Bön has typically been described as the shamanistic religion in Tibet before the arrival of Buddhism in the 7th century. With the recent exile of many Bönpo lamas to India, however, a more complex description of Bön is emerging and is now being considered by Western scholars. A shaman doctor of Kyzyl. ... Tibet (older spelling Thibet; Tibetan: བོད་, Bod, pronounced pö in Lhasa dialect; Chinese: 西藏, Pinyin: or Chinese: 藏区, Pinyin: [the two names are used with different connotations; see Name section below]) is a region in Central Asia and the home of the Tibetan people. ... Buddhism (Pāli Buddhadhamma or Sanskrit Buddhadharma) is a religion and philosophy based on the teachings of the Buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama, who lived in the 5th century BCE. Buddhism spread throughout the ancient Indian sub-continent in the five centuries following his death, and propagated into Central, Southeast, and... // Overview Events The Roman-Persian Wars end. ... Lama can refer to: the Tibetan word for religious teacher (like the Sanskrit term guru) see Tibetan Buddhism. ...

Historical phases of Bön

According to the Bönpo themselves, the Bön religion has actually gone through three distinct phases: Animistic Bön, Yungdrung or Eternal Bön, and New Bön.

Animistic Bön

The first phase of Bön was indeed rooted in animistic and shamanistic practices and corresponds to the characterization of Bön as previously described in the West. In religion, the term Animism is used in a number of ways. ... Shamanism is a range of traditional beliefs and practices that involve the ability to diagnose, cure, and sometimes cause human suffering by traversing the axis mundi and forming a special relationship with, or gaining control over, spirits. ... The term Western world or the West can have multiple meanings depending on its context. ...

Yungdrung Bön

The second phase is the controversial phase which rests on the claims of the Bönpo texts and traditions (which are extensive and only now being analyzed in the West). These texts assert that Yungdrung Bön can be traced back to a Buddha-like founder named Tonpa Shenrab Miwoche who renounced his kingship to become a monk. He discovered the methods of attaining enlightenment and is considered to be a figure analogous to Gautama Buddha. He was said to originate 18,000 years ago in the land of Olmo Lungring, or Shambhala, which was a part of the so-called land of Tazig to the west of present day Tibet (which some scholars identify with the Persian Tajik). According to Buddhist legends, before the Shakyamuni Buddha came, there were many other Buddhas in the past, this may be one of those. Tonpa Shenrab transmitted the faith (similar in many regards to Buddhism), to the people of the Zhang Zhung culture of western Tibet who were previously practicing animistic Bön, thus establishing Yungdrung ("eternal") Bön. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Bodhi is a past tense of bodhati meaning awake, become aware, notice, know or understand in both Pāli and Sanskrit. ... Standing Buddha, ancient region of Gandhara, northern Pakistan, 1st century CE, Musée Guimet. ... In Tibetan Buddhist tradition, Shambhala (also spelled Shambala or Shamballa) is a mystical kingdom hidden somewhere beyond the snowpeaks of the Himalayas. ... Persian (known variously as: فارسی Fārsi or پارسی Pārsi, local name in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan, Tajik, a Central Asian dialect, or Dari, another local name in Tajikistan and Afghanistan) is a language spoken in Iran, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Bahrain, Iraq, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Southern Russia, neighboring countries, and elsewhere. ... The Tajiks (Persian: تاجيك) are one of the principal ethnic groups of Central Asia, and are primarily found in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, Pakistan, and the Xinjiang province of China. ... Standing Buddha, ancient region of Gandhara, northern Pakistan, 1st century CE. Gautama Buddha was a South Asian spiritual leader who lived between approximately 563 BCE and 483 BCE. Born Siddhartha Gautama in Sanskrit, a name meaning descendant of Gotama whose aims are achieved/who is efficacious in achieving aims, he... Zhang Zhung culture is an ancient culture of western and northwestern Tibet which pre-dated Tibetan Buddhism and is best known as the source of the Bön religion. ...

