Product Code Database
Bon or Bön (), also known as Yungdrung Bon (, ), is the indigenous Tibetan religion which shares many similarities and influences with Tibetan Buddhism.Samuel 2012, pp. 220–221. It initially developed in the tenth and eleventh centuries but retains elements from earlier Tibetan religious traditions.Samuel 2012, p. 220.Kvaerne 1996, pp. 9–10. Bon is a significant minority religion in Tibet, especially in the east, as well as in the surrounding Himalayas.
The relationship between Bon and Tibetan Buddhism has been a subject of debate. According to the modern scholar Geoffrey Samuel, while Bon is "essentially a variant of Tibetan Buddhism" with many resemblances to Nyingma, it also preserves some genuinely ancient pre-Buddhist elements. David Snellgrove likewise sees Bon as a form of Buddhism, albeit a heterodoxy kind.Powers 2007, pp. 500–501 Similarly, John Powers writes that "historical evidence indicates that Bön only developed as a self-conscious religious system under the influence of Buddhism".Powers (2007), p. 497.
Followers of Bon, known as "Bonpos" (Wylie: ), believe that the religion originated in a kingdom called Zhangzhung, located around Mount Kailash in the Himalayas.Karmay, Samten G., "Extract from 'A General Introduction to the History and Doctrines of Bon'", in Alex McKay, ed. History of Tibet, Volume 1 (New York: Routledge, 2003), 496–9. Bonpos hold that Bon was brought first to Zhangzhung, and then to Tibet.Namdak, Lopon Tenzin, Heart Drops of Dharmakaya (Ithaca: Snow Lion Publications, 2002). Bonpos identify the Buddha Shenrab Miwo (Wylie: gshen rab mi bo) as Bon's founder, although no available sources establish this figure's historicity.Karmay, 499.
Western scholars have posited several origins for Bon, and have used the term "Bon" in many ways. A distinction is sometimes made between an ancient Bon (), dating back to the pre-dynastic era before 618 CE; a classical Bon tradition (also called Yungdrung Bon – ) which emerged in the 10th and 11th centuries; and "New Bon" or Bon Sar (), a late syncretic movement dating back to the 14th century and active in eastern Tibet.
Tibetan Buddhist scholarship tends to cast Bon in a negative, adversarial light, with derogatory stories about Bon appearing in a number of Buddhist histories.Samuel, Geoffrey, "Shamanism, Bon, and Tibetan Religion," in Alex McKay, ed. History of Tibet, Volume 1 (New York: Routledge, 2003), 462–3. The Rimé movement within Tibetan Buddhism encouraged more ecumenical attitudes between Bonpos and Buddhists. Western scholars began to take Bon seriously as a religious tradition worthy of study in the 1960s, in large part inspired by the work of English scholar David Snellgrove.Samuel, 465-7. Following the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1950, Bonpo scholars began to arrive in Europe and North America, encouraging interest in Bon in Western world.Samuel, 465. Today, a proportion of Tibetans – both in Tibet and in the Tibetan diaspora – practise Bon, and there are Bonpo centers in cities around the world.
Hoffmann's study was foundational for Western understandings of Bon, but was challenged by a later generation of scholars influenced by David Snellgrove, who collaborated with Bonpo masters and translated Bonpo canonical texts. These scholars tended to view Bon as a heterodox form of Buddhism, transmitted separately from the two transmissions from India to Tibet that formed the Tibetan Buddhist tradition.Kvaerne, "Study of Bon in the West," 476 With the translation of Bonpo histories into Western languages as well as increased engagement between Bonpos and Western scholars, a shift took place in Bon studies towards engaging more thoroughly Bonpos' own histories and self-identification, recognising Bon as an independent religious tradition worthy of academic study.Kvaerne, "Study of Bon in the West," 478.
The term Bon has been used to refer to several different phenomena. Drawing from Buddhist sources, early Western commentators on Bon used the term for the pre-Buddhist religious practices of Tibet. These include folk religious practices, Imperial cult, and divination practices. However, scholars have debated whether the term Bon should be used for all of these practices, and what their relationship is to the modern Bon religion. In an influential article, R. A. Stein used the term "the nameless religion" to refer to folk religious practices, distinguishing them from Bon.Kvaerne, Per, "Extract from The Bon Religion of Tibet", in Alex McKay, ed. History of Tibet, Volume 1 (New York: Routledge, 2003), 486.
