TibetTibet

A Buddhist TheocracyA Buddhist Theocracy

Overview of a TheocracyOverview of a Theocracy

• Much has been made of Tibet as a Shangri-la• The real Tibet is at once more and less than

meets the eye• Tibetan Buddhism is an intriguing model of the

universe• Daily life of the Tibetan herdsman or peasant is

somewhat more mundane• We look at both sides of Tibetan life in this

module

Location of TibetLocation of Tibet

• Tibet lies between China and India in the Himalaya chain• Virtually all of the country is highland peaks and plateaus

Topography of TibetTopography of Tibet

• Tibet is called “The Roof of the World” for good reason:• As a plateau region averaging 16,000 feet, it is the

highest region in the world

Cultures of Tibet: Subsistence Cultures of Tibet: Subsistence BaseBase

• Arable land is scarce, so that Tibetans are either herdsmen (upper left) or subsistence peasants

• The animal of choice is the yak, used as both beasts of burden and for milk, cloth, hides, and meat (lower left)

• This is an ox whose matted undercoat and shaggy outer hair protects them from the cold

• Other animals include horses, sheep, goats, and camels

• Crops grown include wheat, barley, rye, buckwheat, and others

Cultures of Tibet: PolyandryCultures of Tibet: Polyandry

• Fraternal polyandry has drawn much attention

• Women marry two or more men who are brothers to each other

• Rationale: Limited land resources encourage population control

• Only one child at a time can be born

Cultures of Tibet: The Question of Cultures of Tibet: The Question of Feudalism (Michael Parenti)Feudalism (Michael Parenti)

• Were the monasteries of Tibet based on feudalism?

• Ideal: every household has a male lama in a monastery

• Argument: 700,000 of 1,2 million were serfs• They were allowed a small parcel of land• But worked for the monasteries or secular lords • Captured escapees were beaten until they bled• Some serfs actually welcomed the Chinese

”liberation”• Source: Michael Parenti, “Friendly Feudalism:

The Tibet Myth” Link: http://www.swans.com/library/art9/mparen01.html#6

Culture of Tibet: “A Lie Repeated” Culture of Tibet: “A Lie Repeated”

• Joshua Frei argues Parenti has little direct knowledge of Tibet

• He relies on four Chinese-related sources for his data

• All four, including Anna Louise Strong, romanticized Maoist revolution

• Counterargument: Parenti ignores the statements by the Tibetan refugees themselves

• For more on this issue, log on to this link: http://studentsforafreetibet.org/article.php?id=425

Principles of Buddhism (and Principles of Buddhism (and Hinduism)Hinduism)

• With Hinduism, postulates Samsara• We live in a world of birth, death, and

rebirth • (Upper Left, Tibetan Wheel of Samsara)• Form of our rebirth is driven by karma• Past deeds determine our rebirth• Samsara, however, is an illusion• Nirvana involves recognition of this

illusion

Buddhism: Desire and Buddhism: Desire and SufferingSuffering• To the Buddha, the source of all

suffering is desire

• The life cycle (samsara) brings suffering, including old age and death (upper left)

• The road to nirvana (or moksha) is the ending of desire

• But could the ending of desire itself be desire? Look at all the pressure (lower right)

• Alan Watts, Zen expert, makes a similar point

Tibetan BuddhismTibetan Buddhism

• Tibetan Buddhism follows the Mahanyana (Great Vehicle) school

• The principle lies in reaching a state of Buddhahood or enlightenment

• In doing so, the lama or monk helps all other sentient beings attain that state

• Sometimes defined as a state of omniscience, the Buddhist principle that all things derive from mind

• All limitations to help others are thereby removed• Karma of sentient beings limit the Buddhists’ ability to

help them

Lhasa: The Seat of Tibet PowerLhasa: The Seat of Tibet Power

• Left: Panorama of Lhasa as it is today• Right: Potala Palace, the home of the Dalai Lama and

seat of Tibetan Buddhists of the country

Definitions of “BuddhismDefinitions of “Buddhism

• Introspection, or “internist,” is the Tibetan definition of Buddhism

• Story of Aryadeva cleaning the outside of a cess-pot

• When asked why he ignored the inside, replied that ritualism also ignores the essential

• Two steps: to have taken refuge from the external

• And to observe the four seals of dharma:

Four Seals of Dharma Four Seals of Dharma

• All compounded (complicated) things are impermanent

• All emotions are painful• All phenomena are empty; they lack inherent

existence• Nirvana is beyond extremes• In the absence of these seals, Buddhist path

would be theistic, religious dogma• The external would displace the internal.

Methods of Buddhist PracticeMethods of Buddhist Practice

• Preliminary practice, comprising • Renunciation of the world,• Bodhicitta (wish to attain enlightenment), and• Wisdom (of recognizing emptiness)• Vajrayana practice is the fastest way to reach

Buddhahood• Also the riskiest: it• Increases ego problems• Induces greater suffering• Requires solid preliminary practice under direction of an

adept lama.

Four Schools of Tibetan BuddhismFour Schools of Tibetan Buddhism

• Nyingmapa: “Ancient ones,” or the oldest tradition founded by Padmasambhava

• Kagyupa: “Oral lineage,” comprising several sub-sects

• Sakyapa: “Gray earth,” the most scholarly of the traditions

• Gelugpa: “Way of virtue,” the tradition to which the present Dalai Lama belongs.

• The Dalai Lamas of that school ruled from the 17th to the 20th centuries

Cross-Cuttng Features of the SchoolsCross-Cuttng Features of the Schools

• ‘Old Translation” (Nyingampa): reliance on the original translation of the scriptures

• “New Translation” (the other three traditions): reliance on more recent translation

• “Red Hat”: Color of the hats worn by lamas in the first three traditions

• “Yellow Hat”: Color of the hats worn by lamas of the Gelugpa tradition, the current ruling group

• Other movements: Jonangpa in Eastern Tibet

• Rimé, an ecumenical movement

Tibetan Book of the DeadTibetan Book of the Dead

• A text that is intended to guide the conscious between one life and the next

• This interval is known as the bardo• The text is recited to the dying

person or his/her representation• The bardo is not so much a place

as a level of awareness• We actually are in a bardo right now

The Three The Three BardosBardos: :

• Chikhai Bardo: the bardo at the moment of death

• Chonyid Bardo: experiencing of various realities, represented by various Buddhist forms

• Whether wrathful or peaceful, the forms are projections of the soul’s own illusion

• Sidpa Bardo: the bardo of rebirth after Judgment

Tibetan Book of the Dead: ImagesTibetan Book of the Dead: Images

• Left: A wrathful deity, which one might encounter in the Chonyid Bardo

• Right: A more peaceable deity, portraying the Buddha and his consort in an erotic pose.

China’s InterventionChina’s Intervention

• Chinese troops invaded Tibet in 1951• Rationale of invasion: to overthrow the feudal system • Replace religion with atheism• Hundreds of monasteries were destroyed• Lamas, including the Dalai lama, were forced into exile• Chinese have repopulated the area with Han (ethnic

Chinese) • A worldwide Tibetan movement has been launched to

recover the country

ConclusionConclusion

• Tibet is a classical theocracy• Whether it was an oppressive theocracy has been

debated• Peoples themselves are either herders or peasants or

both• Tibetan Buddhism emphasizes the major tenets of most

Mahayana schools• The Dalai Lama represents the Gelugpa tradition• Tibetan Book of the Dead is a model of the transition

between one life and the next.