1.
Sera Monastery
–
Sera Monastery is one of the great three Gelug university monasteries of Tibet, located 1.25 miles north of Lhasa and about 5 km north of the Jokhang. The other two are Ganden Monastery and Drepung Monastery, the origin of its name is attributed to a fact that the site where the monastery was built was surrounded by wild roses in bloom. The original Sera Monastery is responsible for some 19 hermitages, including four nunneries, which are all located in the foot hills north of Lhasa. The Sera Monastery, as a complex of structures with the Great Assembly Hall and three colleges, was founded in 1419 by Jamchen Chojey of Sakya Yeshe of Zel Gungtang, a disciple of Je Tsongkhapa. During the 1959 revolt in Lhasa, Sera monastery suffered severe damage, with its colleges destroyed, after the Dalai Lama took asylum in India, many of the monks of Sera who survived the attack moved to Bylakuppe in Mysore, India. Sera Monastery in Tibet and its counterpart in Mysore, India are noted for their debate sessions, the original Sera Monastery is a complex of structures founded in 1419 by Jamchen Chojey Sakya Yeshe of Zel Gungtang, a disciple of Je Tsongkhapa. Prior to establishing this monastery, Tsongkhapa, assisted by his disciples, had set up hermitages at higher elevations above Sera Utsé Hermitage. The Jé and Mé colleges were established to train monks, over a 20-year programme of tsennyi mtshan nyid grwa tshang, the Ngakpa college, which predated the other two colleges, was exclusively devoted to the practice of tantric ritual. Before 1959, the administration of each college comprised an abbot with council of ten lamas for each college, over the years, the monastery developed into a hermitage where about 6000 monks resided. The monastery was one of the finest locations in Tibet to witness the debate sessions, the monastery belongs to the Gelug Order and was one of the largest in Lhasa. In 2008, Sera had 550 monks in residence, the history of the monastery is strongly connected to Master Lama Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Gelukpa Order, the much venerated and highly learned guru in Buddhist scriptures. It was under his tutelage that his disciple Jetsun Kunkhen Lodroe Rinchen Senge established the Sera Jey Monastery complex in the early 15th century AD. Kunkhyen Lodroe Rinchen Senge initially served as a teacher in the Drepung Monastery before he formed the Sera Jey. The religious legend narrated for how the site was chosen was a clairvoyant vision that Tsongkhapa had in which he saw the text of Prajnaparamitas 20 slokas on Shunyata captioned in the sky. This psychic spell gave him an insight into the Tsawasehrab text. Further, he perceived the vision of a rain like AA characters descending from the sky. Providentially, the then King Nedong Dagpa Gyaltsen supported the venture with required finances and also, in 1419. The monastery soon came to be known as the Seat of Theckchen ling, the 14th Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 and sought asylum there
Sera Monastery
–
Monks assembled outside the Sera Me Tratsang college of Sera Monastery in India in December 2006.
Sera Monastery
–
Sera Monastery in 1938
Sera Monastery
–
Left: Sera Monastery, India at
Bylakuppe,
Mysore. Right: The Debate session in Bylakuppe during winter, a practice inherited from the Tibet Sera
Sera Monastery
2.
Tibet
–
Tibet is a region on the Tibetan Plateau in Asia, spanning about 2.4 million km2 and nearly a quarter of Chinas territory. Tibet is the highest region on Earth, with an elevation of 4,900 metres. The highest elevation in Tibet is Mount Everest, Earths highest mountain, the Tibetan Empire emerged in the 7th century, but with the fall of the empire the region soon divided into a variety of territories. The current borders of Tibet were generally established in the 18th century, following the Xinhai Revolution against the Qing dynasty in 1912, Qing soldiers were disarmed and escorted out of Tibet Area. The region subsequently declared its independence in 1913 without recognition by the subsequent Chinese Republican government, later, Lhasa took control of the western part of Xikang, China. There are tensions regarding Tibets political status and dissident groups that are active in exile and it is also said that Tibetan activists in Tibet have been arrested or tortured. The economy of Tibet is dominated by agriculture, though tourism has become a growing industry in recent decades. The dominant religion in Tibet is Tibetan Buddhism, in there is Bön, which is similar to Tibetan Buddhism. Tibetan Buddhism is an influence on the art, music. Tibetan architecture reflects Chinese and Indian influences, staple foods in Tibet are roasted barley, yak meat, and butter tea. The Tibetan name for their land, Bod བོད་, means Tibet or Tibetan Plateau, although it meant the central region around Lhasa. The Standard Tibetan pronunciation of Bod, is transcribed Bhö in Tournadre Phonetic Transcription, Bö in the THL Simplified Phonetic Transcription and Poi in Tibetan pinyin. Tibetan people, language, and culture, regardless of where they are from, are referred to as Zang although the geographical term Xīzàng is often limited to the Tibet Autonomous Region. The term Xīzàng was coined during the Qing dynasty in the reign of the Jiaqing Emperor through the addition of a prefix meaning west to Zang, the best-known medieval Chinese name for Tibet is Tubo. This name first appears in Chinese characters as 土番 in the 7th century, in the Middle Chinese spoken during that period, as reconstructed by William H. Baxter, 土番 was pronounced thux-phjon and 吐蕃 was pronounced thux-pjon. Other pre-modern Chinese names for Tibet include Wusiguo, Wusizang, Tubote, the English word Tibet or Thibet dates back to the 18th century. Historical linguists generally agree that Tibet names in European languages are loanwords from Semitic Ṭībat orTūbātt, itself deriving from Turkic Töbäd, literally, according to Matthew Kapstein, From the perspective of historical linguistics, Tibetan most closely resembles Burmese among the major languages of Asia. More controversial is the theory that the Tibeto-Burman family is part of a larger language family, called Sino-Tibetan
Tibet
–
"Greater Tibet" as claimed by Tibetan exile groups
Tibet
–
Tibetan family in
Kham attending a horse festival
Tibet
–
King
Songtsän Gampo
Tibet
–
Tibet in 1734. Royaume de Thibet ("Kingdom of Tibet") in la Chine, la Tartarie Chinoise, et le Thibet ("China, Chinese
Tartary, and Tibet") on a 1734 map by
Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville, based on earlier Jesuit maps.
3.
Standard Tibetan
–
Standard Tibetan is the most widely spoken form of the Tibetic languages. It is based on the speech of Lhasa, an Ü-Tsang dialect, for this reason, Standard Tibetan is often called Lhasa Tibetan. Tibetan is a language of the Tibet Autonomous Region of the Peoples Republic of China. The written language is based on Classical Tibetan and is highly conservative, like many languages, Standard Tibetan has a variety of language registers, Phal-skad, the vernacular speech. Zhe-sa, the spoken style, particularly prominent in Lhasa. Chos-skad, the style in which the scriptures and other classical works are written. In scientific and astrological works, the numerals, as in Vedic Sanskrit, are expressed by symbolical words, Tibetan is written with an Indic script, with a historically conservative orthography that reflects Old Tibetan phonology and helps unify the Tibetan-language area. Wylie transliteration is the most common system of romanization used by Western scholars in rendering written Tibetan using the Latin alphabet, Tibetan pinyin, however, is the official romanization system employed by the government of the Peoples Republic of China. Certain names may also retain irregular transcriptions, such as Chomolungma for Mount Everest, the following summarizes the sound system of the dialect of Tibetan spoken in Lhasa, the most influential variety of the spoken language. These sounds normally occur in closed syllables, because Tibetan does not allow geminated consonants, the result is that the first is pronounced as an open syllable but retains the vowel typical of a closed syllable. For instance, zhabs is pronounced and pad is pronounced, but the compound word and this process can result in minimal pairs involving sounds that are otherwise allophones. Sources vary on whether the phone and the phone are distinct or basically identical, phonemic vowel length exists in Lhasa Tibet but in a restricted set of circumstances. Assimilation of Classical Tibetans suffixes, normally ‘i, at the end of a word produces a long vowel in Lhasa Tibetan, in normal spoken pronunciation, a lengthening of the vowel is also frequently substituted for the sounds and when they occur at the end of a syllable. The vowels, and each have nasalized forms, and, respectively, in some unusual cases, the vowels, and may also be nasalised. The Lhasa dialect is described as having two tones, high and low. However, in words, each tone can occur with two distinct contours. It is normally safe to only between the two tones because there are very few minimal pairs that differ only because of contour. The difference occurs only in words ending in the sounds or, for instance
Standard Tibetan
–
Stone tablets with prayers in Tibetan language at a Temple in
McLeod Ganj
Standard Tibetan
–
Pejas, scriptures of
Tibetan Buddhism, at a library in
Dharamsala, India
4.