Per Kvaerne uses Bon solely to refer to a tradition he dates from tenth and eleventh centuries CE, the tradition which developed into the modern Bon religion.Kvaerne, "Extract from The Bon Religion of Tibet", 486. Kvaerne identifies this tradition as "an unorthodox form of Buddhism,"Kvaerne, "Extract from The Bon Religion of Tibet", 486." but other scholars such as Samten G. Karmay take seriously Bonpo narratives which define Bon as a separate tradition with an origin in the land of 'Olmo Lungring.Karmay, "Extract from 'A General Introduction to the History and Doctrines of Bon'", 496-9. The term Yungdrung Bon (Wylie: g.yung drung bon) is sometimes used to describe this tradition. Yungdrung Bon is a religion with a universalist framework, although it is mainly limited to Tibetans, with some non-Tibetan converts.
There is also a kind of local village priests which are common throughout the Himalayas that are called "bon", "lhabon" or "aya" (and bombo in Nepal). These are not part of the Bon religion proper, but are lay ritual specialists, often on a part time basis. Samuel states that it is unclear if these "bon" priests go back to the ancient period or if the term developed after Yungdrung Bon.Samuel 2012, p. 230.
Furthermore, the Dongba (东巴) practices of the Nakhi people and the Hangui (韩规) religion of the Pumi people are both believed to have originated from Bon.
== Symbols ==
The aforementioned "Yungdrung" refers to the left-facing swastika, a symbol which occupies in Bon a similar place as the vajra (Wylie: rdo rje) in Tibetan Buddhism, symbolising indestructibility and eternity.
This symbol takes center stage in the flag used by Bonpos. At each end, ancient symbols of auspicious fortune signify the presence of this potent force, typically reserved for the Buddha Tonpa Shenrab. This revered emblem represents powerful protection and enlightened action. The background stripes depict the five fundamental elements - space, fire, air, earth, and water - representing the totality of creative existence. This flag is a visual representation of all phenomena, presented as a symbol of benefit through the yungdrung's activity.
Tonpa Shenrab is believed to have received the teaching from the transcendent deity Shenlha Okar in a pure realm before being reborn in the human realm with the purpose of teaching and liberating beings from the cycle of rebirth. He attained Buddhahood several hundred years before Gautama Buddha, in a country west of Tibet, called Olmo Lungring or Tazig (Tasi), which is difficult to identify and acts as a semi-mythical holy land in Bon (like Shambhala).Samuel 2012, p. 221.Kvaerne 1996, p. 14. Various dates are given for his birth date, one of which corresponds to 1917 BCE. Some Bon texts also state that Sakyamuni was a later manifestation of Tonpa Shenrab.Samuel 2012, p. 221.
Tonpa Shenrab is said to have been born to the Tazig royal family and to have eventually become the king of the realm. He is said to be the main Buddha of our era.Kvaerne 1996, p. 17. He had numerous wives and children, constructed numerous temples and performed many rituals in order to spread Bon.Kvaerne 1996, p. 17. Like Padmasambhava, he is also held to have defeated and subjugated many demons through his magical feats, and like King Gesar, he is also believed to have led numerous campaigns against evil forces.Kvaerne 1996, p. 17.
Tonpa Shenrab is held to have visited the kingdom of Zhangzhung (an area in western Tibet around Mount Kailash),Powers 2007, p. 502. where he found a people whose practice involved spiritual appeasement with animal sacrifice. He taught them to substitute offerings with symbolic animal forms made from barley flour. He only taught according to the student's capability and thus he taught these people the lower vehicles to prepare them for the study of sutra, tantra and Dzogchen in later lives. Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, Healing with Form, Energy, and Light. Ithaca, New York: Snow Lion Publications, 2002. , pp. xx It is only later in life that he became a celibate ascetic and it is during this time that he defeated his main enemy, the prince of the demons.Kvaerne 1996, p. 17.
