1.
Tibetan Buddhism
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Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet, the regions surrounding the Himalayas and much of Central Asia. It derives from the latest stages of Indian Buddhism and preserves the Tantric status quo of eighth-century India, Tibetan Buddhism aspires to Buddhahood or rainbow body. Religious texts and commentaries comprise the Tibetan Buddhist canon, such that Tibetan is a language of these areas. 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. Westerners unfamiliar with Tibetan Buddhism initially turned to China for an understanding, there the term used was lamaism to distinguish it from a then traditional Chinese form. The term was taken up by scholars including Hegel, as early as 1822. Insofar as it implies a discontinuity between Indian and Tibetan Buddhism, the term has been discredited, another term, Vajrayāna is occasionally used mistakenly for Tibetan Buddhism. More accurately, it signifies a certain subset of practices included in, not only Tibetan Buddhism, the native Tibetan term for all Buddhism is doctrine of the internalists. There is an association between the religious and the secular the spiritual and the temporal in Tibet. The term for this relationship is chos srid zung brel, in the west the term Indo-Tibetan Buddhism has become current, in acknowledgement of its derivation from the latest stages of Buddhist development in northern India. Tibetan Buddhism comprises the teachings of the three vehicles of Buddhism, the Foundational Vehicle, Mahāyāna, and Vajrayāna, the Mahāyāna goal of spiritual development is to achieve the enlightenment of buddhahood in order to most efficiently help all other sentient beings attain this state. The motivation in it is the mind of enlightenment — an altruistic intention to become enlightened for the sake of all sentient beings. 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 Vajrayāna path in Mahāyāna. Buddhahood is defined as a free of the obstructions to liberation as well as those to omniscience. When one is freed from all mental obscurations, one is said to attain a state of continuous bliss mixed with a simultaneous cognition of emptiness, in this state, all limitations on ones ability to help other living beings are removed. It is said there are countless beings who have attained buddhahood. Buddhas spontaneously, naturally and continuously perform activities to all sentient beings. However it is believed that ones karma could limit the ability of the Buddhas to help them, there is a long history of oral transmission of teachings in Tibetan Buddhism
2.
Nyingma
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The Nyingma tradition is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Nyingma literally means ancient, and is referred to as Ngangyur because it is founded on the first translations of Buddhist scriptures from Sanskrit into Old Tibetan in the eighth century. The Tibetan alphabet and grammar was created for this endeavour, in modern times, the Nyingma lineage has been centered in Kham. The Nyingmapa, a Red Hat sect of Tibetan Buddhism, incorporate local religious practices and local deities and elements of shamanism, the group particularly believes in hidden terma treasures. Traditionally, Nyingmapa practice was advanced orally among a network of lay practitioners. Monasteries with celibate monks and nuns, along with the practice of reincarnated spiritual leaders are later adaptations, Nyingma maintains the earliest tantra teachings that have been given the popular nomenclature of Vajrayana. Early Vajrayana that was transmitted from India to Tibet may be differentiated by the specific term Mantrayana, T least in Eastern Tibet, there existed during and after the time of Lha-tho-tho-ri a solid knowledge of Buddhism and that the upper classes of the people were faithfully devoted to it. But the border regions in the north and west probably had also come into contact with Buddhism long before the time of Srong-btsan-sgam-po, there used to be contacts with the Tibetan population in these border regions. It is possible that the knowledge gained from these encounters was spread by merchants over large areas of Tibet, thus, when Srong-btsan-sgam-po succeeded to the throne of Tibet in the year 627, the country was ready for a systematic missionary drive under royal patronage. Around 760, Trisong Detsen invited Padmasambhava and the Nalanda abbot Śāntarakṣita to Tibet to introduce Buddhism to the Land of Snows, Trisong Detsen ordered the translation of all Buddhist texts into Tibetan. Padmasambhava, Śāntarakṣita,108 translators, and 25 of Padmasambhavas nearest disciples worked for years in a gigantic translation-project. The translations from this period formed the base for the large scriptural transmission of Dharma teachings into Tibet, Padmasambhava supervised mainly the translation of tantras, Śāntarakṣita concentrated on the sutras. Padmasambhava and Śāntarakṣita also founded the first Buddhist monastery in Tibet, from this basis, Tantric Buddhism was established in its entirety in Tibet. From the eighth until the eleventh century, the Nyingma was the school of Buddhism in Tibet. Langdarma persecuted monks and nuns, and attempted to wipe out Buddhism and his efforts, however, were not successful. A few monks escaped to Amdo in the northeast of Tibet, indeed, the Nyingma traditionally had no centralized authority or Nyingma-wide hierarchy. Only since the Tibetan diaspora following the Chinese annexure of Tibet have the Nyingma had a head of the Tradition, even so, the Nyingma tradition is still politically decentralized and often decisions are made in an oligarchy or community of the senior sangha within a given jurisdiction or locale. There was never a single head of the lineage in the manner of either the Ganden Tripa or Dalai Lama of the Gelug and it was only recently in exile in India that this role was created at the request of the Central Tibetan Administration and it is largely administrative
3.
