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Sacred Earth => Shaman [Public] => Topic started by: tangerine dream on January 16, 2009, 10:09:55 PM

Title: Ancient Tibetan Bonpo Shamanism
Post by: tangerine dream on January 16, 2009, 10:09:55 PM

The roots of Tibetan culture lie deep in the archaic soil of Northern and Central Asian shamanism. This is also true today when most Tibetans are practicing Buddhists-- their Buddhism being a religious culture deriving from ancient and medieval India. In Tibet, however, this Indian Buddhism has been amalgamated with the ancient indigenous shamanism and pagan animism of that country, thus giving Tibetan Buddhism its unique and especially colorful character.

The principal function of the shaman is the healing of the illnesses that afflict the members of his or her tribe, and so one can rightly say that ancient Tibetan religious culture centered around the practices of healing. The therapeutic expert or professional in this regard was the Bonpo shaman-healer who treated and cured not only the diseases of the physical body, but more especially the illnesses of the soul, in order to bring the psyche of the afflicted individual back from fragmentation and alienation into wholeness and well-being.

Furthermore, the shaman served the clan or tribe not only as a healer, but equally as a guide for the human soul on its journey beyond the present life through the perilous Bardo into its next rebirth. The shaman was able to function as a healer and a guide of souls pre-eminently because of his or her mastery of alternate states of consciousness, "the archaic states of ecstasy", so that one could voluntarily enter the Otherworld of the spirits, a non-ordinary reality parallel to our familiar world of the senses and its conventional reality. The shaman could thus enter into and explore the landscapes of the mind, the collective unconscious psyche, and return thence with treasures of knowledge and power in order to benefit humanity.

In the Tibetan Bon Shamanistic tradition, One of the most important practices performed by Tibetan shamans of the Sichen path is Soul Retrieval - Lalu (literally redeeming, or buying back the soul), and chilu, (redeeming the life-energy). These practices are widespread in the Bon tradition and also in all Tibetan Buddhist schools.


TBC....

Title: Re: Ancient Tibetan Bonpo Shamanism
Post by: tangerine dream on January 17, 2009, 07:07:03 AM

The minority Bon-Po faith of Tibet represents a continuing stream of religious knowledge and practise dating back in time to before prehistory. Bon-Po has sought throughout its existence to include best practise from other faiths into which it has come into contact. It has absorbed ideas wherever it can. Consequently today it is a mixture of Buddhism, Shamanism and magic rituals. It is the old faith of Tibet.

     When the Buddhist guru Padmasampa claimed to have defeated the Bon-Po at Mount Kailash in the 8th century, this left the Bon-Po lamas with a bit of a problem. As they had already absorbed Buddhism into their faith, they could not in good conscience oppose Buddhism. It appears that many Bon-Po migrated from Tibet around this time. The old hill tribes of Nepal, such as the Gurung are Bon-Po for this reason. The Bon-Po clash with Padmasampa's Indian Buddhism led to the reformation of Bon-Po. In the Bon-Po gompas the first Bon-Po literature was created in a typical response to Padmasampa's book based Indian Buddhism.

     Buddhism, even in the 8th century had a vast literature. You can see the extent of it today in any Tibetan Buddhist gompa on the Annapurna Circuit. The Bon-Po at that time relied on oral transmission of their faith, history and rituals. In Taje above the Marsyandi River the Ghyabre and Paju Bon-Po lamas still rely on oral ritual. Unlike the Buddhist lamas who recite rituals from texts, The Bon-Po recite from memory. The Bon-Po believe this memorisation gives them an advantage over their yellow hat Buddhist lama competitors. As the Bon-Po say, only a Bon-Po can deliver an exorcism in the dark. An evil spirit can blow out a Buddhist Lama's butter lamp.

     The 'Nine ways of Bon' has been translated by David Snellgrove, and is an extract of a larger work entitled 'gZi-brjid' or 'The glorious'. It includes a great many Buddhist concepts and has a central character, gSen-rab. He is the Bon-Po counterpart of Sakyamuni Buddha.

The first two 'ways' of Bon-Po appear (at least to this author) to comprise what must be the core of old unreformed Bon-Po. Way number one describes methods of predicting the future. The second way concerns rituals for protection against gods and demons. These are the rituals which the Bon-Po of Taje, as described in Stan Mumford's book 'Himalayan Dialogue', appear to still carry out. They are the lower ways of Bon. However Tibetan Buddhists, including their lamas have these same beliefs. The court of the Dalai Lama uses similar predictive techniques when making difficult decisions. The two religions appear to have conceptually interpenetrated one another. Although only Bon-Po has formally recognised the need for protection of crops and harvests from demons and serpent deities (klu), every Tibetan, Bon-Po or Buddhist, lama or layman believes this. As Snellgrove has said, every Tibetan is a Bon-Po at heart. The other seven ways of Bon appear to be largely Buddhist in concept.

