Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism revised edition
by John Powers
Snow Lion Publications ithaca, new york • boulder, colorado
Snow Lion Publications P.O. Box 6483 • Ithaca, NY 14851 USA (607) 273-8519 • www.snowlionpub.com
© 1995, 2007 by John Powers
All rights reserved. First edition 1995 Second edition 2007
No portion of this book may be reproduced by any means without prior written permission from the publisher.
Printed in Canada on acid-free recycled paper. Designed and typeset by Gopa & Ted2, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Powers, John, 1957Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism / by John Powers. — Rev. ed. p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
ISBN-13: 978-1-55939-282-2 (alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 1-55939-282-7 (alk. paper) 1. Buddhism—China—Tibet. 2. Tibet (China)—Religion. I. Title.
BQ7604.P69 2007
294.3’923—dc22
2007019309
To Terry and Leo
Preface
In the decade since the publication of the first edition of this book, a veritable flood of literature has appeared in Western languages on topics relating to Tibetan religion, history, and culture. At the same time, the availability of Tibetan texts that were either difficult to access or that had been presumed lost has increased. A number of groundbreaking studies by academics have appeared, and there is now a substantial library of treatises, videos, and CDs, as well as Internet-based resources by Tibetan masters describing aspects of their philosophical and meditative traditions, folk tales, traditional stories, biographies and autobiographies, and oral and written discourses on such topics as astrology, divination, and Vajray›na.
The first edition was the result of years of study in university courses and libraries with primary texts, secondary works, oral instructions by lamas from the four major orders of Tibetan Buddhism (Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakya, and Géluk), as well as fieldwork in the Himalayan region. The goal of the first edition—and of the present one—was to meet the growing need for an introduction to Tibetan Buddhism written specifically for people with little or no previous exposure to the tradition.
This book is intended for an audience of undergraduates, Buddhist practitioners looking for an overview of the tradition, and readers with a general interest in the subject. It attempts to provide information regarding the history and practices of Tibetan Buddhism in a clear manner, without presuming previous knowledge of the subject, and also without assuming the supremacy (or inferiority) of any school or lineage. Its outline is not derived from any traditional organizing structure, and grows
out of my own study of this tradition and my attempts to place its components in context and to make sense of the often conflicting claims and counterclaims of its exponents.
The tragedy of Tibet’s invasion and annexation by the People’s Republic of China in the 1950s has had a devastating effect on the people of Tibet and their rich traditional culture, but the rest of the world has benefited from the resulting diaspora, which has brought Tibetan lamas out of their monasteries and retreat huts and into universities and newly-established Buddhist centers. Now students can have access to them in ways that would have been impossible in traditional Tibet.
As a result of their exposure to teachings and teachers from this tradition, thousands of Westerners have become Tibetan Buddhists, and there is widespread interest even among nonconverts in the public lectures of such luminaries as the Dalai Lama, Sogyel Rinpoché, Pema Norbu Rinpoché, and Sakya Tridzin. Modern technology allows their words to be printed and disseminated all over the world, in print and electronic forms. Most major cities in North America, Europe, and Australia have at least one Buddhist center, and many have several representing various denominations. College courses on Buddhism in general and Tibetan Buddhism in particular are a common feature of contemporary curricula.
The present incarnation of this book incorporates a number of important new perspectives and theories. In addition, my own expanding knowledge of the subject has rendered some of my earlier conclusions questionable or outdated, but the possibility of writing a second edition provides a mechanism to revise and update my earlier work, one of the luxuries of modern word processing and publishing technology.
As with the first edition, the scope of this book is broad, encompassing history, philosophy, ritual, architecture, art, and a range of other subjects, but it still only scratches the surface of this ancient and rich culture. The first part of the book explores the Indian background in which Buddhism arose. It focuses on the figure of the Buddha, some important doctrines attributed to him, the practice and theory of Buddhist meditation, the main distinctions between the Mah›y›na and Hınay›na schools, and the relation of Vajray›na to other Mah›y›na systems. Part two is concerned with the history and culture of Tibet, and examines its early religious history, the present-day situation of Tibetan Buddhism, and some important aspects of the daily religious lives of Tibetan Buddhists. Part three looks at Vajray›na and at the most influential teaching lineages of
Tibetan Buddhism, focusing on their histories, important figures, and distinctive practices.
Since beginning serious study of Tibetan Buddhism more than two decades ago, I have had the good fortune to receive oral instructions from some of the most prominent Western scholars of Buddhism as well as eminent and articulate exponents of each of the four orders of Tibetan Buddhism. Grant-giving agencies including the Australian Research Council, the American Philosophical Association, and the American Institute for Indian Studies have generously funded several years of fieldwork study in south India, the Himalayan region (including Ladakh, Zanskar, Sikkim, and Himachal Pradesh), Nepal, and various sites in northern India. I have received oral teachings, both in groups and in private, from scores of lamas, and have been allowed to witness and participate in a number of esoteric rituals. These experiences have provided the raw material for this book in both of its incarnations.
