Lamaism | Define Lamaism at Dictionary.com Lamaism [lah-muh-iz-uh m] /ˈlɑ məˌɪz əm/ Spell noun 1. the Buddhism of Tibet and Mongolia, a Mahayana form including non-Buddhist Indian elements as well as elements of the preexisting Bön shamanism. Expand Examples from the Web for Lamaism Expand Historical Examples It was about this time that the theory of successive incarnations which is characteristic of Lamaism was developed and defined. Lamaism Lamaism Tibetan Buddhism General Information Lamaism is the Tibetan religion of about 3 million Tibetans and 7 million Mongols and others. The Dalai Lama is the equivalent of the Pope for them. A secondary leader is the Teshu Lama (or Panchen Lama). These two are regarded as 'Living Buddhas', being reincarnations of Buddha passing from one existence to another. When one dies, his successor is sought from among the baby boys born at the time the leader passed away because it is believed that the soul of the Buddha has only passed into another existence. Lamaism is considered a corrupt form of Buddhism. It is sometimes called the Yellow Religion.

In some areas it has degenerated into a form of spirit worship. Text Font Face Lamaism - Tibetan Buddhism Advanced Information Tibetan Buddhism, also called Lamaism, is a distinctive form of Buddhism that arose (7th century) in Tibet and later spread throughout the Himalayan region, including the neighboring countries of Bhutan, Nepal, and Sikkim. The history of Tibetan Buddhism can be divided into three periods. During the 7th - 9th century AD Buddhism was first introduced from India and was slowly accepted under Buddhist kings in the face of opposition by adherents of the indigenous shamanistic religion of Tibet, Bon. Instrumental in this process were the Indian Mahayana Buddhist masters Padmasambhava and Shantarakshita. During the 9th century, however, King gLang Dar Ma persecuted the new faith and effectively eclipsed it for some time. The second period began with the reintroduction of Buddhism from India and its successive reform in the 11th century. Powerful ecclesiastical organizations were established and soon began to rule the countryside in alliance with clans of nobles or the distant Mongol rulers.

During this period the Tibetan Buddhist canon (notable for its accurate translations of now - lost Sanskrit texts and its helpful commentaries) was compiled, and some of the sects that have persisted to the present were formed. These include the Sa - skya - pa, the rNying - ma - pa (who traced their roots back to Padmasambhava), and the bKa'rgyud - pa (to which belonged the famous yogi Milarepa, or Mi - la ras - pa, 1040 - 1123). The third period began with the great reformer Tsong - kha - pa (1357 - 1419), who founded the dGe - lugs - pa sect - the so called Yellow Hats - to which the line of the Dalai Lamas belongs. Each of these lamas was thought to be the reincarnation of his predecessor (as well as that of the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara) and became, at least nominally, the religious and secular ruler of the country.

In 1959 the present, or 14th, Dalai Lama fled the Chinese presence in Tibet along with thousands of ordinary Tibetans and many other high incarnate lamas. Since then they have all been living in exile, primarily in India but also in Nepal and elsewhere. Among the characteristic features of Tibetan Buddhism are its ready acceptance of the Buddhist Tantras as an integral and culminating part of the Buddhist way; its emphasis on the importance of the master - disciple relationship for both religious scholarship and meditation; its recognition of a huge pantheon of Buddhas, bodhisattvas, saints, demons, and deities; its sectarianism, which resulted less from religious disputes than from the great secular powers of the rival monastic organizations; and, finally, the marked piety of both monastic and lay Tibetan Buddhists, which receives expression in their spinning of prayer wheels, their pilgrimages to and circumambulation of holy sites, prostrations and offerings, recitation of texts, and chanting of Mantras, especially the famous invocation to Avalokitesvara Om Mani Padme Hum.

Joseph M Kitagawa And John S Strong Bibliography: C Bell, The Religion of Tibet (1931); S Beyer, The Cult of Tara - Magic and Ritual in Tibet (1973); T Gyatso, The Buddhism of Tibet and and the Key to the Middle Way (1975); R A Stein, Tibetan Civilization (1972); G Tucci, The Religions of Tibet (1980); L A Waddell, Buddhism of Tibet (1939). Dalai Lama {dah' - ly lah' - muh} General Information Dalai Lama is the title of the religious leader of Tibetan Buddhism, who was also, until 1959, temporal ruler of Tibet. Each Dalai Lama is believed to be the reincarnation of his predecessor. When one dies, the new incarnation is sought among newly born boys; the child is identified by his ability to pick out possessions of the former Dalai Lama from a group of similar objects. The Dalai Lama is also regarded as an emanation of the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, the Lord of Compassion.

The first Dalai Lama was Gan - den Trup - pa (1391 - 1474), head of the dominant Ge - luk - pa (Yellow Hat) monastic sect and founder of the Tashi Lhunpo monastery. He and his successor, however, did not actually bear the title Dalai, which was first bestowed on the third Dalai Lama (1543 - 88) by a Mongol prince in 1578 and applied retroactively. The 14th Dalai Lama, born Tenzin Gyatso, 1935, was installed in 1940. He remained in Tibet from the Chinese takeover in 1950 until 1959, when he fled to India following an abortive Tibetan revolt against Chinese Communist rule. He established a Tibetan government - in - exile in Dharmsala, India, and has worked to preserve Tibetan arts, scriptures, and medicine. In 1989 he was warded the Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent struggle to end Chinese domination of his homeland. Tibet's secondary spiritual leader is the Panchen Lama.

The 10th Panchen Lama (1939 - 89) served as nominal ruler of Tibet from 1959 until 1964. He was imprisoned during the Cultural Revolution but later was returned to favor. Bibliography: J Avedon, In Exile from the Land of Snows (1984); B Burman, Religion and Politics in Tibet (1979); Dalai Lama, My Land and My People (1962), Freedom in Exile (1990), and My Tibet (1990); M H Goodman, The Last Dalai Lama (1986); R Hicks and N Chogyam, Great Ocean (1990); C B Levenson, The Dalai Lama: A Biography (1989). Also, see: Lamaism | Article about Lamaism by The Free Dictionary Lamaism | Article about Lamaism by The Free Dictionary see Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism, form of Buddhism prevailing in the Tibet region of China, Bhutan, the state of Sikkim in India, Mongolia, and parts of Siberia and SW China.