Tibetan alphabet
–
The Tibetan alphabet is an abugida used to write the Tibetic languages such as Tibetan, as well as Dzongkha, Sikkimese, Ladakhi, and sometimes Balti. The printed form of the alphabet is called uchen script while the cursive form used in everyday writing is called umê script. The alphabet is closely linked to a broad ethnic Tibetan identity, spanning across areas in Tibet, Bhutan, India. The Tibetan alphabet is of Indic origin and it is ancestral to the Limbu alphabet, the Lepcha alphabet, the creation of the Tibetan alphabet is attributed to Thonmi Sambhota of the mid-7th century. Tradition holds that Thonmi Sambhota, a minister of Songtsen Gampo, was sent to India to study the art of writing, the form of the letters is based on an Indic alphabet of that period. The most important, an official orthography aimed to facilitate the translation of Buddhist scriptures, Standard orthography has not altered since then, while the spoken language has changed by, for example, losing complex consonant clusters. As a result, in all modern Tibetan dialects, in particular in the Standard Tibetan of Lhasa and this divergence is the basis of an argument in favour of spelling reform, to write Tibetan as it is pronounced, for example, writing Kagyu instead of Bka-rgyud. In contrast, the pronunciation of the Balti, Ladakhi and Burig languages adheres more closely to the archaic spelling, in the Tibetan script, the syllables are written from left to right. Syllables are separated by a tsek, since many Tibetan words are monosyllabic, spaces are not used to divide words. The Tibetan alphabet has thirty basic letters, sometimes known as radicals, as in other Indic scripts, each consonant letter assumes an inherent vowel, in the Tibetan script its ཨ /a/. The alphabet ཨ /a/ is also the base for dependent vowels marks, although some Tibetan dialects are tonal, the language had no tone at the time of the scripts invention, and there are no dedicated symbols for tone. However, since tones developed from segmental features they can usually be predicted by the archaic spelling of Tibetan words. The unique aspect of the Tibetan script is that the consonants can be either as radicals, or they can be written in other forms. To understand how this works, one can look at the radical ཀ /ka/, in both cases, the symbol for ཀ /ka/ is used, but when the ར /ra/ is in the middle of the consonant and vowel, it is added as a subscript. On the other hand, when the ར /ra/ comes before the consonant and vowel, ར /ra/ actually changes form when it is above most other consonants, thus རྐ rka. However, an exception to this is the cluster རྙ /rnya/, similarly, the consonants ཝ /wa/, ར /ra/, and ཡ /ja/ change form when they are beneath other consonants, thus ཀྭ /kwa/, ཀྲ /kra/, ཀྱ /kja/. Besides being written as subscripts and superscripts, some consonants can also be placed in prescript, postscript, the third position, the post-postscript position is solely for the consonants ད /tʰa/ and ས /sa/. The superscript position above a radical is reserved for the consonants ར /ra/, ལ /la/, the vowels used in the alphabet are ཨ /a/, ཨི /i/, ཨུ /u/, ཨེ /e/, and ཨོ /o/
Tibetan alphabet
–
Polychrome text left of center is the primary
mantra of
Tibetan Buddhism, Sanskrit
Oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ (
Tibetan: ༀམཎིཔདྨེཧཱུྃ,
Wylie: oMmanipad+mehU~M). Monochrome text right of center reads Sanskrit "Oṃ
Vajrasattva Hūm" (
Tibetan: ༀབཛྲསཏྭཧཱུཾ,
Wylie: oM badzrasatwa hUM), an invocation to the embodiment of primeval purity.
Tibetan alphabet
–
The number plate of a car registered in
Jammu and Kashmir, in Roman and Tibetan scripts.
5.
Chinese language
–
Chinese is a group of related, but in many cases mutually unintelligible, language varieties, forming a branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. Chinese is spoken by the Han majority and many ethnic groups in China. Nearly 1.2 billion people speak some form of Chinese as their first language, the varieties of Chinese are usually described by native speakers as dialects of a single Chinese language, but linguists note that they are as diverse as a language family. The internal diversity of Chinese has been likened to that of the Romance languages, There are between 7 and 13 main regional groups of Chinese, of which the most spoken by far is Mandarin, followed by Wu, Min, and Yue. Most of these groups are mutually unintelligible, although some, like Xiang and certain Southwest Mandarin dialects, may share common terms, all varieties of Chinese are tonal and analytic. Standard Chinese is a form of spoken Chinese based on the Beijing dialect of Mandarin. It is the language of China and Taiwan, as well as one of four official languages of Singapore. It is one of the six languages of the United Nations. The written form of the language, based on the logograms known as Chinese characters, is shared by literate speakers of otherwise unintelligible dialects. Of the other varieties of Chinese, Cantonese is the spoken language and official in Hong Kong and Macau. It is also influential in Guangdong province and much of Guangxi, dialects of Southern Min, part of the Min group, are widely spoken in southern Fujian, with notable variants also spoken in neighboring Taiwan and in Southeast Asia. Hakka also has a diaspora in Taiwan and southeast Asia. Shanghainese and other Wu varieties are prominent in the lower Yangtze region of eastern China, Chinese can be traced back to a hypothetical Sino-Tibetan proto-language. The first written records appeared over 3,000 years ago during the Shang dynasty, as the language evolved over this period, the various local varieties became mutually unintelligible. In reaction, central governments have sought to promulgate a unified standard. Difficulties have included the great diversity of the languages, the lack of inflection in many of them, in addition, many of the smaller languages are spoken in mountainous areas that are difficult to reach, and are often also sensitive border zones. Without a secure reconstruction of proto-Sino-Tibetan, the structure of the family remains unclear. A top-level branching into Chinese and Tibeto-Burman languages is often assumed, the earliest examples of Chinese are divinatory inscriptions on oracle bones from around 1250 BCE in the late Shang dynasty
Chinese language
–
The
Tripitaka Koreana, a Korean collection of the
Chinese Buddhist canon
Chinese language
–
Hànyǔ (Chinese) written in
traditional (left) and
simplified (right) characters
Chinese language
–
"
Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion " by
Wang Xizhi, written in
semi-cursive style
6.