The scope of the project lies beyond the expertise of any researcher, and I would like to acknowledge my thanks to the many people who aided in the process of writing, editing, and correcting the various stages of the two editions. Sidney Piburn of Snow Lion Publications deserves credit for initiating the project and for his help throughout, as well as gently pressing me to get to work on the second edition. Joe Wilson’s comments and corrections of the first section made me rethink some of my initial assumptions. Thanks are also due to William Magee for his careful reading of the manuscript and for his comments. Since beginning a teaching career, various versions of this work have been studied and critiqued by hundreds of students in the United States and Australia, and many of them have made invaluable comments and clarifications. In addition, they have helped me in adapting what I have seen and read to an audience of intelligent people with little or no background in the subject matter, and they have been perhaps my greatest resource in this process. Ronald Davidson’s critique of the Sakya chapter significantly contributed to significant changes in the final version of the first edition, and I have greatly benefited from several of his conference presentations. I would also like to thank Paul Hackett for valuable information on sources. Sylvia Gretchen’s contributions in proofreading the Nyingma chapter and suggesting corrections are deeply appreciated. A special debt of gratitude is owed to Jeffrey Hopkins, my graduate advisor, whose unstinting help and advice provided me with a paradigm for an academic mentor. My wife
Cindy has also made significant contributions to this project, both in terms of material support and through her help and encouragement. Her explanations of contemporary Western psychology and counseling techniques were very helpful in reaching an understanding of how they differ from Buddhist meditation practices.
A number of Tibetan scholars have contributed significantly to this book, among them the late Kensur Yéshé Thubten of Loseling Monastic College, with whom I studied in graduate school and during a year in India. Throughout my time in graduate school, Géshé Jambel Thardo patiently answered questions and provided oral instructions on a wide range of subjects, and much of my understanding of the Gélukpa scholastic system is due to him. Thanks are also due to Géshé Palden Dragpa of Tibet House in Delhi and Georges Dreyfus of Williams College, who initiated me into the subtleties of Tibetan oral debate and who patiently answered hundreds of questions during our graduate studies. While in India in 1988, many productive hours were spent discussing Buddhist philosophy with Professor Yéshé Thabkhé of the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies. My sincere thanks to Ven. Samdhong Rinpoché, the current Kalon Tripa of the Tibetan exile government’s legislative assembly and former Vice-Chancellor of the Central Institute, and to Géshé Ngawang Samten for allowing me to study there on several occasions and for making available the considerable resources of that wonderful institution.
Several Sakya lamas, including H.E. Chogyé Trichen Rinpoché and Lama Choedak Rinpoché, have generously shared their knowledge of the “triple vision” and “path and result” teachings over the past several years and helped me to understand their complexities. Khetsun Sangpo Rinpoché guided me and a small group of students through Mipam’s exposition of the “great perfection” during a memorable summer, and Khamtrül Rinpoché provided months of instructions on the preliminary practices and the techniques of great perfection meditation during a fieldwork trip to Dharamsala in the 1990s. I would also like to thank H.H. the Dalai Lama for making time in his busy schedule to talk with me on several occasions and for the insights provided by his public lectures. Thanks are also due to Khenpo Könchog Gyeltsen for his many helpful talks on the Kagyu order and his making time to answer questions. I have also benefited from several invitations to lecture at the Kagyu E-wam Buddhist Institute in Melbourne, founded by Traleg Rinpoché, and from my informal discussions with him on various topics of Buddhist philosophy and practice
The Tibetan lamas who are now teaching publicly and publishing works for a Western audience are well versed in their respective traditions, but are generally not trained to place them in a wider context in Tibet or the Buddhist world, nor do their backgrounds prepare them for comparing their orders’ teachings and practices to those of other traditions. Much of Tibetan Buddhist literature is tinged with sectarian biases and broad (sometimes unfounded) generalizations about orders other than the one to which a particular teacher belongs, and the claims and counterclaims often prove confusing for those who have recently begun their study. In addition, traditional Tibetan mythology and hagiographical stories are often repeated by lamas who assume them to be veridical, and this creates conceptual difficulties for many Westerners, particularly those who have been exposed to modern science and skeptical philosophy. In a sense, this book is intended to explain Tibetan Buddhism to a foreign audience, one composed of people whose background and education resemble my own and who have encountered many of the same conceptual problems, questions, and gaps that I have during my ongoing engagement with Tibetan Buddhism and its exponents. This is a rich and diverse tradition, and I expect that there will be a number of future editions, each of which will reflect my deepening and expanding understanding of this subject, as well as changing perspectives and theories.
During the years I have studied Tibetan Buddhism and lived with Tibetans, it has become clear to me that this tradition is one of the richest shared legacies of humankind. It is my hope that this book will help make Tibetan Buddhism more accessible to interested students and that it will benefit sentient beings everywhere.
Technical Note
In keeping with the introductory nature of this work, technical terms have been kept to a minimum. Some Tibetan words have been spelled phonetically and treated as English words, while others have been given English translations. The first occurrence of the most important technical terms is accompanied by an italicized transliteration in parentheses. All other terms, as well as names, places, and titles of texts are given in indexes, along with their transliterated spellings. The transliteration follows the system of Turrell Wylie, which he describes in his article, “A Standard System of Tibetan Transcription” (Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, 22, 1959, pp. 261–76).
Phonetic spellings of terms, names, and places have been adopted for the benefit of nonspecialists, who are often bewildered by the many unpronounced consonants found in Tibetan and by the subtleties of Tibetan pronunciation. Most words have been phoneticized in accordance with the dialect of Lhasa, the capital of Tibet and its cultural and religious center. Pronunciations of these words vary greatly in other parts of Tibet, but the central Tibetan pronunciation was chosen as the most commonly accepted standard. Some familiar terms have been rendered in accordance with their common spelling: for example, “Bön” and “Sakya.” In this edition I have adopted umlauts and accent marks to facilitate pronunciation of some Tibetan sounds. Thus, the“ö” in chö (the Tibetan equivalent of the Sanskrit term dharma) is pronounced as in German, and the “é” in rinpoché is pronounced “ay.” Many Tibetan teachers who teach and publish in the West have established transliterations of their names that are widely used
(e.g., Lama Yeshe), and I have used these in this book instead of my own phonetic system.