It has sometimes been called Lamaism, from the name of the Tibetan monks, the lamas [superior ones]. ..... Click the link for more information. . Lamaism a trend in Buddhism; it is practiced in the autonomous regions of Tibet and Inner Mongolia, the Mongolian People’s Republic, and certain parts of Nepal and India. In the USSR, Lamaism has a certain number of followers in the Buriat ASSR, Kalmyk ASSR, Tuva ASSR, and the Ust’-Ordynskii Buriat and Aga-Buriat national okrugs. Lamaism began in Tibet, where Mahayana Buddhism had penetrated from India in the seventh century, at the same time as the creation there of the first unified state (seventh through ninth centuries). Toward the end of the eighth century, Buddhism became the state religion of Tibet. There the first Samye monastery was built, Tibetan monks appeared, and monasterial landholding began. A hierarchy of clergy developed in the early ninth century. The process of Lamaism’s formation was completed with what is called the late wave of Buddhism in Tibet, which began in the second half of the tenth century.

The feudal fragmentation that began in this period fostered the formation of a multitude of Lamaist sects, among which the most important were the Kadampa (founded in the mid-11th century), Sakyapa (11th century), Kagyupa (11th century), and Karmapa (12th century). In the late 14th and early 15th centuries the largest Lamaist sect arose, the Gelukpa (Yellow Hat sect), founded by Tsong-khapa (1357–1419). In the 16th century the heads of the Gelukpa sect began to bear the title of Dalai Lama. By the mid-17th century the fifth Dalai Lama, Avganlobsan-jamtso (1617–82), and the upper clergy succeeded in subjecting to their authority (both spiritual and secular) all the main regions of Tibet, which thereby became a theocratic state. The institution of the Panchen Lama, who occupied the second position in Lamaism after the Dalai Lama, also began under the fifth Dalai Lama.

During the 16th and 17th centuries Lamaism became the dominant religion in Mongolia, where it spread from Tibet; at the same time it was adopted by the Kalmyks, who migrated to the Volga region in the 17th century. Lamaism took hold in Tuva during the 16th and 17th centuries and began to spread to Buriatia by the end of the 17th century. The theoretical basis of Lamaism is expounded in two main canonical works written in the 14th century—the Kangyur and Tangyur, with commentaries on the texts included in the Kangyur—and in the works of the best known lamas. The Kangyur and Tangyur have been translated from Tibetan into Mongolian. Besides features common to the Mahayanist movement in Buddhism as a whole, Lamaism has a number of individual features. As a religion, Lamaism is extremely eclectic. Magic and belief in numerous local deities hold an important place along with retreat from secular life and meditation. Highly developed rituals and the complete subordination of the disciple to the lama, the teacher, are characteristic of Lamaism.

A special role is attributed to the Boddhisattvas, who are not only guides on the path of “liberation” but deities who give help in concrete secular affairs. Avalokiteshvara, the Boddhisattva of Great Mercy, is given particular emphasis, as are certain Buddhas—for example, Maitreya, Buddha of the Future. On the basis of the concept of reincarnation, a theory arose in Lamaism about the incarnation of Buddhas, Boddhisattvas, and deities into persons called trulku (in Tibetan) or khulbigans (in Mongolian). In the realm of philosophy, Lamaism confines itself to commentaries on translated texts. Large-scale monastery landholdings were the economic basis for Lamaist rule. Lamaism was a significant impediment on the road to economic, social, and cultural development of those peoples among whom it spread. At present, the Lamaist clergy in the main regions where Lamaism has spread has lost its former economic and political influence. REFERENCES 3 Forms of Buddhism 3 Forms of Buddhism Many forms of Buddhism are actually practiced around the world. Buddhists don’t all follow the same teachings and the same texts.

The core principles stay the same but different important aspects are observed in each type. Each form is also subdivided into schools . Map Of Buddhism in the World Theravada Buddhism is also known as the doctrine of the elders, Southern Buddhism or Ancient Teaching. The main text used by this school is the Pali Canon. The main area of influence includes the following countries: Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and Burma (Myanmar). They have about 100 million followers and are gaining ground in Singapore, Vietnam and the Western world. This form of Buddhism is characterized by its orthodoxy. They are considered to be the closest to the teaching of Buddha and the text they use- the Pali Canon- is the oldest surviving Buddhist text. Their beliefs are that each individual can attain enlightenment by himself and the best way to do this is by joining the monastic way of life as it allows for an ideal setting to dedicate one’s life to the Dharma.

Lay people have a role to play also and it is partly comprised of Merit Making actions including: offering food and other basic necessities to monks making donations to temples and monasteries burning incense or lighting candles before images of the Buddha chanting verses from the Pali Canon act as trustees or custodians for their temples taking part in the financial planning and management of the temple volunteer significant time in tending to the mundane needs of local monks Monks gain merit by practicing mindfulness, meditation, and chanting. In the Pali Sutra, the Buddha instructs the followers to follow concentration as it is a tool he used to attain nirvana. Thus, the Theravada Buddhist practice these form of meditation: Anapanasati (Green and white on the map) (Green and white on the map) Mahāyāna is also called the Great Vehicle, Bodhisattvayāna or the Bodhisattva Vehicle. It is the larger of the two major traditions of Buddhism existing today, the other being that of the Theravāda school. It is also the origin of the Vajrayana form. It is mostly popular in China, Japan , Korea, Vietnam, and Mongolia and spread very widely in the west.

Major traditions of Mahāyāna Buddhism today include Zen (Chán), Pure Land, Tiantai,(Tendai in Japan) Nichiren , and Esoteric Buddhism (Shingon, Tibetan Buddhism (although we further separate them below)). The beliefs: Mahayana Buddhism prones liberation of suffering for all sentient beings. Where Theravada focuses on individual enlightenment, Mahayana preaches that Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are here to help us attain collective illumination. Thus they believe in supernatural bodhisattvas who devote themselves to the perfections, ultimate knowledge, and the liberation of all sentient beings. The Buddha is seen as the ultimate, highest being, present in all times, in all beings, and in all places, and the bodhisattvas come to represent the universal ideal of altruistic excellence. It is difficult to talk about an unified canon for the Mahayana tradition as it is often assimilated by local beliefs and traditions. In Japan, it has incorporated some local Shinto beliefs and some Shamanism.

