Tibetan Buddhism is a popular religion in Qinghai, Tibet, Inner Mongolia and now near Tibet. Tantric Buddhism was introduced into Tibet in the 7th century. Also known as Lamaism. Call yourself "Buddha" or "Inner Tao". Some people mistakenly think that Tibetan Buddhism is not real Buddhism, but a product of the combination of Buddhism and Bonism, a local religion in Tibet, but this is a complete misunderstanding. The reason why Buddhism is Buddhism lies in its three Tibetan classics and precepts, as well as the inheritance of dharma veins. Tibetan Buddhism is based on the true three Tibetan scriptures and has not been revised by other religions; The discipline system of Tibetan Buddhism is a real Buddhist system, including monks, monks, lay people and other disciplines. In the aspect of dharma vein, from Sakyamuni Buddha to today, it has been passed down from generation to generation with pure enlightenment and great virtue. Tibetan Buddhism can be said to have completely preserved the form and essence of the whole Buddhism. On the contrary, Buddhism in China abandoned some contents according to local customs. For example, there is no concept of Panditha in Chinese, and there is no debate about Confucian classics. These are all possessed by Buddhism itself. For example, China Buddhism also pays attention to the graceful images of Buddha and Bodhisattva, but seldom treats a horrible image of Bodhisattva, while Tibetan Buddhism does not. Boni itself belongs to heresy, but a considerable number of ghosts and gods have converted to this religion, and there are also many protectors. After Master Lotus Peanut came to Tibet from India at the invitation of the Tibetan king, he surrendered these Bonism ghosts and gods and converted them to Buddhism. At present, some Buddhist virtues have become the masters of Bonism because of some special intentions. Even so, Buddhism is still Buddhism, without Bonism, but Bonism is mixed with more and more Buddhist elements.
Tibetan Buddhism has two meanings: first, it refers to Buddhism formed in Tibetan areas and spread through Tibetan areas, affecting other areas (such as Mongolia, Sikkim and Bhutan); The second refers to Buddhism spread in Tibetan. For example, Mongolian, Naxi, Yugur, Tu and other ethnic groups teach, argue, recite and write in Tibetan even though they have their own languages or characters, so they are also called "Tibetan Buddhism".
Tibetan Buddhism began in the middle of the 7th century. When King Songtsan Gampo of Tibet married Nepalese Bhrikuti Devi and Princess Wencheng of the Tang Dynasty, the two princesses brought an 8-year-old statue of Sakyamuni and a 12-year-old statue of Sakyamuni, as well as a large number of Buddhist scriptures. According to the historical records of Tibetan Buddhism, Songzan Gambu itself is 11 thousand avalokitesvara, Princess Wencheng and Bhrikuti Devi are Green Tara and White Tara respectively, and then Jokhang Temple and Jokhang Temple were built.
The large-scale introduction of Buddhism into Tibet should begin when Songtsan Gampo established the Tubo Dynasty. Buddhism was introduced from two directions, the Han nationality and India. At that time, Tibetan King Songtsan Gampo converted to Buddhism under the influence of his two wives, Princess Tang Wencheng and Nepali Piju (his Tibetan name is Bhrikuti Devi). He sent sixteen ministers, including Duanmu Sanbo, to India to study Sanskrit and Buddhist scriptures. After he came back, he created Tibetan and began to translate some Buddhist scriptures, and made laws to make people believe in Buddhism. Buddhism began to spread in Tubo.
With the development of Lamaism in Tibet, the upper lamas gradually mastered the local political power, and finally formed a unique Tibetan Buddhism with the integration of politics and religion.
By worshipping Tibetan Buddhism, the Qing Dynasty established a solid spiritual bond with Mongolian and Tibetan people living in Tibet, Yunnan, Sichuan, Qinghai, Gansu, Xinjiang, Inner and Outer Mongolia and Northeast China, and then controlled the vast areas from northeast to northwest and southwest, creating important conditions for the reunification of China. Tibetan Buddhism was introduced into Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, Inner Mongolia, Yunnan and present-day Mongolia in the late period of the Red Festival, and began to be introduced into the courts of Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties after13rd century, which had a great influence on the Tibet policy and religious policy of the central government. It was also introduced to neighboring countries and borders such as Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim and Ladakh. At the beginning of the last century, it was introduced to Europe and America, where missionary centers or Tibetan Buddhist research institutions were established and developed, and now it has become one of the religious beliefs in western countries.
