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A Collection of Studies on the
Tibetan Bon Tradition
CONTENT________________________________________________________________
•
A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO THE BON RELIGION by Tsering Dhundup
1
•
THE BON RELIGION – AN INTRODUCION by Per Kvaerne
6
The Bonpo tradition
11
The Founder of Bon and His Teachings
11
Three brothers
11
Tonpa Shenrab Miwoche
11
Tonpa Shenrab taught his doctrines in two systems
12
The Propagation of Bon in Zhang-Zhung and Tibet
14
Zhang-Zhung
14
Persecutions
14
Resurgence of Bon
15
Menri monastery
16
The Bon Pantheon and Religious Commitment
16
The Bon Pantheon
16
Religious Commitment
17
Monastic life
17
Ngagpas
17
Dzogchen
18
Chod
18
•
OLMO LUNGRING: THE IMPERISHABLE SACRED LAND by John Reynolds
20
•
BON – A HETERODOX SYSTEM by John Powers
26
Introduction
26
Animism in Tibetan Folk Religion
27
Types of Spirits
28
Bon Teachings and Practices
29
•
ANCIENT TIBETAN BONPO SHAMANISM by John Myrdhin Reynolds
30
•
SHAMANISM IN THE NATIVE BON TRADITION by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
37
•
THE CONDENSED MEANING OF AN EXPLANATION OF THE TEACHINGS OF
YUNGDRUNG BON by Lopön Tenzin Namdak
43
Introduction
43
The Path of Renunciation
43
The Path of Transformation
44
I
The Path of Liberation
45
The Cycle of Teaching
46
The five Science
46
The Nine Ways- the First Cycle
47
The Four Doors and the Treasury the Second Cycle
48
The Final Cycle
48
The four Causal Ways
49
•
THE MOTHER TANTRAS OF THE BON TRADITION by Marco Alejandro Chaoul
49
The structure of the Secret Mother Tantra
53
•
A SHORT BIOGRAPHY OF TAPIHRITSA by Lopön Tenzin Namdak
58
•
THE NINE WAYS OF BON by D.L. Snellgrove
60
The Bonpos
60
The Source of the 9 Ways of Bon
62
The Chapters of the gZi-brjid
63
Remarks On The 9 Ways Edition
65
I. The way of Shen of the Predicion (phyva-gshen theg-pa)
66
II. The way of Shen of the visual world (snang-gshen theg-pa)
66
III. The way of Shen of Illusion (hprul-gshen theg-pa)
67
IV. The way of Shen of existence (srid-gshen theg-pa)
67
V. The way of Shen of the virtuous adherers (dge-bsnyen theg-pa)
67
VI. The way of Shen of the great ascetics (drang-srong theg-pa)
68
VII. The way of pure sound (a-dkar theg-pa)
68
VIII. The way of the primeval Shen (ye-shen theg-pa)
68
IX. The surpreme way(bla-med theg-pa)
68
Bon - Classification of Ways
69
•
THE WAY OF THE SHEN OF PROTECTION by D.L. Snellgrove
70
•
BON - AS A PRE-BUDDHIST RELIGION OF TIBET
77
Bon - How it came to Tibet as a Religion
78
The four Portals and the Treasury as Fifth
80
•
THE BONPO TRADITIONS OF DZOGCHEN by John Myrdhin Reynolds
84
The Bonpo and Nyingmapa Traditions of Dzogchen
84
The Historical Development of Bon
86
The Origin of Dzogchen
89
The Three Traditions of Bonpo Dzogchen
93
1. A-khrid
93
2. rDzogs-chen
94
3. sNyan-rgyud
94
___________________________________________________________________________
II
A Collection of Studies on the
Tibetan Bon Tradition
__________________________________
A Beginner’s Guide to the Bon Religion of Tibet
by Tsering Dhundup
This article is based primarily on
The Bon Religion of Tibet: The Iconography of a Living Tradition
by Per
Kvaerne, Professor of the History of Religions and Tibetology, University of Oslo, published by Serinda
Publications, London, 1995.