Traditional Chinese characters
–
Traditional Chinese characters are Chinese characters in any character set that does not contain newly created characters or character substitutions performed after 1946. They are most commonly the characters in the character sets of Taiwan, of Hong Kong. Currently, a number of overseas Chinese online newspapers allow users to switch between both sets. In contrast, simplified Chinese characters are used in mainland China, Singapore, the debate on traditional and simplified Chinese characters has been a long-running issue among Chinese communities. Although simplified characters are taught and endorsed by the government of Mainland China, Traditional characters are used informally in regions in China primarily in handwriting and also used for inscriptions and religious text. They are often retained in logos or graphics to evoke yesteryear, nonetheless, the vast majority of media and communications in China is dominated by simplified characters. Taiwan has never adopted Simplified Chinese characters since it is ruled by the Republic of China, the use of simplified characters in official documents is even prohibited by the government in Taiwan. Simplified characters are not well understood in general, although some stroke simplifications that have incorporated into Simplified Chinese are in common use in handwriting. For example, while the name of Taiwan is written as 臺灣, similarly, in Hong Kong and Macau, Traditional Chinese has been the legal written form since colonial times. In recent years, because of the influx of mainland Chinese tourists, today, even government websites use simplified Chinese, as they answer to the Beijing government. This has led to concerns by residents to protect their local heritage. In Southeast Asia, the Chinese Filipino community continues to be one of the most conservative regarding simplification, while major public universities are teaching simplified characters, many well-established Chinese schools still use traditional characters. Publications like the Chinese Commercial News, World News, and United Daily News still use traditional characters, on the other hand, the Philippine Chinese Daily uses simplified. Aside from local newspapers, magazines from Hong Kong, such as the Yazhou Zhoukan, are found in some bookstores. In case of film or television subtitles on DVD, the Chinese dub that is used in Philippines is the same as the one used in Taiwan and this is because the DVDs belongs to DVD Region Code 3. Hence, most of the subtitles are in Traditional Characters, overseas Chinese in the United States have long used traditional characters. A major influx of Chinese immigrants to the United States occurred during the half of the 19th century. Therefore, the majority of Chinese language signage in the United States, including street signs, Traditional Chinese characters are called several different names within the Chinese-speaking world
Traditional Chinese characters
–
Chinese characters
Traditional Chinese characters
–
Job announcement in a Filipino Chinese daily newspaper written in Traditional Chinese characters.
Traditional Chinese characters
–
A Series of Reading workbook in Traditional Chinese used in some Elementary schools in the Philippines.
7.
Simplified Chinese characters
–
Simplified Chinese characters are standardized Chinese characters prescribed in the Table of General Standard Chinese Characters for use in mainland China. Along with traditional Chinese characters, it is one of the two character sets of the contemporary Chinese written language. The government of the Peoples Republic of China in mainland China has promoted them for use in printing since the 1950s and 1960s in an attempt to increase literacy and they are officially used in the Peoples Republic of China and Singapore. Traditional Chinese characters are used in Hong Kong, Macau. Overseas Chinese communities generally tend to use traditional characters, Simplified Chinese characters may be referred to by their official name above or colloquially. Strictly, the latter refers to simplifications of character structure or body, character forms that have existed for thousands of years alongside regular, Simplified character forms were created by decreasing the number of strokes and simplifying the forms of a sizable proportion of traditional Chinese characters. Some simplifications were based on popular cursive forms embodying graphic or phonetic simplifications of the traditional forms, some characters were simplified by applying regular rules, for example, by replacing all occurrences of a certain component with a simplified version of the component. Variant characters with the pronunciation and identical meaning were reduced to a single standardized character. Finally, many characters were left untouched by simplification, and are identical between the traditional and simplified Chinese orthographies. Some simplified characters are very dissimilar to and unpredictably different from traditional characters and this often leads opponents not well-versed in the method of simplification to conclude that the overall process of character simplification is also arbitrary. In reality, the methods and rules of simplification are few, on the other hand, proponents of simplification often flaunt a few choice simplified characters as ingenious inventions, when in fact these have existed for hundreds of years as ancient variants. However, the Chinese government never officially dropped its goal of further simplification in the future, in August 2009, the PRC began collecting public comments for a modified list of simplified characters. The new Table of General Standard Chinese Characters consisting of 8,105 characters was promulgated by the State Council of the Peoples Republic of China on June 5,2013, cursive written text almost always includes character simplification. Simplified forms used in print have always existed, they date back to as early as the Qin dynasty, One of the earliest proponents of character simplification was Lubi Kui, who proposed in 1909 that simplified characters should be used in education. In the years following the May Fourth Movement in 1919, many anti-imperialist Chinese intellectuals sought ways to modernise China, Traditional culture and values such as Confucianism were challenged. Soon, people in the Movement started to cite the traditional Chinese writing system as an obstacle in modernising China and it was suggested that the Chinese writing system should be either simplified or completely abolished. Fu Sinian, a leader of the May Fourth Movement, called Chinese characters the writing of ox-demons, lu Xun, a renowned Chinese author in the 20th century, stated that, If Chinese characters are not destroyed, then China will die. Recent commentators have claimed that Chinese characters were blamed for the problems in China during that time
Simplified Chinese characters
–
Chinese characters
Simplified Chinese characters
–
The slogan 战无不胜的毛泽东思想万岁 (Zhàn wúbù shèng de Máo Zédōng sīxiǎng wànsuì; Long live the invincible
Mao Zedong Thought) on
Xinhua Gate in Beijing.
Simplified Chinese characters
–
The first batch of Simplified Characters introduced in 1935 consisted of 324 characters.
8.
Standard Chinese
–
Its pronunciation is based on the Beijing dialect, its vocabulary on the Mandarin dialects, and its grammar is based on written vernacular Chinese. Like other varieties of Chinese, Standard Chinese is a language with topic-prominent organization. It has more initial consonants but fewer vowels, final consonants, Standard Chinese is an analytic language, though with many compound words. There exist two standardised forms of the language, namely Putonghua in Mainland China and Guoyu in Taiwan, aside from a number of differences in pronunciation and vocabulary, Putonghua is written using simplified Chinese characters, while Guoyu is written using traditional Chinese characters. There are many characters that are identical between the two systems, in English, the governments of China and Hong Kong use Putonghua, Putonghua Chinese, Mandarin Chinese, and Mandarin, while those of Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia, use Mandarin. The name Putonghua also has a long, albeit unofficial, history and it was used as early as 1906 in writings by Zhu Wenxiong to differentiate a modern, standard Chinese from classical Chinese and other varieties of Chinese. For some linguists of the early 20th century, the Putonghua, or common tongue/speech, was different from the Guoyu. The former was a prestige variety, while the latter was the legal standard. Based on common understandings of the time, the two were, in fact, different, Guoyu was understood as formal vernacular Chinese, which is close to classical Chinese. By contrast, Putonghua was called the speech of the modern man. The use of the term Putonghua by left-leaning intellectuals such as Qu Qiubai, prior to this, the government used both terms interchangeably. In Taiwan, Guoyu continues to be the term for Standard Chinese. The term Putonghua, on the contrary, implies nothing more than the notion of a lingua franca, Huayu, or language of the Chinese nation, originally simply meant Chinese language, and was used in overseas communities to contrast Chinese with foreign languages. Over time, the desire to standardise the variety of Chinese spoken in these communities led to the adoption of the name Huayu to refer to Mandarin and it also incorporates the notion that Mandarin is usually not the national or common language of the areas in which overseas Chinese live. The term Mandarin is a translation of Guānhuà, which referred to the lingua franca of the late Chinese empire, in English, Mandarin may refer to the standard language, the dialect group as a whole, or to historic forms such as the late Imperial lingua franca. The name Modern Standard Mandarin is sometimes used by linguists who wish to distinguish the current state of the language from other northern. Chinese has long had considerable variation, hence prestige dialects have always existed. Confucius, for example, used yǎyán rather than colloquial regional dialects, rime books, which were written since the Northern and Southern dynasties, may also have reflected one or more systems of standard pronunciation during those times
Standard Chinese
–
A poster outside of high school in
Yangzhou urges people to speak Putonghua
Standard Chinese
–
Zhongguo Guanhua (中国官话/中國官話), or Medii Regni Communis Loquela ("Middle Kingdom's Common Speech"), used on the frontispiece of an early Chinese grammar published by
Étienne Fourmont (with
Arcadio Huang) in 1742
9.