Kagyu
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Along with the Sakya and Gelug schools, the Kagyu tradition is classified as one of the Sarma or New Transmission schools of Vajrayāna founded during the second diffusion of Buddhism into Tibet. It is a Red Hat sect along with the Nyingma and Sakya and these lineages are hereditary as well as mindstream emanation in nature. Strictly speaking, the term bka brgyud oral lineage, precept transmission applies to any line of transmission of a teaching from teacher to disciple. There are references to the Atiśa kagyu for the Kadam or to Jonang kagyu for the Jonang, today, however, the term Kagyu almost always refers to the Dagpo Kagyu and, less often, to the Shangpa Kagyu. The term Bka brgyud pa simply applies to any line of transmission of a teaching from teacher to disciple. We can properly speak of a Jo nang Bka brgyud pa or Dge ldan Bka brgyud pa for the Jo nang pa, similar teachings and practices centering around the Ni gu chos drug are distinctive of the Shangs pa Bka brgyud pa. These two traditions with their offshoots are often referred to simply as Bka brgyud pa. The term Dkar brgyud pa refers to the use of the white cotton meditation garment by all these lineages and this complex is what is normally known, inaccuratly, as the Bka brgyud pa. Nevertheless, it is fine if are all called Bka brgyud, at Thuu kwans suggestion, then, we will side with convention and use the term Bka brgyud. One source indicates, he term Kagyu derives from the Tibetan phrase meaning Lineage of the Four Commissioners, the Shangpa Kagyu differs in origin from the better known Marpa or Dagpo school that is the source of all present-day Kagyu schools. The Dagpo school and its branches primarily came from the lineage of the Indian siddhas Tilopa and Naropa transmitted in Tibet through Marpa, Milarepa, Gampopa and their successors. In contrast, the Shangpa lineage descended from two female siddhas, Naropas consort Niguma and Virupas disciple Sukhasiddhi, transmitted in Tibet in the 11th century through Khyungpo Nenjor, the tradition takes its name from the Shang Valley where Khyungpo Nenjor established the gompa of Zhongzhong or Zhangzhong. For seven generations, the Shangpa Kagyu lineage remained a one-to-one transmission, although there were a few temples and retreat centres in Tibet and Bhutan associated with the Shangpa transmission, it never really was established as an independent religious institution or sect. Rather, its teachings were transmitted down through the centuries by lamas belonging to different schools. In the 20th century, the Shangpa teachings were transmitted by the first Kalu Rinpoche, who studied at Palpung Monastery, the seat of the Tai Situpa. Kagyu begins in Tibet with Marpa Lotsawa who trained as a translator with Drogmi Lotsawa Shākya Yeshe and his principal gurus were the siddhas Nāropa - from whom he received the close lineage of Mahāmudrā and Tantric teachings, and Maitrīpāda - from whom he received the distant lineage of mahāmudrā. Marpas guru Nāropa was the disciple of Tilopa from East Bengal. From his own teachers Tilopa received the Four Lineages of Instructions, Marpa married the Lady Dagmema, and took eight other concubines as mudras
4.