After Tonpa Shenrab's Parinirvana, his works were preserved in the language of Zhangzhung by ancient Bon siddhas. Most of these teachings were said to have been lost in Tibet after the persecutions against Bon, such as during the time of Trisong Detsen.Samuel 2012, p. 227. Bon histories hold that some of Tonpa Shenrab's teachings were hidden away as termas and later re-discovered by Bon treasure revealers (tertons), the most important of which is Shenchen Luga (c. early 11th century).Samuel 2012, p. 227.
In the fourteenth century, Loden Nyingpo revealed a terma known as The Brilliance (), which contained the story of Tonpa Shenrab. He was not the first Bonpo tertön, but his terma became one of the definitive scriptures of Bon.Van Schaik, Sam. Tibet: A History. Yale University Press 2011, pages 99–100.
Bon histories also discuss the lives of other important religious figures, such as the Zhangzhung Dzogchen master Tapihritsa.
According to Bon scriptures, in the beginning, these two forces, light and dark, created two persons. The black man, called Nyelwa Nakpo (“Black Suffering”), created the stars and all the demons, and is responsible for evil things like droughts. The white man, Öserden (“Radiant One”), is good and virtuous. He created the sun and moon, and taught humans religion. These two forces remain in the world in an ongoing struggle of good and evil which is also fought in the heart of every person.Powers 2007, p. 506.
Powers also writes that according to Bon scriptures, in the beginning, there was only emptiness, which is not a blank void but a pure potentiality. This produced five elements (earth, air, fire, water, and space) which came together into a vast "World egg", from which a primordial being, Belchen Kékhö, was born.
Bon may have referred to a kind of ritual, a type of priest, or a local religion. In ancient Tibet, there seem to have been a class of priests known as kushen ( sku gshen, “Priests of the Body”, i.e., the king's body). This religion was eventually marginalised with the coming of Buddhism and Buddhists wrote critiques and polemics of this religion, some of which survive in manuscripts found in Dunhuang (which refer to these practices as "Bon").
Likewise, Powers notes that early historical evidence indicates that the term "bon" originally referred to a type of priest who conducted various ceremonies, including priests of the Yarlung dynasty kings. Their rituals included propitiating local spirits and guiding the dead through ceremonies to ensure a good afterlife. Their rituals may have involved animal sacrifice, making offerings with food and drink, and burying the dead with precious jewels. The most elaborate rituals involved the Tibetan kings which had special tombs made for them.
Robert Thurman describes at least one type of Bon as a "court religion" instituted "around 100 BCE" by King Pudegungyal, ninth king of the Yarlung dynasty, "perhaps derived from Iranian models", mixed with existing native traditions. It was focused on "the support of the divine legitimacy of an organized state", still relatively new in Tibet. Prominent features were "great sacrificial rituals", especially around royal coronations and burials, and "oracular rites derived from the folk religion, especially magical possessions and healings that required the priests to exhibit shamanic powers". The king was symbolised by the mountain and the priest/shaman by the sky. The religion was "somewhere between the previous "primitive animism", and the much changed later types of Bon.Thurman in: Rhie, Marylin and Robert Thurman (eds): Wisdom And Compassion: The Sacred Art of Tibet, p. 21-22, 1991, Harry N. Abrams, New York (with 3 institutions),
According to David Snellgrove, the claim that Bon came from the West into Tibet is possible, since Buddhism had already been introduced to other areas surrounding Tibet (in Central Asia) before its introduction into Tibet. As Powers writes, "since much of Central Asia at one time was Buddhist, it is very plausible that a form of Buddhism could have been transmitted to western Tibet prior to the arrival of Buddhist missionaries in the central provinces. Once established, it might then have absorbed elements of the local folk religion, eventually developing into a distinctive system incorporating features of Central Asian Buddhism and Tibetan folk religion."
According to Powers, ancient Bon was closely associated with the royal cult of the kings during the early Tibetan Empire period and they performed "ceremonies to ensure the well-being of the country, guard against evil, protect the king, and enlist the help of spirits in Tibet's military ventures." As Buddhism began to become a more important part of Tibet's religious life, ancient Bon and Buddhism came into conflict and there is evidence of anti-Bon polemics.Gorvine 2018, p. 21. Some sources claim that a debate between Bonpos and Buddhists was held, and that a Tibetan king ruled Buddhism the winner, banishing Bon priests to border regions. However, Gorvine also mentions that in some cases, Bon priests and Buddhist monks would perform rituals together, and thus there was also some collaboration during the initial period of Buddhist dissemination in Tibet.
