358 sven bretfeld
such a speculation may be justi ed at least in the case of Ye-shes-’od.
However, if there is any credibility in the Rin-chen-bzang-po story, it
is unlikely that the subsequent kings were completely unaware of the
wide acceptance tantric Buddhism enjoyed in India of the eleventh
century, also in the monasteries. An of cial letter (bka’-shog) by Zhi-ba-
’od—a younger brother of Byang-chub-’od and Buddhist scholar of
some reputation who seems to have held considerable political authority
over the Gu-ge district of Western Tibet and its religious estates after
his brother’s retirement—indicates that within the generation immedi-
ately after Ye-shes-’od, tantric Buddhism was accepted by members of
the royal family.^36 This document was published as a stigmatisation of
“wrong” tantras, that is to say, those tantras that Zhi-ba-’od considered
to be composed by Tibetans (i.e., tantras not authenticated by Indian
origin). “Authentic” tantras, on the other hand, were allowed to be
practiced—with the restriction that monks have to keep their celibacy
and must not (at least not physically) enter into the sexual aspects of
tantric practice:
Those who have taken vows as monks must observe their monastic rules,
and (when) they take up the practice of the Mantrayna they should
make efforts to observe the vows of the tantras belonging to the class
of Kriy, Upya, Yoga and even the Guhyasamja, etc. without breaking
their monastic vows.^37This rule concords with Atia’s solution to the problematic coexistence
of two religious ideals that include celibacy and sexual ritual respec-
tively, as laid down in his Bodhipathapradpa. While most parts of this
work are devoted to “conventional” Mahyna practice and indicate
an implicit preference for monastic lifestyle, the last few verses take up
the topic of tantrism and sexual religious practice. For Atia tantrism
is an optional supplement to the Mahyna path, a more convenient
(bde-ba) method to develop spiritual qualities.^38 In principle, the tantric
option is open to monastic practitioners also, but only the rst stage
of tantric initiation is allowed for them, since the higher stages involve
sexual practices:
If somebody wishes to practice the secret mantras taught in the Kriy-,
Cary-tantras etc., he should please a worthy teacher with all kinds of(^36) Cf. Karmay 1998b.
(^37) Translation Karmay 1998b, p. 37.
(^38) Bodhipathapradpa (ed. Eimer 1978), pp. 245–248.