Most of the quotations used in the text are taken from English language publications. In cases where none was available (or where I disagreed with a published translation) my own translations have been provided. The decision to use other translations was based on complaints from students who read early versions of the manuscript and noted that for nonspecialists it is often frustrating to read a pithy quote and not be able to read the original text in order to obtain further information or explore the context.
Introduction
At dawn in Dharamsala, as the sun rises over the mountains, a number of people are already awake and walking on the path around the residence of the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people. Dharamsala is a small town in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh perched on the side of Mt. Dhauladhar in the foothills of the Himalayas, the world’s highest mountains. Dharamsala today is the center of the Tibetan Buddhist exile community in India and the home of the Dalai Lama. Tenzin Gyatso, the fourteenth Dalai Lama, is considered by his followers to be a physical manifestation of AvalokiteŸvara (Chenrezi ), the buddha of compassion and patron deity of Tibet. Forced to flee his homeland in 1959 when the Chinese army forcibly annexed Tibet, he and many of his people have resettled in India, where they continue to look over the mountains, hoping someday to return to their homeland.
The harsh realities of diaspora and the tenuousness of their position in exile have not dimmed the reverence of the Tibetan people for the Dalai Lama, and the crowds that circumambulate his residence in Dharamsala are a testament to their respect for him. The individuals and groups walking the path are a cross-section of the Tibetan community: male and female, young and old, lay and monastic, and people from all levels of society. Some are on their way to work or to shop, and chose the route around the Dalai Lama’s residence because they believe that circumambulating it brings merit, even if one only walks part of the way. Many of those on the path will make the circuit a number of times, and their trek will be an act of religious devotion.
Most carry prayer beads, used to mark the number of times they chant
a mantra. The use of mantras is deeply rooted in Tibetan Buddhism. They are short prayers that are thought to subtly alter one’s mind and make a connection with a particular buddha, or awakened being. Tibetan Buddhism has no gods in the Western sense of the term—the deities of Tibetan Buddhism are buddhas, literally “awakened ones,” who in past lives were ordinary people, but who have transcended the ordinary through their meditations and realizations. When Tibetans chant a mantra associated with a particular buddha, they are not simply asking for the blessings and aid of the buddha—the final goal of the practice is to become buddhas themselves, since buddhas are sentient beings who have actualized the highest potential that we all possess.
The Tibetans walking around the Dalai Lama’s palace often chant the mantra of AvalokiteŸvara—o˙ ma˚i padme hÒ˙—a practice that pays tribute to the Dalai Lama as an incarnation of AvalokiteŸvara and focuses their minds on the goal of eventually attaining his level of wisdom and compassion, the two primary qualities that buddhas embody. Many will stop along the path at chöden s(mchod rten, stÒpa),1 small shrines that generally contain religious artifacts of some sort. Often the Tibetans will make prostrations toward the chödens or toward the Dalai Lama’s residence. This is thought to bring great religious merit and, like the chanting of mantras, helps to orient one’s mind to the goal of buddhahood.
One notable feature of this practice is its primary focus: other living beings. It is generally thought that if one performs religious actions solely for one’s own benefit, the practices are ineffective and yield little or no merit. Since one is trying to attain buddhahood—and since buddhas are beings whose compassion extends to all living creatures—anyone who chants the mantra of the buddha of compassion or pays homage to the Dalai Lama seeking personal gain is thought to be profoundly misguided. Tibetans recognize this, and when asked will generally indicate that they offer the merit of their religious devotions for the benefit of all sentient beings.
All along the path are religious symbols, most of which are connected with AvalokiteŸvara or his human manifestation, the Dalai Lama. There are several ma˚i walls, which are piles of stones, each of which is inscribed with the mantra o˙ ma˚i padme hÒ˙. This literally means “o˙ in the jewel lotus hÒ˙,” although few of the Tibetans who chant the mantra would be aware of this. For most it is simply an invocation to the Dalai Lama and AvalokiteŸvara that brings merit in both the present and future lives. In
Indian Buddhist scriptures, the mantra is related to the notion that beings born in the “pure land” of Sukh›vatı (Joyous Land) arise in jeweled lotuses rather than wombs, and the mantra probably originally expressed an aspiration for rebirth there. AvalokiteŸvara is one of the principal figures of Sukh›vatı and is closely associated with Amit›bha, the buddha who rules over it.2
The mantra has been interpreted in various ways, and Buddhist teachers commonly associate it with aspects of Buddhist thought and practice. The Dalai Lama, for example, relates it to the twin factors of method (skillfully adapting one’s actions for the benefit of others) and wisdom (comprehending the true nature of reality) and the transformation of one’s body, speech, and mind into those of a buddha.3 A number of Tibetan teachers have connected each of the six syllables with the six “perfections” (pha rol tu phyin pa, p›ramit›: generosity, ethics, patience, effort, concentration, and wisdom) in which those who are on the path to buddhahood train, while others relate them to the six realms of rebirth and escape from them.4
The lotus (padma) is an important symbol in Tibetan Buddhism and is commonly associated with the process of becoming a buddha. In Tibetan Buddhist iconography, buddhas are often seated on lotus thrones, indicating their transcendent state. A lotus is born in the muck and mud at the bottom of a swamp, but when it emerges on the surface of the water and opens its petals a beautiful flower appears, unstained by the mud from which it arose. Similarly, the compassion and wisdom of buddhas arise from the muck of the ordinary world, which is characterized by fighting, hatred, distrust, anxiety, and other negative emotions. These emotions tend to cause people to become self-centered and lead to suffering and harmful actions. But just as the world is the locus of destructive emotions, it is also the place in which we can become buddhas, perfected beings who have awakened from the sleep of ignorance and who perceive reality as it is, with absolute clarity and with profound compassion for suffering living beings.