Bon sources place the blame of the decline of Bon on two persecutions by two Tibetan kings, Drigum Tsenpo and the Buddhist King Trisong Detsen (r. 740–797).Kværne, Per. "Bon Rescues Dharma" in Donald S. Lopez (Jr.) (ed.) (1998). Religions Of Tibet In Practice, p. 99. They also state that at this time, Bon terma texts were concealed all over Tibet. Bon sources generally see the arrival of Buddhism in Tibet and the subsequent period of Buddhist religious dominance as a catastrophe for the true doctrine of Bon. They see this as having been caused by demonic forces.Kvaerne 1996, p. 22. However, other more conciliatory sources also state that Tonpa Shenrab and Sakyamuni were cousins and that their teachings are essentially the same.Kvaerne 1996, p. 22.
The most influential historical figure of this period is the Bon lama Drenpa Namkha. Buddhist sources mention this figure as well and there is little doubt he was a real historical figure.Kvaerne 1996, p. 119. He is known for having ordained himself into Bon during a time when the religion was in decline and for having hidden away many Bon termas. Bon tradition holds that he was the father of another important figure, Tsewang Rigzin and some sources also claim he was the father of Padmasambhava,Kvaerne 1996, p. 119. which is unlikely as the great majority of sources say Padmasambhava was born in Swat, Pakistan. A great cult developed around Drenpa Namkha and there is a vast literature about this figure.Kvaerne 1996, p. 119.
These figures were threatened by the arrival of new Buddhist traditions from India which had greater prestige, new ritual repertoires and the full backing of Indian Buddhist scholarship. Both Nyingmapas and Bonpos used the concept of the terma to develop and expand their traditions in competition with the Sarma schools and also to defend their school as being grounded in an authentic ancient tradition. Thus, Bonpo tertons (treasure finders) like Shenchen Luga and Meuton Gongdzad Ritrod Chenpo revealed important Bon termas. An interesting figure of this era is the Dzogchen master and translator Vairotsana, who according to some sources also translated Bon texts into Tibetan and also hid some Bon termas before leaving Tibet.Rossi 2000, p. 23.
While Yungdrung Bon and Nyingma originated in similar circles of pre-Sarma era ritual tantric practitioners, they adopted different approaches to legitimate their traditions. Nyingma looked back to the Tibetan Empire period, and Indian Buddhist figures like Padmasambhava. Bonpos meanwhile looked further back, to Tibet's pre-Buddhist heritage, to another Buddha who was said to have lived before Sakyamuni, as well as to other masters from the kingdom of Zhangzhung. The main Bonpo figures of the Tibetan renaissance period were tertons (treasure revealers) who are said to have discovered Bon texts that had been hidden away during the era of persecution. These figures include Shenchen Luga (gShen chen Klu dga'), Khutsa Dawo (Khu tsha zla 'od, b. 1024), Gyermi Nyi O (Gyer mi nyi 'od), and Zhoton Ngodrup (bZhod ston d Ngos grub, c. 12th century). Most of these figures were also laymen. It was also during this era of Bonpo renewal that the Bon Kanjur and Tenjur were compiled.Achard (2008), p. xix.
Just like all forms of Tibetan Buddhism, Yungdrung Bon eventually developed a monastic tradition, with celibate monks living in various monasteries. Bon monks are called trangsong, a term that translates the Sanskrit rishi (seer, or sage).Powers 2007, p. 505. A key figure in the establishment of Bon monasticism was Nyamme Sherab Gyaltsen (mNyam med Shes rab rgyal mtshan, c. 1356–1415).Achard 2008, p. xix. According to Jean Luc Achard, "his insistence on Madhyamaka, logic, gradual path (lamrim) and philosophical studies has modeled the now traditional approach of practice in most Bon po monasteries."Achard 2008, p. xix. His tradition emphasises the importance of combining the study of sutra, tantra and Dzogchen.Achard 2008, p. xix. The most important Bon monastery is Menri Monastery, which was built in 1405 in Tsang. Bon monks, like their Buddhist counterparts, study scripture, train in philosophical debate and perform rituals. However, Bon also has a strong tradition of lay yogis.