Title: Re: Ancient Tibetan Bonpo Shamanism
Post by: tangerine dream on January 17, 2009, 07:09:12 AM

For Tibetan Buddhists, the typical representative of the old Bon shamanist tradition is the pawo or nyen-jomo medium. From nineteenth century Himalayan traveller Alexandra David-Neel comes this eyewitness account of the pawo at work.

The pawo begins chanting, accompanying himself with a little drum or bell. He dances, first slowly, then faster and faster, and, finally, trembles convulsively. A being of another world, god, demon or spirit of a dead person, has taken possession of him. In a kind of frenzy he utters broken sentences, which are supposed to convey that which the invisible being wishes to communicate....(1931:36-37)

Madame David-Neel adds that what the departed soul usually communicates is a long list of sufferings and misfortunes in the next world. Often the spirit of the dead person cries out that he or she has been taken captive by a demon, and pleads to be set free. At this point another practitioner, the Bon sorcerer, steps in. He enters a trance, and his "double" sets out on a long, arduous journey to the dwelling place of the demon. The bystanders see the shaman struggling, panting and screaming, and know that he is wrestling with the demon in his attempts to free the captive spirit. (1931:37-38)

These intermediaries with the spirit world (who may be either male or female) are unconnected with the "White Bon" monasteries. They are inheritors of the earliest, unorganized Bon beliefs that prevailed in Tibet before the arrival of Buddhism. (Eliade 1964: 432)

The indigenous peoples of pre-Buddhist Tibet believed in divine heroes, many of them identified with sacred mountains (bTsan- po or Mighty Ones), a host of local "gods of the soil" or "gods of the place" who lived in rocks, and serpent-gods who lived in streams and springs. Whenever men built houses or tilled the soil, they risked offending these local spirits, who demanded propitiation for the use of their habitats. Otherwise, people would fall ill and die.

The priests who invoked and made offerings to these spirits were known as Bon (probably meaning Invoker) and gShen (Sacrificer). The religion itself was not called Bon, but simply "sacred conventions" or "the pattern of heaven and earth. "Later Tibetan writers as well as some western scholars have referred to this early religion as Bon, but the word never seems to appear with any other meaning but `priest' in really early Tibetan literature. Later on the term `Bon' came to be applied to the new religious developments, which incorporated some old beliefs and a very great deal of Buddhism...." (Snellgrove and Richardson 1968: 59)

Sacrificial killing played an important part in the indigenous culture of Tibet. The bodies of later pre-Buddhist kings, who were regarded as mortal rather than divine, were buried in elaborate tombs, while their souls were dispatched to the land of bliss with complex funeral rites that might go on for several years. As late as 800 A.D. chosen companions of the king were buried with him, so that they could go with him into the next world. Lesser mortals were accompanied by a sacrificed animal -- a yak, horse or sheep. (Kvaerne 1987:277) In Tibet, those Bon practitioners who conformed to Buddhist teachings by giving only "white" offerings became known as "White Bon". Those who continued to make animal sacrifices ("red offerings") were called Black Bon.

Title: Re: Ancient Tibetan Bonpo Shamanism
Post by: tangerine dream on January 17, 2009, 07:11:26 AM

Pre-Buddhist religion in Tibet seemed to be entirely concerned with the affairs of this life. "Its purpose is to discover, usually by means of sortilege or astrological calculation, the causes of human ailments and misfortunes, and then to prescribe a suitable cure." The shaman, either through trance or divination, identifies the hostile god or demon that is causing the problem, then effects a cure by offering up a ransom. Sometimes the troublesome spirit was conjured into a device of crossed sticks and coloured threads (still used by Tibetans, and familiar to westerners as a "gods-eye") which trapped him like a bird in a cage. The demon was given his offerings, then thrown away. (1968:55)

Essential to these rites was a lengthy recitation, by the invoking (bon) priest, of ancient myths which described the origin, nature and function of various gods and demons, in order to invoke their aid.

