Bön

Origins

The exact origin and the nature of the traditions of first Bön, twelve according to the common opinion yet, were not established. One thinks nevertheless of finding of them traces in the practical writings bönpo and some and beliefs: oracle S lhapa or sungma (srung-my) residing in the temples, ritual la-guk (bla 'gug) of recall of the heart, faded states of conscience and guidance lasting the bardo, period which extends from dead to the rebirth. The researchers also lean on the contemporary shamanism among the close Tibetans and people.

With regard to Yungdrung, forms near to Buddhism tantric appeared in XIe century, a detailed legend reports its transmission starting from the Master (tongpa) original, Tongpa Shenrab Miwoche (sTon-Pa semi-bo-che gShen-rab), which would have received the perfect teaching of the Dzogchen directly of the paramount Buddha Kuntu Zangpo. Its practitioners claim that it was transmitted several thousands of years before its competitor, and developed first of all with the kingdom of Zhang Zhung in the West of current Tibet. This dating is of course not retained by the historians, but Tazig where Tonpa Shenrab, prince waked up like the Bouddha, would have been born, is sometimes identified with the Perse. Some thus propose that the Bouddhisme would first of all have arrived at Western Tibet independently of Padmasambhava and of the influences Indian and Chinese starting from VIIe century.

The Founder of Yungdrung

In old times lived three brothers, Dagpa, Selwa and Shepa, which studied the Bön doctrines in a paradise named Sipa Yesang, under the aegis of wise Bumtri Logi Chechen. They asked him how to help the alive world, submerged by misery, sorrow and the suffering; he advised to them to become guides of humanity during three successive eras. Thus, oldest of the brothers, Dagpa, his task in the world of the past completed; the second, Selwa, took for name Shenrab and became Master and guide of the world present; young person, Shepa, will come in the next age.

Tonpa Shenrab went down it there has 18.000 years of the sky Sidpa Yesang (srid-Pa ye-bloods) in the shape of a bird to the multicoloured plumage and was incarnated in a prince born in the palate Barpo Sogye in the south of the Mont Yungdrung. Married young person and father, Tonpa Shenrab renonça in the world at 31 years to live in the austerity and to teach the doctrines. During the major part of its life, its efforts to propagate Bön were blocked by the demon Khyabpa Lagring, which it ends up converting. It is in it prosecuting to recover its stolen horses that Tonpa Shenrab arrived at Tibet where it was its only visit. It there left ritual instructions, but judged that the country was not yet ready to receive all the lesson. Before leaving, he prophesied that they would appear when Tibet would be ripe. He died in 82 years.

Olmo Lungring like spiritual origin

Bönpo supports that it originates in the mythical area of Olmo Lungring, left of Tazig (rtag gigs); located at the west of Tibet, it covers a third of the existing world. “ol” symbolizes what was not born yet, “Mo” what cannot be decreased, “lung” prophetic country of Tonpa Shenrab, and “boxing ring” last compassion. Its representation is a lotus with eight petals in a sky symbolized by a wheel with eight rays. In the center draws up the mount Yungdrung Gutseg (pyramid of the nine swatiska). Yungdrung (eternal) indicates the Svastika, symbol of permanence and the indestructibility. The nine swatiska piled up represent the nine ways of Bön.

At the base of the Yungdrung mount spout out four rivers running in the four directions. The mountain is surrounded by temples, cities and parks. In the south the palate Barpo Sogye is, where Tonpa Shenrab was born. In the west and north the palates are where his wives and his/her children live, in the east a temple named Shampo Lhatse, dedicated to the prayer. The whole of the palates, rivers and parks around the mount constitutes the interior region (Nangling). The intermediate area (Barling) consists of 12 cities from which 4 are located at the cardinal points. The third area constitutes the external country (Taling). These three areas are encircled by an ocean, then by snow-covered mountains. Before its visit in Tibet, Tonpa Shenrab drew an arrow and thus created a passage through the mountains; the access to Olmo Lungring is thus done by the way known as of the arrow (Delam).

