are intended to force us to confront our fears and taboos and realise an aspect of enlightenment.
Tibetan Buddhism thus preserves some features which have made it fascinating to Westerners: a rich and colourful religious art based on a complex symbolism, a wide range of meditation practices from the simplest mindfulness practices to extremely complex visualisations, and a highly developed monastic system which had a central place in Tibetan society, yet at the same time allowed lay participation in the highest levels of practice (unthinkable in the Theravada). Religion had a central part in Tibetan society which was not differentiated from other areas of human concern, with even the rulers, the Dalai Lamas, being monks and teachers.
Some distinctive features of Tibetan Buddhism are:
- The adaptation of a large number of indigenous Tibetan gods (from the pre-Buddhist Bön religion) to powerful symbolic roles as representatives of aspects of enlightenment. This is represented in Tibetan legend by Padmasambhava, the figure credited with bringing Buddhism to Tibet, taming its demons and making them serve the dharma.
- The use of elaborate magical ritual derived from the Tantra.
- The existence of a teaching role independent of the status of monk: the lama. Not all lamas are monks: some are laymen with families.
- The belief in reincarnate lamas, or tulkus, who are believed to be bodhisattvas taking voluntary rebirth to help others. The Dalai Lama is one of these.
- Emphasis on the role of the guru as an immediate representative of the Buddha, in direct relationship to the disciple.
- The development of four different schools within Tibetan Buddhism. These agree on most fundamental aspects of Tibetan Buddhism but differ on the teachings and practices they emphasise and the traditions they maintain.
Read and take notes from Cush p.115-123 on Tibetan Buddhism.
Discussion
What aspects of Tibetan Buddhism would you expect to be most difficult to transfer to the West?
The Chinese invasion and Tibetan diaspora
The spread of Tibetan Buddhism in the West is impossible to separate from important political events in the East. Tibet was an independent country prior to 1951, but China had a longstanding claim on it. Between 1949 and 1951, following the communist triumph in the Chinese civil war, the Chinese invaded Tibet, but at first a settlement was reached whereby the Dalai Lama stayed and retained control over internal affairs. However, in 1959 there was a Tibetan uprising, put down by the Chinese, the Dalai Lama fled to India, and the Chinese, after taking full control, began a period of repression in Tibet which went on for about 20 years.
According to the International Campaign for Tibet:
The destruction of Tibet's culture and oppression of its people was brutal during the twenty years following the uprising. 1.2 million Tibetans, one-fifth of the country's population, died as a result of China's policies, according to an estimate by the Tibetan government in exile; many more languished in prisons and labor camps; and more than 6000 monasteries, temples and other cultural and historic buildings were destroyed and their contents pillaged. (see www.savetibet.org)
During this period large numbers of Tibetans, particularly including monks, nuns, and lamas, fled to India and Nepal, some going on from there to Western countries. The Dalai Lama established a government in exile in Dharamsala in the Indian Himalayas, which continues to peacefully challenge Chinese rule in Tibet.
Large numbers of Chinese have migrated to Tibet since the invasion, meaning that Tibetans are now outnumbered. Some monasteries have now been reconstructed and monks and nuns allowed to return under strict conditions of Chinese government regulation.
Naturally, many Westerners who have adopted Tibetan Buddhism have also joined the political campaign against the Chinese occupation of Tibet. For a pro-Tibetan view giving detail of Chinese repression of Tibet, look at www.savetibet.org. For a balanced account including the Chinese view, see www.rangzen.org.
Tibetan Buddhism in the West
Tibetan Buddhism in the West needs to be understood in relation to the four schools of Tibetan Buddhism in the East: Kagyu, Gelug, Sakya and Nyingma. All of these have been represented in the West to some extent, though it is the Kagyus who arrived first and have been most active. It is the Gelugs who are the most influential politically, and this is the school to which the Dalai Lama belongs. The Sakyas are the smallest school and have had the least impact in the West, whereas the Nyingmas, with their tradition of married lamas and their tradition of Dzogchen “Pure Awareness” meditation training, have had a distinct following.
The following attempts to make the relationships clear between the schools, the best-known teachers and organisations. Most of the teachers have the title of Lama (teacher), Rimpoche (incarnate teacher), or Geshe (doctor):
Kagyu
Chögyam Trungpa, Akong Rimpoche, Rigdzin Shikpo, Chime Rimpoche, Ato Rimpoche
Longchen Foundation, Vajradhatu Organisation,
Rokpa
Gelug
Lama Yeshe, Lama Zopa, Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Geshe Rabten, Geshe Wangchen
Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), New Kadampa Tradition (NKT)
Sakya
Ngakpa Jampa Thaye
Dechen
Nyingma
Dudjom Rimpoche, Sogyal Rimpoche, Namkhai Norbu Rimpoche
Rigpa, Dzogchen Community
The spread of Tibetan Buddhism in the West has raised a number of issues:
- Should Tibetan Buddhist division into schools and sectarianism be imported into Western conditions?
- Should the traditional model of ordination as a monk or nun be used for Westerners?
- Should the importance of faith in the guru as representative of the Buddha, important in Tibetan Buddhism, be promoted as much amongst more sceptical (or gullible) Westerners?
- Related to this, should apparently erring lamas be unconditionally trusted?
Should Westerners who want them be given access to higher (Vajrayana) teachings when they have not yet absorbed the basic (Hinayana) ones?
- Should traditions closely associated with ethnic Tibetan tradition, such as the use of divination, the burying of jewels in stupas, or the following of traditional Tibetan festivals, be followed in the West?
- How should Tibetan Buddhists relate to other types of Buddhists and to other religions? Should they maintain traditional claims of exclusive access to the true dharma, or adopt Western relativism?
The following articles are also useful on this debate:
Read at least one of them, and make notes on any relevant points which relate to any of the questions above.
Websites of Tibetan Buddhist Organisations