The ‘Bon’ religious tradition of Tibet is often misunderstood as just another branch or
sect of Buddhism. Such misconceptions on the part of the average Westerner may easily
be forgiven when one considers the ignorance of the average Tibetan about Bon
religion. The historical predominance of Buddhism in all aspects of Tibetan political and
social culture since the seventh century is responsible for such misconceptions.
‘Bonpos’, the followers of Bon religion had to endure centuries of persecution and social
and political marginalization at the hands of the Buddhist majority.
It is no small feat of survival and tenacity that in spite of such adverse circumstances,
the small Bonpo religious communities, scattered in different parts of Tibet, have not
only managed to preserve their distinct traditions and culture but have also successfully
begun to promote them internationally. Like Tibetan Buddhist traditions, Bon has a
growing following in the West both among academic circles and spiritual seekers. At
‘home’, it’s enjoying a gradual revival within Tibet and among its minority Tibetan
community, based mainly at Dolanji, in Himachal Pradesh, India, and other small
communities in Nepal. The founding fathers of the monastery who also persuaded fellow
Bonpos to come together to live in a separate Bonpo community at Dolanji (two hours
drive from Shimla) deserve credit for their vision and determination to preserve and
restore their living culture in exile. Since coming into exile, there has been a
progressive change in the perception and understanding of Bon among the majority
Tibetan Buddhists. Many now respect Bon as a distinct and important religious tradition
of Tibet and accord equal rights to freedom of belief and practice to the Bonpos.
Under the democratic Charter of the Tibetan Government in Exile, followers of Bon are
entitled to be represented in the Tibetan People’s Assembly by two elected representa-
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tives at par with the representatives of Sakya, Nyingma, Kagyu and Gelug sects of
Buddhism. Among the many causal factors for such a positive change are the fact of
China’s takeover of Tibet; His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s non-sectarian and ecumenical
approach to all religious traditions; the equal political status granted to Bon as one of
the major religious traditions of Tibet in the Charter mentioned above; Professor
Namkhai Norbu’s persuasive validation of Bon religious culture as the native, pre-
Buddhist civilization of Tibet; the secularization and greater religious tolerance
inculcated by the new generation of educated Tibetans; and greater knowledge and
understanding of Bon as promoted through the writings of Western and Tibetan
academics like Giuseppe Tucci, David L. Snellgrove, R. A. Stein, Per Kvaern, Namkhai
Norbu, and Samten G. Karmay.
Ignorance appears to have been one of the fundamental causes of religious intolerance
towards the Bonpos in the past. Through the following paragraphs, an attempt is made
to present the salient features of Bon religion. The term Bon as used by Western
scholars has three connotations :
(i) The pre-Buddhist religion of Tibet which was gradually suppressed and supplanted
by Buddhism in the 8th and 9th centuries. It is considered to have consisted of an
elaborate ritual of ‘king-worship’, concerned mainly with the safe passage of the soul of
the deceased to the land of bliss transported on the sacrificial animals (such as a yak,
horse or sheep), and the well-being and fertility of the living.
(ii) The religion that appeared in Tibet in the 10th and 11th centuries which coincided
with the revival of Buddhism, after a period of decline. Although sharing many similari-
ties with Buddhism in terms of basic doctrine and practice, Tibetan Buddhists regard it
as a distinct religion.
(iii) It has reference to the vast body of popular beliefs, cult of the worship of local
deities and conception of the soul and other mythological beliefs. As for the first and
third sense of the term Bon, there appears to be disagreement amongst the scholars as
to their accuracy and evidence. The living Bon tradition that flourishes today is by and
large agreed to be the unbroken tradition that has continued since the 10th and 11th
centuries. A ‘Bonpo’ is a believer in Bon, which signifies ‘Truth’, ‘Reality’ or the eternal,
unchanging Doctrine in which Truth and Reality are expressed. Thus, Bon has the same
range of connotations for its adherents as the Tibetan word ‘chos’ (Sanskrit - dharma)
has for Tibetans.