Snellgrove and Richardson tell us that "Similar rituals with exactly similar recitations of ancient myths survive to this day this day among peoples of old Tibetan stock who penetrated the Himalayas in pre-Buddhist times and have since escaped the impact of later Tibetan Buddhist culture. Thus from a Nepalese people like the Gurungs we can probably even nowadays gain some impression of the working of such rituals in early Tibet." (1968: 57)

Anthropologist Stan Royal Mumford lived from 1981 to 1983 among the Gurung villagers of Gyasumdo, in the Nepal Himalayas. His research goal was to study the interaction of Tibetan Buddhist culture with co-existing non-Buddhist shamanism. In his introduction to Himalayan Dialogue he writes:


Present day Tibetan oracles (lha-pa) do not represent this older (pre-Buddhist) tradition, nor do the Bon-po, the non- Lamaist Tibetan sect that has been largely reformed. These are regarded as highly `Buddhist', since they also prohibit the `black' tradition of blood sacrifice that was defeated by the great lamas in Tibetan history. In Gyasumdo, however, the older pre-Buddhist shamanist tradition is still carried on by the Gurungs. (1989:6)
The Gurung nobility -- the Ghale clan -- claim to have come from Tibet centuries earlier. The Gurungs retain the pre- Buddhist Tibetan image of divine kingship, and believe that the ancestors of their nobility orginated in the upper world. (1989:8)

There are two types of shamanic practitioner: the Ghyabre, who performs funeral rites and delivers the soul to the land of the dead; and the Paju, who specializes in rites concerned with the earth and the underworld, including the expulsion of demons. Both Gurungs and the local Tibetans refer to the local Paju shaman, in Mumford's words "a virtuoso sacrificer", as `Black Bon'. The Ghyabre shaman, on the other hand, sees himself as becoming a "white Bon"-- even though he too performs animal sacrifices. (1989:32)) Keith Dowman, the translator of Lady Yeshe Tsogyel's autobiography, suggests that the shamans of Nepal and Mongolia were exiled from Tibet over this issue of animal sacrifice. (1984:114)

According to legends related to Mumford by Paju shamans, both Pajus and lamas in ancient times had extraordinary magical powers (among them corpse-raising and the ability to create landslides) which they made a habit of stealing from one another; and they competed in magical contests like the legendary competition between Milarepa and the Bon-po magician on Mount Kailas. The Gurung villagers assured Mumford that while the lamas have lost these powers, the shamans still possess them, though in diminished form. (1989:55-56)

The Gurung shamans and the Tibetans who have migrated into Gyasumdo share a belief in earth spirits, demons (bdud) and clan guardian deities (btsan). Like their Siberian counterparts, the Gurung shamans conduct a ritual hunt and sacrifice animals as an offering to the spirits; and they function as a channel of communication with the spirit world. (Mumford 1989:8)

Title: Re: Ancient Tibetan Bonpo Shamanism
Post by: tangerine dream on January 17, 2009, 07:13:52 AM

THE BON COSMOS

For the indigenous peoples of Tibet the earliest kings were sons of the gods. The first king, Gna-k'ri-bstan-po, is said to have descended from heaven on a rope called dmu-t'ag. When a king died, he returned to heaven by means of this "sky-cord". He needed no tomb, because he left no earthly remains. One class of priests, the dMu -- Masters of the Rope -- were responsible for guiding the dead in their ascent to the dwelling place of the gods. (Eliade 1964:431)
The Bon and pre-Bon concept of a three-levelled universe with a rope or ladder connecting earth and heaven has persisted in Tibetan folk religion (Mumford 1989:31 citing Hoffman 1961:15) and is found in surviving shamanist cultures throughout the Himalayas.


In their imagination (the Gurung shamans) visit Khro- nasa, the Gurung underworld, going down nine ladders. The upper world is also reached by nine ladders, arriving at a mansion in Mu, the Gurung term for sky. The `middle' human world is connected to the upper world by a tree in the sacred grove at Tapje village, and also by a rock dome called Oble, the local Gurung land of the dead that is seen from the trail. (Mumford 1989:8)
Mumford notes that the Gurung description of this sacred tree is remarkably similar to the tree connecting the three worlds visited by Siberian shamans. (1089:8). (As Eliade points out, the Universal Tree that grows at the centre of the world and connects the cosmic zones of underworld, earth and heaven is common to all North and Central Asian mythologies.) (1964:37)

Mumford goes on to describe the ritual of the "red offering" -- a survival from shamanist Tibet which the Gurung shamans perform to this day.

A male cult of hunters catches a deer alive in the forest and brings it to the sacred grove. There, to the beat of drums and the clash of cymbals, the Ghyabre shaman sings his ritual chant, with the whole village looking on.