Thus, when observed under this angle, it becomes incorrect to refer Buddhism as a non-religion in the Mahayana tradition because of the gods that were later added and all the powers attributed to the different Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Vajrayana is in fact part of the Mahayana school but because its emphasis on tantrism, it is often cited as a different school. It is also known as Tantric Buddhism, Tantrayāna, Lamaism, Mantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Esoteric Buddhism and the Diamond Vehicle. It is mostly active in Tibet and Japan , and in China, to some extent. Vajrayana is a school of esoteric knowledge, secret rituals, mudras and mantras. It teaches that in order to access esoteric knowledge, the practitioner requires initiation from a skilled spiritual teacher or guru. Rituals are an important part of the Vajrayana Buddhism. They substitute meditation as they are focused and with purpose. Esoteric Buddhism is often associated with magic as many of their rituals entail working with the supernatural, manipulating the laws of nature with the help of the entities of the Buddhist pantheon .

In this form of Buddhism, like in Mahayana, the ultimate goal of the practitioner is to become a Buddha. Vajrayana teaches that the Vajrayana techniques provide an accelerated path to Buddhahood. But, Reginald Ray writes that “If these techniques are not practiced properly, practitioners may harm themselves physically and mentally. In order to avoid these dangers, the practice is kept “secret” outside the teacher/student relationship. Secrecy and the commitment of the student to the vajra guru are aspects of the samaya , or “sacred bond”, that protects both the practitioner and the integrity of the teachings.” It is then difficult for westerners to study this path as it often entails speaking the language (ibetan and Japanese) and being accepted in a monastery by a master. In Japan, in particular, Koya-san accepts some foreigners but the path is difficult and they often suffer from some form of subtle racism as the Japanese people feel that Buddhism can only be understood by Japanese. Links Buddhist Lamaism Buddhist Lamaism 1935 .. The religion of Tibet is interesting not only in itself, on account of its quaint belief and its still quainter ceremonies.

The chief features of the creed and cult known as Lamaism (from the word Lama, the name for a priest). Lamaism is partly religious, partly political. Religiously it is the form of Buddhism prevalent in Tibet and Mongolia. It stands in a relationship to primitive Buddhism similar to that in which Roman Catholicism, so long as the temporal power of the pope was still in existence, stood to primitive Christianity. The ethical and metaphysical ideas most conspicuous in the doctrines of Lamaism were not confined to the highlands of Central Asia, they are accepted in great measure also in Japan and China. It was the union of these ideas with a hierarchical system, and with the temporal sovereignty of the head of that system in Tibet, which constituted what is distinctively understood by the term Lamaism. "Buddha" is a word meaning "enlightened" and the real name of the founder of the religion which goes by the name of Buddhism was Siddhartha. Gautama was the family name. The Buddha entirely ignored the questions of the existence of God and of an individual immortal soul in every human being.

The Buddha only believed in the material world ; he thought that it was fruitless to discuss the two points ï¿½ whether there is a God, or whether human beings have immortal souls. He was therefore in plain language an agnostic. A great deal of all the knowledge that a non-Buddhist has about Siddhartha Gautama's teaching is associated with the term Nirvana or annihilation. This is the great goal which was to be aimed at by his disciples. It meant simply extinction of passions, of all those feelings of anger, vanity, impurity and pride which make men unhappy. Once these were extinguished, bliss, repose, content would be the lot of every individual in whom that consummation had taken place. Gautama pointed out that the only path to Nirvana was by "right views, right thought right speech, right actions, right living, right exertion, right recollection and right meditations." He called this the Noble Eightfold Way by which people might hope to attain eternal rest. Existence is bound up with evil ; those passions which bring life into existence and tend to maintain it, also bring evil and decay. It was neccessary to strike at existence itself.

All those who were eager to find the solution of the problem of life were to lead ascetic lives, removed from temptations and passions. But all lay people might hope to attain Nirvana, by practicing self-culture not in their life however, but in another life. By a gradual process of purification, one existence would become more holier than another, and enlightenment be made easier of attainment. There was thus a twofold standard of human conduct, one for those who trusted to attain "Nirvana" in their present existence; another for those who were content to attain it after many new births. Now as the best authorities deny that Buddha believed in or taught the existence of an individual soul, it would seem that Buddha meant by transmigration, simply the progress of humanity, that the term simply expressed the continuation of one life in that of children, so that if it be true, gnostics and rationalists have great reason for glorifying as they do. Buddha, as we are told, lived in B. C. 500.

Soon alter his death a great number of legends and supernatural events bp^an to be associated with his life and teachings, and his simple teaching of the system of self-culture became tangled in a mass of observances. In the sixth century when 'yoga''cult of the Brahmans was assimilated by the degenerating Buddhism of northern India. Rites and incantations and charms were the new growths. Tantrism, devil worship, magic and witchcraft came in to destroy every trace of Buddha's grand teaching. The special feature of this Tantrism was that it gave the Buddhist wives, and introduced fiends and fiendesses who were to be worshipped. This was the religion introduced into Tibet in the seventh century of the Christian era. In one respect, the introduction of Buddhism into Tibet differed from its introduction into other countries, which received it earlier. Buddhism, like other religions, grew and developed itself; unlike others, it grew entirely by addition, not by transformation. The simple rules of discipline which sufficed for begging monks, the simple rules of conduct which sufficed for their lay disciples, were never abrogated, and are as much in force to-day as ever they were.

But over and above them a formidable body of doctrine was superadded ;and the accretions of dogma betray the same law. The first school of dogmatists laid down curt and conceivable propositions, like those in the creeds,ï¿½that the Buddha pre-existed in heaven, that he was incarnate to save mankind, that he entered into Nirvana. Nobody doubted these positions; disputes there were in abundance aa to the meaning of terms, such as whether Nirvana was absolute or only relative, but the terms themselves were accepted by all. Gradually the sphere of dogma enlarged till it embraced things past conceptionï¿½long streams of former Buddhas; Bodhisattvas or Buddhas designate, who. even now concern themselves with the care of mankind ; heavenly Buddhas or Buddhas of the world of contemplation, of whom the earthly Buddhas are the pattern aud reflex; Bodhisattvas of contemplation regarded as the spiritual sous of the Buddhas, aud so forth.

