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Chapter 08
Buddhists look to Shakyamuni. Indeed, both of these numinous figures are manifestations of Buddha enlightenment in our world, an epiphany that is technically known as a Nirmanakaya (sprul-sku). H.H. the Dalai Lama has now recognized Bon as the fifth Tibetan religious school. along side the Nyingmapas, the Sakyapas, the Kagyudpas, and the Gelugpas, and has given the Bon Po's representation on the Council of Religious Affairs at Dharamsala. [12]
The Historical Development of Bon
Some Tibetan historians and scholars, on the other hand, were aware of this distinction between the two kinds of Bon referred to above [13], and certainly the Bon Po Lamas themselves were aware of it. According to one leading native-born Bon Po scholar, Lopon Tenzin Namdak [14], the history of the development of Bon may be divided into three phases:
1.
2.
Bon Po Religion
Primitive Bon was the indiginous shamanism and animism of Tibet and adjacent regions in ancient times. Indeed, according to Bon Po tradition, some of these practices such as invoking the gods (lha gsol-ba) and rites for exorcising evil spirits (sel-ba) were actually taught by Tonpa Shenrab himself when he briefly visited Kongpo in Southeastern Tibet in prehistoric times. [15] Such rites were later incorporated into the classification of the teachings and practices of Bon known as the nine successive ways or vehicles (theg-pa rim (dgu). These shamanistic types of practices are now known as "the Causal Ways of Bon" (rgyu'i theg-pa). Teaching and practice found in the Causal Ways are considered to be dualistic in their philosophical view, that is, the gods (lha) representing the forces oflight and order called Ye and the demons (bdud) representing the forces of darkness and chaos called Ngam have an independent existence, and the concern of the practitioner is principally with the performing of rituals that invoke the positive energies of the gods and repel the negative influences of the demons and evil spirits (gdon). [16] An examination of the ritual texts in question reveals them to be largely of non-Indian origin. [17] However, like Buddhism generally, Yungdrung Bon is totally opposed to the practice of blood sacrifice (dmar mchod), for the origin of such practices are attributed to the cannibalistic Sinpo (srin-po) demons and not to Tonpa Shenrab. Thus, Bon Po Lamas are loath to identify even the Causal Ways of Bon with the slianianism of the Jhangkris of shamans still flourishing in the mountains of Nepal who continue even today to perform blood sacrifices. [18]
Old Bon (bon rnying-ma), or Yundrung Bon (g.yung-drung bon) as such, consists of the teachings and the practices attributed to Shenrab Miwoche himself in his role as the Teacher or the source of revelation (ston-pa), and, in particular, this means the higher teachings of Sutra, Tantra, and Dzogchen. He revealed these teachings to his disciples in Olmo Lungring on earth and elsewhere in a celestial realm in his previous incarnation as Chimed Tsugphud (Chi-med gtsug-phud). [19] These teachings of Tonpa Shenrab, already set down in writing in his own time or in the subsequent period, are said to have been brought at a later time from Olmo Lungring in Tazik to the country of Zhang-Zhung in Western and Northern Tibet where they were translated into the Zhang-Zhung language. Zhang-Zhung appears to have been an actual language, distinct from Tibetan, and appearantly related to the West Himalayan Tibeto-Burman dialect of
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The Bon Po Traditions of Dzogchen