Hanyu Pinyin
–
Pinyin, or Hànyǔ Pīnyīn, is the official romanization system for Standard Chinese in mainland China, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan. It is often used to teach Standard Chinese, which is written using Chinese characters. The system includes four diacritics denoting tones, Pinyin without tone marks is used to spell Chinese names and words in languages written with the Latin alphabet, and also in certain computer input methods to enter Chinese characters. The pinyin system was developed in the 1950s by many linguists, including Zhou Youguang and it was published by the Chinese government in 1958 and revised several times. The International Organization for Standardization adopted pinyin as a standard in 1982. The system was adopted as the standard in Taiwan in 2009. The word Hànyǔ means the language of the Han people. In 1605, the Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci published Xizi Qiji in Beijing and this was the first book to use the Roman alphabet to write the Chinese language. Twenty years later, another Jesuit in China, Nicolas Trigault, neither book had much immediate impact on the way in which Chinese thought about their writing system, and the romanizations they described were intended more for Westerners than for the Chinese. One of the earliest Chinese thinkers to relate Western alphabets to Chinese was late Ming to early Qing Dynasty scholar-official, the first late Qing reformer to propose that China adopt a system of spelling was Song Shu. A student of the great scholars Yu Yue and Zhang Taiyan, Song had been to Japan and observed the effect of the kana syllabaries. This galvanized him into activity on a number of fronts, one of the most important being reform of the script, while Song did not himself actually create a system for spelling Sinitic languages, his discussion proved fertile and led to a proliferation of schemes for phonetic scripts. The Wade–Giles system was produced by Thomas Wade in 1859, and it was popular and used in English-language publications outside China until 1979. This Sin Wenz or New Writing was much more sophisticated than earlier alphabets. In 1940, several members attended a Border Region Sin Wenz Society convention. Mao Zedong and Zhu De, head of the army, both contributed their calligraphy for the masthead of the Sin Wenz Societys new journal. Outside the CCP, other prominent supporters included Sun Yat-sens son, Sun Fo, Cai Yuanpei, the countrys most prestigious educator, Tao Xingzhi, an educational reformer. Over thirty journals soon appeared written in Sin Wenz, plus large numbers of translations, biographies, some contemporary Chinese literature, and a spectrum of textbooks
Hanyu Pinyin
–
A school slogan asking elementary students to speak
Putonghua is annotated with pinyin, but without tonal marks.
Hanyu Pinyin
–
In
Yiling,
Yichang,
Hubei, text on road signs appears both in Chinese characters and in Hanyu Pinyin
10.
Tibetan Buddhist canon
–
The Tibetan Buddhist canon is a loosely defined list of sacred texts recognized by various sects of Tibetan Buddhism. In addition to texts from Early Buddhist and Mahayana sources. The Tibetan Canon underwent a final compilation in the 14th century by Buton Rinchen Drub, all texts presumably have a Sanskrit original, although in many cases the Tibetan text was translated from Chinese or other languages. Tengyur or Translated Treatises, is the section to which were assigned commentaries, treatises, the Tengyur contains 3626 texts in 224 Volumes. The Kangyur is divided into sections on Vinaya, Perfection of Wisdom Sutras, Avatamsaka, Ratnakuta and other sutras, when exactly the term Kangyur was first used is not known. Collections of canonical Buddhist texts already existed in the time of Trisong Detsen, the exact number of texts in the Kangyur is not fixed. Each editor takes responsibility for removing texts he considers spurious or adding new translations, currently there are about 12 available Kangyurs. These include the Derge, Lhasa, Narthang, Cone, Peking, Urga, Phudrak and Stog Palace versions, in addition, some canonical texts have been found in Tabo and Dunhuang which provide earlier exemplars to texts found in the Kangyur. The majority of extant Kangyur editions appear to stem from the so-called Old Narthang Kangyur, though the Phukdrak, the stemma of the Kangyur have been well researched in particular by Helmut Eimer and Paul Harrison. A team of Indian and Tibetan scholars was assigned for the purpose, as a major step in this remarkable attempt at literary standardization, the bi-lingual glossary known as the Mahavyutpatti was successfully accomplished in the Tibetan horse year. The earliest catalogue compilation was recorded from the manuscript of the collection housed in the palace- pho-brang ‘phang-thang ka-med kyi gtsug-lag-kang in the Tibetan dog year. This cataloguing work became famous by the name of the palace, dkar-chag ldan-dkar-ma was compiled in the dragon year. Among these three catalogues, ldan-dkar-ma, included in the volume Jo of sna-tsogs in sde-ge bka’-bstan, is believed to be the only surviving so far. But recently a manuscript of dkar-chag phang-thang-ma is discovered and published from Tibet and it contains 961 titles listed under 34 subject headings with additional information of numbers of verses that contains in each text. The ldan-dkar-ma catalogue comprises 735 titles and listed under a category of 27 subject headings. of words, verses, canto, thus today we have a record of 73 million words contained in the bka’-’gyur & bstan-’gyur collection. According to the latest edition of Dharma Publication, the bKa’-‘gyur contains 1,115 texts, likewise, the bsTan-gyur contains 3,387 texts using 127,000 folios amounting to 850,000 lines and 48 millions words. The sum total of both these collections is 4,502 texts in 73 millions words, by fixing bampo to verses and to words of each of the textual contents, the individual works are interpolation and alteration. This further strengthened the authenticity of Tibetan Buddhist literature, Tibet, thus, becomes the earliest to accomplish catalogue as inventory in the history of evolution of catalogue
Tibetan Buddhist canon
–
Young monks printing scriptures.
Sera Monastery, Tibet. 1993
Tibetan Buddhist canon
–
Printing the scriptures,
Sera Monastery
11.
Tibetan Buddhism
–
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
Tibetan Buddhism
–
Boudhanath; a
stupa in
Kathmandu,
Nepal. Stupas symbolize the mind of a Buddha.
Tibetan Buddhism
–
Buddhist monk Geshe Konchog Wangdu reads
Mahayana sutras from an old woodblock copy of the Tibetan
Kangyur
Tibetan Buddhism
–
The Vajrayāna deity,
Vajrasattva
Tibetan Buddhism
–
A
sand mandala
12.
Tengyur
–
The Tengyur or Tanjur or Bstan-’gyur is the Tibetan collection of commentaries to the Buddhist teachings, or Translated Treatises. To the Tengyur were assigned commentaries to both Sutras and Tantras, treatises and abhidharma works, together with the 108-volume Kangyur, these form the basis of the Tibetan Buddhist canon. The Kangyur usually takes up a hundred or a hundred and eight volumes, as example, the content of the Beijing Tengyur, Stotras,1 Volume,64 texts. Commentaries on the Tantras,86 Volumes,3055 texts, commentaries on Sutras,137 Volumes,567 texts. Apparently, Bön began to more on a literary form about the time Buddhism began to enter Tibet. First English edition - translated by J. E. Stapleton Driver, reprint, Stanford University Press, Stanford, California ISBN 0-8047-0806-1, ISBN 0-8047-0901-7 Tucci, Giuseppe. First English edition, translated by Geoffrey Samuel, reprint, University of California Press ISBN 0-520-03856-8, ISBN0520063481 AIBS Tengyur translation initiative ACIPs Derge Tengyur etext TBRCs Tengyur scans Translation of texts
Tengyur
–
Young monks printing scriptures in
Sera Monastery, Tibet
Tengyur
–
Printing the scriptures.