Sakya
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This articles concerns the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism. For information on the ancient Śākya tribe, see Shakya, the Sakya school is one of four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism, the others being the Nyingma, Kagyu, and Gelug. It is one of the Red Hat sects along with the Nyingma, the Sakya tradition developed during the second period of translation of Buddhist scripture from Sanskrit into Tibetan in the late 11th century. Konchog Gyalpo became Drogmis disciple on the advice of his elder brother, from Drokmi comes the supreme teaching of Sakya, the system of Lamdre Path and its Fruit deriving from the mahasiddha Virupa based upon the Hevajra Tantra. Mal Lotsawa introduced to Sakya the esoteric Vajrayogini lineage known as Naro Khachoma, from Bari Lotsawa came innumerable tantric practices, foremost of which was the cycle of practices known as the One Hundred Sadhanas. Other key transmissions that form part of the Sakya spiritual curriculum include the cycles of Vajrakilaya, Mahākāla and Guhyasamāja tantras. The main Dharma system of the Sakya school is the Path with its Result, the other major system of the Sakya school is the Naropa Explanation For Disciples. In due course, two subsects emerged from the main Sakya lineage, Ngor, founded in Tsang by Ngorchen Kunga Zangpo, the Ngor school is centered on Ngor Evam Choden monastery. It represents 85% of the Sakyapa school and most if not all the monasteries in India are Ngorpa, tshar, founded by Tsarchen Losal Gyamtso. Nalendra became the home of the whispered-lineage of the Tsar school, the Bodongpa tradition, founded by Bodong Panchen Chögle Namgyel, is considered by some scholars to be a sub-sect of the Sakya tradition. The Mongol conquest of Tibet began after the foundation of the Mongol Empire in the early 13th century, in 1264, the feudal reign over Tibet was given to Drogön Chögyal Phagpa by Kublai Khan, founder of the Yuan dynasty. The leaders of the Sakya regime were as follows, Drogön Chögyal Phagpa 1253-1280 Dharmapala Raksita 1280-1282, d. The present Sakya Trizin, Ngawang Kunga Tegchen Palbar Trinley Samphel Wanggi Gyalpo, today, he resides in Rajpur, India along with his wife, Gyalyum Kushok Tashi Lhakyi, and two sons Ratna Vajra Rinpoche and Gyana Vajra Rinpoche. Ratna Vajra Rinpoche being the son, is the lineage holder and is married to Dagmo Kalden Dunkyi Sakya. Traditionally hereditary succession alternates between the two Sakya palaces since Khon Könchok Gyelpos reign, the Ducho sub-dynasty of Sakya survives split into two palaces, the Dolma Phodrang and Phuntsok Phodrang. Sakya Trizin is head of the Dolma Phodrang, dagchen Sakyas father was the previous Sakya Trizin, Trichen Ngawang Thutop Wangchuk, throne holder of Sakya, and his mother Dechen Drolma. Dagchen Sakya was married to Her Eminence Dagmo Jamyang Kusho Sakya, they have five sons, without Khyentse and Kongtruls collecting and printing of rare works, the suppression of Buddhism by the Communists would have been much more final. Tibet under Yuan rule Sakya Monastery Lamdré Tibetan Buddhism Jonang Patron and priest relationship Davidson, preliminary Studies on Hevajras Abhisamaya and the Lam bras Tshogs bshad
5.