Just as the lotus arises from the bottom of a swamp, so buddhas were formerly humans, immersed in the negative thoughts and actions in which all ordinary beings engage: the strife, wars, petty jealousies, and hatreds to which all humans, animals, and other creatures are subject. Through their meditative training, however, buddhas have transcended such things, and like lotuses have risen above their murky origins and look down on them
unsullied by the mud and mire below. The symbolism may be extended still further, because buddhas do not simply escape the world and look down on others with pity or detached amusement; rather, like the lotus, which has roots that still connect it with the bottom of the swamp, buddhas continue to act in the world for the benefit of others, continually manifesting in various forms in order to help them, to make them aware of the reality of their situations, and to indicate the path to the awakening of buddhahood, which can free them from all suffering.
These symbols are operating in the minds of the Tibetans who make the circuit around the residence of the Dalai Lama, and advanced practitioners have been exposed to oral teachings that further deepen their appreciation for the potential implications of the mantra o˙ ma˚i padme hÒ˙. They perceive AvalokiteŸvara (and his physical manifestation, the Dalai Lama) as the embodiment of their own highest aspirations, a person who through individual effort, compassionate activity, and diligent meditation has transcended the world, but who still continues to emanate physical manifestations for the benefit of others. The compassion of AvalokiteŸvara is completely unstained by any ordinary emotions; he has no need for praise, does not seek the approval of others, and his actions are completely untouched by thoughts of personal gain. Rather, he exemplifies the highest and purest level of compassion, a compassion that is said to be inconceivable to ordinary beings. This indicates the multifaceted nature of the symbolism of the mantra that Tibetans chant as they circumambulate the residence of the Dalai Lama. As they walk, they try to keep this symbolism in mind, because the more one familiarizes oneself with something the more natural it becomes, and one increasingly thinks and acts accordingly.
This is a basic idea underlying the system of tantric meditation, which is considered by Tibetans to be the most effective means for attaining buddhahood. In this system, one tries to transform one’s mind through meditation and through surrounding oneself with symbols that resonate with one’s religious goals, that draw the mind toward thoughts of compassion, wisdom, altruism, ethical behavior, patience, and so on. The people on the path around the Dalai Lama’s residence are making religious merit that is expected to pay dividends in the future, but on a deeper level they are trying to reorient their minds in the direction of greater and more spontaneous compassion, since ultimately they hope to attain the same level as AvalokiteŸvara. As they catch glimpses of the residence of Aval-
okiteŸvara’s human manifestation, they aspire to become like him, and the ma˚i walls, chödens, and rock faces carved with his mantra all serve to draw their attention to the task at hand, which is not just to ask some powerful deity for help, but to become deities themselves and work for the betterment of others.
One aspect of life in a Tibetan community that strikes most Westerners immediately is the pervasiveness of such symbolism. Everywhere one looks, Buddhist motifs stand out: there are walls of prayer wheels inscribed with mantras, and people who turn them are thought to be sending out prayers for the benefit of all sentient beings. Prayer flags with short mantras or invocations written on them flap in the wind, each movement betokening an aspiration to benefit others. Shrines of various sizes, as well as monasteries, monks, nuns, temples, and statues catch the eye everywhere, and many of the people one passes are engaged in activities associated with Buddhist practice: a woman on the way to the market is holding her prayer beads and softly chanting a mantra; a group of children is prostrating in front of a temple; and a line of people is moving slowly around a wall of prayer wheels, turning each one as they pass.
Wherever one looks, one perceives signs of activities that would be identified by most Westerners as “religious,” but they are so deeply woven into the fabric of daily Tibetan life that it is difficult to single out a part of the tapestry that is purely “religious” or one that is only “secular.” There is no clear distinction between religious and secular life in Tibetan societies, and “religion” is not compartmentalized into certain places and times as it tends to be in Western societies. Rather, Buddhism is the very lifeblood of the community, and its influence is seen in all aspects of daily life.
The Tibetan language does not even have a term with the same connotations as the English word religion. The closest is the word chö(chos), which is a Tibetan translation of the Sanskrit word dharma. Chö has a wide range of possible meanings, and no English word comes close to expressing the associations it has for Tibetans. In its most common usage it refers to the teachings of Buddhism, which express the truth and outline a path to awakening. The path is a multifaceted one, and there are doctrines and practices to suit every sort of person. There is no one path that everyone must follow and no practices that are prescribed for every Buddhist. Rather, the dharma has something for everyone, and anyone can profit from some aspect of it.
Because of its multifaceted nature, however, there is no ultimate “truth”
that can be put into words, nor is there one program of training that everyone can or must pursue. Tibetan Buddhism recognizes that people have differing capacities, attitudes, and predispositions, and the dharma can and should be adapted to these. Thus, there is no one church in which everyone should worship, no service that everyone must attend, no prayers that everyone must say, no text that everyone should treat as normative, and no one deity that everyone must worship. The dharma is extremely flexible, and if one finds that a particular practice leads to a diminishment of negative emotions, greater peace and happiness, and increased compassion and wisdom, this is dharma. The Dalai Lama even states that one may practice the dharma by following the teachings and practices of non-Buddhist traditions such as Christianity, Islam, Judaism, or Hinduism.5 If one belongs to any of these traditions, and if one’s religious practice leads to spiritual advancement, the Dalai Lama counsels that one should keep at it, since this is the goal of all religious paths.
