Early Tibet And Buddhist Origins
Oct 09
Posted: under buddhism.
Tags: buddhism, buddhist, gambo, padmasambhava, songsten, tibet
When thinking about Buddhism the tiny country of Tibet often comes to mind. I will give a brief history of this small nation; touching on some of it’s greatest and darkest times.
One of the earliest showings of Buddhism in Tibet was in the mid-seventh century. Songsten Gambo, one of the emperors of tibet, had wed two wives who lived by the buddhist religion. Upon observing his wives he became very interested in this religion and sent two representatives out to learn more. Soon his team was translating Sanskrit texts into Tibetan, giving way to the written Tibetan language. Buddhism hadn’t found a strong grasp, as of yet.
In the eighth century a Buddhist monk by the name of Padmasambhava migrated into Tibet from India. The Tibetans considered him an example of a living Buddha. During this time the primary religion of Tibet was Bön. Bön was a ritualistic and supernatural type of religion and included many aspects such as a belief in the interdependence of animals and people, sorcery, rites, prophecies and sacrifice.
The Tibetans would not easily be swayed and probably wouldn’t have if not for a highly charismatic individual like Padmasambhava. With the help of his 25 disciples, Padmasambhava, brought much peace and harmony to a very militaristic country. He changed many of them spiritually, from the inside-out, and helped to save them from their once warring ways. This continued until the 9th century when Tibet ran into a dark age. Padmasambhava’s 25 disciples helped to keep Buddhism alive during these darkest of times. These wonderful seeds that Padmasambhava planted eventually bloomed and Buddhism was taken in, wholeheartedly, by the Tibetan culture.
To be continued tomorrow