Open the golden lock of the north. Open the silver lock of the east. Open the iron lock of the south. Open the copper lock of the west. The doors must be opened. Open the golden door, the silver door, the iron door, the copper door. Open the doors, we are coming to make the offering.
At the foot of the sacred tree which unites the upper and lower worlds they tear out the deer's heart, offering it both to the underworld and the ancestral deity of the Ghale nobility. Mumford comments, "... a cosmic harmony is restored yearly by shamanic sacrifices, without which everyone would suffer affliction and poverty." (1989:45)

The Thakali share the Gurung concept of a three-levelled cosmos. The upper world is the home of friendly and benevolent gods; the middle world is inhabited by the sibda, the "lords of the soil" and by the spirits of the dead; and the lower world is the realm of the snake gods. Originally there were three types of aya-lama, reflecting the three cosmic regions; today all the functions of the aya-lama are carried out by the barti, representative of the middle world. (Greve 1984:159,161)

For the Tamang and Gilgit shamans, as for the Gurung and the indigenous bon shamans of Tibet, a rope or ladder serves as axis mundi to connect the human world with the realm of gods. In Gilgit the tradition of a golden chain connecting heaven with earth has survived into the 20th century. (Eliade 1964:431, citing Folklore XXV, 1914:397) For the Tamang, the means of ascent is a nine-runged ladder, with each rung representing a level of heaven. (Peters 1987:171)

Title: Re: Ancient Tibetan Bonpo Shamanism
Post by: tangerine dream on January 17, 2009, 07:15:24 AM

Tibetan lamaism has "preserved the Bon shamanic tradition almost in its entirety" (1964:434), adding that "It would be chimerical to attempt in a few pages to list all the ...shamanic motifs present in Bon-po myths and rituals and persisting in Indo-Tibetan tantrism." (1964:432) He mentions, among other Tibetan Buddhist rituals, the prophetic trance of the State Oracle, and the Tibetan exorcist's search for, and calling back, of a patient's soul. He argues that the flying wheel of gShen rab in later Bon legend, and the wheel symbol in Tibetan Buddhism, have simply replaced the Bon shaman's flying drum. (1964:433) The Buddhist saint Padmasambhava flies through the air on his tiger, and he dances a mystic dance on the roof of his house clad in seven ornaments of bone -- strongly reminiscent, as Eliade points out, of the Siberian shaman's costume. (1964:434) As well, the secret language or spirit language of shamanism is reflected in the dakini or "cloud-spirit language" of Tantric Buddhism. (1964:440) Eliade also draws an analogy between the Tibetan Buddhist priest who recites the Bardo thodol, the Book of the Dead, to guide the soul along the roads of the afterlife, and the shaman who escorts the deceased into the beyond. (1964:438) In the Tibetan Buddhist Mystery Play as described by Evans-Wentz (1958), with its symbolic destruction of a clay figure (torma), we find a striking parallel with the exorcism rites of the Gurung shaman, who entices the demon into an dough effigy, then shoots it with arrows and throws it over a cliff, or traps it in the skull of a dog and buries it in the ground. (Mumford 1989: 143-144).

In Alexandra David Neel's With Mystics and Magicians in Tibet we find this description of the chod (cutting off) ritual practised by the Tibetan Buddhist naljorpa (an ascetic possessing magical powers): David-Neel calls it "The Dreadful Mystic Banquet".


The celebrant blows his bone trumpet, calling the hungry demons to the feast he intends to lay before them.... He visualizes a female deity -- the personification of his own will -- springing from his head, and standing before him, sword in hand, with one stroke she cuts off the head of the naljorpa. Then, while troops of ghouls crowd round for the feast, the goddess severs his limbs, skins him and rips open his belly. The bowels fall out, the blood flows like a river.... While the ghouls chew on his flesh, the naljorpa urges them on with words of ritual surrender. and cuts off his head with a single stroke." (1931:150)
Compare this with the Tamang shaman Bhirenda's vivid description of "evil spirits with long crooked fangs, others with no heads and eyes in the middle of their chests, still others carrying decaying corpses." He says "they attacked me, and before I knew it they were all over me devouring my body." (Peters 1987:164)

As Snellgrove and Alexander observe, "Not only were those who called themselves followers of Bon busy absorbing all they could of Buddhist doctrines and practices, but many of those who called themselves Buddhist were occupied in fitting the old Tibetan gods and indigenous rites into the framework of the new religion." (1968:108) "Under the veneer of Buddhist beliefs," Eliade tells us, "it is easy to recognize the old schema of the axis mundi, communications among the three cosmic zones, and the guardian who classifies souls."