In this sentiment he hearkens back to the historical Buddha, ⁄›kyamuni, who was born in the fifth century b.c.e. in present-day Nepal. As he was about to die, the Buddha was questioned by some of his students, who were concerned that after the master’s death people might begin propounding doctrines that had not been spoken by the Buddha himself and that these people might tell others that their doctrines were the actual words of the Buddha. In reply, the Buddha told them, “Whatever is wellspoken is the word of the Buddha.”6 In other words, if a particular teaching results in greater peace, compassion, and happiness, and if it leads to a lessening of negative emotions, then it can safely be adopted and practiced as dharma, no matter who originally propounded it.
This flexibility makes it difficult to write about Tibetan Buddhism. The tradition is a multilayered tapestry comprised of many different strands, and anyone hoping to write an introduction to it is faced with the daunting task of sorting through centuries of history, huge amounts of textual material, and multiple lineages of teaching and practice. The problem is compounded by the scope of Tibetan Buddhism, which is found throughout the Tibetan cultural area. This area includes the central Tibetan provinces of Ü and Tsang; large parts of western Tibetan plateau that have traditionally been autonomous; Amdo and Kham in the eastern regions which, although culturally Tibetan, speak distinctive dialects and have maintained their independence from the central provinces; the open plains of the Changtang, home of the Tibetan nomads; much of present-day
Mongolia; large expanses of central Asia; smaller enclaves in present-day Russia and parts of several republics of the former Soviet Union; much of the Himalayan region of northern India, including Ladakh, Zanskar, and Sikkim; and the neighboring countries of Nepal and Bhutan.
In addition, due to the diaspora of the Tibetan people brought about by the invasion and occupation of Tibet by China, today Tibetan religion and culture are being spread all over the world, and increasing numbers of people in the West consider themselves to be adherents of Tibetan Buddhism. Millions more have heard teachings or read books and articles by Tibetan teachers, with the result that Tibetan culture is attracting unprecedented attention outside of its homeland at the same time that it is being systematically eradicated in the land of its origin.
In the chapters that follow, some of the distinctive features of Tibetan Buddhism will be discussed. Some specialists will no doubt question my choice of subject matter, and it would be entirely possible to write an introductory study of Tibetan Buddhism that would be far different from this one. The choices of which topics to discuss and how much space to give them reflect my own orientation, which is primarily concerned with history, philosophy, and meditative practice. Many important elements of Tibetan culture, ethnographic studies, and historical issues have only been mentioned briefly, or even omitted completely. However, it is hoped that this book will serve its primary purpose, which is to draw students into the subject of Tibetan Buddhism and open up further avenues of exploration in this rich and multifaceted tradition.
Notes
1.Throughout this book technical terms are mostly consigned to the indexes at the end. Important ones are placed in parentheses, with the Tibetan term first, followed by a Sanskrit equivalent where appropriate.
2.The most detailed examination of this mantra to date is Alexander Studholme’s The Origins of O˙ Ma˚i Padme HÒ˙: A Study of the K›ra˚˜avyÒha SÒtra (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2002). He focuses on the K›ra˚˜avyÒha-sÒtra, the earliest known Indic text in which the mantra appears. In this work, the mantra is explicitly related to the jeweled lotuses of Sukh›vatı, but, as Studholme states, there have been numerous other interpretations. A number of early Orientalists, for example, construed ma˚ipadme as a vocative: “o˙ jewel lotus hÒ˙!” The problem with this interpretation is that it would be a feminine vocative, and AvalokiteŸvara is a male
buddha. I have also heard several Tibetan lamas translate it as “o˙ jewel in the lotus hÒ˙,” and equate this jewel with the compassion of AvalokiteŸvara. This interpretation, while possible, is also not supported by the grammar, because ma˚i is part of a compound, and not in the nominative case (ma˚i¯), as would be required for this reading to be valid. As Studholme argues, its meaning in the K›ra˚˜avyÒha-sÒtra and other Indic texts suggests that “o˙ in the jewel lotus hÒ˙” is the most probable reading. But it should also be noted that Sanskrit mantras do not always have any literal meaning. Many do not adhere to the rules of classical Sanskrit grammar, and so their interpretation is often ambiguous. For example, the syllable o˙—the most common opening syllable for mantras—has no literal meaning. It is often associated with the final nature of reality, as is hÒ˙, but neither have any exact meaning, and so cannot be translated into other languages. The history of interpretation of this mantra is also discussed by Donald S. Lopez, Jr. (who sides with the Orientalists’ reading of “o˙ jewel lotus hÒ˙!”) in Prisoners of Shangri-La: Tibetan Buddhism and the West (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998), pp. 114–134.
3.Tenzin Gyatso, Dalai Lama XIV, “O˙ Ma˚i Padme HÒ˙,” in Kindness, Clarity, and Insight (Ithaca: Snow Lion, 1984), p. 117.
4.See Studholme, p. 109.