Yet another, aud a final development took place, which we cannot but regard as a backward step, as an adaptation of Buddhism to the coarse notions of the primitive Asiatic, peoples of non-Aryan blood, who seem to have indulged themselves in the belief of frightful and malignant deities, personifications of the terrible in nature, the whirlwind and the rushing tempest, and the devouring flame. These personifications, occurring in all the Turanian religions, seem to have gathered a definite form in some region of India subjected more or less to Aryan influences, and to have received Aryan designations, such as Rudra, Siva, Kali and Bhavani. They were propitiated with bloody offerings and with magical and unmeaning formulas, and the whole system, magic and all, all but the bloody sacrifices, was adopted by Buddhism, when it came to deal with uneducated multitudes, whom philosophical abstractions and subtle metaphysical speculations could not satisfy, and who craved for a more sensational and blood-curdling creed. Buddhism was from the very first a missionary religion, and the missionaries of course carried with them the system as it had been developed in India up to the time of their departure.

Tibet, the youngest convert, alone received the whole body of Buddhistic doctrine, so to speak, at one blow. The rules of discipline and morals, the simple history of Sakyamuni Buddha, came to Tibet together with all the vast superstructure of creeds, abstractions, and Tantric rites, including the Prajua Paramita, or doctrine of the essential nothingness of all things, on which, as it never greatly influenced popular belief. Tibetan Buddhism began, in fact, where other nations left off, and carried dogma a step or two further. Out of so vast a body of truth, particular nations naturally laid stress on particular points and developed them their own way.

The worship of the Bodhisattvasï¿½especially of selected onesï¿½ was one of these points; Manjusri aud Avalokitesvara, already deities among the Chinese, became in Tibet popular and, so to, speak, national Gods; the Tantric system was too much akin to the feelings of the descendants of the Spirit of the Storm, the inhabitants of vast plateaux haunted by spectre-like dust whirlwinds and "airy tongues that syllable men's names" - the clients of uncultured priests whose stock-in-trade consisted of exorcisms and wonder-working formulae, not to be at once adopted into the popular faith, and Buddhist Tibet became, what preBuddhist Tibet had in all probability been, the special home of magic and wonders.

The famous formula of six syllables, om mani padme hum, or "hail to the jewel in the Lotus!" an invocation to Avalokitesvara, the Lotus-born, which, as we have seen, accompanied, in popular belief at least, the very first acquaintance of the Tibetans with Buddhist symbolism, is everywhere.ï¿½engraved upon stone, floating in the wind on streamers of cloth, revolving in prayer-wheels, or uttered countless times by countless numbers of the religious,ï¿½the distinguishing sign and badge of the Tibetan form of faith. The most important addition made by Tibet to the body of Buddhist doctrine ï¿½ the feature which has given the country its historical importance ï¿½ is the belief in successive incarnations of the Bodhisattvas, successive transmigrations from one human frame to another. Of course the transmigration of souls, an Indian doctrine based upon ethical grounds, greatly influenced Indian Buddhism from the first, and the great mass of Buddhist legend in all countries is based upon it. In its general form it is always a rise or fall in consequence of works done in a former state.

Tha good man is born again as a prince, a Brahman, a deity; the bad man as a Sudra, a beggar, an evil spirit, a beast, or a reptile. But in Tibet alone, and the countries which received their religion from Tibet, we find the equable and continuous series of human incarnations assumed by those saints who have devoted themselves to the care of mankind in this world. It required centuries to develope this belief in its existing form. Days after the Dalai Lama canceled all appearances for the month of October, in laeDEptembe 2015 the 80-year-old Tibetan Buddhist leader checked into the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. "The doctors have advised His Holiness to rest for the next several weeks," the statement said.

"We deeply regret the inconvenience caused by this decision and apologize to all the people who have worked so hard in organizing the visit as well as to the public." NEWSLETTER Basic Concepts of Tibetan Buddhism BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO BASIC CONCEPTS OF "TIBETAN" BUDDHISM Page 3 MAGIC AND THE SUPERNATURAL IN TIBETAN BUDDHISM The religious practices found in the Tibetan cultural world, accepted by and even conducted by the monastic orders, include the incantation of mystic, magical formulas, the exorcism and destruction of demons, divination, auguries, oracles, and symbolic sacrifice and ransom -- aspects associated with Shamanism. It is this element within Tibetan Buddhism of magic and the supernatural, so remote from the original teachings and practices of Buddhism, that has led to its designation as Lamaism, as if it were a separate religion or at least a separate offshoot of the original faith. In attempting to account for these apparent contradictions, scholars have sought to identify the sources of these seeming divergences from what can be claimed as the pure, original Buddhist teachings.

Buddhism was a foreign import into Tibet, but Tibet made Buddhism its own, and that encompassing system of beliefs and practices known as Tibetan Buddhism can only be understood in the full context of the country, its history, its society, and its indigenous religious and cultural practices. It is also necessary to consider particular religious currents (i.e., Tantrism) within Buddhism that ultimately affected its form in Tibet. At the core of Buddhist teachings are the four noble truths, explaining the nature and cause of suffering and the way to enlightenment: a focused approach that makes no mention of a creator and that seems in our contemporary world more a philosophy -- a perspective on reality -- and a guide to living, than a religion. Yet, although Tibetan Buddhism is based on those core teachings, it includes practices that extend into the supernatural realm, such as defense against omnipresent evil spirits. Thus the religion seems almost split into two paradoxical factions: the spiritual path to enlightenment, and rituals of protection against the hosts of evil. And although the original teachings of the Buddha do not mention a creator or other deities, Tibetan Buddhism embraces a vast pantheon of divinities. These supramundane beings derive from the intersection of many sources and influences, both native and external.