Tibetan Buddhists and Gurung shamans are equally familiar with this legend summarized by Mumford in Himalayan Dialogue (1989:42)

Milarepa went with his disciples to Mount Tise. He met a Bonpo who challenged him to a contest of magical power to see which of them should control the mountain.... Early in the morning the Bonpo, riding his drum, flew up the side of the mountain... At that moment a ray of sunlight broke over the top of the mountain and beamed down into the window of (Milarepa's) hut.... Milarepa rode the sunbeam to the top of Mount Tise, arriving ahead of the Bonpo. Defeated, the Bonpo fell back, dropping his drum which rolled down the mountain slope and split in half. To this day, the drum of the Bonpo has only one side, while the drum of the lama still has two sides.

Title: Re: Ancient Tibetan Bonpo Shamanism
Post by: tangerine dream on January 17, 2009, 07:24:39 AM

Lupra Bon-Po Village


(http://photos.igougo.com/images/p187949-Mustang-Lupra_Village.jpg)
I am a little bit confused right now, because this picture appears almost exactly as a village in a dream I had not long ago.  IN the dream I was told it was Kenya and on searching struggled to find anything of the like in Kenya.  I wonder if maybe I got the name wrong.  Lupra doesn't sound like Kenya, but this definitely looks like the place. 


Far from the beaten track the isolated little village of Lupra has managed to maintain much of its unspoiled charm as well as some of its pre-Buddhist shamanistic beliefs.

The village is approached from the riverbed where the foot of the steps is marked by a small wooden bridge and an attractively painted stupa. The village is a tight cluster of traditional Thakali homes without a teahouse or lodge in sight and rural village life goes-on here exactly as it has gone-on for centuries.

When Padmasambhava converted Tibet to Buddhism in the 8th century, he is said to have subdued the old gods of the region allowing those that became Dharmapala (defenders of faith) to join the Mahayana pantheon and destroying those that did not. Bon-Po emerged as a curious mix of the two religions and although this too is now dying out, it lives on in the village of Lupra.

The gompa itself is situated right in the centre of the village and is well worth a visit. Ask around to see if you can find Sanjay the caretaker to let you inside. If however you can’t find him then don’t worry as the key is hidden in a crack above the door. Be warned that unlike its Buddhist equivalent the altar, with its striking images of the fearsome Bon gods, should be passed in an anti-clockwise direction.

This village is not easy to get to, the path is unstable and poorly marked, but its isolation is part of the village's charm and I strongly recommend that you make the effort.

Title: Re: Ancient Tibetan Bonpo Shamanism
Post by: Firestarter on January 17, 2009, 07:45:43 AM

Per what you said on kenya, as I was reading cause know of the history - esp some of the Bon elements and how Buddhism really didnt conquer, but absorbed much of Bon, but grafted out a lot of other elements, Kenya is another area (not limited to), in africa where much of sorcery and witchcraft and killings and so forth occur. The Buddhists handled things much differently with the Bonpo (and dalai lama has them heavily protected as it is, cause some Tibetan buddhists who are strictly that do not approve of Bonpo or philosophies - but he guards them), but 'sorcery' as you can see white and black bon. Like any form of method of sorcery - while it can be used to heal, definitely when Buddhism came over - there was much seen which was lacking compassion. It eradicated areas which could've caused more turbulence, more karmas, more dangers. Now the ritual of the feast - is a method the Bonpo taught - which some do misunderstand but it was a quick, terrifying, dangerous method of clearing karmas - but not all could pass that ritual and understand it - and madness could occur (imagine being in the process of such a ritual you're half eaten by all your crap created and karmas and you freak and get up - now you're a psychic mess of madness). But definitely, like even seen in africa, there were abuses of power and sorcery. In addition, animal sacrifices are a direct violation of the Dharma and buddhist teachings. Now, Buddhism does not and will not judge. But if one has taken vows - including a Tibetan buddhist - they are absolutely forbidden to perform an animal sacrifice, or kill an animal. it is a sentient being, but evenso, that goat-sacrifice could be a former lama for all one knows, no matter. In the eyes of a buddhist - any buddhist - to take the life of an animal and kill it is to be doing it to the Buddha himself. So, animal sacrifices had to be eliminated and there are bonpo who do practice without it. In addition, as the dalai lama does protect the Bonpo and they are recognized as a part of Tibetan Buddhism, - where you think some of those incredibly powerful and protective wrathful deities of Tibet come from? Bon. So there is a good relationship in most cases between the two, which they are really one, and much was accepted - but of course there were going to be some Bonpo - esp those who had the taste of serious power and wanted to further abuse it - but the karmas are great - thus why much of Bonpo, esp for those tempted into that - failed.

