Books on the
history of Tibetan Buddhism record the following legend
of how Buddhism spread to Tibet: On one particular day
in the 5th century, Lhathothori Nyantzan, forefather of
the Tubo Kingdom, was resting on the summit of Yungbolhakang.
He suddenly found several Buddhist treasures falling from
the sky. While the Tubo King had no idea what they were
for, a mysterious voice from the sky informed him that
the 6th Tsampo (king) of the Tubo Kingdom would know the
use of the objects. According to historical documents,
these treasures were brought to Tibet by Indians Buddhists.
Upon seeing that Tibetans had no idea of their significance,
the Indian monks had no choice but to secret them in a
safe place and return to india. The fact remains that
Buddhism did spread into Tibet during the reign of Tubo
King Songtsan Gambo in the 7th century.Songtsan Gambo
did his best to establish friendly ties with neighboring
countries in order to strengthen economic and cultural
exchanges and learn from the advanced cultures of various
races. In the process he married with Princess Khridzun
of Nepal and Princess Wencheng of China's Tang Dynasty
(618-907). Each princess journeyed to Tibet with a statue
of Buddha, and once there set about building the Jokhang
and Ramoge monasteries in Lhasa. Artisans accompanying
the princess were involved in the construction of monasteries,
and Buddhist monks in their tourages began translating
Buddhist scriptures. Buddhism thus spread to Tibet from
Nepal and Han areas.Tibet reeled under power struggle
for more than half a century following the death of Songtsan
Gambo. Buddhism failed to flourish until Tride Zhotsan,
great grandson of Songtsan Gambo, finally took power.
In 710, Tride Zhotsan asked for the hand of and eventually
married Princess Jincheng of the Tang Dynasty. The new
bride moved the statue of Buddha, which Princess Wencheng
brought to Tibet, to the Jokhang Monastery. Meanwhile,
she arranged monks accompanying her to the Tubo Kingdom
to take in charge of the monastery and related religious
activities. She engaged in a painstaking effort and finally
succeeding in persuading the Tubo court to accept monks
fleeing from Western Regions and build seven monasteries
to house them. While the measures further boosted the
development of Buddhism in Tibet, they nonetheless sparked
discontent amongst ministers worshipping the Bon religion.
The ministers left no stone unturned to obstruct the development
of Buddhism, with to situation lasting until Trisong Detsan,
the son of Tride Zhotsan, came to power. Trison Detsan
relied on Buddhism to fight ministers who rallied behind
the Bon religion. As part of the effort, he invited Zhibatsho
and Padmasambhava, famous Indian monks, to build the Samye
Monastery in 799. Seven noble children were later tonsured
to the monastery, which became the first monastery in
Tibetan Buddhist history to tonsure monks. The event thus
pioneered the tonsure system of Tibetan Buddhism.In addition
to inviting Indian monks to Tibet, Trisong Destan sent
trusted emissaries to China's hinterland to invite monks
to lecture in Tibet. Mahayana became one of the many Han
monks who contributed to ensuring that Han Buddhism flourished
in Tibet. Mahayana remained in Tibet for 11 years lecturing
on Buddhism and completing nine books on Buddhist tenets.
Tubo kings in ensuing dynasties did their utmost to promote
Buddhism by building monasteries and commissioning the
translation of Buddhist sutras. At the same time, they
granted monks royal incomes and even encouraged them to
become involved in government affairs in order to undermine
ministers who supported the Bon religion. The policy spawned
the deep hatred of said ministers, who eventually arranged
for the assassination of Tritso Detsan in 842. The ministers
threw their support behind Darma, the brother of Tritso
Detsan, to become the new Tubo king. This was in turn
followed by the large-scale suppression of Buddhism in
the region .Shortly after assuming power, Darma set out
to suppress Buddhism, but was soon assassinated by Tibetan
Buddhists, and war erupted between the different power
factions. Slaves, who were thrown into the abyss of misery,
rose to revolt. Tibet was torn apart by various forces.
The "diffusion of Buddhism'' was thus halted. The
early 10th century witnessed the entry of a feudal society
in tibet, with each of the Tubo ministers occupying a
part of the kingdom and becoming feudal powers in their
respective localities. They proceeded to promote Buddhism
in order to strengthen their own rule. Buddhism was thus
revived in Tibet. In terms of form and content, however,
Buddhism rising in Tibet during tit particular period
was worlds apart from Tubo Buddhism. The 300-odd years
of struggle between Buddhism and the Bon religion resulted
in each absorbing the strong points of the other. Buddhism
became increasingly Tibetanized as the region entered
the feudal stage. Tibetan Buddhism emerged and entered
a stage of rapid development. After the cultural revolution
of china it has some effect on Buddhism but it is a modified
and fusionized Buddhism in Tibet which is more comfortable
to practice and to participate. Also they have the policy
to adopt the new system of life as Tibet is already entered
into the 21st century with the arrival of train from Beijing
and connected by the different flights and bus services
from different parts of china and Nepal. |