Olmo Lungring was identified with various areas according to the schools. Some see there the mount Kailash (Ti) with the 4 large rivers which are born from its base and the four areas which surround it: China in the east, India in the south, the Orgyan in the west and the Khotan in north. Others think that its geography evokes that of the Middle East and Persia at the time of Cyrus Large the. For a believer bönpo, the question of the geographical identification passes after its significance symbolic system, which is clearly prévalente, as for the Mont Meru.

Crowned texts

One allots three writings to Tonpa Shenrab. The shortest first and is the Dodus (Model of the Aphorism), the second the Zerming (Bored Eyes); they date respectively from Xe and XIe centuries. The third and more important is the Zhiji (the Glorious one), revealed by spiritual transmission with Loden Nyingpo in XIVe century. The doctrines of these three texts form two systems. The first, called Gozhi Dzonga, includes/understands five parts, the Four doors and the Treasury:

Chabkar “White Water”: more highly contains the esoteric practices or tantric.
Chabnag “Black Water”: accounts and rites varied, magic and ritual ordinary (death, funeral, disease and offerings); this portion preserves many traces of the old shamanism.
Pangul “Country of Side”: explain the monastic rules and presents the philosophical concepts.
Ponse “the Guide of the Seigniory”: contains the practices of the Great Perfection (Dzogchen), height of teaching in Nyingmapa also.
Totog “the Treasury”: compare the essential aspects of the Four doors.

The second unit is called Tegpa Rimgui Bon, (Bön of the nine successive stages) or simply the Last nine ways of Bön, grouped in four causes (Gyuyi Tegpa) and four results (Drabui Tegpa) followed great perfection (Dzogchen). This division points out the Last nine vehicles of Nyingmapa. The first four ways present the most difference with Buddhism; many old practices are preserved there:

the way of Shen of the Prediction (Chasen Tegpa) described 4 various ways: prediction-magic spell (Mo), astrology (tsi), ritual (to) and the examination of the causes (che).
the way of Shen of the visual world (Nang Shen Tegpa) explains the origin and the nature of the gods and the demons living in this world, the methods of exorcism and the various kinds of offerings.
the way of Shen of the Illusion (Trulshen Tegpa) contains the rites to get rid of the unfavourable capacities.
the way of Shen of the Existence (Sishen Tegpa) described the state after death (bardo) and the method to guide the alive ones towards the final release or a better reincarnation.

The five following ones are very similar to those of Nyingmapa:

the way of the Virtuous Partisans (Genyen Tegpa) guide those which follow the ten virtues and the ten perfections.
the way Monacale (Drangsgon Tegpa) described the laws of the monastic discipline.
the way of the Pure Sound (Akar Tegpa) exposes the high tantric practices, the theory of the realization through the mystical circles (mandalas) and the ritual ones of these practices.
the way of Shen Vierge (Yeshen Tegpa) insists on the need for a good Master, place and occasion for the tantric practices, and described in detail the position of the mystical circles with instructions for the meditation on particular deities.
the Supreme way (LAMA Legpa): the most achievement of the great Perfection (Dzogchen).

Practices and the Pantheon

Practices

Bön has a strong monastic tradition; there exists nevertheless, as at Nyingmapa, an alive married clergy within the population. Called ngakpas , they receive a religious teaching rather similar to that of the monks and are devoted more particularly to the ritual services (births, marriages, death, exorcisms, cures etc), being based for the cures and exorcisms on the capacity of the Tantra S and the techniques of meditation, and not the Transe itself like the Shamans (pawo or lhapa). The monks also study astrology and the Médecine traditional Tibetan.

As in the other currents of the religion Tibetan, the meditations bön make use of Yidam S, divinities guides, and of their thangkas or Mandala S, as well as Saddhana S (sgrub thabs), texts in worms or prose by describing the stages. Among the schools of meditation, two are more specific to the religion bön:

Dzogchen (way of the perfection), also employed in Nyingmapa; there are four versions, oldest and important being the Oral tradition of Zang Zhung (Zhang zhung sNyan-rgyud) in writing lying in VIIIe century by Gyerphung Nangzher Lodpo, disciple of Tapihritsa.
Chod (cut) aims at slicing the bonds with the ego. The practice formerly consitait to be placed in an environment terrorizing to carry out the cut under the effect of the fear. It is also the name of an offering symbolic system of the body in food to the enlightened beings carried out with a same aim. In the popular religion, the chod is a practice by which the Shaman absorbs the harmful influences in his body of fright that it then lets devour by the demons.

