4. Buddhist renaissance; bsTanpa Phyi dar

Kyidegon [Tib:sKyid lde nyi ma mgon], one of the grandsons of Wodsrung established his rule in Ngari, the western region of Tibet in 9th century. One of his grandsons gave up his kingdom to become a monk and assumed the religious name Lhalama Yeshewod [Tib:lHa bla ma ye she 'od]^[1]. In order to restore the true teachings of the Buddha and clear the misinterpretation rampant in Tibet around that time, he tried his best to invite the great Indian teacher Atisha Dipamkarashrijana of Magadha's Vikramshila monastery to Tibet. But Lhalama Yeshewod was captured by the king of the neighboring state Garlok, wherein he was asked to give up the Buddhist faith or deliver gold equal to his weight as a ransom. When his great nephew, Jangchub wod [Tib:Byang chub ‗od], came to release his great uncle from prison with the gold ransom, Lhalama Yeshewod convinced his great nephew to use the gold to invite Atisha instead. And so, Lhalama Yeshewod died as a prisoner in Garlok.^[2]

India, around that time, was facing religious skirmishes. Buddhist religion was resisting persecution from Muslim and Hindus. Therefore, the Vikramshila monastery could not afford to send the great master Atisha to a far away foreign land like Tibet. When the envoys from Tibet explained the state of Buddhism in Tibet and the sacrifice made by Lhalama Yeshewod, Atisha agreed to go to Tibet.

The great master Atisha arrived in western Tibet in 1042 CE. He was received by Lotsaba Rinchen Zangpo, the abbot of the Toling monastery. Atisha wrote Boddhipathapradipa, [Tib:Byang chub lam gyi sdron me], the lamp that shows the path to enlightenment and taught extensively in western and central Tibet. His foremost disciple was Dromtonpa^[3] [Tib:'Bron ston pa], who found the Kadampa [bound by oath] school of Tibetan Buddhism. Atisha's visit to Tibet greatly helped put the Buddhism in Tibet in line with the genuine teachings of the Buddha. It also sparked the renaissance of Buddha Dharma in Tibet. The period after the visit of Pandita Atisha Dhipamkarashirjana was known as Tanpa chidar [Tib:bsTan pa phyi dar], the second spread of the Dharma (the first being the time of royal patronage).

Although there was no single authority to represent Tibet politically, Buddhism flourished throughout the region. Political factions and hegemonies patronized influential masters for their spiritual and mundane pursuits. Braving the long hard journey through the Himalayas, Indian masters visited Tibet at the invitation by Tibetan masters and the monasteries. Many Tibetan scholars also visited India to study under the Indian masters. In the process, new schools of Buddhism like Kagyu [dKa' brgyud], Sakya [Sa skya] and Geluk [dGe lugs] emerged in Tibet. Early Buddhism that entered Tibet under the royal patronage was referred as Nyingma [rNying ma], the old one, and those which emerged after the visit of Atisha in the eleventh century were termed as Sarma [the New one]. Except for the method of practice of some sutras and tantra as taught by their respective masters, there were no differences in interpretation of the principle teachings of Buddha. Authenticity and unity of the practice in each of these schools could be deduced from the fact that the Kagyur [Tib:bKa' 'gyur], the Tibetan translation of Buddha's teachings in hundred and eight volumes, and the Tengyur [Tib:bsTan 'gyur], the translation and commentaries on the teachings in two hundred and twenty-four volumes, are the two principle texts of all the schools. Lineages of all these schools could be traced to the Buddha through Indian Pandits and the Acharyas. Nyingmapa to Guru Padmasambhava; Kadampa and Gelukpa to Attach Dipamkarashirjana; Sakyapa to Virupa; Kagyupa to Naropa^[4].

Early western visitors to Tibet coined the nomenclature 'Lamaism' to refer Buddhism in Tibet. Seeing that the Lamas [monks] played a pivotal role in Tibetan religious and secular society, the foreign visitors found it apt to refer to Tibetan society as Lamaist society and Tibetan Buddhism as Lamaism.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

It was either Srong nge or Khor re. While Bu ston and Shakabpa has Khore, Samten Karmay has Srong nge as Lha lama yeshe 'od

[2]:

Shakapba, p-57

[3]:

1005-1064 CE

[4]:

Glenn H Mullin, translation, Essence of Refined Gold, Snowlion Publications, 1985