Only a general survey of this complex subject can be given here. Shakyamuni, which was the Buddha's family name, was born in a small Indian state in what is now southern Nepal, although the present nation of Nepal did not come into existence until the late eighteenth century. He lived in the context of Indian culture and religion, and it was in India that Buddhism took root -- the original Buddhist stronghold. In its earliest, and some argue its purist or most authentic form, Buddhism was nontheistic, keeping its focus on a way of thought and a conduct of life that would release human beings from inevitable suffering. A basic premise of Buddhism is that neither the Buddha nor any divine being interferes in human life, or acts as a savior or intercedes as a saint might do. Rather, such beings teach, expound the Dharma (law), and show the way. The concept of karma is fundamental to Buddhism. It is based on the premise of the inexorable relation of cause and effect: in familiar Western terms, you reap what you have sown. Your own actions, rather than the decision of a divine being who sits in judgment, or the intercession of any god, determine what will become of you.

Against its Hindu background, Buddhism has sometimes been seen as a reform movement analogous to the Protestant Reformation, an analogy that perhaps should not be stretched too far, and it has even been considered a revolutionary movement. Yet from its inception, and in the course of its subsequent development for many centuries, Buddhism was affected by the inevitable influence of its Hindu context, even as it was a reaction against the mother culture and religion. The Mahayana movement that flourished in the Buddhist universities of eastern India absorbed Hindu elements. These sources, Hindu and Buddhist, became interwoven and were the matrix for the later development, Vajrayana. Tantric texts depict the defeat of Hindu deities, most importantly the great god Shiva, by the Bodhisattva warrior, Vajrapani; the vanquished Hindu gods were converted, pledged allegiance to Buddhism, and were renamed and incorporated into the Buddhist structure. And tantric texts introduced yet other gods, such as Mahakala, who although one of the most important tantric deities in Tibetan Buddhism, has an ancient origin in Indian cults.

With the further development of Mahayana, and its cult of Bodhisattvas (whose numbers multiplied, along with the Buddhas with whom they were often paired), the pantheon expanded. Interweaving and building on these influences, introducing and absorbing yet more deities, Buddhism, like a living organism, continued to evolve, and the form that we would come to know as "Tibetan" grew increasingly labyrinthine. Even that is not the end of the story. After Buddhism was first introduced into Tibet in the seventh century C.E., where it encountered a native culture, a struggle ensued between the new religion and the ancient, indigenous one. Ultimately and inevitably, Buddhism was influenced by that which it came to replace. This complex interaction developed into mutual adaptation, and the native traditions added their complement of gods to a growing Buddhist pantheon of deities and supramundane beings. A century after that first introduction, a Tibetan king summoned Padmasambhava, a mystic eighth-century yogin from an area northwest of India, now thought to be Pakistan's Swat valley, to establish the primacy of the new religion: this is known as the "first diffusion" of Buddhism in Tibet.

Padmasambhava, also known as Guru Rinpoche, is honored and revered throughout the Tibetan cultural world, and even considered a second Buddha by followers of the Nyingma-pa sect. According to legend, this legendary master battled with and successfully overcame malevolent and hostile spirits, including the indigenous Tibetan gods, and bound them over with vows to serve the new faith. The old gods, former enemies, became champions of Buddhism; they joined the pantheon, swelling its prodigious array of deities and supernatural beings. Yet that, too, was not yet the end of the story. Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism. Form of Buddhism in Tibet. Articles And Journals Tibetan Buddhism, also called LAMAISM, distinctive form of Buddhism that evolved from the 7th century AD in Tibet. It is based mainly on the rigorous intellectual disciplines of Madhyamika and Yogacara philosophy and utilizes the symbolic ritual practices of Vajrayana (Tantric Buddhism). Tibetan Buddhism also incorporates the monastic disciplines of early Theravada Buddhism and the shamanistic features of the indigenous Tibetan religion, Bon.

Characteristic of Tibetan Buddhism is the unusually large segment of the population actively engaged in religious pursuits (up until the Chinese communist takeover of the country in the 1950s an estimated one-quarter of the inhabitants were members of religious orders); its system of "reincarnating lamas"; the traditional merger of the spiritual and temporal authority in the office and person of the Dalai Lama; and the vast number of divine beings (each with its own family, consort, and pacific and terrifying aspects), which are considered symbolic representations of the psychic life by the religiously sophisticated and accepted as realities by the common people. Buddhism was transmitted into Tibet mainly during the 7th to 10th centuries. Notable early teachers were the illustrious 8th-century Tantric master Padmasambhava and the more orthodox Mahayana teacher Santiraksita. With the arrival from India in 1042 of the great teacher Atisa, a reform movement was initiated, and within a century the major sects of Tibetan Buddhism had emerged.

The Dge-lugs-pa, or One of the Virtuous System, commonly known as the Yellow Hats, the order of the Dalai and the Panchen Lamas, has been the politically predominant Tibetan sect from the 17th century until 1959, when the hierocratic government of the Dalai Lama was abolished by the People's Republic of China. By the 14th century the Tibetans had succeeded in translating all available Buddhist literature in India and Tibet; many Sanskrit texts that have since been lost in the country of their origin are known only from their Tibetan translations. The Tibetan canon is divided into the Bka'-'gyur, or Translation of the Word, consisting of the supposedly canonical texts, and the Bstan-'gyur, or Transmitted Word, consisting of commentaries by Indian masters. In the second half of the 20th century Tibetan Buddhism spread to the West, particularly after the subjugation of Tibet to Chinese Communist rule sent many refugees, including highly regarded "reincarnated lamas," or tulkus, out of their homeland. Tibetan religious groups in the West include both communities of refugees and those consisting largely of occidentals drawn to the Tibetan tradition.

............................................................................................................................................................................................................................ Study Guide Questions Test 4 Ch 10 - Geography 120 with Morgan at Jacksonville State University - StudyBlue Good to have you back! If you've signed in to StudyBlue with Facebook in the past, please do that again. Study Guide Questions Test 4 Ch 10 Study Guide Questions Test 4 Ch 10 Janet M. Which characteristics define the region of Central Asia? Most of the region is characterized by plains and basins World's highest mountains Water Conflicts Why is the environment in Central Asia relatively clean? Because of the low population density of Central Asia, much of the area has a relatively clean environment Advertisement ) What is the primary reason for the shrinking of the Aral Sea? 1960s - rivers were diverted to Russian for irrigation purposes Which of the following parts of Central Asia remains relatively unspoiled (southern Uzbekistan, Northwestern Tibet, eastern Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Central Kyrgyzstan)? Northwestern Tibet Where is oil pollution worst in Central Asia? Caspian Sea. People of which of the following countries of Central Asia are noted for their traditional economy based on transhumance?

(Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Tibet, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan) Kyrgyzstan What is the livelihood of pastoralists? Pastoralists - raise livestock for subsistence purposes Which region of Central Asia lies 500 feet below sea level, and is famous for its fruits and melons? null In Central Asia, many of the more favorable areas are populated by which of the following groups of people? Han Chinese Where are the desert regions of Central Asia mostly located? null Which Central Asian lake is the largest lake in the world? Caspian Sea Which of the following deserts is NOT found in Central Asia? Gobi – a desert in Mongolia Tajikistan's *Kara Kum – a large Central Asian desert *Kyzyl Kum – a desert located in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan Even though the Aral Sea and Caspian Sea have the word "sea" in the names, they are not true seas. Why? Because they are not connected to other bodies of water The Pamir Knot is... The Pamir Mountains are sometimes known as the Pamir Knot because most of Asia’s great mountain ranges are ”knotted together” by the Pamirs.

5 mountain ranges come together In which country of Central Asia is the Gobi Desert found? Mongolia Which of the following countries of Central Asia lies farthest north? Kazakhstan, Mongolia Which of the following countries of Central Asia lies farthest south? Afghanistan, Xinjiang and Tibet Which of the following descriptions does NOT apply to Central Asia? (mountainous, a place of many deserts, a place with a history of domination, lies south of Russia, densely populated) Densely populated What geologic event created Central Asia's mountain ranges? The collision of the Indian subcontinent into the Asia mainland Of the following climates types (tropical monsoon, midlatitude desert, midlantitude steppe, highland or humid continental), which one is LEAST common in Central Asia? Humid continental Which country of Central Asia has the highest population density? Azerbaijan Where do most Central Asian people live? Afghanistan Kazakhstan, like other former republics of the USSR, has experienced a substantial migration of people out of the region since the Soviet Union broke up. who are these migrants, and why are they leaving? Tajikistan men Where are the larger cities of Central Asia located? Uzbekistan?

What is the name of the collapsible, felt-covered structures that Mongolians live in as the tend their herds of sheep and cattle? Yurt What was the most common foreign language of the countries of Central Asia in the 1970s? Russian Followers of which religion in Central Asia suffered brutal persecution when China invaded Tibet? Tibetan Buddhim What is the name of the ultra orthodox Islamic group that was in power in Afghanistan until the US military intervened in fall of 2001? Taliban A group that inforced strictly in forced the Islamic law Lamaism (a form of Buddhism) is most closely associated with which country of Central Asia? Tibet Which country of Central Asia has the strongest tradition of monasticism? Tibet When Central Asia has been under the communist rule of China, the Soviet Union, and Mongolia, what has happened to religion? It was discouraged and people were persecuted for religious beliefs What sets of Tibetan or Lamaist Buddhism apart from other forms of Buddhism? More oriented toward mysticism From which country in Central Asia has Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaeda operated?

Afghanistan Which Central Asian country had been engaged in a civil war that was brought to a head by the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks? Tajikistan What group founded the Taliban? Islamic Fundamentalists What was Pakistan's response after the September 11th attack on the US? 16 September, Pakistan announced that it would join the global coalition against terrorism and offered immediate tangible aid to include military bases. Thus, in a matter of days, the U.S. received Pakistan’s support How many new countries appeared in Central Asia as a result of the breakup of the Soviet Union? Russia, Kazakhstan,Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan,Uzbekistan What neighboring country has provided support and cover for the Taliban in Afghanistan? Pakistan What was the source of the military dominance of Central Asia's nomads before 1500? nomadic lifestyle was well suited to warfare, and the steppe horse riders became some of the most militarily potent people in the world, due to the devastating techniques and ability of their horse archers What transportation technology must be constructed before the oil wealth of Central Asia can become economically viable?

Pipeline construction According to our textbook, what livelihood is "the only feasible way of life on the Tibetan plateau"? Nomadic pastoralism Since 1999, which Central Asian country has been the world's largest producer of opium? Afghanistan Afghanistan earns most of its foreign currency be selling what? Narcotics In which country of Central Asia do people have the shortest life expectancy? Afghanistan Which country of Central Asia had the lowest female labor force participation in 1999? Afghanistan Buddhism Buddhism Origins Buddhism is based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, who came to be called the Buddha or �enlightened one�. Gautama was born into a wealthy family near the border of modern India and Nepal in 563 BC. Confronted by the reality of ageing, sickness and death, he left his rich home at 29, and spent seven years travelling India as an ascetic. Substituting meditation for physical self-punishment, he was sitting under a fig-tree (boddhi tree) when he had his first three enlightened revelations. Gautama did not envisage himself as establishing a religion.

Buddhists have no belief in higher deities, but propose a path towards freedom from suffering, or individual enlightenment, through deep reflection on the nature of existence. This focus on self-redemption makes it qualitatively quite different from other belief systems which base themselves around concepts of divine mercy or grace. History and Spread After enlightenment, Buddha taught for the next 45 years of his life. His adherents taught more adherents. The Buddha�s teaching (dharma) is the cornerstone of Buddhism. Two hundred years after Gautama�s death (253 BCE) a thousand monks worked for nine months to classify and write down the traditions that had only existed orally. This work, called the Pali canon, is the foundational teaching text for the Theravadic Buddhists. Different Buddhist groups recognise other authoritative texts. Under pressure from Hindu growth, the Buddhist presence in India eventually began to decline from about the 7th Century CE. Buddhism flourished in many other parts of Asia, notably China and Japan. Today it is estimated that there about 200 million Buddhists living in countries outside of China; and including China, the total number of adherents could be as high as 600 million.