According to Jean Luc Achard, the New Bon movement begins in Eastern Tibet with the works of Tulku Loden Nyingpo (1360–1385), a terton who discovered the Zibji ( gzi brjid), a famous Tonpa Shenrab biography. His reincarnation, Techen Mishik Dorje is also known for his terma revelations.
The movement continued to develop, with new Bon terma texts being revealed well into the 18th century by influential tertons like Tulku Sangye Lingpa (b. 1705) and the first Kundrol Drakpa (b. 1700). New Bon figures do not consider their revelations to be truly "new", in the sense that they do not see their revelations as being ultimately different from Yungdrung Bon. However, some followers of more orthodox Yundrung Bon lineages, like the Manri tradition, saw these termas as being influenced by Buddhism. Later New Bon figures like Shardza Rinpoche (1859–1934) responded to these critiques (see his Treasury of Good Sayings, legs bshad mdzod). The work of these New Bon figures led to the flourishing of New Bon in Eastern Tibet.Achard 2008, p. xxi.
Some Tibetan tertons like Dorje Lingpa were known to have revealed New Bon termas as well as Nyingma termas.
Lobsang Yeshe (1663–1737), recognised as the 5th Panchen Lama by the 5th Dalai Lama (1617–1682), was a member of the Dru family, an important Bon family. Samten Karmay sees this choice as a gesture of reconciliation with Bon by the Fifth Dalai Lama (who had previously converted some Bon monasteries to Gelug ones by force). Under the Fifth Dalai Lama, Bon was also officially recognised as a Tibetan religion. Bon suffered extensively during the Dzungar Khanate invasion of Tibet in 1717, when many Nyingda and Bonpos were executed.Norbu, Namkhai. (1980). “Bon and Bonpos”. Tibetan Review, December, 1980, p. 8.
Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen (1859–1933) was a particularly important Bon master of this era, whose collected writings comprise up to eighteen volumes (or sometimes twenty).Achard 2008, p. xxiii. According to William M. Gorvine, this figure is "the Bon religion's most renowned and influential luminary of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries."Gorvine 2018, p. 2. He was associated with the orthodox Eternal Bon Manri monastery tradition as well as with New Bon figures like the 5th and 6th Kun grol incarnations, gSang sngags gling pa (b. 1864) and bDe chen gling pa (1833–1893) as well as with dBal bon sTag lag ca n, bsTan ' d zin dbang rgyal (b. 1832). These figures maintained the orthodox Manri tradition of Eternal Bon, while also holding New Bon terma lineages.Achard 2008, pp. xxi–xxii.
Shardza Rinpoche is also known to have had connections with the non-sectarian Buddhist lamas of the Rime movement and to have taught both Buddhists and Bonpos.Samuel 2012, p. 228.Gorvine 2018, p. 3.
Shardza Rinpoche had many disciples, including his nephew Lodro Gyatso (1915–1954) who led the lineage and Shardza's hermitage and college, after Shardza's passing.Gorvine 2018, p. 4.Achard 2008, p. 113 His disciple Kagya Khyungtrul Jigmey Namkha trained many practitioners to be learned in not only the Bon religion, but in all Tibetan sciences. More than three hundred Bon monasteries had been established in Tibet before Chinese occupation. Of these, Menri Monastery and Shurishing Yungdrung Dungdrakling Monastery were the two principal monastic universities for the study and practice of Bon.
The present spiritual head of the Bon is Menri Trizin Rinpoché, successor of Lungtok Tenpai Nyima (1929–2017), the thirty-fourth Abbot of Menri Monastery (destroyed in the Cultural Revolution, but now rebuilt), who now presides over Pal Shen-ten Menri Ling in Dolanji in Himachal Pradesh, India. The 33rd lineage holder of Menri Monastery, Menri Trizin Lungtok Tenpai Nyima and Lopön Tenzin Namdak are important current lineage holders of Bon.
A number of Bon establishments also exist in Nepal; Triten Norbutse Bonpo Monastery is one on the western outskirts of Kathmandu. Bon's leading monastery in India is the refounded Menri Monastery in Dolanji, Himachal Pradesh.