Gelug
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The Gelug, Gelug-pa, dGe Lugs Pa, dge-lugs-pa or Dgelugspa is the newest of the schools of Tibetan Buddhism. It was founded by Je Tsongkhapa, a philosopher and Tibetan religious leader, the first monastery he established was named Ganden, and to this day the Ganden Tripa is the nominal head of the school, though its most influential figure is the Dalai Lama. Allying themselves with the Mongols as a patron, the Gelug emerged as the pre-eminent Buddhist school in Tibet since the end of the 16th century. Ganden is the Tibetan rendition of the Sanskrit name Tushita, the Pure land associated with Maitreya Buddha, at first, Tsongkhapas school was called Ganden Choluk meaning the Spiritual Lineage of Ganden. By taking the first syllable of Ganden and the second of Choluk this was abbreviated to Galuk, the Gelug school was founded by Je Tsongkhapa. A great admirer of the Kadam school, Tsongkhapa was a promoter of the Kadam emphasis on the Mahayana principle of compassion as the fundamental spiritual orientation. He combined this with extensive writings on Madhyamaka and Nagarjunas philosophy of Śūnyatā that, in many ways, in 1577 Sonam Gyatso, who was considered to be the third incarnation of Gyalwa Gendün Drup, formed an alliance with the then most powerful Mongol leader, Altan Khan. Sonam Gyatso was very active in proselytizing among the Mongols, and this brought the Gelugpas powerful patrons who were to propel them to pre-eminence in Tibet. The Gelug-Mongol alliance was strengthened as after Sonam Gyatsos death, his incarnation was found to be Altan Khans great-grandson. By the end of the 16th century, following violent strife among the sects of Tibetan Buddhism, according to Tibetan historian Samten Karmay, Sonam Chophel, treasurer of the Ganden Palace, was the prime architect of the Gelugs rise to political power. Later he received the title Desi, meaning Regent, which he would earn through his efforts to establish Gelugpa power, from the period of the 5th Dalai Lama in the 17th century, the Dalai Lamas held political control over central Tibet. The core leadership of this government was referred to as the Ganden Phodrang. Scottish Botanist George Forrest, who witnessed the 1905 Tibetan Rebellion led by the Gelug Lamas, according to his accounts, the Gelugpas were the dominant power in the region, with their Lamas effectively governing the area. Forrest said they used force and fraud to terrorise the, the central teachings of the Gelug School are Lamrim, based on the teachings of the Indian master Atiśa, and the systematic cultivation of the view of emptiness. The Guhyasamāja tantra is the principal one, as the Dalai Lama remarks, There is a saying in the Gelug, If one is on the move it is Guhyasamāja. If one is still, it is Guhyasamāja, If one is meditating, it should be upon Guhyasamāja. Therefore, whether one is engaged in study or practice, Guhyasamāja should be ones focus, the Gelug school focuses on ethics and monastic discipline of the vinaya as the central plank of spiritual practice. In particular, the need to pursue spiritual practice in a graded, arguably, Gelug is the only school of vajrayāna Buddhism that prescribes monastic ordination as a necessary qualification and basis in its teachers
6.
Padmasambhava
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Padmasambhava, also known as Guru Rinpoche, was an 8th-century Indian Buddhist master. A number of legends have grown around Padmasambhavas life and deeds, and he is venerated as a second Buddha across Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan. The Nyingma school considers Padmasambhava to be a founder of their tradition, nyangrel Nyima Özer was the principal architect of the Padmasambhava mythos according to Janet Gyatso. Guru Chöwang was the major contributor to the mythos. In the eleventh and twelfth centuries there were several competing terma traditions surrounding Padmasambhava, Vimalamitra, Songtsän Gampo, and Vairotsana. At the end of the 12th century, there was the victory of the Padmasambhava cult, according to tradition, Padmasambhava was incarnated as an eight-year-old child appearing in a lotus blossom floating in Lake Dhanakosha, in the kingdom of Oddiyana. Padmasambhavas special nature was recognized by the local king of Oḍḍiyāna and was chosen to take over the kingdom. In Rewalsar, known as Tso Pema in Tibetan, he secretly taught tantric teachings to princess Mandarava, the king found out and tried to burn him, but it is believed that when the smoke cleared he just sat there, still alive and in meditation. Greatly astonished by this miracle, the king offered Padmasambhava both his kingdom and Mandarava, Padmasambhava left with Mandarava, and took to Maratika Cave in Nepal to practice secret tantric consort rituals. They had a vision of buddha Amitāyus and achieved what is called the rainbow body. Both Padmasambhava and one of his consorts, Mandarava, are believed to be alive and active in this rainbow body form by their followers. She and Padmasambhavas other main consort, Yeshe Tsogyal, who hid his numerous termas in Tibet for later discovery. Many thangkas and paintings show Padmasambhava in between them, with Mandarava on his right and Yeshe Tsogyal on his left. According to this story, King Trisong Detsen, the 38th king of the Yarlung dynasty. Śāntarakṣita started the building of Samye, demonical forces hindered the introduction of the Buddhist dharma, and Padmasambhava was invited to Tibet to subdue the demonic forces. The demons were not annihilated, but were obliged to submit to the dharma and this was in accordance with the tantric principle of not eliminating negative forces but redirecting them to fuel the journey toward spiritual awakening. According to tradition, Padmasambhava received the Emperors wife, identified with the dakini Yeshe Tsogyal, King Trisong Detsen ordered the translation of all Buddhist Dharma Texts into Tibetan. Padmasambhava, Shantarakṣita,108 translators, and 25 of Padmasambhavas nearest disciples worked for years in a gigantic translation-project
7.