5. See, for example, John Avedon, An Interview with the Dalai Lama (New York: Littlebird Publications, 1980), p. 14.
6. See Aºguttara-nik›ya IV.163; and George Bond, The Word of the Buddha (Colombo: M.D. Gunasena, 1982), p. 30ff.
T1.Buddhism in India
The Buddha
he passing of the founder of a religious tradition often leaves a void in the community because there is no longer the possibility of daily guidance and personal inspiration. A common response is to develop a biography and regularly recount the paradigmatic deeds of the founder, whose life story is presented as a model for emulation by the faithful. In the case of the early Buddhist community, the memory of the Buddha was preserved by his disciples, who passed on their recollections of his words and deeds to others who had never met him. After the Buddha’s death, his followers began recounting his story in order to inspire others. As time passed, the legend was embellished and augmented, with the result that a rich and detailed mythology developed. This has become a shared cultural legacy for Buddhists. The story highlights important aspects of their tradition and serves as a paradigm for devout practitioners.
By the time Buddhism reached Tibet, the historical Buddha had faded into the mists of the distant past, and the religion’s founder mainly functioned as an important shared symbol. This symbol was understood and interpreted differently by different schools of Buddhism, each of which appropriated it in accordance with its own ideas, presuppositions, and practices. For each school, the Buddha’s life and teachings were represented in a way that validated and corroborated its own doctrines and its own understanding of the methods and goals of Buddhist thought and practice.
Therav›da Buddhists, for example, developed the idea of a Buddha who was very much a human teacher, with human limitations and with abilities within the range of human comprehension, and who died a human
death at the end of a human lifespan.1 The Mah›y›na schools, by contrast, viewed the Buddha as a transcendent and cosmic figure. Mah›y›nists agree that the Buddha appeared in the world as a mere human being, but in reality he had surpassed even the great gods of India in his wisdom and power. Like all buddhas, he attained a state of omniscience, was not bound by time or the laws of physics, and, contrary to appearances, he did not really die, but instead only appeared to do so, and in fact he continues on today, manifesting when needed to those who require his help.
As the historical Buddha faded from memory, his followers began to embellish his story and to recast the shared legend of their founder in ways that reflected changing assumptions about the tradition. As is true of all living religions, Buddhism has never been fixed or static, but instead has continued to evolve and adapt to changing attitudes and circumstances, while its adherents strive to retain a perceived connection with the origins of the tradition. In addition, each community has modified the image of Buddha in ways that reflect its own assumptions, doctrines, and practices, with the result that the Buddha is represented quite differently in different parts of the world.2
For these reasons, a quest to discover the “historical Buddha” is not to be the goal of the present section. Others have attempted to locate the historical Buddha, with varying degrees of success, but since the aim of this book is to present the worldview of Tibetan Buddhism, the life of the Buddha will be presented from the perspective of how it was inherited, developed, and embellished by Tibetan Buddhists. Thus, I will not attempt to sort through mythological accounts of his life to determine which elements of his biographies reflect historical “truth.” Whatever the facts of his life may have been, they are largely irrelevant to the task of explaining how the figure of Buddha appears to Tibetan Buddhists. His Tibetan followers inherited the Buddha through stories, and so in Tibetan Buddhism he is more important as a powerful shared symbol than as a historical personage.
This is how he will be presented in this section. The account of his life that follows is drawn from standard sources that continue to be popular throughout the cultural area influenced by Tibetan Buddhism.3 Taken together, they encapsulate the aspects of this shared paradigm that reflect the core assumptions, values, and goals of Tibetan Buddhists. Who or what the “real” historical Buddha was or what he did will be left for others to discover.
The Buddha’s Dates
Among Buddhist historians, there is a wide range of opinions concerning when the Buddha lived and died. These generally focus on the date of his death, referred to by traditional Buddhists as the “final nirvana” (yongs su mya ngan las ’das pa, parinirv›˚a). Buddhists believe that at the end of his life he completely transcended all mundane limitations and entered a state of perfect bliss and freedom from suffering, or nirvana, which is the result of successful meditative training. Like all other buddhas, or “awakened ones,” he woke up from the sleep of ignorance in which most beings spend their lives, and after his awakening he remained in the world in order to share his insights with others who were still mired in ignorance and were suffering as a result.4 After attaining buddhahood, he realized that all ordinary beings are enmeshed in a continual round of birth, death, and rebirth, and that each successive life is conditioned and determined by the actions of previous ones. Since ordinary beings tend to act selfishly, thinking of short-term personal gains rather than considering the future consequences of actions, their deeds create the causes of future unhappiness for themselves. After breaking this vicious cycle in his own life, the Buddha was so moved by compassion for others that he decided to remain in the world in order to help them find the truth. Those who did so could also become buddhas, or they could at least find a way to break the cycle of ignorance and attain nirvana.
According to traditional accounts, the man who would become the Buddha was born a prince in what is today southern Nepal. Traditional historians differ on the time of his birth and death. The earliest dating is by SureŸamati, who states that Buddha’s final nirvana occurred in 2420 b.c.e. AtıŸa, an Indian scholar who was instrumental in the transmission of Buddhism to Tibet, placed the final nirvana at 2136 b.c.e. There are numerous other proposed dates, but contemporary scholars tend to place the Buddha around the fifth century b.c.e.5 The wide discrepancy in dates indicates one of the greatest difficulties facing historically inclined scholars of Buddhism: traditional Indian sources exhibit little concern with history as understood in contemporary Western circles, and often great figures are assigned to distant antiquity in order to enhance their status. Sometimes the tales of their lives are intertwined with those of other important personages, and accounts of meetings between luminaries of the past become a part of the shared narrative of people in various traditions. Even
more problematic from the point of view of a modern historian, the lives of great figures in India are generally remembered for how they personified core myths and symbols. Thus, the sages of the past are venerated not primarily for their uniqueness and their innovative ideas and practices, but rather for how well their lives reflected shared paradigms in Indian culture.