And the Milarepa - well - it expressed the truth of Dharma and what was more supreme in the end - and also, an inevitable transformation as well of Bonpo - but not an overall grafting in and lack of recognition (like say we've seen of the celtic gods in Ireland), but really working together. Bon and Tibetan Buddhism are now really 'one' and evolved and meshed with each other where neither was lost in the mixing process.

So could be why some feelings of kenya - cause in kenya still today there is evidence of what can occur when mainly sorcery can take over - abuses of power and then issues with killing 'this witch and that witch' and superstitions which can suffocate others and cause more suffering.

Title: Re: Ancient Tibetan Bonpo Shamanism
Post by: tangerine dream on January 17, 2009, 08:04:04 AM

(http://farm1.static.flickr.com/3/5040125_4729210f1a.jpg)

A young Bonpo priest from Zuosuo, near Yongning


(http://photos4.flickr.com/4785451_ac7d3ae6eb.jpg)
a group of Lushi Tombas, or witch priests, seated on the Youngning plain".

These domba "are engaged solely for the purpose of dealing with and driving out eveil spirits which cause bad luck, illness."

These ones have various drums, bowls full of dough gods, and they are performing their rites in front of an altar of pine sticks and oak branches, with perforated poaper smeared in pig's blood.

"They were concerned with driving out of a devel who had caused a stomach ache in a village headman,"

(http://photos5.flickr.com/5040131_3a62ddb2ac.jpg)
The oracle (sungma) of Yongning - at the moment of possession he shakes, trembles, rolls his eyes, barks and sticks out his tongue. The metal mirror onhis chest reveals the image of the approaching spirit, Dorje Drakte.

(http://photos4.flickr.com/5733801_d4e0b88e1f.jpg)
He commemorates a deed of violence": Sorcerers dance with spirit daggers in hand to celebrate the assassination of an ancient royal persecutor of Buddhism

Title: Re: Ancient Tibetan Bonpo Shamanism
Post by: Firestarter on January 17, 2009, 08:15:39 AM

Theres a good one from PBS site as well I read awhile back:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/tibet/understand/bon.html

Tibetans commonly draw a distinction between three religious traditions: (1) the divine dharma (Iha chos), or Buddhism; (2) Bon dharma (bon chos); and (3) the dharma of human beings (mi chos), or folk religion. The first category includes doctrines and practices that are thought to be distinctively Buddhist. This classification implicitly assumes that the divine dharma is separate and distinct from the other two, although Tibetan Buddhism clearly incorporated elements of both of these traditions.

Bon is commonly considered to be the indigenous religious tradition of Tibet, a system of shamanistic and animistic practices performed by priests called shen (gshen) or bonpo (bon po). Although this is widely assumed by Buddhists, historical evidence indicates that the Bon tradition only developed as a self-conscious religious system under the influence of Buddhism.

When Buddhism entered the country practitioners of indigenous traditions recognized that there were clear differences between their own practices and those of the foreign faith, and in time people who perceived themselves as adherents of the old religion of Tibet developed a separate tradition, but one that incorporated many Buddhist elements. Although later historical works state that the introduction of Buddhism was initially opposed by "Bon," this term is not even used in the early dynastic records to refer to indigenous traditions and practices. Instead, they are called cho (chos), the same term later used to translate the Sinskrit term dharma, which in Buddhist literature refers to Buddhist doctrine and practice. In inscriptions on the tomb of king Senalek (799-815), for example, the term bon refers to the royal priests whose job was to perform rituals for the Yarlung kings.

In early, records, "bon" denotes a particular type of priest who performed rituals to propitiate local spirits and ensure the well-being of the dead in the afterlife. It is only much later, under the influence of Buddhism, that "Bon" comes to designate pre-Buddhist Tibetan religious practices in general. It should also be noted that the rituals performed by these early priests as reported in the old records appear to differ substantially from contemporary Bon. As Per Kvaerne notes, for example, they were by all accounts concerned with taking care of the dead through ceremonies intended to ensure their safe journey to the afterlife and their material prosperity after arrival.1 The rituals of the bon often involved sacrificing animals (mainly horses, yaks, and sheep), making offerings of food and drink, and burying the dead with precious jewels, the benefits of which were apparently transferred to them in the afterlife through shamanistic rituals. The most elaborate of these were the ceremonies for the kings, each of whom was buried in a specially-constructed tomb, and apparently joined in death by servants, ministers, and retainers. The royal priests then performed special ceremonies, which according to old records sometimes lasted for several years. These were intended to ensure the well-being of the kings in the afterlife and to solicit their help in mundane affairs.

