Introduction to Tibetan Religion

Religion in Tibet has been primarily Buddhist ever since the conversion of the Tibetan Empire in the late eighth century, with the roots of this conversion going back at least a century further. Sometimes classified as Buddhist as well, the Bon tradition has been a vibrant component of Tibetan religious life since at least the tenth century, and represents a complex mixture of Buddhist elements, indigenous traditions, and influences from other religious traditions. The imperial period in Tibet (seventh to ninth centuries) was dominated by non-Buddhist religious traditions, including a royal imperial cult centered around the figure of the Emperor (btsan po) and cultic practices centered around tombs and the dead. Contemporary Tibet also hosts Islamic and Christian traditions with fascinating historical roots throughout the wider Tibetan cultural region.

Buddhism has thus been a dominant force in all aspects of Tibetan life for many centuries. The histories and cultures of the vast numbers of large monasteries and nunneries have been well documented. Also important throughout Tibetan history are pilgrimage networks of sacred sites, lay villages dominated by tantric practitioners, and communities of retreatants found in many sacred sites. Tibet also has one of the world's largest pre-modern literary traditions, of which a large portion are religious writings of all types - doctrinal, ritual, historical, biographical and so forth. These include a massive canon of scriptures mostly translated from Sanskrit sources, and known as "Translations of the Buddha's Precepts" ("Kangyur", bka' 'gyur) and "Translations of the Treatises" ("Tengyur", bstan 'gyur) - the former are texts attributed to Buddhas, and the latter are compositions of historical scholars and saints (mostly Indian). There are also many other canonical collections, as well as large "collected works" (gsung 'bum) of individual authors.

Tibetan Buddhist traditions are typically divided into four major sects - the Nyingma (rnying ma - literally "old ones"), which date their inception back to the Tibetan Empire (eighth century), and the three Sarma (gsar ma - literally "new ones"), which date their inception to the late tenth century - the Sakya (sa skya), Kagyu (bka' brgyud) and Geluk (dge lugs). In fact, this simple schema clouds a reality in which there are many different sectarian traditions that do not fit easily into this fourfold scheme - the Jonang (jo nang) and Kadam (bka' gdams ), for example - as well as an extended period of proto-sectarian formations and non-sectarianism in the tenth, eleventh and twelfth centuries.