TIBETAN RELIGIONS: AN OVERVIEW
To the Western mind, Tibet has traditionally appeared as a
remote yet uniquely fascinating country. Profoundly Bud-
dhist in all aspects of its social, cultural, and religious life,
it was, until 1959, dominated by a monastic hierarchy. In
the imagination of some, the so-called Land of Snow (as the
Tibetans style their country) has also been regarded as the
home of mysterious, superhuman beings, mahatmas, who,
from their secret abodes in the Himalayas, give mystic guid-
ance to the rest of humanity.
As sources become more abundant, a more realistic and
complex view of Tibetan history and religion is gaining
ground. The following points, which make this clear, should
be kept in mind.
First, Buddhism in Tibet is represented by several tradi-
tions, monastic “orders,” or schools, which have certain basic
traits in common but also differ in significant respects. This
must be taken into account when reading written sources,
since traditional Tibetan historiography (which invariably is
religious historiography) tends to reflect the more or less par-
tisan views of the authors.
Second, Buddhism is not the only religion that must be
taken into account. Buddhism penetrated into Tibet relative-
ly late—perhaps not before the eighth century CE—and only
gradually succeeded in supplanting a well-established indige-
nous religion that is still only fragmentarily known. Further-
more, from the tenth or eleventh century onward, the vari-
ous Buddhist orders have existed alongside a religion known
as Bon, which, while claiming, certainly not without some
justification, continuity with the pre-Buddhist religion, is
nevertheless almost indistinguishable from Buddhism in
many respects. Bon has retained its own identity to this day.
In addition, there remains a vast area of rites and beliefs that
are neither specifically Buddhist nor Bon but may be styled
“popular religion” or “the religion without a name.” There
is also a small minority of Tibetan Muslims (who will, how-
ever, not be treated in this article).
Third, it should be recognized that Tibet is a somewhat
ambiguous term. In the present context it can only be used
in a meaningful way to refer to an ethnically defined area—
including parts of India and Nepal—that shares a common
culture and language, common religious traditions, and, to
a large extent, a common history. The so-called Tibetan Au-
tonomous Region of China only comprises the western and
central parts of Tibet, including the capital, Lhasa. The vast
expanses of eastern and northeastern Tibet (Kham and
Amdo) have since the 1950s been incorporated into Chinese
provinces, but are ethnically and historically entirely Tibet-
an. Beyond Tibet (thus defined), Tibetan Buddhism is the
official religion of Bhutan; until the early years of the twenti-
eth century it reigned supreme in Mongolia; and it is still
found among the Buriats, Tuvin, and Kalmuks in Russia. Its
spread in the West will be discussed at the end of this article.
The term Lamaism is frequently used to refer to Tibetan
religion. Tibetans often object to this term, as it could be
taken to imply that Buddhism in Tibet is somehow basically
different from Buddhism in other parts of Asia. To the extent
that the term Lamaism points to the important role of the
lama (Tib,, bla ma), or religious guide and expert in Tibetan
religion, it can be said to refer equally to Buddhism and Bon,
and thus it retains a certain usefulness. However, as a term
intended to describe Tibetan religion as a whole, it remains
one-sided and hence misleading.
THE PRE-BUDDHIST RELIGION. When Buddhism was intro-
duced into Tibet in the eighth century, it did not enter a reli-
gious vacuum. At present, however, it is not possible to arrive
at an adequate understanding of the pre-Buddhist religion
because of the incompleteness of the sources.
These sources fall into two categories: ancient and later.
Ancient sources are those that predate the collapse of the
royal dynasty in the middle of the ninth century. Archaeo-
logical sources are practically nonexistent, since only sporad-
ic excavations have been undertaken to date. The royal
tombs at DPhyong rgyas in central Tibet are still prominently
visible but were plundered at an early date. The vast majority
of the written sources are later than the introduction of Bud-
dhism and thus often show traces of syncretic beliefs. These
sources include inscriptions on pillars and bells, manuscripts
containing fragments of rituals and myths or of divinatory
practices, Buddhist texts that refute the ancient religion, and
Chinese chronicles from the Tang dynasty (618-907). The
language of these Tibetan texts, however, is archaic and all
too often obscure, and the manuscripts themselves are not
infrequently in a fragmentary condition.
The later sources date from the twelfth century onward
and are found mainly in the historical writings of Buddhism
and the Bon religion, which, between them, had by this time
been completely successful in an institutional sense at least
in replacing the ancient religion. Many indigenous beliefs
and practices have persisted until today in the popular, non-
monastic religion, but as they are usually closely intermixed
with elements of Buddhism (or, as the case may be, with
Bon), it is an exceptionally delicate task to use folk religion
as a basis for reconstructing the pre-Buddhist religion.
Thus the picture of pre-Buddhist religion that emerges
on the basis of the ancient sources is, unfortunately, frag-
mentary. Certain rituals, beliefs, and parts of myths may be
discerned, but the overall feeling of coherency is lacking,
Those elements that are known focus largely on the person
of the king. It is safe to assert that the Tibetans, at least from
the sixth century onward, if not earlier, had a sacral kingship.
The welfare of the country depended on the welfare of the
king. Accordingly, rites of divination and sacrifice were per-
formed to protect his life, guarantee his victory in battle, and
ensure his supremacy in all things. It is said in the ancient
sources that “his helmet is mighty” and his rule “great, firm,
supreme,” and “eternal.” The king “does not change”; he is
endowed with “long life.”
The king was regarded not only as a vitally important
personage but above all as a sacred being. According to a fre-9182 TIBETAN RELIGIONS: AN OVERVIEW