Milarepa
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UJetsun Milarepa is generally considered one of Tibets most famous yogis and poets. He was a student of Marpa Lotsawa, and a figure in the history of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. Born in the village of Kya Ngatsa – also known as Tsa – in Gungthang, a province of western Tibet, to a family, he was named Mila Thöpaga. His family name, Josay, indicates noble descent, a sept of the Khyungpo or eagle clan, when his father died, Milarepas uncle and aunt took all of the familys wealth. At his mothers request, Milarepa left home and studied sorcery, the villagers were angry and set off to look for Milarepa, but his mother got word to him, and he sent a hailstorm to destroy their crops. Milarepa later lamented his evil ways in his years in conversation with Rechungpa. Now, released from both good and evil, I have destroyed the root of karmic action and shall have no reason for action in the future, to say more than this would only cause weeping and laughter. What good would it do to tell you and he ascribes his gift to the clever control of internal air. David-Néel comments that at the house of the lama who taught him black magic there lived a trapa who was fleeter than a horse using the same skill, after witnessing such a monk David-Néel described how, He seemed to lift himself from the ground. His steps had the regularity of a pendulum, the traveller seemed to be in a trance. This esoteric skill, which is known as Lung-gom-pa in Tibet, is said to allow a practitioner to run at a speed for days without stopping. This technique could be compared to that practised by the Kaihōgyō monks of Mount Hiei and by practitioners of Shugendō, knowing that his revenge was wrong, Milarepa set out to find a lama and was led to Marpa the Translator. Before Marpa would teach Milarepa he had him build and then demolish three towers in turn, Milarepa was asked to build one final multi-story tower by Marpa at Lhodrag, this 11th century tower still stands. When Marpa still refused to teach Milarepa, he went to Marpas wife and she forged a letter of introduction to another teacher, Lama Ngogdun Chudor, under whose tutelage he practiced meditation. However, when he was making no progress, he confessed the forgery, Milarepa returned to Marpa, and was finally shown the spiritual teachings. Milarepa then left on his own, and after protracted diligence for 12 years he attained the state of Vajradhara and he then became known as Milarepa. Mila is Tibetan for, great man, and repa means, at the age of 45, he started to practice at Drakar Taso cave – Milarepas Cave, as well as becoming a wandering teacher. Here, he subsisted on nettle tea, leading his skin to turn green with a covering, hence the greenish color he is often depicted as having, in paintings
8.
5th Dalai Lama
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Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso was the Fifth Dalai Lama, a key religious and temporal leader of Tibet who lived from 1617 to 1682. Gyatso is credited with unifying all Tibet after an era of civil wars. As an independent head of state, he established relations with China and other regional countries. The 5th Dalai Lamas father was called Dudul Rabten, the ruler of the Chonggye valley, also known as Hor Dudül Dorjé, his mother was called Tricham. His father had friendly relations with the Drugpa Kagyu and his mother had connections with the Jonangpa Kagyu through her family at Nakartse Dzong and his family called him Künga Migyur. The childs father, Dudul Rabten, was arrested in 1618 for his involvement in a plot to overthrow Karma Phuntsok Namgyal, Karma Phuntsoks grandfather Zhingshak Tseten Dorje had originally been appointed Governor of Tsang by the Rinpung Prime Minister Ngawang Namgyel in 1548. Tseten Dorje had rebelled against the heirs of Ngawang Namgyel starting in 1557, then Altan Khan, King of the Tumed Mongols, invited Drepung Monasterys abbot Sonam Gyatso to Mongolia. His two predecessors became known as the 1st and 2nd Dalai Lamas posthumously, the Samdruptse government saw this development as a politico-religious alliance between the Gelugpa and a foreign power. When Sonam Gyatso died, the Gelugpa recognised a Mongolian prince as his incarnation and so a Mongolian 4th Dalai Lama and this increased Mongolian involvement with the Gelugpa even further and enabled more Mongolian intervention in Tibetan affairs. Dudul Rabten escaped his captors and tried to reach eastern Tibet, Dudul Rabten died in captivity in 1626 at Samdruptse – Karma Phuntsok Namgyals castle also known as Shigatse – and thus, he never lived to see his son again. The former 4th Dalai Lamas chief attendant, Sonam Choephel, is credited with having discovered the incarnation, Lobsang Gyatso was the name which Künga Migyur received from Lobsang