As in Nyingmapa, a certain number of crowned texts bönpo are terma , spiritual treasures dissimulated by former Masters and redécouverts by the let us termons which are often ngakpas; they are then regarded as the reincarnation of one of the disciples of the Master to whom is allotted the text. Beside the material discoveries (its-gter), there exist writings reconstituted by vision (dag-snang), hearing (snyan-rgyud), or inspiration (dgongs-gter).

The Pantheon

Like all the branches of the religion Tibetan, Bön has the impressive Pantheon. Each ritual cycle theoretically has its whole of deities, all emanations of single the tathagarbha . They are classified according to two principles.

One, more specific to Bön, distinguishes between the divinities “enlightened” out of this world and “not-enlightened the” active ones in this world. It would reflect a dualistic design of the universe like place of conflict between luminous and obscure forces, which one foresees in the oldest texts, from now on replaced by the Buddhist design of the going beyond of the oppositions. Other classification distinguishes the peaceful (zhi-Ba), courroucées divine forms (khro-bo) and wild (phur-Pa). In addition, at the time of ritual the " pratiques" (marriages, cures etc), the ngakpa can also call upon the three worlds (sky lha , ground nyen , subterranean water read ) having each one their divinities.

The Bouddha S are of course present, appearing sometimes in group of thousand. Like all the branches of Buddhism, Bön recognizes the existence of the Buddhas of the three ages (past, present, future). There exists also a multitude of minor divinities, gods of nature, demons etc

The four principal peaceful deities, or four beings transcendent , are:

Kuntu Zangpo (Kun you bzang-Po - Samantabhadra), paramount Buddha; it is bonku (good-sku), equivalent of the Dharmakaya;
Shenlha Odkar (gShen-lha 'od- dkar), " white light of the prêtres" ; it is zogku (rdzogs-sku), équvalent Sambhogakâya and reigns on the three worlds;.
Tonpa Shenrab is tulku (sprul-sku) or tonpa, " professeur" , équvalent with the Nirmanakâya; he is Master of our old;
Satrig Ersang (Its-trig er-bloods), still called Jamma (Byams-my), " mother aimante" , female form;

The principal deities guardians (bKa-skyong) are:

Sidpa Gyalmo (Srid-pa' I Gyal-Mo), guardian of the lesson bönpo;
Midu or Midud Jampa Trago (Semi-bdud 'byams-Pa khrag-mgo), guard of the monastery of Menri;
Tsangod Hurpa (bTsan-rgod hur-Pa);

History

Propagation in Zhang Zhung and Tibet

According to the tradition, the first Bön writings were brought to the Zhang Zhung by six disciples of Mucho Demdrung, successor of Tonpa Shenrab. They were translated into local language, then in Tibetan, language in whom is written the Bön gun such as we currently know it. The vocabulary is that of Buddhism tantric, except for the term yungdrung which replace there dordjé (Vajra) and of good which replaces tchô (Dharma). Nevertheless, several texts, especially oldest, keep traces of language Zhang Zhung in their title and certain passages.

Until VIIe century, Zhang Zhung remained an independent State located at Western Tibet, in the west of the provinces U and Tsang, extending it seems since Gilgit in the west with the lake Namtso in the east, and of Khotan in north in Mustang in the south. Its capital was Khyunglung Ngulkhar (Money Palate of the Garunda valley); one thinks in avoit discovered the ruins in the high Sutlej valley, in the south-west of the Mount Kailash (Himachal Pradesh). The language Zhang Zhung is classified in the group Tibéto-Burmese Langues sino-Tibetans.

At the 7th century, the last king, Ligmirgy, were assassinated by the king Songtsen Gampo. Zhang Zhung became integral part of Tibet then; it was tibétanisé little by little and its philosophical and religious culture impregnated that of the victorious country.

