Untitled Tibetan Buddhism From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Part of a series on Mahyna

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Tibetan Buddhism[1] is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet, Mongolia, Tuva, Bhutan, Kalmykia and certain regions of the Himalayas, including northern Nepal, and India (particularly in Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh, Dharamsala, Lahaul and Spiti in Himachal Pradesh, and Sikkim). It is the state religion of Bhutan.[2] It is also practiced in Mongolia and parts of Russia (Kalmykia, Buryatia, and Tuva) and Northeast China. Texts recognized as scripture and commentary are contained in the Tibetan Buddhist canon, such that Tibetan is a spiritual language of these areas. A Tibetan diaspora has spread Tibetan Buddhism to many Western countries, where the tradition has gained popularity.[3] Among its prominent exponents is the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet. The number of its adherents is estimated to be between ten and twenty million.[4] Page 5

Untitled Contents [hide] 1 Buddhahood 2 General methods of practice 2.1 Transmission and realization 2.2 Analytic meditation and fixation meditation 2.3 Devotion to a guru 2.4 Skepticism 2.5 Preliminary practices and approach to Vajrayna 2.6 Esotericism 2.7 Wrathful bodhisattvas 2.8 Reincarnating lamas: the Tulkus 3 Native Tibetan developments 4 Study of tenet systems 4.1 The termas 5 History 5.1 Early history 5.2 The Chinese princess Jincheng (Kon-co) and the Khotanese monks 5.3 Chan Influence 5.4 Later history 6 Schools 7 Monasticism 7.1 Nyingma 7.2 Kagyu 7.3 Sakya 7.4 Gelug 8 Tibetan Buddhism in the contemporary world 9 Glossary of terms used 10 See also 11 Notes 12 References 13 Further reading 14 External links Buddhahood[edit]

Bodhnath Stpa in Kathmandu, Nepal; stupas symbolize the mind of a Buddha Tibetan Buddhism comprises the teachings of the three vehicles of Buddhism: the Foundational Vehicle, Mahyna, and Vajrayna. The Mahyna goal of spiritual development is to achieve the enlightenment of buddhahood in order to most efficiently help all other sentient beings attain this state.[5] The motivation in it is the bodhicitta mind of enlightenment an altruistic intention to become enlightened for the sake of all sentient beings.[6] Bodhisattvas are revered beings who have conceived the will and vow to dedicate their lives with bodhicitta for the sake of all beings. Tibetan Buddhism teaches methods for achieving buddhahood more quickly by including the Vajrayna path in Mahyna.[7] Buddhahood is defined as a state free of the obstructions to liberation as well as those to omniscience.[8] When one is freed from all mental obscurations,[9] one is said to attain a state of continuous bliss mixed with a simultaneous cognition of emptiness,[10] the true nature of reality.[11] In this state, all limitations on one's ability to help other living beings are removed.[12] It is said that there are countless beings who have attained buddhahood.[13] Buddhas spontaneously, naturally and continuously perform activities to benefit all sentient beings.[14] However it is believed that one's karma could limit the ability of the Buddhas to help them. Thus, although Buddhas possess no limitation from their side on their ability to help others, sentient beings continue to experience suffering as Page 6

Untitled a result of the limitations of their own former negative actions.[15] General methods of practice[edit]

Buddhist monk Geshe Konchog Wangdu reads Mahayana sutras from an old woodblock copy of the Tibetan Kangyur Transmission and realization[edit] There is a long history of oral transmission of teachings in Tibetan Buddhism. Oral transmissions by lineage holders traditionally can take place in small groups or mass gatherings of listeners and may last for seconds (in the case of a mantra, for example) or months (as in the case of a section of the Tibetan Buddhist canon). A transmission can even occur without actually hearing, as in Asanga's visions of Maitreya. An emphasis on oral transmission as more important than the printed word derives from the earliest period of Indian Buddhism, when it allowed teachings to be kept from those who should not hear them.[16] Hearing a teaching (transmission) readies the hearer for realization based on it. The person from whom one hears the teaching should have heard it as one link in a succession of listeners going back to the original speaker: the Buddha in the case of a sutra or the author in the case of a book. Then the hearing constitutes an authentic lineage of transmission. Authenticity of the oral lineage is a prerequisite for realization, hence the importance of lineages. Analytic meditation and fixation meditation[edit] Spontaneous realization on the basis of transmission is possible but rare. Normally an intermediate step is needed in the form of analytic meditation, i.e., thinking about what one has heard. As part of this process, entertaining doubts and engaging in internal debate over them is encouraged in some traditions.[17] Analytic meditation is just one of two general methods of meditation. When it achieves the quality of realization, one is encouraged to switch to "focused" or "fixation" meditation. In this the mind is stabilized on that realization for periods long enough to gradually habituate it to it. A person's capacity for analytic meditation can be trained with logic. The capacity for successful focused meditation can be trained through calm abiding. A meditation routine may involve alternating sessions of analytic meditation to achieve deeper levels of realization, and focused meditation to consolidate them.[11] The deepest level of realization is Buddhahood itself. Devotion to a guru[edit] See also: Guru#Guru in Buddhism As in other Buddhist traditions, an attitude of reverence for the teacher, or guru, is also highly prized.[18] At the beginning of a public teaching, a lama will do prostrations to the throne on which he will teach due to its symbolism, or to an image of the Buddha behind that throne, then students will do prostrations to the lama after he is seated. Merit accrues when one's interactions with the teacher are imbued with such reverence in the form of guru devotion, a code of practices governing them that derives from Indian sources.[19] By such things as avoiding disturbance to the peace of mind of one's teacher, and wholeheartedly following his prescriptions, much merit accrues and this can significantly help improve one's practice. There is a general sense in which any Tibetan Buddhist teacher is called a lama. A Page 7

Untitled student may have taken teachings from many authorities and revere them all as lamas in this general sense. However, he will typically have one held in special esteem as his own root guru and is encouraged to view the other teachers who are less dear to him, however more exalted their status, as embodied in and subsumed by the root guru.[20] Often the teacher the student sees as root guru is simply the one who first introduced him to Buddhism, but a student may also change his personal view of which particular teacher is his root guru any number of times. Skepticism[edit] Skepticism is an important aspect of Tibetan Buddhism, an attitude of critical skepticism is encouraged to promote abilities in analytic meditation. In favour of skepticism towards Buddhist doctrines in general, Tibetans are fond of quoting sutra to the effect that one should test the Buddha's words as one would the quality of gold.[21] The opposing principles of skepticism and guru devotion are reconciled with the Tibetan injunction to scrutinise a prospective guru thoroughly before finally adopting him as such without reservation. A Buddhist may study with a lama for decades before finally accepting him as his own guru.

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