Posted by admin on August 16th, 2009 |
0 commentsThe Posterior Propagating Period of Buddhism is another important period in the history of the Tibetan Buddhism.
From the beginning of the 10thcentury, Buddhism was revived in Tibet because of continuous efforts of the remaining monks’ and the popularization of Buddhism by the Guge Dynasty. Guge Kingdom was located in Ngari region in the western part of Tibet in the 10thcentury. The King Kho-re (Ye shes vod), the second king of the Guge Dynasty, handed his throne to his brother and became a monk (Dharma Name: Yeshes’od).
Yeshes’od revived Buddhism with the support of the royalty. He dispatched many monks to India to get Buddhist canons and study Buddhism, organized people to establish and repair monasteries and translate Buddhist canons. When he heard that there was a great master named Atisha inIndia, he decided to invite him to propagandize Buddhism inTibet. In order to raise the fund needed to invite Atisha, he disregarded his seniority and led troops to attack the neighboring nationality that believed in Islam. But he failed and was captured by his enemy. The victorious ruler said that it would take gold equivalent to his body weight to trade back his freedom. Therefore, Yeshes’od’s grandnephew Byang Chub ‘od tried his best to collect the gold needed. However, when his grandnephew brought enough gold to trade him back, Yeshes’od declined the offer. Instead, he asked Byang Chub ‘od to take the gold toIndiato invite the great master Atisha to propagate Buddhism in Tibet, and before long he himself died of illness in jail.
Buddhism . ibet
Posted by admin on August 16th, 2009 |
0 commentsThe previous period of Buddhism is an important period in the history of the Tibetan Buddhism.
The Tibet King Trisong Detsen was a believer of Buddhism in the 8thcentury. In order to spread Buddhism, he invited Santarakshita and Padmasambhava, two Buddhism masters in India, to promote Buddhism in Tibet (referred to as the Tufan in ancient times). After their arrival, they began to establish the base of Buddhism, and the first monastery, Samye Monastery, was thus constructed for tonsured monks. After the establishment of the Samye Monastery, Trisong Detsen specially dispatched people to India to invite 12 monks to hold the ceremonies of tonsure and commandment for seven young aristocratic Tibetans. This was an extremely important event in the history of the Tibetan Buddhism.
After King Tritsug Detsen Ralpachen ascended the throne in Tibet at the beginning of the 9thcentury, he ordered his people to translate a lot of Buddhist canons with the amount exceeding that had been finished by the Han Nationality. He also stipulated that every seven families should sustain one monk’s life and monks were allowed to take part in events and issues of the court. Buddhism was therefore thriving thanks to the support of the Tibetan king.
However, the measures of King Tritsug Detsen Ralpachen gained no popularity and favor among the aristocrats and the common people. Before long, the aristocrats plotted to murder King Tritsug Detsen Ralpachen, and a large-scale campaign was carried out against the Buddhism. The Samye Monastery and other famous monasteries were closed, and monks were forced to believe in Bon Religion, a local religion in Tibet. This Buddhism-banning campaign heavily attacked Buddhism, so the period of about 100 years after the Lang Darma was called Buddhism Destructing Period, and the period from the reign of King Srongtsen Gampo, when Buddhism was introduced into Tibet, to the Lang Darma reign was called the Anterior Propagating Period of Buddhism in the history of Tibetan Buddhism.
Buddhism . Tibetan Buddhism
Posted by admin on August 16th, 2009 |
0 commentsTheGuanding(Empowerment) is the most important and basic religious observance in the Tibetan Buddhism with strong features of theSecretSchool, and it is also the process that every monk at a certain level must experience.
The Tibetan Buddhism deems that the self-cultivation of a Buddhist monk is a continuous transmission lineage that must come from a noble superior master, and only the transmission lineage from such a noble superior master can be trusted. In addition, the experience must be transmitted to next generation by the reviser who has no interruption for understanding and inspiration. Every Buddhist must contact this important transmission lineage, which is realized through the Empowerment.
According to the Tibetan Buddhism, the acceptance of Empowerment can awaken the special energy in the heart of the gymnosophist, the communication is established between disciple and superior master, the Empowerment can trigger the potential ability in the body of disciple and make he/her come to a good track of self-cultivation until the realization of consummation. To carry out the Empowerment ceremony, the superior master and the disciple must take part in the rite by themselves. In general, the Empowerment is carried out at the specified place in a monastery at a specified time. When the rite is being carried out, special monks recite sutras and play music, and the religious atmosphere is very strong and mysterious.
Buddhism . Tibetan
