8. Conclusion

Today, Bon religion has acquired a respectable place in Tibetan community and it is accepted as one of the five major religious traditions of Tibet. Bonpos enjoy equal representation in Tibetan parliament in exile. Buddhist scholar Ngawang Zangpo says in his book, Guru Rinpoche: His Life and Times, he writes: "His Holiness the Dalai Lama regularly invites representative of the Bon faith to his Kalachakra empowerment and Kalu Rinpoche himself gave Bon empowerments, explaining that their faith was different only in form and language, not in essence, from the Buddhist path."^[1] Tibetans should be proud that like any other major civilizations of the world, they too had an ancient religious culture, which evolved over a period of time, coexisted with Buddhism, and gave the land a unique religious and cultural identity. Bon and Buddhism are two inalienable paths which is analogous to method and wisdom aspect of Vajrayana teaching to understand the depth and essence of Tibetan mind and its civilization. Bon is the foundation of Tibetan socio-cultural identity, and we should learn to appreciate our origin and heritage, and be grateful to the primal everlasting wisdom of our forefathers.^[2]