      
   
Animism in Tibetan Folk Religion    The Tibetan folk religion encompasses indigenous beliefs and practices, many of which predate the introduction of Buddhism and which are commonly viewed as being distinct from the mainstream of Buddhist practice. These are primarily concerned with propitiation of the spirits and demons of Tibet, which are believed to inhabit all areas of the country Folk religious practices rely heavily on magic and ritual and are generally intended to bring mundane benefits, such as protection from harm, good crops, healthy livestock, health, wealth, etc. Their importance to ordinary people should not be underestimated, since in the consciousness of most Tibetans the world is full of multitudes of powers and spirits, and the welfare of humans requires that they be propitiated and sometimes subdued. Every part of the natural environment is believed to be alive with various types of sentient forces, who live in mountains, trees, rivers and likes, rocks, fields, the sky, and the earth. Every region has its own native supernatural beings, and people living in these areas are strongly aware of their presence. In order to stay in their good graces, Tibetans give them offerings, perform rituals to propitiate them, and sometimes refrain from going to particular places so as to avoid the more dangerous forces.

In the often harsh environment of Tibet, such practices are believed to give people a measure of control over their unpredictable and sometimes hazardous surroundings. With the almost total triumph of Buddhism in Tibet, the folk religion became infused with Buddhist elements and practices, but it still remains distinct in the minds of the people, mainly because its focus is on pragmatic mundane benefits, and not on final liberation or the benefit of others. By all accounts, Tibetans have always been fascinated by magical and occult practices, and from the earliest times have viewed their country as the abode of countless supernatural forces whose actions have direct bearing on their lives. Since Buddhist teachers tend to focus on supramundane goals, Tibetans naturally seek the services of local shamans, whose function is to make contact with spirits, to predict their influences on people's lives, and to perform rituals that either overcome harmful influences or enlist their help.

When Buddhism entered Tibet, it did not attempt to suppress belief in the indigenous forces. Rather, it incorporated them into its worldview, making them protectors of the dharma who were converted by tantric adepts like Padmasambhava, and who now watch over Buddhism and fight against its enemies. An example is Tangla, a god associated with the Tangla mountains, who was convinced to become a Buddhist by Padmasambhava and now is thought to guard his area against forces inimical to the dharma. The most powerful deities are often considered to be manifestations of buddhas, bodhisattvas, Oikinis, etc., but the mundane forces are thought to be merely worldly powers, who have demonic natures that have been suppressed by Buddhism. Although their conversion has ameliorated the worst of their fierceness, they are still demons who must be kept in check by shamanistic rituals and the efforts of Buddhist adepts. Nor should it be thought that Buddhist practitioners are free from the influences of the folk religion. These beliefs and practices are prevalent in all levels of Tibetan society, and it is common to see learned scholar-lamas, masters of empirically-based dialectics and thoroughly practical in daily affairs, refuse to travel at certain times in order to avoid dangerous spirits or decide their travel schedules after first performingl divination to determine the most auspicious time. Such attitudes may be dismissed as "irrational" by Westerners, but for Tibetans they are entirely pragmatic responses to a world populated by forces that are potentially harmful.

      
   
Types of Spirits    According to folk beliefs, the world has three parts: sky and heavens, earth, and the "lower regions." Each of these has its own distinctive spirits, many of which influence the world of humans. The upper gods (steng Iha) live in the atmosphere and sky, the middle tsen (bar btsan) inhabit the earth, and the lower regions are the home of yoklu (g.yog klu), most notably snake-bodied beings called lu (klu naga), which live at the bottoms of lakes, rivers, and wells and are reported to hoard vast stores of treasure. The spirits that reside in rocks and trees are called nyen (gnyan); they are often malicious, and Tibetans issociate them with sickness and death. Lu are believed to bring leprosy, and so it is important to keep them away from human habitations. Sadak (sa bdag, "lords of the earth") are beings that live under the ground and are connected with agriculture. Tsen are spirits that live in the atmosphere, and are believed to shoot arrows at humans who disturb them. These cause illness and death. Tsen appear as demonic figures with red skin, wearing helmets and riding over the mountains in red horses. Du (bdud, mara) were apparently originally atmospheric spirits, but they came to be associated with the Buddhist demons called mara which are led by their king (also named Mara), whose primary goal is to lead sentient beings into ignorance, thus perpetuating the vicious cycle of samsara.