Sera Monastery.
13.
Schools of Buddhism
–
Schools of Buddhism refers to the various institutional and doctrinal divisions of Buddhism that have existed from ancient times up to the present. That have made up or currently make up the whole of Buddhist traditions, the sectarian and conceptual divisions of Buddhist thought are part of the modern framework of Buddhist studies, as well as comparative religion in Asia. The most common classification among scholars is threefold, with Mahāyāna itself split between the traditional Mahāyāna teachings, and the Vajrayāna teachings which emphasize esotericism, Vajrayāna, primarily in Tibet, Bhutan, Mongolia and the Russian republic of Kalmykia. The following terms may be encountered in descriptions of the major Buddhist divisions, Ekayāna Mahayana texts such as the Lotus Sutra and the Avatamsaka Sutra sought to unite all the different teachings into a single great way. These texts serve as the inspiration for using the term Ekayāna in the sense of one vehicle and this one vehicle became a key aspect of the doctrines and practices of Tiantai and Tendai Buddhist sects, which subsequently influenced Chán and Zen doctrines and practices. In Japan, the teaching of the Lotus Sutra also inspired the formation of the Nichiren sect. Esoteric Buddhism usually considered synonymous with Vajrayāna, some scholars have applied the term to certain practices found within the Theravāda, particularly in Cambodia. It is considered a term when applied by the Mahāyāna to mistakenly refer to the Theravāda school. Moreover, Hīnayāna refers to the now non extant schools with limited set of views, practices and results and its use in scholarly publications is now also considered controversial. Lamaism an old term, still used, synonymous with Tibetan Buddhism. Mahāyāna a movement that emerged from early Buddhist schools, together with its later descendants, Vajrayāna traditions are sometimes listed separately. The main use of the term in East Asian and Tibetan traditions is in reference to spiritual levels, mainstream Buddhism a term used by some scholars for the early Buddhist schools. Mantrayāna usually considered synonymous with Vajrayāna, the Tendai school in Japan has been described as influenced by Mantrayana. Newar Buddhism a non-monastic, caste based Buddhism with patrilineal descent, nikāya Buddhism or schools an alternative term for the early Buddhist schools. Non-Mahāyāna an alternative term for the early Buddhist schools, northern Buddhism an alternative term used by some scholars for Tibetan Buddhism. Also, a term still sometimes used to encompass both East Asian and Tibetan traditions. It has even used to refer to East Asian Buddhism alone. Secret Mantra an alternative rendering of Mantrayāna, a literal translation of the term used by schools in Tibetan Buddhism when referring to themselves
Schools of Buddhism
–
An image of Gautama Buddha with a
swastika, a traditional Buddhist symbol of infinity, on his chest.
Ananda, the Buddha's disciple, appears in the background. This statue is from
Hsi Lai Temple.
Schools of Buddhism
–
Map showing the three major Buddhist divisions
Schools of Buddhism
–
Thousand-armed
Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva.
Guanyin Nunnery,
Anhui, China
14.
Nyingma
–
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
Nyingma
–
Statue of
Padmasambhava near
Kullu, India
Nyingma
15.
Kagyu
–
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
Kagyu
–
Tilopa
Kagyu
–
Marpa
Kagyu
–
Drikung Monаstery
Kagyu
16.
Sakya
–
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
Sakya
–
Sakya Pandita
Sakya
–
Tibet within the Yuan dynasty under the top-level department known as the
Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs (Xuanzheng Yuan).
Sakya
17.
Gelug
–
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
Gelug
–
Statue of Je Tsongkhapa, founder of the Gelugpa school, on the altar in His Temple (His birth place) in
Kumbum Monastery, near Xining,
Qinghai (
Amdo),
China. Photo by writer
Mario Biondi, July 7, 2006
Gelug
–
Gelug monks in
Spituk Monastery during the Gustor Festival
Gelug
18.
Jonang
–
The Jonang is one of the schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Its origins in Tibet can be traced to early 12th century master Yumo Mikyo Dorje, but became much wider known with the help of Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen, a monk originally trained in the Sakya school. The Jonang re-established their religio-political center in Golok, Nakhi and Mongol areas in Kham, an estimated 5,000 monks and nuns of the Jonang tradition practice today in these areas and at the edges of historic Gelug influence. However, their teachings were limited to these regions until the Rimé movement of the 19th century encouraged the study of non-Gelug schools of thought, the monk Künpang Tukjé Tsöndrü established a kumbum or stupa-vihara in the Jomonang Valley about 160 kilometres northwest of the Tashilhunpo Monastery in Ü-Tsang. The Jonang tradition took its name from this monastery, which was expanded by Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen. The Jonang tradition combines two specific teachings, what has come to be known as the philosophy of śūnyatā. The origin of combination in Tibet is traced to the master Yumo Mikyo Dorje. The order remained in power in parts of Kham and Amdo centered on Dzamthang Monastery, the Jonang school generated a number of renowned Buddhist scholars, like Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen, but its most famous was Taranatha, who placed great emphasis on the Kalachakra Tantra. After the Jonang monasteries and practitioners in Gelug-controlled regions were forcibly converted, taranathas influence on Gelug thinking continues even to this day in the teaching of the present 14th Dalai Lama, who actively promotes initiation into Kalachakra. The Gelug school held the distinct but related rangtong view that all phenomena are empty and it is empty of all that is false, not empty of the limitless Buddha qualities that are its innate nature. Modern historians have identified two reasons which more likely led the Gelugpa to suppress the Jonangpa. First, the Jonangpa had political ties that were very vexing to the Gelugpa, the Jonang school, along with the Kagyu, were historical allies with the powerful house of Tsangpa, which was vying with the Dalai Lama and the Gelug school for control of Central Tibet. This was bad enough, but soon after the death of Taranatha, taranathas tulku was discovered to be a young boy named Zanabazar, the son of Tüsheet Khan, Prince of Central Khalkha. Tüsheet Khan and his son were of Borjigin lineage, meaning they had the authority to become khagan. When the young boy was declared the leader of all of Mongolia. The sects and institutions associated with these monasteries cried foul, tibetans have a long memory, and this accusation still stands within certain circles. I once asked the present Dalai Lama about this and he replied These monasteries were closed for political reasons, not religious ones, and their closing had nothing to do with sectarianism. They had supported the Tsangpa king in the uprising, thus committing treason, the Great Fifth believed that they should be closed in order to insure the future stability of the nation, and to dissuade other monasteries from engaging in warfare
Jonang
19.
Bodhisattva
–
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
Bodhisattva
–
Twenty-five Bodhisattvas Descending from Heaven. Japanese painting, c. 1300.
Bodhisattva
–
Bronze statue of
Avalokiteśvara.
Sri Lanka, ca. 750 CE
Bodhisattva
–
Wood carving of
Avalokiteśvara.
Liao China, 907-1125
Bodhisattva
–
Mural of
Padmapani in
Ajanta Caves. India, 5th century
20.
