Tibetan religious beliefs and people can be traced back to the land of Avalokiteshavara, the Bodhisattva of compassion in the Yarlung valley. Tibetans believe that they have descended from the union of an ape (Avalokiteshvra) and an ogress (goddess Tara). During the reign of King Lha Thothori Nyantsen Buddhism was first introduced to the people of Tibet, around the time of 173 C.E. Many of the kings of Tibet were highly religious and promoted Buddhism. Buddhism became a way for Kings to practice social control.
During the ruling of King Tri Ralpachen monasteries were built with enthusiasm and speed and thousands of Buddhist transcriptions were translated and standardized. However, this period known as the era of Tibet’s Religious Kings soon came to an end and Tibet’s culture sank into a dark period. Later, in Western Tibet a revival of Buddhism was put into action. Buddhism has continued to be a crucial part of Tibetan life.
During the ruling of King Tri Ralpachen monasteries were built with enthusiasm and speed and thousands of Buddhist transcriptions were translated and standardized. However, this period known as the era of Tibet’s Religious Kings soon came to an end and Tibet’s culture sank into a dark period. Later, in Western Tibet a revival of Buddhism was put into action. Buddhism has continued to be a crucial part of Tibetan life.
Image of a Tibetan Buddhist Monastery
There are four schools of Tibetan Buddhism: Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakya, and Geluk. Nyingma (‘the ancient ones’) is the oldest of the schools. Kagyu (‘oral lineage’) relates to deep understanding as well as intellectual and meditational understanding and experience. Sakya (‘Grey Earth’) began in the eleventh century and is most commonly associated with the Khon family. Lastly, Gelug (‘way of virtue’) embraces all of the other three schools of Buddhism and was led primarily by the Dalai Lama. Each school of Tibetan Buddhism has one or more monasteries dedicated to the school’s teachings; monasticism was the foundation of Buddhism in Tibet.
1 comment:
With this blog I felt that there was a lot of general information given. I followed this blog since there were only the first five entries. I feel that the author got more in depth about the culture as the blogs proceeded. You clearly states that you wishes to focus specifically on the religious practices and beliefs of the Tibetan people and I really enjoyed learning about her passions and drive to learn more about the religious aspects of Tibetan Culture. The author touches upon religion and I feel that the second half of the blogs are written with her ethnography more thought out with more full anthropological purpose behind. I really enjoyed the concluding blog entry because it brought the reader back to the beginning to reevaluate what you wanted to learn about and how you did it. More specially, I thought learning about the flags was quite interesting because it is a common symbol of Tibetan culture that we see frequently in the media, stores etc. Learning about the religious and cultural significance of the flags seemed to contribute to this ethnography. Overall, I found that by reading through this blog, I learned a lot about Tibetan culture but I also learn a great deal about your learning process in this project
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