The Buddha’s Life and Lives
The term “buddha,” as we have seen, is a title that means “awakened one” and is given to people who have overcome ignorance and transcended suffering, who have attained the highest level of awareness, and who then teach what they have realized to others. All schools of Buddhism recognize numerous beings who have attained the state of buddhahood, and all are said to have reached the same level of accomplishment. Thus the term “buddha” is used to refer to many different awakened beings, but when I discuss “the Buddha,” I refer to the historical founder of the Buddhist tradition, a man who was born in southern Nepal, probably around the fifth century b.c.e., and who was named Siddh›rtha Gautama at birth. He was born into a k˝atriya family6 of the ⁄›kya clan, and so when he became a prominent religious teacher he was widely known as “⁄›kyamuni,” or “Sage of the ⁄›kyas.” His parents were the rulers of a small kingdom in the foothills of the Himalayas, and as an only child Siddh›rtha was expected to inherit his father’s throne.
According to traditional accounts of his life, his incarnation as Siddh›rtha Gautama was the culmination of a long series of rebirths in which he had progressively advanced toward the state of buddhahood. Stories of his former lives are very popular among Buddhists in Tibet, and they indicate how he diligently applied himself to meditative practice, moral training, and the development of compassion, all the time motivated by a deep desire to help others. These stories of Siddh›rtha’s previous births, or J›takas, provide a paradigm of the gradual path to awakening. In each life, the future Buddha demonstrated his mastery of one of the attributes that would someday constitute the matrix of qualities of his omniscient mind and compassionate personality.
An example is his previous life as the world-renouncing ascetic K˝›ntiv›din (“Teacher of Patience”). As his name indicates, in this life he was committed to developing unshakable patience. One day, as he was sitting in a forest glade immersed in meditation, a test of his equanimity came
to him in the form of the king who ruled the area. The king had entered the forest with his many courtesans, and they were cavorting together until the king fell into a drunken sleep. The courtesans became bored and began to wander around the grove until they encountered K˝›ntiv›din. The story portrays them as superficially devoted to fleeting sensuous pleasures and heedless of the consequences of their actions, but when they came upon K˝›ntiv›din they were immediately impressed with his saintly demeanor. Approaching him with the reverence due to a holy man, they asked him to instruct them, and he agreed, describing to them the dangers of sexual indulgence, the joys of the ascetic lifestyle, and the importance of patience. The women were entranced by his profound teachings and listened intently. They asked him what sort of meditation he practiced, and he informed them that he was cultivating the virtue of patience. They requested that he teach them, but during his discourse, the king—who had awoken with a hangover and was enraged that his retinue had abandoned him—strode into the circle, angrily demanding to know what the ascetic was preaching. K˝›ntiv›din replied that he taught “the doctrine of patience,” which means that one does not become angry “even when people abuse you or strike and revile you.” The king decided to expose him as a fraud by testing his purported patience. He ordered his executioner to whip him with a branch of thorns one thousand times. Even though the flesh was ripped from him in chunks and he bled profusely, the ascetic never lost his equanimity. The king then ordered that his hands be cut off, and then his feet, expecting that K˝›ntiv›din would become angry, but he forgave the king every atrocity. As he lay dying from his wounds, he told his tormenter that he bore him no ill will; he felt only compassion for this violent man, whose actions would bring him suffering in the future.
The king, realizing that K˝›ntiv›din’s patience was unshakable, lurched away from the scene of carnage, still overcome with anger and hatred. As he left the grove, the earth itself opened and swallowed him, drawing him down to the depths of hell, where he would suffer horribly for inflicting grave injuries on such a holy man. The king’s subjects were concerned that K˝›ntiv›din might hold them responsible for the king’s actions, but the ascetic reassured them that he bore no ill-will either toward them or the king. He then taught them about the value of patience, and this discourse ends the story.
This fairly grisly tale contains a number of themes that are typical of the J›takas. They are morality plays that provide Buddhists with paradigms of
the highest level of development of the qualities toward which devout Buddhists should strive, such as altruism, ethics, patience, generosity, and compassion. In many of these stories, the future Buddha is placed in a situation that tests him to the utmost, and in each he is portrayed as performing acts of kindness that are extraordinary. For pious Buddhists who read the J›takas, the narratives provide models that they should strive to emulate. The stories also indicate how far most readers are from approaching the level of goodness exhibited by the future Buddha (who is referred to as a bodhisattva, or “buddha in training”). This does not mean that Buddhists are encouraged to seek self-mutilation or extreme hardship, but rather that they are given a standard that is almost impossibly high, and they are encouraged to work toward attaining the degree of compassion, patience, love, and so on that the Buddha embodied in his previous incarnations.
The difficulty of living up to this paradigm is indicated in a tale of one of the Buddha’s past incarnations in which he was born in the most torturous hell.7 The narrative makes it clear that he had fallen into hell as a result of evil deeds, but even in this horrible place his compassion was manifested. At one time, he and another wretched hell-being were forced to pull a heavy cart, but as the future Buddha saw the suffering of his companion he felt empathy for him and decided to pull the cart himself, even though he knew that this act of kindness would enrage the demons that torture the denizens of hell. Despite the pain inflicted on him, the future Buddha persevered, and this act of genuine compassion served to define the course of his future lives. The generation of compassion is extremely difficult in our world, but it is unimaginably rare in the hells, in which beings are constantly beset with horrible sufferings and are so consumed by their own troubles that they are very unlikely even to think of others. Because he overcame these obstacles and helped another being to alleviate his torment, this act had tremendous power and served to establish him on the road to buddhahood.