There are many other types of demons and spirits, and a comprehensive listing and discussion of them exceeds the focus of this book. Because of the great interest most Tibetans have in these beings and the widespread belief in the importance of being aware of their powers and remaining in their good graces, the folk religion is a rich and varied system, with a large pantheon, elaborate rituals and ceremonies, local shamans with special powers who can propitiate and exorcise, and divinatory practices that allow humans to predict the influences of the spirit world and take appropriate measures. All of these are now infused with Buddhist influences and ideas, but undoubtedly retain elements of the pre-Buddhist culture.

      
   
BON TEACHINGS AND PRACTICES    Adherents of Bon view their tradition as being distinct from Buddhism, although it clearly contains many Buddhist elements. The term bon for Bonpos (practitioners of Bon) signifies "truth," "reality," and "the true doctrine" which provides a path to liberation. For Bonpos, bon has roughly the same range of meanings that the term cho(chos, dharma) has for Tibetan Buddhists: it refers to their religion as a whole-teachings, practices etc.-which are believed to have been revealed by enlightened beings who took rebirth in order to lead others to salvation. Bon today has absorbed many Buddhist elements, and many of its teachings are strikingly similar to those of Tibetan Buddhism. David Snellgrove contends that it has incorporated so many Buddhist elements that it has become

a form of Buddhism that may fairly be regarded as heretical, in that those who follow it have persisted in claiming that their religion was taught not by Sakyamuni Buddha, but by Shen-rab [Shenrap], likewise accepted as Buddha, and that it came not from India, but from Ta-zig [Taksik] and by way of Zhang-zhung [Shangshung]. Such are the Bonpos, who have managed to hold their own down to the present day against the enormously more powerful representatives of orthodox Buddhism, while they are constantly and quite wrongly identified by other Tibetans ... as the persistent practitioners of pre-Buddhist Tibetan religion.2

In Buddhist sources, the Bonpos are commonly portrayed as malicious reactionaries whose manipulations hindered the dissemination of the dharma, who caused Santaraksita to be driven from the country, and who tried to prevent Padmasambhava's arrival. As Snellgrove and Richardson contend, however, such characterizations are probably unfair to Bon and are written from a rather narrow perspective.

Like all national historians, Tibetan writers of history see everything from a Tibetan point of view, and being fervent Buddhists as well, they inevitably see everything from a rather special Tibetan Buddhist point of view. Their view of the world around them is a simple one: in so far as it furthers the interests of their religion in general and their own religious order and monastery in particular, it is good; in so far as it works against their religion, their order and their monastery it is evil. Intemally the Bon-pos tend to become the scapegoat for everything that had rendered the Buddhist conversion of Tibet at all difficult, while most Tibetan Buddhists themselves remain almost innocently unaware of the great variety of pre-Buddhist beliefs and practices that they have absorbed as an accepted part of their daily thoughts and actions .

Title: Re: Ancient Tibetan Bonpo Shamanism
Post by: Firestarter on January 17, 2009, 08:20:10 AM

This is by the Dalai Lama:

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The Bon tradition is commonly associated with the kingdom of Zhang Zhung, which existed around Mount Kailash and the region to the west of Tibet until the time of the seventh century Tibetan King, Songtsen Gampo. We Tibetans regard Bon as the ancient, indigenous religious and cultural tradition of our ancestors, which is the source and embodiment of many aspects of the Tibetan way of life. With the advent of Buddhism in the Land of Snows, most Tibetans became Buddhists. Nevertheless, Bon remained and has experienced periods of growth and revival since the eleventh century, so that prior to the Chinese occupation it was practiced in many parts of the country.

The Bon tradition has bequeathed the present generation a strong legacy of education and training in philosophy, monastic discipline, ritual and meditation. It encourages a combination of literary study, vibrant debate and personal reflection.

Bon monasteries, their monks and lamas suffered no less than their Buddhist counterparts from the turmoil that followed the Chinese takeover of Tibet. A handful of dedicated teachers have been responsible for preserving and passing on the Bonpo spiritual and cultural transmission.

Here in exile in India, the Bonpo community has established a settlement at Dolanji in the hills around Solan in Himachal Pradesh, where they have made efforts to preserve the Bonpo way of life. Similar to the four Tibetan Buddhist traditions, the Bonpo community elects representatives to the Assembly of Tibetan People's Deputies.

The focus of the settlement is Tashi Menri Ling Monastery, where young monks receive complete traditional training. In addition to classes in grammar, medicine, astrology and poetry, they are also provided with a modern education. I have seen for myself that the students are provided good facilities for study and that the monks are well disciplined. I therefore welcome any assistance that may be extended to the monastery.

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