Since 1979, Bon has had official recognition of its status as a religious group, with the same rights as the Buddhist schools. This was re-stated in 1987 by the Dalai Lama, who also forbade discrimination against the Bonpos, stating that it was both undemocratic and self-defeating. He even donned Bon ritual paraphernalia, emphasising "the religious equality of the Bon faith".Kværne, Per and Rinzin Thargyal. (1993). Bon, Buddhism and Democracy: The Building of a Tibetan National Identity, pp. 45–46. Nordic Institute of Asian Studies. . The Dalai Lama now sees Bon as the fifth Tibetan religion and has given Bonpos representation on the Council of Religious Affairs at Dharamshala.
However, Tibetans still differentiate between Bon and Buddhism, referring to members of the Nyingma, Sakya, Kagyu and Gelug schools as nangpa, meaning "insiders", but to practitioners of Bon as "Bonpo", or even chipa ("outsiders").
Bon lamas and monks fill similar roles as those of Tibetan Buddhist lamas and the deities and rituals of Bon often resemble Buddhist ones, even if their names and iconography differ in other respects.Samuel 2012, pp. 223–224 For example, the Bon deity Phurba is almost the same deity as Vajrakilaya, while Chamma closely resembles Tara.Samuel 2012, pp. 223–224
Per Kværne writes that, at first glance, Bon "appear to be nearly indistinguishable from Buddhism with respect to its doctrines, monastic life, rituals, and meditational practices."Kværne, Per. "Bon Rescues Dharma" in Donald S. Lopez (Jr.) (ed.) (1998). Religions Of Tibet In Practice, p. 98. However, both religions agree that they are distinct, and a central distinction is that Bon's source of religious authority is not the Indian Buddhist tradition, but what it considers to be the eternal religion which it received from Zhangzhung (in Western Tibet) and ultimately derives from land called Tazik where Tonpa Shenrab lived, ruled as king and taught Bon. Bon also includes many rituals and concerns that are not as common in Tibetan Buddhism. Many of these are worldly and pragmatic, such as divination rituals, funerary rituals that are meant to guide a deceased person's consciousness to higher realms and appeasing local deities through ransom rituals.Gorvine 2018, p. 22.
In the Bon worldview, the term "Bon" means “truth,” “reality,” and “the true doctrine.” The Bon religion, which is revealed by enlightened beings, provides ways of dealing with the mundane world as well as a path to spiritual liberation. Bon doctrine is generally classified in various ways, including the "nine ways" and the four portals and the fifth, the treasury.
According to John Myrdhin Reynolds, Bonpo Dzogchen is said to reveal one's Primordial State (ye gzhi) or Natural State (gnas-lugs) which is described in terms of intrinsic primordial purity (ka-dag) and spontaneous perfection in manifestation (lhun-grub).
The Bon Dzogchen understanding of reality is explained by Powers as follows:
The nine ways are classified into two main divisions in the "Southern Treasure" terma tradition:Samuel 2012, p. 226
The most important of the peaceful deities are the "Four Transcendent Lords, Deshek Tsozhi (bDer gshegs gtso bzhi)."Kvaerne 1996, p. 24. Each of these four beings has many different forms and manifestations.Kvaerne 1996, p. 24. These are:Kvaerne 1996, p. 24.
Like the Buddhists, the Bon pantheon also includes various protector deities, siddhas (perfected ones), lamas (teachers) and . Some key figures are Drenpa Namkha (a major 8th century Bon lama whose name is also mentioned in Buddhist sources), the sage Takla Mebar (a disciple of Tonpa Shenrab), Sangwa Dupa (a sage from Tazik), Zangsa Ringtsun (Auspicious Lady of Long Life).Kvaerne 1996, pp. 117-
Another set of deities are the White Old Man, a sky god, and his consort. They are known by a few different names, such as the Gyalpo Pehar called “King Pehar” (). Pehar is featured as a protecting deity of Zhangzhung, the center of the Bon religion. Reportedly, Pehar is related to celestial heavens and the sky in general. In early Buddhist times, Pehar transmogrified into a shamanic bird to adapt to the bird motifs of shamanism. Pehar's consort is a female deity known by one of her names as Düza Minkar ().Hummel, Siegbert. “PE-HAR.” East and West 13, no. 4 (1962): 313–6.