The most tantalizing claim (which on balance is not endorsed by most scholars) is that Buddhism may have arrived in Tibet by some other path than directly from northwest India. A transmission through Persia prior to the 7th century is not impossible. Alexander the Great had connected Greece with India almost a millennium earlier, resulting in a flourishing Greco-Buddhist art style in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The 6th century Khosrau I of Persia is known to have ordered the translation of the Buddhist jataka tales into the Persian language. The Silk Road, the path by which Buddhism traveled to China in 67 AD, lies entirely to the west of Tibet and passed through the Persian city of Hamadan. Nonetheless, we cannot identify a major center of Buddhist learning in Persia which corresponds to the Bönpo's land of Tazig. Alternative proposed sites have included the ancient cities of Merv, Khotan, or Balkh, all of which had thriving Buddhist communities active in the correct timeframe and are located to the west of Tibet. Alexander the Great (in Greek , transliterated Megas Alexandros) (July 356 BC – June 11 323 BCE), King of Macedon (336–323 BCE), is considered one of the most successful military commanders in world history, conquering most of the world known to the ancient Greeks before his death. ... The Buddha, in Greco-Buddhist style, 1st-2nd century CE, Gandhara. ... A coin of Khosrau I Khosrau I, (Most commonly known as Anooshiravan also spelled Anushirvan, Persian: انوشيروان meaning the immortal soul), also known as Anooshiravan the Just (انوشیروان عادل, Anooshiravan-e-ādel) (ruled 531–579), was the favourite son and successor of Kavadh I of Persia (488–531), and the most famous and... The Jataka stories are a significant body of works about the previous lives of Gautama Buddha. ... Persian (known variously as: فارسی Fārsi or پارسی Pārsi, local name in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan, Tajik, a Central Asian dialect, or Dari, another local name in Tajikistan and Afghanistan) is a language spoken in Iran, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Bahrain, Iraq, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Southern Russia, neighboring countries, and elsewhere. ... For other uses, see Silk Road (disambiguation). ... Centuries: 1st century BC - 1st century - 2nd century Decades: 10s 20s 30s 40s 50s - 60s - 70s 80s 90s 100s 110s Years: 62 63 64 65 66 - 67 - 68 69 70 71 72 Events Linus succeeds Saint Peter as pope. ... Avicennas tomb in Hamedan Hamadan or Hamedan ( Persian: همدان ) is the capital city of Hamadan Province of Iran. ... Merv – Persian name: مرو; formerly Alexandria and Antiochia in Margiana (Greek: Αντιόχεια η Μαργιανή) – in current-day Turkmenistan, was a major oasis-city in Central Asia, on the historical Silk Road, located near todays Mary. ... Mosque in Khotan. ... Today Balkh is a small town in the Province of Balkh, Afghanistan, about 20 kilometers northwest of the provincial capital, Mazar-e Sharif, and some 74 km (46 miles) south of the Amu Darya, the Oxus River of antiquity, of which a tributary formerly flowed past Balkh. ...

Leaving aside the speculation on Tazig, what can we say about the other Bön claims? The existence of the Zhang Zhung culture is supported by many lines of evidence, including the existence of a remnant of living Zhang Zhung speakers still found in Himachal Pradesh. The claim that Lord Shenrab was born 180 centuries ago, however, does not merit much consideration. The interesting question is: when did the Bön really enter the Yungdrung phase (that is, when did elements of Buddhism enter the faith)? Himachal Pradesh (Devanagari: िहमाचल प्रदेश), formally the Punjab Hill States, is a mostly mountainous state in northwest India. ...

If we do not accept the Bön claim that the Buddhist elements are older than Buddha, we may consider some other milestones in Tibetan history which may mark points at which Buddhism became part of Bön.