Chisong Dêzain played a great role in the development of Buddhism. First of all, welcome Indian monks Ji Hu and Lotus Peanut to Tibet. After Ji Hu and Lian Huasheng entered Tibet, they first established the Sanye Temple. After the completion of Samye Temple, Chisong Dêzain specially sent people to India to invite 12 monks to shave seven young Tubo nobles. The monks' becoming monks is an extremely important event in the history of Tibetan Buddhism and the beginning of Tibetan becoming monks. They are honored as "seven senses" in Tibetan history books. We also asked translators to translate a large number of Sanskrit Buddhist scriptures and some Chinese Buddhist scriptures. Therefore, the three treasures of Buddhism-Buddha, Dharma and Monk-are finally available. At this time, the business of translating classics began to flourish. During this period, * * * compiled four catalogues: Pangtang catalogue, Dangga catalogue and Qingpu catalogue.
However, in the middle of the ninth century, Tibetan Buddhism was once destroyed, that is, the so-called Langdama method was destroyed, and Buddhism was silent for a period of time (842-978). It's called the dark ages. Chizudezan's measures to promote Buddhism and the practice of handing over the military and political power of the dynasty to Buddhist monks caused dissatisfaction among the nobles. After the nobles murdered Chizu Dezan and became Ronda Mazanpu, they launched a large-scale movement to ban Buddhism. Famous monasteries such as Samye Temple were closed, Jokhang Temple was turned into a slaughterhouse, and statues such as Sakyamuni were buried. Because Princess Wencheng brought Siddhartha Gautama from the mainland and gave Tubo Buddhism, Princess Wencheng was described as the reincarnation of the devil by those who banned Buddhism. Monks were ordered to convert to Buddhism. Monks who refused to obey orders and gave up killing were forced to go hunting in the mountains with bows and arrows. After the murals in the Buddhist temple were painted out, there were pictures of monks drinking for fun. Many Buddha statues were dragged out of temples, nailed and thrown into rivers, and a large number of Buddhist scriptures were burned or thrown into water. The ban on Buddhism has dealt a very heavy blow to Buddhism, so that Tibetan religious history books refer to the last hundred years after Langdama as "extinction period" or "dark age".
One hundred years after Langdama destroyed Buddhism, Buddhism was introduced from the former Xikang area and Weizang area, and Tibetan Buddhism was revived. The spread of Buddhism in Tibet before the extinction of Langdama Buddhism was called the "pre-flood period" of Tibetan Buddhism, and later called the "post-flood period". According to the different introduction routes of Buddhism, the later period of Tibetan Buddhism can be divided into two parts: spreading on the road and spreading on the road.
In this way, Buddhism gradually revived in Tubo and developed into Tibetan Buddhism with unique plateau ethnic characteristics. Moreover, since the 1 1 century, various sects have been formed one after another, and it was not until the Gelug Sect was formed at the beginning of the15th century that the various factions of Tibetan Buddhism were finally finalized. In the early stage, there were four schools, namely Ma Ning School, Gadang School, Sakya School and Kagyu School, and in the later stage, there were Gelug School. After the rise of Gelug Sect, Gadang Sect merged into Gelug Sect and did not exist alone. The factional differences of Tibetan Buddhism are different from those of the eighteen schools of Indian Hinayana because of different precepts, and also different from those of Indian Mahayana because of different doctrines. Factional differences are caused by internal Buddhist factors such as different teachers, different professors, different classics and different understandings of classics, and external factors such as different regions and different donors. This is another feature of Tibetan Buddhism.
Living Buddha is the product of the development of Tibetan Buddhism to a certain social and historical stage, and it is also a unique religious and cultural phenomenon cultivated in the magical snowy area of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, which is unique in the world religious arena. Today, the "living buddhas" of various sects are still the most important religious clergy in Tibetan Buddhism, playing an irreplaceable role and enjoying supreme religious status among religious believers.
The reincarnation system of living Buddha originated in the early12nd century. In A.D. 1 193, Master Du Qinsongba (meaning "three times knowledge, that is, past, present and future"), the founder of the Karma Kagyu Sect of Tibetan Buddhism, told him before he died that he wanted to be reincarnated, and later generations followed the master's last words to find and identify the reincarnated soul child, thus opening the precedent for the reincarnation of the living Buddha of Tibetan Buddhism. Since then, the reincarnation of the living Buddha, a new religious system, has been widely adopted by various sects of Tibetan Buddhism, and in the long-term development process, a strict and systematic system of searching, identifying and educating the reincarnation of the living Buddha has gradually formed. The lineage of the living Buddha has developed rapidly in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
Speaking of Tibetan Buddhism, we have to say that there is a celestial burial with Tibetan Buddhist characteristics. From the traditional point of view, celestial burial
Customs are very consistent with Buddhist teachings and are closely related to the development of Buddhism. Celestial burial is the highest realm of charity.