According to the interest growing for Buddhism, marked by the creation of the monastery of Samye in 779 and its establishment like religion of State at the end of the 8th century, Bön was the subject of persecutions and attempts at eradication, for reasons more often political than religious. Nevertheless, its members, as well in the nobility as in the people, clung to their convictions and he survived, probably helped by a crisis of the royalty Tibetan in 842. She undoubtedly enabled him to be reinvigorated in the offset areas where had fled in VIIIe century, particularly difficult period, much of priests bönpo. They would have hidden their writings before in order to preserve them for the future generations. Drenpa Namdak, one of the greatest personalities bönpo of this time, converts with Buddhism with an aim of preserving and of transmitting in secrecy the lesson to the risk of its life; he was disciple of Padmasambhava. One can still quote Gyerpoung Nangzer Lopô and Tséwang Rigdzin.

Of XIe century at our days

Of VIIIe in XIe century, we do not know almost anything the development of Bön. Its rebirth in monastic form started after the second tantric transmission of Buddhism in Tibet following the arrival of the Bengali monk Atisha and of a disciple of Naropa. Important texts bönpo appeared, “discovered” by Shenchen Luga (969 - 1035) in 1017, according to a tradition shared by the Nyingmapa which wants that the crowned texts are redécouvertes writings hidden by the wise old ones. Shenchen Luga was downward of Tonpa Shenrab, and its family is still important today in Tibet. It had a great success and entrusted the continuation of the three various traditions to three from its disciples. Bön réémergea in strongly structured religious system.

Three disciples of Shenchen Luga:

With the first, Druchen Namkha Yungdrung, of the clan Thickly originating in Drusha (Gilgit) in Tibet, was entrusted the teaching of cosmology (Dzopu) and metaphysics (Gapa). One of its disciples founded in 1072 the monastery of Yeru Wensaka, which became a great training college until in 1386 where it was seriously damaged by a flood, then abandoned. Thereafter, its family continued to support Bön until the nineteenth century, when the reincarnation of the Panchen LAMA was discovered for the second time among its members (second Panchen LAMA, born in 1663, and fifth, born in 1854).
the second, Zhuye Legpo, was charged to preserve the practices and lesson of Dzogchen. It founded the monastery of Kyikhar Rizhing. The current descendants of the Zhu family live in India.
the third, Palchog Lump, took the responsability for the lesson tantric. Family members Pa migrated of Tsang in Kham where they live today.

In addition, Menkhepa Palchen (born in 1052) of the Meu clan founded the Zangry monastery, which became also a center of philosophical studies. Thus, of XIe in XIVe century, the religion bön had four important centers of study, all in the province of Tsang.

In spite of the competition with the Buddhist lines, the contacts remained; a department was reserved to the Bön monks in the monasteries Gelugpa and Sakyapa.

In XIVe century appeared the branch of New Bön, almost identical to the lamaïsme except for some specificities, such as for example the ambulation around the chortens who is done in the trigonometrical direction. Established well in the Eastern areas of Amdo and Kham, it presents certain differences with the original branch Yungdrung, but its abbots recognize like all Bönpo the primacy of the monastery of Menri, founded in 1405 by the large Master Nyame Serab Gyaltsen (1356 - 1415), dialectician disciple of the LAMA Rongtôn.

At the 19th century, the contacts with Buddhism continued with the participation of Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen (1859 - 1935) in the movement Rimé and the adoption of terma (crowned texts “redécouverts”) bönpo by Jamgon Kongtrul in its collection of the Rinchen gter-nidzod .

The monastery of Yungdrung Ling was founded in 1834, followed closely by that of Kharna, both under the supervision of Menri. Under their inspiration, much of others were established in all the country (except the central area of U), especially with the Kyungpo, Kham, Amdo, Gyarong and Hor. At the beginning of the twentieth century there were 330 Bön monasteries in Tibet. The two principal ones, Menri and Yungdrung, were destroyed after 1959. There would be 264 establishments today (monasteries of the two sexes and hermitages). The censuses carried out by the Chinese administration indicate 10% of practitioners of Bön at the Tibetans.

The current spiritual leader is Lungtok Tenpai Nyima, 33e Abbé of Menri, rebuilt with Dolanji in the Himachal Pradesh, on the supposed territory of the old kingdom of Zhang Zhung,

See too

Tibet
Lamaïsme

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Bön