• In the first half of the 7th century, the Tibetan King Songtsen Gampo assassinates King Ligmincha of the Zhang Zhung and annexes the Zhang Zhung kingdom. The same Songsten Gampo is also the first Tibetan king to marry a Buddhist (or in his case two): in 632 to Nepalese princess Bhrikuti, and in 641 to Princess Wencheng, daughter of Emperor Tang Taizong of Tang Dynasty China (where Buddhism is approaching its zenith). Both Tibetan and Bön history agrees that King Songtsen Gampo decides to follow Bön, despite his marriages. It is not clear if his Bön has Buddhist elements or if it is purely animistic.

• Approximately 130 years later, King Trisong Detsen (742-797) holds a debate contest between Bön priests and Buddhists and decides to convert to Buddhism. He invites the great Indian saint Padmasambhava to bring Tantric Buddhism to Tibet in 779. According to Tibetan Buddhist tradition, the arrival of Padmasambhava represents the First Transmission of the faith. Tantric Buddhism becomes important in Tibet at this point, which may be when Bön absorbed Buddhist practices.

• As Tantric Buddhism becomes the state religion of Tibet, the Bön face persecution, forcing Bönpo masters such as Drenpa Namkha underground. In several decades, however, with the collapse of the Tibetan Empire into civil war in 842, it is possible that Bön may have experienced a partial revival in some districts, especially in western Tibet.

• In the 11th century, approximately coincident with the Second Transmission of Tantric Buddhism associated with saints such as Atisha and Naropa, a Bön school of Tibetan Buddhism emerges, clearly evidencing Buddhist aspects.

At what point prior to the 11th century did Buddhist elements actually become part of Bön? This is the mystery of the Yungdrung Bön phase. We can only hope for further textual or archaeological discoveries that will give us greater insight. // Overview Events The Roman-Persian Wars end. ... A statue of Emperor Srong-rtsan Sgam-po in his meditation cave at Yerpa Songtsen Gampo (སྲོང་བཙན་སྒམ་པོ་ Wylie: Srong-btsan Sgam-po) (604–650 CE) was the thirty-third king of the Yarlung Dynasty of Tibet. ... Events Abu Bakr becomes first caliph or Successor of the Prophet, leader of Islam Abu Bakr defeats Mosailima in the Battle of Akraba. ... Bhrikuti (also Bhrikuti devi) was a princess of the Licchavi kingdom of Nepal during the 7th century. ... Events Founding of the city of Fostat, later Cairo, in Egypt. ... Emperor Taizong of Tang China (January 23, 599–July 10, 649), born Li Shimin, was the second emperor of the Tang Dynasty of China from 626 to 649. ... For the band, see Tang Dynasty (band). ... Trisong Detsen (Wylie Khri-srong lDe-btsan) was the 38th King of Tibet, ruling from 755 until 797. ... Events Chinese poet Li Po is presented before the emperor and given a position in the Imperial court. ... Events July 17 - Irene orders her son, the Byzantine emperor Constantine VI captured and deposed August 15 - Irenes orders are accomplished; her son is blinded, and herself declared emperor the next day. ... Guru Rinpoche - Padmasambhava statue - near Kulu Padmasambhava (also Padmakara or Padma Raja) (Ch: 蓮華生上師; Tib: Padma Jungne), in Sanskrit meaning lotus-born, founded the Tibetan or Tantric school of Buddhism in the 8th century. ... A mandala used in Vajrayana Buddhist practices. ... Events Offa of Mercia beats Cynewulf of Wessex and takes Bensington. ... Tibetan Buddhism, (formerly also called Lamaism after their religious gurus known as lamas), is the body of religious Buddhist doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and the Himalayan region. ... Events Oaths of Strasbourg — alliance of Louis the German and Charles the Bald against emperor Lothar — sworn and recorded in vernacular languages. ... As a means of recording the passage of time, the 11th century was that century which lasted from 1001 to 1100. ... AtiÅ›a Dipamkara Shrijnana (Bangla: অতীশ দীপঙ্কর শ্রীজ্ঞান) (982 - 1054 CE) was a Buddhist teacher who reintroduced Buddhism into Tibet after King Langdharma had nearly destroyed it. ... Naropa (Tibetan; Sanskrit: Nadaprada, 1016-1100) was an Indian Buddhist mystic and monk, the pupil of Tilopa and brother, or some sources say partner, of Niguma. ...