Dharma (Buddhism)
–
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
Dharma (Buddhism)
–
Rituals and rites of passage
Dharma (Buddhism)
–
Sannyasa and
stages of life
Dharma (Buddhism)
–
Above rock inscription is from Indian
Emperor Asoka, from 258 BC, and found in
Afghanistan. The inscription renders the word Dharma in Sanskrit as
Eusebeia in Greek, suggesting Dharma in ancient India meant spiritual maturity, devotion, piety, duty towards and reverence for human community.
Dharma (Buddhism)
–
Sikhism
21.
Karma in Buddhism
–
Karma is a Sanskrit term that literally means action or doing. In the Buddhist tradition, karma refers to action driven by intention which leads to future consequences and those intentions are considered to be the determining factor in the kind of rebirth in samsara, the cycle of rebirth. Karma is a Sanskrit term that literally means action or doing, the word karma derives from the verbal root kṛ, which means do, make, perform, accomplish. Karmaphala is the fruit, effect or result of karma, a similar term is karmavipaka, the maturation or cooking of karma, The remote effects of karmic choices are referred to as the maturation or fruit of the karmic act. The metaphor is derived from agriculture, One sows a seed, there is a time lag during which some mysterious invisible process takes place, Karma and karmaphala are fundamental concepts in Buddhism. Rebirth, is a belief in all Buddhist traditions. It says that birth and death in the six realms occur in successive cycles driven by ignorance, desire, the cycle of rebirth is called samsarā. It is a beginningless and ever-ongoing process, liberation from samsarā can be attained by following the Buddhist Path. This path leads to vidyā, and the stilling of trsnā, hereby the ongoing process of rebirth is stopped. The cycle of rebirth is determined by karma, literally action, in the Buddhist tradition, karma refers to actions driven by intention, a deed done deliberately through body, speech or mind, which leads to future consequences. The Nibbedhika Sutta, Anguttara Nikaya 6.63, Intention I tell you, is kamma, intending, one does kamma by way of body, speech, & intellect. According to Peter Harvey, It is the impulse behind an action that is karma. Actions, then, must be if they are to generate karmic fruits. According to Gombrich, this was an innovation, which overturns brahmanical. Its a rejection of caste-bound differences, giving the possibility to reach liberation to all people, not just Brahmanins, Not by birth is one a brahmin or an outcaste. How this emphasis on intention was to be interpreted became a matter of debate in, Karma leads to future consequences, karma-phala, fruit of action. Any given action may cause all sorts of results, but the results are only those results which are a consequence of both the moral quality of the action, and of the intention behind the action. According to Reichenbach, he envisioned by the law of karma encompass more than the observed natural or physical results which follow upon the performance of an action
Karma in Buddhism
–
Tibetan Bhavacakra or "Wheel of Life" in
Sera,
Lhasa.
22.
List of Buddhists
–
This is a list of notable Buddhists, encompassing all the major branches of the religion, and including interdenominational and eclectic Buddhist practitioners. This list includes both formal teachers of Buddhism, and people notable in other areas who are publicly Buddhist or who have espoused Buddhism, individuals are grouped by nationality, except in cases where their influence was felt elsewhere. Gautama Buddha and his disciples are listed separately from later Indian Buddhist thinkers, teachers. N. Goenka, non-sectarian Burmese-Indian teacher of Vipassanā meditation who was awarded Padma Bhushan in 2012 Thanissaro Bhikkhu Anagarika Govinda B, T. S. Brad Warner Alan Watts Yin Shun B. Senator born in Japan and the nations first Buddhist Senator Hank Johnson, list of converts to Buddhism Buddhahood Outline of Buddhism
List of Buddhists
–
Buddha and his disciples. The world’s tallest walking statue of the Buddha in Kandy, Sri Lanka.
23.
Gautama Buddha
–
Gautama Buddha, also known as Siddhārtha Gautama, Shakyamuni Buddha, or simply the Buddha, after the title of Buddha, was an ascetic and sage, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. He is believed to have lived and taught mostly in the part of ancient India sometime between the sixth and fourth centuries BCE. Gautama taught a Middle Way between sensual indulgence and the severe asceticism found in the śramaṇa movement common in his region and he later taught throughout other regions of eastern India such as Magadha and Kosala. Gautama is the figure in Buddhism. He is recognized by Buddhists as a teacher who attained full Buddhahood. Accounts of his life, discourses, and monastic rules are believed by Buddhists to have been summarized after his death, various collections of teachings attributed to him were passed down by oral tradition and first committed to writing about 400 years later. Scholars are hesitant to make unqualified claims about the facts of the Buddhas life. Apart from the Vedic Brahmins, the Buddhas lifetime coincided with the flourishing of influential schools of thought like Ājīvika, Cārvāka, Jainism. Brahmajala Sutta records sixty-two such schools of thought, thus, Buddha was just one of the many śramaṇa philosophers of that time. The times of Gautamas birth and death are uncertain, most historians in the early 20th century dated his lifetime as circa 563 BCE to 483 BCE. These alternative chronologies, however, have not yet accepted by all historians. It was either a republic, or an oligarchy, and his father was an elected chieftain. He obtained his enlightenment in Bodh Gaya, gave his first sermon in Sarnath, no written records about Gautama were found from his lifetime or some centuries thereafter. One Edict of Asoka, who reigned from circa 269 BCE to 232 BCE, another one of his edicts mentions the titles of several Dhamma texts, establishing the existence of a written Buddhist tradition at least by the time of the Maurya era. These texts may be the precursor of the Pāli Canon and they are written in the Gāndhārī language using the Kharosthi script on twenty-seven birch bark manuscripts and date from the first century BCE to the third century CE. The sources for the life of Siddhārtha Gautama are a variety of different and these include the Buddhacarita, Lalitavistara Sūtra, Mahāvastu, and the Nidānakathā. Of these, the Buddhacarita is the earliest full biography, a poem written by the poet Aśvaghoṣa in the first century CE. The Lalitavistara Sūtra is the next oldest biography, a Mahāyāna/Sarvāstivāda biography dating to the 3rd century CE, the Mahāvastu from the Mahāsāṃghika Lokottaravāda tradition is another major biography, composed incrementally until perhaps the 4th century CE
Gautama Buddha
–
A statue of the Buddha from
Sarnath, 4th century CE
Gautama Buddha
–
Buddha by
Otgonbayar Ershuu
Gautama Buddha
–
Māyā miraculously giving birth to Siddhārtha.
Sanskrit,
palm-leaf manuscript.
Nālandā,
Bihar, India.
Pāla period
Gautama Buddha
–
Maya dream of the Birth of Gautama Siddharta
24.
Padmasambhava
–
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
Padmasambhava
–
Statue of Padmasambhava 123 ft. (37.5 m) high in mist overlooking
Rewalsar Lake,
Himachal Pradesh,
India
Padmasambhava
–
Statue of Princess
Mandarava at
Rewalsar Lake.
Padmasambhava
–
Statues of Padmasambhava, Buddha and Amitayus at
Namdroling Monastery.
Padmasambhava
–
Padmasambhava. Wall painting at Paro bridge (Bhutan)
25.