Attainment of Buddhahood
After cultivating patience, compassion, and other good qualities to their highest degree, having overcome all mental afflictions, the future Buddha was reborn as the bodhisattva ⁄vetaketu in Tu˝ita heaven (the final training ground for buddhas-to-be). In this celestial realm conditions are opti-
mal for the attainment of perfect awakening, and those who are born there progress steadily toward the final goal of buddhahood. After his training in Tu˝ita was complete, ⁄vetaketu began looking for the ideal life situation for his decisive incarnation as ⁄›kyamuni. It is believed by Buddhists that those who have reached a high level of development can choose their own life situations, including their parents and the time and place of birth. According to the Extensive Sport SÒtra (a traditional account of Buddha’s life), these decisions were not taken lightly, and the future Buddha searched far and wide for the best situation.8
Because of his exalted spiritual development, ordinary parents were unsuitable, and so he had to choose people of exceptional moral qualities. He eventually decided on a royal couple who possessed all the attributes required for the parents of a buddha. His father was a king named ⁄uddhodana, and his mother was named M›y›devı, and as he decided to take rebirth as their son, the man who would become known as ⁄›kyamuni Buddha brought up the final curtain on his journey toward full awakening.
The
Twelve Great Deeds of the Buddha
Traditional accounts of the Buddha’s life agree that his exceptional deeds are innumerable, but the defining moments of his life are generally divided into twelve “great acts.”9 These are:
1.existence in Tu˝ita heaven
2.descent from Tu˝ita
3.entering the womb of his mother
4.birth as a prince
5.proficiency in the worldly arts
6.life in the palace
7.departure from home
8.practice of austerities
9.defeat of M›ra
10.awakening
11.turning the wheel of doctrine
12. final nirvana.
These twelve deeds are not unique to ⁄›kyamuni, but rather constitute the paradigmatic career followed by all buddhas in their final lifetimes.
Some Buddhist sources even state that ⁄›kyamuni really became a buddha long before his final birth and that he manifested these twelve deeds as a way of instructing his followers. Together they provide a model for others to follow, beginning with the development of an attitude of renunciation toward worldly attachments, continuing through the practice of meditation, and ending with the result of successful meditative practice: complete eradication of all negative mental states and the development of perfect wisdom and compassion. The Buddha’s qualities of wisdom and compassion are manifested in his decision to teach others and in the final instruction of his death, which serves to remind others of their mortality and the importance of dedication to religious practice. It should be noted that according to Buddhists ⁄›kyamuni was not the first buddha, nor will he be the last. He is considered to be one of innumerable buddhas, and according to the SÒtra of the Fortunate Eon he is the fourth in a series of one thousand awakened beings who will manifest as buddhas in the present age.10 The buddhas who preceded ⁄›kyamuni lived in the distant past, and no historical records of their lives survive; the next buddha has not yet been born. According to Buddhist sources, he will take birth at a time when the teachings of Buddhism have disappeared from the world. He will be named Maitreya, and he will reintroduce the dharma (Buddhist doctrine) and help to establish countless living beings on the path to awakening.
Entry into His Mother’s Womb
Realizing that the time for his physical manifestation on earth had arrived, the future Buddha revealed his intention to his future mother in a dream. She saw a white elephant enter into her womb (an auspicious sign), after which she knew that she was pregnant. According to the Extensive Sport SÒtra,
An elephant, white as snow or silver, entered her womb, With six perfect tusks, and beautiful feet, A finely formed trunk, and a rosy head; The most beautiful of elephants, with graceful gait, And a body immutable as a diamond. Completely absorbed in contemplation, She had never felt such bliss;
Never had she known such pleasure, Both in body and in mind.11
Seven astrologers were called in to interpret the dream, and all agreed that it indicated that M›y›devı was carrying an exceptional child, one who would do great things. They told the delighted king that his son would grow up to be a mighty ruler if certain conditions were met. The most important of these was that the boy be kept ignorant of the harsh realities of life, such as suffering, disease, old age, and death. In particular, they cautioned the king to prevent his son from seeing four things, which are referred to by Buddhists as the “four sights”: (1) a sick person, (2) an old person, (3) a corpse, and (4) a world-renouncing ascetic. The first three exemplify the sufferings of cyclic existence, which is full of pain. Beings who are caught up in the round of birth, death, and rebirth are subject to various torments and dissatisfactions, and they experience them helplessly as a result of their own actions.
The astrologers predicted that if the prince grew to maturity without being confronted by such difficulties, he would follow in his father’s footsteps and rule his kingdom with benevolence and righteousness. They added, however,
If he abandons love, royalty, and home, And leaves to wander as a monk, Free from attachment, out of compassion for all the worlds, He will become a buddha . . . With the excellent nectar of immortality, He will satisfy all beings.12
⁄uddhodana resolved that his son would live a sheltered existence, free from any hints of the sorrows of the world. He would live in a palace, surrounded by the finest sensual delights, and thus would become immersed in all worldly pleasures and develop an attachment to the world that would overpower any inclination to renounce it.
The Birth
Traditional stories report that the term of pregnancy was ten months. During this time, M›y›devı experienced no discomfort, and many auspicious