Chökyi Gyaltsen upon taking novice monastic ordination from him at Drepung. In 1638 when he took ordination, also in the presence of Lobsang Chökyi Gyaltsen at the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa, Ngawang was added to his name. At this time his interest in the Nyingmapa teachings began to deepen, Richardson, declared or pronounced the Panchen to be an incarnation of Dhayani Buddha Amitābha - although other sources all appear to indicate that he was considered as such from the start. Since then, every incarnation of the Panchen Lama has been the master of Tashilhunpo Monastery and it is there that they have all received their education, when Panchen Gyaltsen died in 1662 at 93, the 5th Dalai Lama immediately commenced the tradition of searching for his next incarnation. He composed a prayer asking his master to return and directed the monks of Tibets great monasteries to recite it. He also reserved the title of Panchen - which had previously been a courtesy title for all exceptionally learned lamas - exclusively for the Panchen Lama. He had also predicted that Gyaltsen would continue to be reincarnated in future as the Panchen Lama, the two had a teacher/disciple relationship going back to the 1st Dalai Lama Gendun Drup and his teacher Khedrup Je, considered by some in retrospect as the 1st Panchen Lama. His canonical works total 24 volumes, in all, by 1681 Lobsang Gyatso personally wrote three volumes and his last Regent Desi Sangye Gyatso added another two after his masters death in 1982
9.
13th Dalai Lama
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Thubten Gyatso was the 13th Dalai Lama of Tibet. In 1878 he was recognized as the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama and he was escorted to Lhasa and given his pre-novice vows by the Panchen Lama, Tenpai Wangchuk, and named Ngawang Lobsang Thupten Gyatso Jigdral Chokley Namgyal. In 1879 he was enthroned at the Potala Palace, but did not assume power until 1895. Thubten Gyatso was a reformer who proved himself a skillful politician when Tibet became a pawn in British. Laird gives his birthdate as 27 May 1876, and Mullin gives it as dawn on the 5th month of the Fire Mouse Year, in 1879, he was enthroned in the Grand Reception Hall at the Potala Palace. The ceremony was approved by an imperial edict, according to Qing historian Max Oidtmann, the Lhasa ambans were involved in the installation of the three-year-old incarnation on his dais. On the first day the young Dalai Lama was taken before the image of emperor Qianlong and performed the “three genuflections and nine prostrations” before it. Agvan Dorzhiev, a Khori-Buryat Mongol, and a Russian subject, was born in the village of Khara-Shibir, not far from Ulan Ude and he left home in 1873 at 19 to study at the Gelugpa monastery, Drepung, near Lhasa, the largest monastery in Tibet. Having successfully completed the course of religious studies, he began the academic Buddhist degree of Geshey Lharampa. He continued his studies to become Tsanid-Hambo, or Master of Buddhist Philosophy and he became a tutor and debating partner of the teenage Dalai Lama, who became very friendly with him and later used him as an envoy to Russia and other countries. Mannerheim met Thubten Gyatso in Utaishan during the course of his expedition from Turkestan to Peking, Mannerheim wrote his diary and notes in Swedish to conceal the fact that his ethnographic and scientific party was also an elaborate intelligence gathering mission for the Russian army. The 13th Dalai Lama gave a blessing of white silk for the Russian Tsar and in return received Mannerheims precious seven-shot officers pistol with an explanation of its use. Obviously, the 14th Dalai Lama said, The 13th Dalai Lama had a desire to establish relations with Russia. To the English he was a spy, but in reality he was a good scholar, the Dalai Lama spent over a year in Urga and the Wang Khuree Monastery giving teachings to the Mongolians. In Urga he met the 8th Bogd Gegeen Jebtsundamba Khutuktu several times, the content of these meetings is unknown. The Dalai Lama insisted that if Russia would not help, he would even ask Britain, his former foe, after the Dalai Lama fled, the Qing dynasty immediately proclaimed him deposed and again asserted sovereignty over Tibet, making claims over Nepal and Bhutan as well. The Treaty of Lhasa was signed at the Potala between Great Britain and Tibet in the presence of the Amban and Nepalese and Bhutanese representatives on 7 September 1904, the provisions of the 1904 treaty were confirmed in a 1906 treaty signed between Great Britain and China. The Dalai Lama was suspected of involvement in the anti-foreign 1905 Tibetan Rebellion, the British invasion of Lhasa in 1904 had repercussions in the Tibetan Buddhist world, causing extreme anti-western and anti-Christian sentiment among Tibetan Buddhists
10.
