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Bon
Bon was the indigenous religion of Tibet that,
when partly absorbed by the Buddhist traditions
introduced from India in the 8th century, gave Tibetan
Buddhism much of its distinctive character.
Little was known to the outside world of this once
flourishing religion until recently due to the fact
that its followers were subject to severe persecution.
With the growth in the popularity of Tibet as a
tourist destination and an increasing interest in
the region's history, studies have been carried
out into the traditions of Bon.
Shamanistic in nature, in as much as it is based
on the concept of a world pervaded by good and evil
spirits, it is believed to have originated in the
land of Olmo Lungring. It was introduced into the
ancient Kingdom of Shang Shung, which once covered
much of today's Tibetan territory by Tonpa Shenrab
Miwo. He was born a prince and had experiences similar
to those of Sakyamuni, his Buddhist counterpart
and was said to have subdued a number of demons.
A fundamental belief of the followers of Bon was
that in their heaven, to which they referred as
'Sridpa Yesang', there were three deities who controlled
the world. These were Dagpa, Salba and Shepa, one
of whom controlled the past, another the present
and the third controlled the future. It was they
who held the key to Bon doctrines and Tonpa Shenrab
Miwo claimed to be their earthly incarnation endowed
with the power to control the current time. In the
eighth century, Songtsen Gampo conquered Shang Shung
and established a unified Tibet, introducing Buddhism
as the chosen religion. As the Bon priests tried
to exercise influence in royal and political affairs
by claiming supernatural powers, the ruling Tubo
family encouraged Buddhism while banning the practice
of Bon. It was during the reign of Lang Darma that
the followers of Bon endeavoured to eradicate Buddhism
but this was to fail following the assassination
of Lang Darma. Buddhism rose in popularity while
Bon went into decline.
In order that their faith should not be entirely
wiped out, the followers of the Bon doctrines introduced
reforms and adopted aspects of Buddhism. Despite
its suppression, Bon traditions survived under difficult
conditions and continued to develop aspects of metaphysics,
cosmology, philosophy and an extensive written canon.
In 1998 a Tibetan Tibetologist produced statistics
which showed that some 90 monasteries in the Tibet
Autonomous Region, the majority being in Dengchen
(a county in Chambo) had a population of some 3000
monks, about 90 reincarnated high monks and over
130 thousand Bon followers. In the main, there are
now three Bon sects, these being the Old Bon, The
Yungdrung Bon and the New Bon.
Selected from Travel China Guide
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