In Buddhism, "giving" is one of the symbols of believers, which is directly related to whether believers can become Buddhists in the future, and the highest realm of "giving" is "giving". According to Buddhist teachings, after death, the soul leaves the body and enters a new cycle. The body is as useless as clothes. However, feeding the corpse to the eagle after death is the last good deed of the human body. As a "charity", giving it to other creatures can also be regarded as playing its final value. Celestial burial is the most thorough charity. Celestial burial does not mean that the deceased went to heaven with his soul on the wings of an eagle. In Tibetan funeral culture, soul and body are two independent concepts. Whether it is the understanding of death by Tibetan primitive religion (Bonism) or the explanation of death by Tibetan Buddhist believers, the soul and the body are completely separated. Celestial burial, a form of funeral in which the dead are fed to the eagle, is only the last charity of the deceased. It is the last mercy to let it feed the body whose soul has left. I dedicated my body to the vultures and those invisible creatures on the celestial burial platform, thus doing a great thing at the end of my life. Tibetan funeral customs are closely related to the lives of Tibetan people. There are Buddhist concepts of compassion, benevolence, benefiting the people and charity in the celestial burial. It should be affirmed that they are all deeply influenced by religion, and people have almost the same concept of death. It is precisely because the celestial burial fully embodies the compassion of Buddhism that most Tibetans choose this kind of funeral.
Speaking of Tibetan Buddhism, we have to say that there is a celestial burial with Tibetan Buddhist characteristics. From the traditional point of view, celestial burial
Customs are very consistent with Buddhist teachings and are closely related to the development of Buddhism. Celestial burial is the highest realm of charity.
In Buddhism, "giving" is one of the symbols of believers, which is directly related to whether believers can become Buddhists in the future, and the highest realm of "giving" is "giving". According to Buddhist teachings, after death, the soul leaves the body and enters a new cycle. The body is as useless as clothes. However, feeding the corpse to the eagle after death is the last good deed of the human body. As a "charity", giving it to other creatures can also be regarded as playing its final value. Celestial burial is the most thorough charity. Celestial burial does not mean that the deceased went to heaven with his soul on the wings of an eagle. In Tibetan funeral culture, soul and body are two independent concepts. Whether it is the understanding of death by Tibetan primitive religion (Bonism) or the explanation of death by Tibetan Buddhist believers, the soul and the body are completely separated. Celestial burial, a form of funeral in which the dead are fed to the eagle, is only the last charity of the deceased. It is the last mercy to let it feed the body whose soul has left. I dedicated my body to the vultures and those invisible creatures on the celestial burial platform, thus doing a great thing at the end of my life. Tibetan funeral customs are closely related to the lives of Tibetan people. There are Buddhist concepts of compassion, benevolence, benefiting the people and charity in the celestial burial. It should be affirmed that they are all deeply influenced by religion, and people have almost the same concept of death. It is precisely because the celestial burial fully embodies the compassion of Buddhism that most Tibetans choose this kind of funeral.
Tibetan Buddhism often reads the six-character mantra, just as mainland Buddhism often reads "There is no Amitabha in the south". In Tibetan areas, "six-character mantra" has become the most commonly used mantra of Tibetan Buddhism, almost to the point where everyone knows and reads it. Many people were born in the chanting of the six-character mantra and died in the chanting of the six-character mantra. The six-character mantra is almost accompanied by the longevity and customs of religious monks. In Tibetan areas, the handwriting of six-character mantra can be seen everywhere. The "six-character mantra" is printed on the prayer flags and flutters on the tops of mountains, rivers, lakes and pastoral tents. Flying in the sky, flowing in the river, carved on stone cliffs, accumulated over time, forming a spectacular plateau. For example, there are hundreds of millions of stone carvings in Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Qinghai Province. Around the temples of Tibetan Buddhism, there are countless prayer wheels with "six-character mantra" in them, and some temples of Tibetan Buddhism are lined with prayer wheels, ranging from prayer wheels with six characters in their hands to prayer wheels as big as houses. Others are written on wide cloth strips and hidden in warp tubes. For thousands of years, Tibetan monks and nuns have used this short mantra to pray, drive away troubles and purify their hearts. Tibetan Buddhism's deep respect for the six-character mantra and its piety are indeed extraordinary. If the six-character mantra is the foundation of Tibetan Buddhist classics, it is also the badge of Tibetan Buddhism. Today, when the world attaches importance to the study of Tibetan Buddhist culture, the six-character mantra is not only a prayer for happiness, but also a more attractive cultural connotation-that is, it embodies the hearts of millions of monks and nuns, making them constantly strive for self-improvement and forge ahead.