4. How Bon spread to Tibet

Tonpa Shenrab visited Zhangzhung, the main and principal site among the eighteen great regions around that time, and built gSas khang nor bu spungs brtsegs before the Mount Tise. Zhangzhung king Hos rje khri ver gser gyi bya ru can welcomed him and received teachings directly from the Teacher^[1]. Then with the successive eighteen Bya ru can Kings, Bon religion flourished in Zhangzhung and from there it spread to Tibet and other regions. How Yungdrung Bon religion first came to Tibet, during the lifetime of Tonpa Shenrab, demon Khyapa Lagring created many obstacles to the masters. Once his seven sons, [Tib:bdud phrug shor ba skya bdun], stole the seven horses of Tonpa Shenrab from Olmolungring and took them to Kongpo. Tonpa Shenrab came after them not because he wanted the horses, but he felt that the time has come for him to show the light of Bon to the Tibetans. From sTag gzig 'Ol mo lung ring he came through the Mount Tise and the river rTa mchog kha 'bab to the land of Kongpo. As the people were not ready for higher teaching, he taught them how to propitiate gods, suppress harmful spirits and some rudimentary of the Bon of cause. He prayed that the teaching may flourish in the land in future and returned to sTag gzig^[2]. For the benefit of the coming generation, he left the Mount Bon ri, a symbol of his body, speech and mind, as an object of veneration.

According to Shar dza bkra shis rgyal mtshan,^[3] sNyan Li shu stag ring of Tibet went to sTag gzig 'Ol mo lung ring and studied under three great scholars, dMu tsha tra he, Khri thog spa stsha and Hu lu spa legs. Nyi sdron text says: Khung po stag sgra don gtsug, gNyan Li shu stag ring, Bhe shod kram and gTso khri gtsug were sent to Zhangzhung for Bon teachings. They met the four great scholars of Zhangzhung and from them they received the teaching of Bon gyi sangs sde chen po bzhi, 'bum sde chen po lnga, and many other inner and outer teachings and took it to Tibet and the King was also greatly pleased [identity of the King is not clear]. The above scholars: Khung po stag sgra don gtsug, gNyan Li shu stag ring, Bhe shod kram and gTso khri gtsug were later came to be known as four great scholars of Tibet [Tib:Bod kyi mkhas pa mi bzhi].

There was another great Zhangzhung scholar, sTong rgyung mthu chen, who taught most of Sutra and Tantra [Tib:mDo and sNgags] teachings of Bon to Se bon Sha ri dbu chen, lDe bon Gyim tsha rma chung, and Me nyag lCe tsha mkhar bu. sTong brgyud mthu chen taught ten thousand texts of Bon teaching to Sha ri dbu chen of Tibet at Bye ma g.yung drung and helped in translating many Zhangzhung text into the Tibetan. This place Bye ma g.yung drung was said to be at the border between Zhangzhung and Tibet and the source of eighty two springs [Tib:Chu mig brgyad cu rtsa gnyis].

According to mDo dri med gzi brjid^[4], Tonpa Shenrab has prophesied, "You Nam mkha' snang ba mdog can, around that time in the land of snow, at the Mount Lha ri gyang tho, with the middle of the seven, shall establish the authority of king and the priests, and spread the secret doctrine of Tantra." Accordingly, the Priest Nam mkha snang ba'i mdog can appeared in Tibet during the time of King Nyatri Tsanpo, and became his preceptor. He taught the King and gave empowerment of Bon of sPyi spungs. Since then it was said: The Mount is lHa ri gyang tho, the Lord is gNya' khri btsan po, the Priest is sNang ba'i mdog can, the Bon is sang sngags spyi spungs, the Castle is Byi ba stag tse^[5].

King Nyatri Tsanpo and his ministers practiced dBal ram and ascended to heaven. King Mukhri Tsanpo received the teaching of sPyi spungs and Khro bo dbang chen and practiced it at the Mount Lharigyangtho and was said to have achieved incredible super natural powers. The Bon of cause and effect and other higher teachings were well established in Tibet since the reign of Nyatri Tsanpo. King Mukhri Tsanpo invited 128 learned scholars from Zhangzhung, and established thirty seven great Religious Center [Tib:'du gnas chen po].^[6] Since then the teaching of g.Yung drung Bon was firmly established in Tibet, and the Bonpo priests [Tib:gShen] played important role as guides and advisors to the successive Kings. It was said that nothing gets started without a word and consent of the gShen. "Without utterance of three words from the gShen, the King shall not command, the ministers shall not put the agenda.."^[7] Religious and secular power of the gShen priests became so strong that the Seventh King Drigum Tsanpo in order to consolidate his power decided to abolish the religion to eliminate the gShen's influence in the administration. This was the first time the Bon teachings faced persecution. Many Bon masters fled and hid the scriptures and texts in various places, which were revealed or discovered later. But the King faced retribution and was killed by one of his subjects, Lo Ngam of lHo brag region. King Drigum's sons, Sha khri, Bya khri and Nya khri fled to Kong po, Nyang po and sPo yul. Some says, Kong po, Dag po and Mon yul, still other speak of Mongol. Later, Rus las skyes, a son born to the widow of King Drigum Tsanpo, defeated Lo Ngam and brought Prince Bya khri from Kongpo and made him the King. Prince Bya khri, popularly known as sPu de gung rgyal revived and restored the teachings of Bon, and accorded same respect and position to Bon priests as his forefathers had done. Two Zhangzhung masters, Khyung po Mu khyung rgyan and lHa khung rgyan, who were brothers, were invited to Tibet and they brought with them important texts like: 'Bum, the text of twelve portals; the mdZod, the ten Phra mo; and many texts concerning the different 'Vehicles'^[8]. They taught these texts and the Bon religion once again flourished in Tibet. Since then till the time of thirty third King Srongtsan Gampo [7th century CE], Bon religion played important role in maintaining the royal authority, and it was instrumental in keeping the Tibetans united and strong as one nation.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

'Go pa bsTan 'zin 'brug grags, Theg chen sangs rgyas g.yung drung Bon gyi ngo sprod, p-64

[2]:

Bon sGo I, p-21

[3]:

Shar za bkra shis rgyal mtsan, Legs bshad mdzod, p-158, TSG p-26

[4]:

1) mDo Dri med gzi brjid, 61st chapter, p-364, 2) Samten Karmay, Treasury of Good Sayings, p-32

[5]:

Shar dza bkra shis rgyal mtshan, Legs bshad mzos, p-162, "rJe gnya khri btsan po, gShen snang ba'i mdog can, Bon gsang sngags spyi spungs, mKhar byi ba stag rtse"

[6]:

Shar dza bkra shis rgyal mtshan, Legs bshad mdzod, P-167

[7]:

sPa ston bstan rgyal bzang po, Dar rgyas gsal sgron, p-163

[8]:

Karmay Samten, Treasury of Good Saying, p-73