In Australia Immigrants from China, Sri Lanka and Japan who arrived in Australia in the mid to late 1800s as gold miners, pearl divers and sugar cane plantation workers, brought with them a mixture of Buddhist and other Eastern religious traditions. A small but significant tradition of lay Buddhism among the Anglo-European community took root in the 1920s. In 1952, the Buddhist Society of NSW was formed, and their Queensland and Victorian counterparts in 1953. These organisations sponsored and supported visits from Buddhist monks in Asia. The first Buddhist monastery was set up in 1971 in the Blue Mountains in NSW. The first new wave of immigrants arrived in 1975, from Vietnam and South-East Asia; in 1991, nearly one-third of Buddhists in Australia were born in Vietnam. From 1991-1996, the number of people identifying as Buddhist grew by 43 per cent, mainly through immigration.

The 2001 Census recorded 358,000 people identifying Buddhism as their religion, but in Australia, as elsewhere in the West, many more people �dip into� Buddhism through books, meditation classes, and public lectures by visiting monks. Key Movements There are two main movements in Buddhism: Theravada Buddhism (Way of the Elders) and Mahayana Buddhism (Great Vehicle), as well as other streams. Theravada Buddhism (or Southern Buddhism) maintains the importance of the community of monks. It emerged in first century BCE and uses the Pali canon as the authoritative Buddhist scripture. It places emphasis on the relentless effort that is required to gain enlightenment and the difficulty of that path. There are approximately 100 million Theravadic adherents, most living in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand. Mahayana Buddhism (or Eastern Buddhism) is more liberal and open to a wider range of authoritative texts and ideas. Its scripture was recorded in Sanskrit in 3rd Century BCE and it usually develops in close relationship with the various indigenous religions it encounters, such as Confucianism in China and Shinto in Japan.

It tends to be more accepting of popular piety and statues of the Buddha etc. are often used as objects of veneration. Other important streams of Buddhism include: Lamaism, the dominant Tibetan form of Buddhism. Its most important text is the Tibetan Book of the Dead. The annexation of Tibet into the People's Republic of China in 1956 and the escape of the 14th Dalai Lama into India 1959, radically changed the profile and practice of Lamaism which now claims to have 10 million adherents worldwide. In practical terms, it places great emphasis on magical and sacramental rites. Zen, which originated in China, growing out of Mahayana Buddhism. It has had a major impact in Japan and places emphasis on meditation and the technique of koans. It holds enlightenment to be a spontaneous event, totally independent of concepts, rituals or techniques. Vajrayana, or �diamond vehicle�, which has mystical and magical elements and uses specific techniques such as the mantra (special saying) and mandala (meditation circle). Organisational Structure Rather than a hierarchically-ordered structure, Buddhism is practised through a wide range of temples and small groups.

Practice may even take place in the home and involve no congregational meeting. Buddhist communities involve both lay and ordained members. Sangha, the community of monks, has great significance. The sangha promotes, through its own lifestyle, the conditions for reaching enlightenment. After first becoming a novice one is eventually consecrated as a monk or nun. In the Mahayana tradition there is a third level of bodhisattva ordination. Key Beliefs Trsna: The root of suffering is desire; our craving for and clinging to transient phenomena. Nirvana: It is possible for suffering to cease and this state is called nirvana.

The Noble Eightfold Path: the solution for ending suffering The Eightfold Path incorporates: Right knowledge: Understanding the Buddha�s view of life as set out in the Four Noble Truths Right attitude: Goodwill and peacefulness should take the place of desire and hateful thoughts Right speech: Communication should be wise, truthful, kind, helpful and harmonious Right action: Buddhists should live according to the Buddhist precepts, and take responsibility for the consequences for their actions Right livelihood: A Buddhist�s occupation must not harm others Right effort: Buddhists must make a consistent effort to overcome unhelpful motivations and cultivate wholesome ones Right mindfulness: Consider all things with care, and act, speak, and think with awareness, not desire. Right meditation: Intense concentration, following the path of Buddhist meditation Buddhists do not believe in a Creator God Buddhists view the world as samsara � a cycle of birth and death � involving a reconfiguration of energy. It differs from the Hindu sense of reincarnation in which the soul is transferred. Buddhists believe in karma, which means that actions have consequences. This law of consequence however, is not divine judgement To enter the Buddhist community, a person must take the three refuges and the five precepts.

Key Festivals Vesak (Theravada): Celebrates the birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha and occurs on the first full moon day in May. Vassa (Theravada): The Rains Retreat observance of a three month retreat during the Asian rainy season Poson Day: Celebrates the introduction of Buddhism to Sri Lanka Buddhist New Year: Celebrates the New Year. Paranirvana Day (Mahayana): Celebrates the death of the Buddha WWW Links Nan Tien Temple at Wollongong Largest Buddhist temple in the southern hemisphere. A branch of the Fo Guang Shan, founded in 1965 by Venerable Master Hsing Yun, which has over 120 branches worldwide. "Nan Tien" in Chinese, literally means "Paradise of the South". Fo Guang Buddhism is rooted in the Mahayana tradition which emphasises that Buddhahood is within everyone's potential reach. Fo Guang followers strive to bring Buddhism into daily life and aptly term their faith "Humanistic Buddhism." Sydney Buddhist Centre Branch of the The Friends of the Western Buddhist Order, a Buddhist movement founded in London in 1967.

It seeks to create all of the conditions needed for the effective practice of Buddhism in modern society. It has grown into a varied and energetic tradition of practice, and communal institutions. Sydney Zen Centre The Sydney Zen Centre is a lay, or non-monastic, Zen Buddhist community whose primary practice is meditation. It is affiliated with the Diamond Sangha, a world-wide network with centres in the Americas, Europe, and Australasia. The lineage of the Diamond Sangha is the Japanese Sanbo Kyodan, or 'Order of the Three Treasures', an independent sect founded early last century, with roots in the Soto school, but incorporating Rinzai elements, such as koan study. Basic Concepts of Tibetan Buddhism BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO BASIC CONCEPTS OF "TIBETAN" BUDDHISM Page 4 THE QUESTION OF BON AND INDIGENOUS BELIEFS When Buddhism was introduced into Tibet in the seventh century under King Songtsen Gampo, it was apparently centered in the royal court and did not, at first, put down deep roots. Almost a century passed until it found favor again under King Trisong Detsen, who with the aid of Padmasambhava strengthened its position.