New Bön

The "New Bön" phase emerges in the 14th century when some Bön teachers began to adopt Tibetan Buddhist practices related to Padmasambhava. New Bön is primarily practiced in the eastern regions of Amdo and Kham. Although the practices of New Bön vary to some extent from Yungdrun Bön, the practitioners of New Bön still honor the Abbot of Menri as the leader of their tradition. This 14th-century statue from south India depicts the gods Shiva (on the left) and Uma (on the right). ...

Presently about 10 percent of Tibetans are estimated to follow Bön Buddhism according to the Chinese census. At the time of the communist takeover in Tibet there were approximately 300 Bön monasteries in Tibet and western China. According to a recent survey, there are 264 active Bön monasteries, nunneries, and hermitages. Tibet is situated between the two ancient cultural centers of India and China but its location on the remote Tibetan plateau served to isolate it from both. ...

The present spiritual head of the Bön is His Holiness Lungtok Tenpai Nyima, the thirty-third Abbot of Menri Monastery (destroyed in the Cultural Revolution, but now being rebuilt), who now presides over Tashi Menri Ling Monastery in Dolanji in Himachal Pradesh, India. A poster during the Cultural Revolution. ... Himachal Pradesh (Devanagari: िहमाचल प्रदेश), formally the Punjab Hill States, is a mostly mountainous state in northwest India. ...

Bön spiritual practices

New Bön, while essentially identical with other schools of Tibetan Buddhism, may be distinguished by certain characteristics: Tibetan Buddhism — formerly also called Lamaism, after their religious gurus known as lamas — is the body of religious Buddhist doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and the Himalayan region. ...

1. counter-clockwise (rather than clockwise) circumambulation of chortens
2. a nine-way path (distinct from the nine-yana system of the Nyingma) that the Bön consider a superset of other Tibetan Buddhist paths. (Despite talk of a superset, the Bön divide their teachings in a familiar way: Causal Vehicle, Sutra, Tantra and Dzogchen)
3. additional sacred texts including many in the ancient Zhang Zhung language
4. symbolism which includes the Mountain of Nine Swastikas and the Olmo Lungring paradise.

The Bön school is said to resemble most closely the Nyingma school, the oldest school of Tibetan Buddhism which traces its lineage to the First Transmission. Categories: Buildings and structures stubs | Buildings and structures ... Sutra (सूत्र) in Sanskrit is derived from the verb siv-, meaning to sew (these words, including English to sew and Latinate suture, all derive from PIE *syÅ«-). It literally means a rope or thread, and more metaphorically refers to an aphorism (or line, rule, formula), or a collection of such aphorisms... Tantra (Sanskrit: loom), tantric yoga or tantrism is any of several esoteric traditions rooted in the religions of India. ... This article refers to the primordial state as considered in Tibetan Buddhism and Bon. ... Zhang Zhung culture is a culture of western and northwestern Tibet which pre-dated Tibetan Buddhism and is best known as the source of the Bön religion. ... A right-facing Swastika in decorative Hindu form For the town in Ontario, see Swastika, Ontario. ... The Nyingma tradition is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism (the other three being the Gelug, Kagyu and Sakya). ...

See also

• Dongba
• Yeshey Tsogyel

A Dongba shaman conducting a ritual. ... Yeshey Tsogyel (rhymes with may say so well), also known in the Nyingma tradition as the Great Bliss Queen, is a mythical red skinned diety or figure of enlightenment (dakini) in Tibetan Buddhism identified with the factual wife of Emperor Tri-song-day-tsen (740 - c. ...

External links

• Ligmincha Institute
• Tibetan Bön Tradition in Belarus and Ukraine
• Garuda Switzerland
• interview with Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, the most senior teacher of the Bönpo tradition
• Picture of Bön inscription