Bonpos cultivate household gods in addition to other deities and the layout of their homes may include various seats for protector deities.
Chinese influence is also seen is some of the deities worshiped in Bon. For example, Confucius is worshipped in Bon as a holy king and master of magic, divination and astrology. He is also seen as being a reincarnation of Tonpa Shenrab Miwoche, the legendary founder of Bon.
In the Balti version of Bon in Baltistan, deities such as lha (gods), klu (serpents or dragons) and lhamo (goddesses) are worshipped, and many legends about these deities still exist among the local population.
Besides these, the Bon canon includes material on , arts and crafts, logic, medicine, poetry and narrative. According to Powers, Bon literature includes numerous ritual and liturgical treatises, which share some similarities to Tibetan Buddhist ritual.Powers 2007, p. 510 According to Per Kvaerne, "while no precise date for the formation of the Bonpo Kanjur can be ascertained at present...it does not seem to contain texts which have come to light later than 1386. A reasonable surmise would be that the Bonpo Kanjur was assembled by 1450."Kvaerne 1996, p. 21.
According to Samuel, Bon texts are similar to Buddhist texts and thus suggest "a considerable amount of borrowing between the two traditions in the tenth and eleventh centuries. While it has generally been assumed that this borrowing proceeds from Buddhist to Bonpo, and this seems to have been the case for the Phurba practice, some of it may well have been in the opposite direction."Samuel 2012, p. 224 Powers similarly notes that "many Bön scriptures are nearly identical to texts in the Buddhist canon, but often have different titles and Bön technical terms" and "only a few Bön texts that seem to predate Buddhism."Powers 2007, p. 508. While Western scholars initially assumed that this similarity with Buddhist texts was mere plagiarism, the work of Snellgrove and others have reassessed this view and now most scholars of Bon hold that in many cases, Buddhist texts borrow and reproduce Bon texts. Per Kværne writes that "this does not mean that Bon was not at some stage powerfully influenced by Buddhism; but once the two religions, Bon and Buddhism, were established as rival traditions in Tibet, their relationship was a complicated one of mutual influence.
Regarding the current status of the Bon canon, Powers writes that:
The three principal terma of Yungdrung Bon are:M. Alejandro Chaoul-Reich (2000). "Bön Monasticism". Cited in: Will Johnston (author, editor) (2000). Encyclopedia of monasticism, Volume 1. Taylor & Francis. , . Source: [3] (accessed: Saturday April 24, 2010), p.171
Three Bon scriptures— mdo 'dus, gzer mig, and gzi brjid—relate the mythos of Tonpa Shenrab Miwoche. The Bonpos regard the first two as gter ma rediscovered around the tenth and eleventh centuries and the last as nyan brgyud (oral transmission) dictated by Loden Nyingpo, who lived in the fourteenth century.Samten Karmay. A General Introduction to the History and Doctrines of Bon, The Arrow and the Spindle. Kathmandu: Mandala Book Point. pp. 108–113. originally
A Cavern of Treasures () is a Bon terma uncovered by Shenchen Luga () in the early 11th century which is an important source for the study of the Zhang-Zhung language.
The main Bon great perfection teachings are found in terma texts called The Three Cycles of Revelation. The primary Bon Dzogchen text is The Golden Tortoise, which was revealed by Ngödrup Drakpa (c. 11th century). According to Samten Karmay, these teachings are similar to those of the Semde class in Nyingma.Powers 2007, p. 510. According to Jean Luc Achard, the main Dzogchen cycle studied and practised in contemporary Bon is The Oral Transmission of the Great Perfection in Zhangzhung ( rDzogs pa chen po zhang zhung snyan rgyud) , a cycle which includes teachings on the Dzogchen practices of trekcho and thogal (though it uses different terms to refer to these practices) and is attributed to the Zhangzhung sage Tapihritsa.Achard, Jean-Luc (2017). The Six Lamps: Secret Dzogchen Instructions of the Bön Tradition, pp. vii – 7. Simon and Schuster.
(accessed: Thursday January 18, 2007)
|
|
