The Spread of Buddhism

the buddhist way into tibet 321

the “all-perceiving Vairocana”. The images attest to the importance
of the cult of Vairocana in the royal period which will be dealt with
later in this essay.
The ancient monastery of bSam-yas and its various temples and
chapels are described in detail in later literary sources. Moreover a
variety of temples constructed during the phyi-dar took as their model
the temple-complex of bSam-yas.^30

6.5. The Establishment of the Sagha in Tibet

Alongside the construction and consecration of the  rst monastery in
Tibet, of which ntarakita became abbot, seven men were chosen,
who were ordained by the Indian master and subsequently called
the “seven chosen ones” (sad-mi-mi-bdun). These  rst monks (dge-slong)
of Tibet all belonged to the Tibetan nobility, among them the most
conservative, who put much emphasis on the veneration of the god-
like king.
The sagha was apparently growing fast. In the same year that
bSam-yas was consecrated (779 AD) the sources tell us that a hundred
people, among them some female members of the royal family, took
the Buddhist vows. The necessity to see to the sustenance of the mon-
astery and its community arose, and the emperor was obliged to act as
patron of the sagha,^31 as his role models from surrounding Buddhist
countries probably suggested to him. The dBa’-bzhed gives some details
concerning the arrangements to support the sagha:

From then on, the offerings for the Three Jewels and the food for the

sa gha were provided by the khab so chen po. Clothing was completely

provided thanks to the wealthy people. Every year each monk had to be

offered 12 khal of barley.^32

dBa’-gsal-snang, or Ye-shes-dbang-po, as he is called by his clerical
name, who according to tradition was responsible for the invitation
of Padmasambhava and ntarakita to Tibet, was appointed head
of the Buddhist community by the king after ntarakita’s death. He
requested the emperor to assign estates to the monastery so that its

(^30) See for example the description of the temple of Grva-mda’ in the Zhi-byed-chos-
’byung, Kollmar-Paulenz 1993, pp. 161–162.
(^31) For the following I rely on Dargyay 1991, pp. 111–127.
(^32) Wangdu & Diemberger 2000, p. 73. Tib. khab-so is probably an of ce, see op. cit.,
p. 73, n. 271.