14th Dalai Lama
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The 14th Dalai Lama (/ˈdɑːlaɪ ˈlɑːmə/, /ˌdælaɪ ˈlɑːmə/, is the current Dalai Lama. Dalai Lamas are important monks of the Gelug school, the newest school of Tibetan Buddhism which is headed by the Ganden Tripas. From the time of the 5th Dalai Lama to 1959, the government of Tibet. The Gelug schools government administered an area corresponding to the Tibet Autonomous Region just as the nascent PRC wished to assert central control over it. During the 1959 Tibetan uprising, the Dalai Lama fled to India, the 14th Dalai Lama received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. His family was of Monguor extraction and his mother, Diki Tsering, gave birth to him on a straw mat in the cowshed behind the house. He was one of seven siblings to survive childhood, the eldest was his sister Tsering Dolma, eighteen years his senior. His eldest brother, Thupten Jigme Norbu, had been recognised at the age of eight as the reincarnation of the high Lama Taktser Rinpoche and his sister, Jetsun Pema, spent most of her adult life on the Tibetan Childrens Villages project. The Dalai Lamas first language was, in his own words, a broken Xining language which was the Chinese language, a form of Central Plains Mandarin, and his family did not speak the Tibetan language. Sir Basil Gould, British delegate to Lhasa in 1936, related his account of the team to Sir Charles Bell, former British resident in Lhasa. The Regent, Reting Rinpoche, shortly afterwards had a vision at the lake of Lhamo La-tso indicating Amdo as the region to search. This vision also indicated a large monastery with a roof and turquoise tiles. This team, led by Kewtsang Rinpoche, went first to meet the Panchen Lama, the Panchen Lama had been investigating births of unusual children in the area ever since the death of the 13th. He gave Kewtsang the names of three boys whom he had discovered and identified as candidates, within a year the Panchen Lama had died. There they found a house, as described in the vision, according to the 14th Dalai Lama, at the time the village of Taktser stood right on the real border between the region of Amdo and China. When the team visited, posing as pilgrims, its leader and he held an old rosary that had belonged to the 13th Dalai Lama and the boy Lhamo Dhondup, aged two, approached and asked for it. The monk said if you know who I am, you can have it, the child said Sera Lama, Sera Lama and spoke with him in a Lhasa accent, in a language the boys mother could not understand. The next time the party returned to the house, they revealed their real purpose, one test consisted of showing him various pairs of objects, one of which had belonged to the 13th Dalai Lama and one which had not
11.