But even after that "first diffusion," the new religion lost ground, and it was not until the "second diffusion" of Buddhism in the ninth and tenth centuries that it became firmly and finally established as the majority religion of Tibet. While this basic outline is not disputed, scholars have disagreed about precisely what it was that Buddhism replaced. Certainly, indigenous religious beliefs and practices dominated Tibet before even the first introduction of Buddhism in the seventh century, and during the subsequent stages of its history there. But with what did Buddhism struggle during that period between the "first" and "second" diffusions? And what were the influences that led Tibetan Buddhism to diverge so markedly from Indian Buddhism that later observers attached to it a new name -- Lamaism -- as to a separate, distinct cult? The great Tibetologist, Giuseppe Tucci, called Tibet's indigenous religious beliefs and practices "the folk religion," for which R.A. Stein adopted the telling designation, "the nameless religion." Just as various Middle-Eastern and European "pagan" beliefs, deities, customs and practices were absorbed into Christianity, so in Tibet many traces of the folk religion still exist, interwoven into Buddhist practices.

But besides those popular beliefs, with their local cults and magical rites, another belief system either pre-dated Buddhism in Tibet or co-existed with it, and the relation of those two has been the subject of research and controversy. That other religion is Bon. Giuseppe Tucci, David Snellgrove, and other scholars have worked to reconstruct the theology and iconography of early Bon, and have researched the question of Bon's origins, its history, and the extent of its relation to Buddhism. Tucci and other scholars believe that Bon preceded the introduction of Buddhism into Tibet. They identify divination and exorcism as central elements of the indigenous folk religion but also of Bon, and believe that both the folk religion and the more structured Bon contributed to the undeniably shamanistic aspect of Tibetan religious practice and customs. In this view, Bon brought a multiplicity of gods, demons, and spirits of nature into the Tibetan Buddhist pantheon, where they joined the gods absorbed from Indian tantrism. Tucci attributed Bon's formal doctrinal structure to a later borrowing from Buddhism.

According to the standard history, Bon vied with Buddhism for dominance during the early centuries after the introduction of the new religion, and during the period between the first and second diffusions. In any case, Buddhism prevailed, but Bon, or some form of it, has survived in parts of Tibet as well as in remote Himalayan areas, such as Dolpo in northwestern Nepal, and there has recently been a Bon revival in the West. According to this line of thought, the Bon that has survived was so heavily influenced and infused with later adaptations and borrowings from Buddhism that its original form can no longer be definitively distinguished from what is now the majority religion. Yet Buddhism was also heavily influenced by Bon: both shared traditions of magic and exorcism, and both were influenced by the still potent "folk religion." (Tucci considers that Bon was also influenced by Persian Zoroastrianism and by Shaivism, the cult of Shiva, which reached Tibet from the states on the western edge of the Himalayas.) David Snellgrove, in contradiction, argues that Bon is not the old indigenous religion of Tibet.

He agrees with the claim of present-day Bonpos (adherents of Bon) that their religion was, from the beginning, a form of Buddhism, however heterodox. Snellgrove maintains that before the famous introduction of Buddhism to Tibet in the seventh century under royal sponsorship, forms of Buddhism that had reached Central Asia were actually familiar to some Tibetans, and that Bon developed in Western or Central Asia earlier than its arrival, as traditionally understood, in Tibet. He points out that the Bonpos, like the orthodox sects, believe in an enlightened being, Shen-rab, analogous to Buddha, and that Shen-rab, like Shakyamuni, had previous incarnations and appears in various manifestations; he maintains, moreover, that the Bonpos also have a fully developed theology and a set of tantras that he finds corresponds with Buddhist practice. Snellgrove considers Bon much closer to the Nyingma-pa, known among the recognized orthodox Buddhist sects as the "old" school, than it is to the popular folk religion with its multitude of spirits, magical rites, divination, exorcism, auguries, etc.

He argues that those supernatural aspects of the indigenous cult were accepted perforce by both Bonpos as well as Buddhists, as old, deeply ingrained customs against which it was futile to contend, however irrelevant or alien to their own beliefs. To complicate matters, some Bonpos of the present time identify Bon as the religion that prevailed in Tibet prior to the introduction of Buddhism, a position that contradicts those who argue that Bon is merely another form of Buddhism, having developed at about the same time as Buddhism reached Tibet, if not somewhat earlier. And while Bonpos consider their religion as a form of Buddhism, present-day Tibetan Buddhists regard Bon as a distinct, different religion, not as a heterodox form of Buddhism.

In light of these contending, disparate views about the origin, history, and nature of Bon, and its disputed relation to Buddhism, Per Kvaerne has thus defined the three main theories: Bon was the pre-Buddhist religion of Tibet, its central figure a king with sacred powers; Bon was a form of Buddhism that developed in western Tibet at least as early as the period in which Buddhism was introduced into Tibet, and was similar in many respects to orthodox Buddhism; Bon, so-called, was not a religion in its own right, but the sum of all the indigenous beliefs, cults of local gods, popular rites, etc., that were once prevalent across Tibet. Whatever the true origin, history, and nature of Bon, Tibetan Buddhist monastic orders are broadly tolerant of the old practices, some of which have almost no recognizable affinity with Buddhist belief. These native elements, whether they derive from Bon or from a folk religion, were strongly concerned with defence against hostile or ambivalent powers, ensuring that the dead do no harm to the living. Many of the rites and practices meant to defeat such hostile powers have survived not only in the folk religion, but were even, in Buddhist guise, absorbed into orthodox Buddhist ritual.

The people of the Tibetan cultural world are profoundly, devoutly Buddhist, yet the ancient traditions of folk religion not only remain vital, but have left their indelible stamp on Tibetan Buddhism, contributing to its distinctive nature. Basically, Tibetan Buddhism is the intersection of Mahayana and of Vajrayana Buddhism, with its component of Indian Tantrism, along with traditional, pre-Buddhist beliefs, whether Bon or not. And it is clear that in Tibet, rather than opposing the folk tradition, Buddhism accepted and absorbed it -- and in so doing, allowed its borders to stretch. Buddhism has never concerned itself with extirpating heresy, and has no concept of excommunication.

Question: Lamaism is which country’s form of Buddhism?
Answer: Tibet