The Bonpos refer to their religion as ‘Yung Drung Bon’ or the ‘Eternal Bon’ whose
teachings are universally applicable and for all times. A swastika turning anticlockwise
called the ‘yung drung’, is the symbol of Bon which appears in various Bonpo icono-
graphies. The yung drung symbolizes to the Bonpo what the dorje (Sanskrit - vajra)
symbolizes for Buddhists - indestructibility and permanence. Following the turn of the
yung drung, Bonpos turn their prayer wheels to the left and circumambulate temples and
stupas and other holy places such as mountains in anticlockwise direction. This is
because they believe that it is the normal ritual direction which facilitates moral purifi-
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cation and eventual enlightenment. Likewise, they refer to enlightened beings as ‘yung
drung sempa’ (vajrasattva) just as the Buddhists refer to them as ‘jangchub sempa’
(bodhisattva). Instead of the holy Buddhist mantra of ‘Om Mani Padme Hum’, the Bonpos
have ‘Om Matri Muye Sale Du’. Although Mt. Kalish is revered by
Hindus, Buddhists and Bonpos alike, the Bonpos have their holy Bonri Mountain in the
south of Tibet. The doctrine of Bon has many similarities with that of Tibetan Buddhism,
believing as they do in the concept of ‘samsara’, as a world of suffering, the law of ‘las
dras’ or the law of moral causality (karma) and the corresponding concepts of rebirth in
the six states of existence; and the ideal of enlightenment and liberation from samsaric
rebirth. In terms of visible features and practices such as monastic buildings, stupas,
statues, thangkas, monasticism and the rituals of burning incense, putting up prayer
flags, incantation of prayers, visualizing deities, making symbolic offerings, going on
pilgrimages and the concept of reincarnations of high lamas, Bon and Buddhism share so
many similarities that some scholars have accused the Bonpos of plagiarism. According
to Professor Per Kvaern, “Rituals and other religious practices, as well as meditational
and metaphysical traditions are, undeniably, to a large extent similar, even identical.
Concepts of history and sources of religious authority are, however, radically different
and justify the claim of the Bonpos to constitute an entirely distinct religious
community.”
According to its own Bon historical perspective, Bon was introduced into Tibet many
centuries before Buddhism and enjoyed royal patronage until it was finally supplanted by
the ‘false religion’ (Buddhism) from India in the 8th century. It is claimed that Bon
flourished in a land known as Zhangzhung until it was conquered and converted to
Buddhism and assimilated into Tibetan culture. Although there is no agreement as to the
exact location or extent and the ethnic and cultural identity of the Zhangzhung empire,
its historical reality is no longer in doubt. Many believe that the Zhangzhung empire
flourished in the present day Ngari region of Tibet centered round Mt Kailash in the
west, concurrent with the empire of ‘Purgyal’ in central Tibet and the empire of ‘Sumpa’
in the east.
Just as the major canonical texts of the Tibetan Buddhists have been translated from
Sanskrit, the scriptures of Bon have, so the Bonpos claim, been translated into Tibetan
from the language of Zhangzhung. Although the authenticity of Zhangzhung language is
hotly debated, scholars like Erik Haar and Namkhai Norbu support its existence and
even produced a bilingual Tibetan-Zhangzhung vocabulary. The Bonpos believe that
‘Eternal Bon’ was first proclaimed in a land known as ‘Tazik’ or ‘Wolmo Lungring’, which
refers not just to a geographical country but also to a ‘hidden’, semi- paradisiacal land
which latterday humans can only reach in visions or by supernatural means after being
spiritually purified. Thus, it has the same characteristics as the Buddhist holy land of
‘Shambala’.
Just as India is the holy land where the Buddha was born and preached the Dharma,
Tazik or Wolmo Lungring is the holy land where the founder, Toenpa Sherab was born
and preached the way of the ‘Yungdrung Bon’. The Bonpos have a voluminous
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