Je Tsongkhapa
–
Tsongkhapa, usually taken to mean the Man from Onion Valley, was a famous teacher of Tibetan Buddhism whose activities led to the formation of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. He is also known by his ordained name Losang Drakpa or simply as Je Rinpoche, in his two main treatises, the Lamrim Chenmo and Ngakrim Chenmo, Tsongkhapa meticulously sets forth this graduated way and how one establishes oneself in the paths of sutra and tantra. With a Mongolian father and a Tibetan mother, Tsongkhapa was born into a family in the walled city of Tsongkha in Amdo. At the age of seven, he was ordained as a śrāmaṇera by Döndrup Rinchen, the first abbott of Jakhyung Monastery, and was given the ordination name Losang Drakpa. He would go on to be a student of the vinaya, the doctrine of behaviour, and even later of the Six Yogas of Naropa, the Kalachakra tantra. At the age of 24, he received ordination as a monk of the Sakya school. From Zhönnu Lodrö and Rendawa, he received the lineage of the Pramanavarttika transmitted by Sakya Pandita and he mastered all the courses of study at Drigung kagyud Monastery in Ü-Tsang. As an emanation of Manjusri, Tsongkhapa is said have been of one mind with Atiśa, received the Kadam lineages and studied the major Sarma tantras under Sakya and Kagyu masters. He also studied with a Nyingma teacher, the siddha Lek gyi Dorjé and the abbot of Shalu Monastery, Chö kyi Pel, in addition to his studies, he engaged in extensive meditation retreats. He is reputed to have performed millions of prostrations, mandala offerings, Tsongkhapa often had visions of iṣṭadevatās, especially of Manjusri, with whom he would communicate directly to clarify difficult points of the scriptures. Tsongkhapa was one of the foremost authorities of Tibetan Buddhism at the time, Tsongkhapa died in 1419 at the age of sixty-two. After his death several biographies were written by Lamas of different traditions, wangchuk Dorje, 9th Karmapa Lama, praised Tsongkhapa as one who swept away wrong views with the correct and perfect ones. His main source of inspiration was the Kadam school, the legacy of Atiśa, Tsongkhapa received two of the three main Kadampa lineages from the Nyingma Lama, Lhodrag Namka-gyeltsen, and the third main Kadampa lineage from the Kagyu teacher Lama Umapa. Tsongkhapas teachings drew upon these Kadampa teachings of Atiśa, emphasizing the study of Vinaya, the Tripiṭaka, atiśas Lamrim inspired Tsongkhapas Lamrim Chenmo, which became a main text among his followers. At this time his account of the Madhyamaka focused on its interpretation as a negative dialectic structure, after this early work, his attention focussed on the Prajnaparamita sutras and Dharmakirtis Pramanavartika, and it is this emphasis that dominates all his later philosophical works. The classification into Prasangika and Svatantrika originated from their different usages of reason to make emptiness understandable, the Svātantrikas strive to make positive assertions to attack wrong views, whereas the Prasangikas draw out the contradictory consequences of the opposing views. In Tsongkhapas reading, the difference becomes one of the understanding of emptiness, the Svātantrikas state that conventional phenomena have particular characteristics, by which they can be distinguished, but without an ultimately existing essence. To exist at all entails having intrinsic existence, however, since there is nothing that holds up under ultimate analysis, everything is ultimately empty
Je Tsongkhapa
–
Je Tsongkhapa in the fifth vision of
Khedrup Gelek Pelzang, 1st Panchen Lama
Je Tsongkhapa
–
Tsongkapa, 15th-century painting,
Rubin Museum of Art
Je Tsongkhapa
–
Statue of Tsongkhapa, founder of the Gelugpa school, on the altar in his temple (his birthplace) in
Kumbum Monastery, near
Xining,
Amdo,
Tibet.
Je Tsongkhapa
–
Bronze depicting Tsongkhapa, who is known and revered by Mongolians as Bogd Zonkhova.
26.
Dalai Lama
–
The Dalai Lama /ˈdɑːlaɪ ˈlɑːmə/, /ˌdælaɪ ˈlɑːmə/ is a monk of the Gelug or Yellow Hat school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest of the schools of Tibetan Buddhism founded by Je Tsongkhapa. The Dalai Lama title was created by Altan Khan in 1578, the 14th and current Dalai Lama is Tenzin Gyatso. The Dalai Lama has always been an important figure of the Gelug tradition, although finding dominance in Central Tibet, the Dalai Lama has been an important figure beyond sectarian boundaries. The Dalai Lama figure is important for many reasons, since the time of the Fifth Dalai Lama his personage has always been a symbol of unification of the state of Tibet, where he has represented Buddhist values and traditions. The Dalai Lama is considered to be the successor in a line of tulkus who are believed to be incarnations of Avalokiteśvara, the name is a combination of the Mongolic word dalai meaning ocean and the Tibetan word བླ་མ་ meaning guru, teacher, mentor. The Tibetan word lama corresponds to the better known Sanskrit word guru, special Features of the Gelug Tradition. This government also enjoyed the patronage and protection of firstly Mongol kings of the Khoshut and Dzungar Khanates and this is according to The Book of Kadam, the main text of the Kadampa school, to which the First Dalai Lama, Gendun Drup, first belonged. In fact, this text is said to have ‘laid the foundation’ for the Tibetans later identification of the Dalai Lamas as incarnations of Avalokiteśvara and it traces the legend of the bodhisattva’s incarnations as early Tibetan kings and emperors such as Songsten Gampo and later as Dromtönpa. This lineage has been extrapolated by Tibetans up to and including the Dalai Lamas, thus, according to such sources, an informal line of succession of the present Dalai Lamas as incarnations of Avalokiteśvara stretches back much further than Gendun Drub. First, Tsongkhapa established three great monasteries around Lhasa in the province of Ü before he died in 1419, the 1st Dalai Lama soon became Abbot of the greatest one, Drepung, and developed a large popular power base in Ü. He later extended this to cover Tsang, where he constructed a great monastery, Tashi Lhunpo. The 2nd studied there before returning to Lhasa, where he became Abbot of Drepung, having reactivated the 1sts large popular followings in Tsang and Ü, the 2nd then moved on to southern Tibet and gathered more followers there who helped him construct a new monastery, Chokorgyel. He also established the method by which later Dalai Lama incarnations would be discovered through visions at the oracle lake, the 3rd built on his predecessors fame by becoming Abbot of the two great monasteries of Drepung and Sera. Thus most of Mongolia was added to the Dalai Lamas sphere of influence, after being given the Mongolian name Dalai, he returned to Tibet to found the great monasteries of Lithang in Kham, eastern Tibet and Kumbum in Amdo, north-eastern Tibet. The 4th was then born in Mongolia as the grandson of Altan Khan. Finally, in fulfilment of Avalokiteśvaras master plan, the 5th in the succession used the vast popular power base of devoted followers built up by his four predecessors, overall, they have played a monumental role in Asian literary, philosophical and religious history. Gendun Drup was the name of the monk who came to be known as the First Dalai Lama. Tsongkhapa largely modelled his new, reformed Gelugpa school on the Kadampa tradition, therefore, although Gendun Drup grew to be a very important Gelugpa lama, after he died in 1474 there was no question of any search being made to identify his incarnation
Dalai Lama
–
Gendun Drup, 1st Dalai Lama
Dalai Lama
–
Tenzin Gyatso
Dalai Lama
–
Güshi Khan
Dalai Lama
–
'Greater Tibet' as claimed by exiled groups
27.