Bodhisattva
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Bodhisattvas are a popular subject in Buddhist art. In early Indian Buddhism, the term bodhisattva was primarily used to specifically to Gautama Buddha in his former life. The Jataka tales, which are the stories of the Buddhas past lives, depict the various attempts of the bodhisattva to embrace qualities like self-sacrifice, mount Potalaka, for example, is one of Bodhisattvayana. Because Hinayana was disliked and the terms Śrāvaka-Bodhisattva or Pratyekabuddha-Bodhisattva were not widely used, nevertheless, bodhisattva retained an implied reference to someone on the path to become an arhat or pratyekabuddha. In contrast, the goal of Mahayanas bodhisattva path is to achieve Samyaksambodhiṃ, when, during his discourses, he recounts his experiences as a young aspirant, he regularly uses the phrase When I was an unenlightened bodhisatta. The term therefore connotes a being who is bound for enlightenment, in other words, in the Pāli canon, the bodhisatta is also described as someone who is still subject to birth, illness, death, sorrow, defilement, and delusion. Some of the lives of the Buddha as a bodhisattva are featured in the Jataka tales. According to the Theravāda monk Bhikkhu Bodhi, the path is not taught in the earliest strata of Buddhist texts such as the Pali Nikayas which instead focus on the ideal of the Arahant. In later Theravada literature, the bodhisatta is used fairly frequently in the sense of someone on the path to liberation. He also quotes an inscription from the 10th Century king of Sri Lanka, Mahinda IV, paul Williams writes that some modern Theravada meditation masters in Thailand are popularly regarded as bodhisattvas. Like perhaps some of the early Mahāyāna forest hermit monks, or the later Buddhist Tantrics and they are widely revered, worshipped, and held to be arhats or bodhisattvas. Mahāyāna Buddhism is based principally upon the path of a bodhisattva, according to Jan Nattier, the term Mahāyāna was originally even an honorary synonym for Bodhisattvayāna, or the Bodhisattva Vehicle. The Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra contains a simple and brief definition for the term bodhisattva and this definition is given as the following. Because he has enlightenment as his aim, a bodhisattva-mahāsattva is so called, the early Rastrapalapariprccha sutra also promotes a solitary life of meditation in the forests, far away from the distractions of the householder life. The Rastrapala is also critical of monks living in monasteries and in cities who are seen as not practicing meditation. These texts seem to indicate the initial Bodhisattva ideal was associated with a strict forest asceticism, Mahāyāna Buddhism encourages everyone to become bodhisattvas and to take the bodhisattva vows. With these vows, one makes the promise to work for the enlightenment of all sentient beings by practicing the six perfections. Indelibly entwined with the vow is merit transference
12.
Dharma
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Dharma is a key concept with multiple meanings in the Indian religions — Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism. There is no single word translation for dharma in western languages, in Buddhism dharma means cosmic law and order, but is also applied to the teachings of the Buddha. In Buddhist philosophy, dhamma/dharma is also the term for phenomena, Dharma in Jainism refers to the teachings of tirthankara and the body of doctrine pertaining to the purification and moral transformation of human beings. For Sikhs, the word means the path of righteousness. The Classical Sanskrit noun dharma is a derivation from the root dhṛ, the word dharma was already in use in the historical Vedic religion, and its meaning and conceptual scope has evolved over several millennia. The antonym of dharma is adharma, the Classical Sanskrit noun dharma is a derivation from the root dhṛ, which means to hold, maintain, keep, and takes a meaning of what is established or firm, and hence law. It is derived from an older Vedic Sanskrit n-stem dharman-, with a meaning of bearer, supporter. In the Rigveda, the word appears as an n-stem, dhárman-, figuratively, it means sustainer and supporter. It is semantically similar to the Greek Ethos, in Classical Sanskrit, the noun becomes thematic, dharma-. The word dharma derives from Proto-Indo-European root *dʰer-, which in Sanskrit is reflected as class-1 root √dhṛ, etymologically it is related to Avestan √dar-, Latin firmus, Lithuanian derė́ti, Lithuanian dermė and darna and Old Church Slavonic drъžati. Classical Sanskrit word dharmas would formally match with Latin o-stem firmus from Proto-Indo-European *dʰer-mo-s holding, were it not for its development from earlier Rigvedic n-stem. In Classical Sanskrit, and in the Vedic Sanskrit of the Atharvaveda, in Pāli, it is rendered dhamma. In some contemporary Indian languages and dialects it occurs as dharm. Dharma is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion and it has multiple meanings in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. It is difficult to provide a concise definition for dharma, as the word has a long and varied history and straddles a complex set of meanings. There is no equivalent single word translation for dharma in western languages, there have been numerous, conflicting attempts to translate ancient Sanskrit literature with the word dharma into German, English and French. The concept, claims Paul Horsch, has caused difficulties for modern commentators and translators. Dharma root is dhri, which means ‘to support, hold and it is the thing that regulates the course of change by not participating in change, but that principle which remains constant
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