Tibetan Buddhism and
other spiritual topics can be
found in the Seekers Guide.

Tibetan Buddhism - An Introduction

Tibetan Buddhism, often referred to as the Vajrayana, is founded on the Four Noble Truths established by the Buddha (see Buddhism). The object is to obtain the ultimate release of all sentient beings from the suffering of the endless cycle of reincarnations (samsara). In Tibetan Buddhism, enlightenment, or nirvana, is found through the bodhisattvas, who are liberated themselves, but forgo nirvana in order to bring salvation to others. Tibetan Buddhism centers around a monastic way of living, though some of the teachings are available to the public through books and discourses.

Tibetan dharma is a sophisticated philosophy involving years of study. The meditations are highly intellectual, yet utilize magical formulas and cultic devotions. As a Tantric tradition, Tibetan Buddhism integrates the capacities of the mind with physical and emotional disciplines toward the search for salvation.

Tibetan Buddhism is a tantric form of Mahayana Buddhism indigenous to Tibet. Buddhism was introduced to Tibet during the rein of Srong-brtsan-sgam-po, the thirty-second king of Tibet, around A.D. 650. The king had married Chinese and Nepalese princesses who were both Buddhist and who swayed the king away from an animistic form of Shamanism called Bon, which had been the prevailing religion, toward Buddhist teaching. King Srong-brtsan-sgam-po had many Buddhist books from India translated into Tibetan and built several Buddhist temples.

By the seventh century, a form of Indian Tantrism called the Vajrayana, or "Diamond Vehicle," was established that taught formulas for sudden enlightenment ("the direct path"). In A.D. 747 a reform movement was spearheaded by the great teacher from India, Guru Padmasambhava, who re-established the ethical and intellectual heritage of older Buddhism and initiated the building of the first monastery in Tibet, the Samyas, which was completed in A.D. 787. In the following centuries, a vast amount of religious texts, such as the Kanjur and Tanjur, were compiled, and tension mounted between the ethical-intellectual and magical-ritualistic elements of Buddhism in Tibet. In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries the Dalai Lama, who is the reincarnation of a bodhisattva (an enlightened being), was established as the spiritual and temporal head of Tibet.

With the Communist revolt of 1959 in China, the Dalai Lama was forced to flee to India, awaiting a time to return to Tibet and re-establish Buddhist teachings there. Today Tibetan Buddhism is gaining interest in the West, with Lamas (monks) coming to the United States and Europe to teach the dharma, or spiritual law.

There are four major orders of Tibetan Buddhism. These sects are the Nyingruapa, or "ancient ones," who trace their lineage back to Padmasambhava; the Kargyupa, which is an oral tradition founded by Marpa in the eleventh century and is based on the fundamental teachings ofNaropa; the Saskyapa, which was founded in the eleventh century and was the first to establish a priestly monarchy; and the Gelugpa, or "merit system ones," which is headed by the Dalai Lama, and is perhaps the most widely recognized today.

Buddhism - Introduction	Mahayana Buddhism	Theravada Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism	Zen Buddhism