Panchen Lama
–
The Panchen Lama is a tulku of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. The Dalai Lama is traditionally involved in recognizing the Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima is recognized by the Gelug school as the Panchen Lama. Human rights groups have condemned this act, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima has not been seen in public since 17 May 1995. Gyaincain Norbu who acts as the 11th Panchen Lama in China, is reviled by Tibetans as a fake, the previous Panchen Lama spoke out against Chinese rule many times and wrote a report chronicling Tibets famines in the 1960s. As a result, he spent more than eight years in jail, the successive Panchen Lamas form a tulku reincarnation lineage which are said to be the incarnations of Amitābha. The title, meaning Great Scholar, is a Tibetan contraction of the Sanskrit paṇḍita, the Panchen Lama traditionally lived in Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse. From the name of this monastery, the Europeans referred to the Panchen Lama as the Tashi-Lama, Lobsang Chökyi Gyaltsen, was the first Panchen Lama to be accorded this title during his lifetime. He was the tutor and an ally of the 5th Dalai Lama, The Great Fifth, as he is known. The 5th Dalai Lama requested the Panchen to accept Tashilhunpo Monastery, built by the 1st Dalai Lama, as his multi-lifetime seat for future incarnations. 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, the 5th Dalai Lama commenced the tradition of searching for his next incarnation. He also reserved the title of Panchen which had previously been a courtesy title for all exceptionally learned lamas - exclusively for his successors. Khedrub Je, Sönam Choklang and Ensapa Lobsang Döndrup were posthumously decided by the 5th Dalai Lama to have been an incarnation of Lobsang Chökyi Gyaltsen. Traditionally, there were considered to be four Indian and three Tibetan incarnations before Khedrup, starting with Subhuti, one of the disciples of Gautama Buddha. Gö Lotsawa is considered to be the first Tibetan incarnation of Amitabha in this line, the recognition of Panchen Lamas has always been a matter involving the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama was attempting to collect revenue from the Panchen Lamas estate to cover Tibets military expenses, in China, the ninth Panchen Lama worked on plans to develop Tibet. He also held a position in the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission, there, he adopted the ideas of Sun Yatsen through revolutionary Pandatsang Rapga of the Tibet Improvement Party. The Republic of China government, then embroiled in the Chinese Civil War, Chinese Nationalist governor Ma Bufang allowed Kumbum Monastery to be totally self-governed by Gyaltsen. The Dalai Lama refused to recognize Tseten, now called Gyaltsen, the 10th Panchen Lama sought revenge on the Dalai Lama by leading an army against him, and requested aid from Ma Bufang in September 1949
Panchen Lama
–
Khedrup Gelek Pelzang, 1st Panchen Lama
Panchen Lama
–
The 11th and current Panchan Lama recognised by the Chinese government,
Gyaincain Norbu
Panchen Lama
–
Sign referring to the disappearance of the Panchen Lama,
Manali, Himachal Pradesh, India
28.
Lama
–
Lama is a title for a teacher of the Dharma in Tibetan Buddhism. The name is similar to the Sanskrit term guru, historically, the term was used for venerated spiritual masters or heads of monasteries. Perhaps due to misunderstandings by early western scholars attempting to understand Tibetan Buddhism, the term Lamaism is now considered by some to be derogatory. In the Vajrayana path of Tibetan Buddhism, the lama is often the tantric spiritual guide, as such, the lama will then appear as one of the Three Roots, alongside the yidam and protector
Lama
–
The current
Dalai Lama.
Lama
–
Lama Dance,
Dharamsala, H.P., India c. 1980.
29.
Karmapa
–
The Karmapa is the head of the Karma Kagyu, the largest sub-school of the Kagyu, itself one of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The historical seat of the Karmapas is Tsurphu Monastery in the Tolung valley of Tibet, the Karmapas principal seat in exile is the Dharma Chakra Centre at Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim, India. His regional monastic seats are Karma Triyana Dharmachakra in New York and Dhagpo Kagyu Ling in Dordogne, due to a controversy within the Karma Kagyu school over the recognition process, the identity of the current 17th Karmapa is disputed. The first Karmapa, Düsum Khyenpa, was a disciple of the Tibetan master Gampopa, the source of the oral lineage, traditionally traced back to the Buddha Vajradhara, was transmitted to the Indian master of mahamudra and tantra called Tilopa, through Naropa to Marpa and Milarepa. These forefathers of the Kagyu lineage are called the golden rosary. The second Karmapa, Karma Pakshi, is said to be the first person ever recognized and empowered as a tulku. The Karmapas are the holders of the Black Crown and are sometimes known as the Black Hat Lamas. This crown, is said to have been woven by the dakinis from their hair. The physical crown displayed by the Karmapas was offered to Deshin Shekpa, douglas, Nick, White, Meryl, Karmapa, the Black Hat Lama of Tibet, Milano 1975. Ken Holmes, Karmapa, Altea Publishing 1995, ISBN 0-9524555-4-4, authors website The history of the Karmapa lineage, including biographical details of the historical Karmapas, can be found at the following web sites. Notice that the websites are written to those loyal to one or other of the rival 17th Karmapas, and their accounts of previous incarnations may not be written from a neutral point of view
Karmapa
–
The 16th Karmapa,
Rangjung Rigpe Dorje (1924 - 1981)
30.
Buddhahood
–
In Buddhism, buddhahood is the condition or rank of a buddha. The goal of Mahayanas Bodhisattva path is Samyaksambuddhahood, so one may benefit all sentient beings by teaching them the path of cessation of dukkha. This contrasts with the goal of Hinayana path, where the goal is Arhatship, in Theravada Buddhism, Buddha refers to one who has become awakened through their own efforts and insight, without a teacher to point out the Dharma. A samyak sambuddha teaches the dharma to others after his awakening, a pratyeka-buddha also reaches Nirvana through his own efforts, but does not teach the dharma to others. An Arhat needs to follow the teaching of a Buddha to attain Nirvana, in this broader sense it is equivalent to Arahant. Buddhahood is the state of an enlightened being, who having found the path of cessation of suffering, is in the state of No-more-Learning. There is a spectrum of opinion on the universality and method of attainment of Buddhahood. The level to which this manifestation requires ascetic practices varies from none at all to a requirement, dependent on doctrine. Mahayana Buddhism emphasizes the Bodhisattva ideal instead of the Arhat, the Tathagatagarba and Buddha-nature doctrines of Mahayana Buddhism consider Buddhahood to be a universal and innate property of absolute wisdom. This wisdom is revealed in a current lifetime through Buddhist practice. Buddhists do not consider Siddhartha Gautama to have been the only Buddha, the Pali Canon refers to many previous ones, while the Mahayana tradition additionally has many Buddhas of celestial origin. A common Theravada and Mahayana Buddhist belief is that the next Buddha will be one named Maitreya, the various Buddhist schools hold some varying interpretations on the nature of Buddha. All Buddhist traditions hold that a Buddha is fully awakened and has completely purified his mind of the three poisons of desire, aversion and ignorance, a Buddha is no longer bound by Samsara, and has ended the suffering which unawakened people experience in life. Most schools of Buddhism have also held that the Buddha was omniscient, however, the early texts contain explicit repudiations of making this claim of the Buddha. Some Buddhists meditate on the Buddha as having ten characteristics, in the Madhupindika Sutta, Buddha is described in powerful terms as the Lord of the Dhamma and the bestower of immortality. Similarly, in the Anuradha Sutta Buddha is described as the Tathagata—the supreme man, actually, the Buddha was a human being, not a mere human being as is sometimes said but a special class of human called a complete person. Such complete persons are no different from others and indeed they physically remain quite ordinary. Sangharakshita also states that The first thing we have to understand -, but a special kind of human being, in fact the highest kind, so far as we know
Buddhahood
–
Seated Buddha, from the
Seokguram,
Silla.
Buddhahood
–
The Buddha, in
Greco-Buddhist style, 1st-2nd century CE,
Gandhara (Modern Pakistan). (
Standing Buddha (Tokyo National Museum)).
Buddhahood
–
A statue of the Sakyamuni Buddha in
Tawang Gompa,
India.
Buddhahood
–
Buddha statues at Shwedagon Paya
