Technique of Tibetan monks Bon Po. Bon religion. Comparison of Bon and Tibetan Buddhism Arrow down Arrow up

This evening I was asked to speak about the Bon tradition and its relationship with Buddhism. When His Holiness the Dalai Lama talks about Tibetan traditions, he often refers to the five traditions of Tibet: Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakya, Gelug and Bon. From the point of view of His Holiness, Bon is on a par with the directions of Tibetan Buddhism. The Dalai Lama is very broad-minded. Not everyone would agree with such a statement. Many Buddhist teachers had and still have very strange ideas about Bon. From the point of view of Western psychology, when people diligently try to emphasize the merits of their personality, without yet understanding things at a deep level, the shadow side is projected onto the enemy. “We are good guys on the right, clean path, and they are devils.” Unfortunately, in the history of Tibet, the Bon people have been a traditional object of negative projection. Next we will look at the historical reasons for this attitude. And, of course, all this must be understood in the context of Tibetan political history.

Indeed, Bon enjoys a very bad reputation in Tibet itself. Westerners are often attracted to conflict, as if what has a bad image is more interesting. Other traditions are too boring, without flaws. Another strange idea is to think that Bon is more exotic than Tibetan Buddhism. Some Westerners think that in bon they can find magic, like Lobsang Rampa, who wrote that to open the third eye, they drill a hole in the forehead. All these points of view are wrong. We need to strive for a more balanced view and look at bon with respect, as His Holiness does. It is important to understand Tibetan history to see how negative attitudes toward Bon developed and to understand how the Bon tradition's approach to spiritual development relates to Tibetan Buddhism.

Origins of the bond: Shenrab Miwo Arrow down Arrow up

According to the Bon tradition itself, it was founded by Shenrab Miwo thirty thousand years ago. Thus, we are talking about the Stone Age. I don't think that means he was a caveman, however. Calling a tradition ancient is a common way of showing respect. In any case, it is impossible to establish the exact dates of Miwo Shenrab's life. He lived in Omolungringa, and the description of this place sounds like a mixture of ideas about Shambhala, Mount Meru and Mount Kailash. This is a description of a perfect spiritual land. It is said that Omolungring was part of a larger area - Taziga. The word "Tazigh" can be found in Persian and Arabic, where it refers to Persia or Arabia, and in other contexts, a nomadic tribe. According to the description in the Bon tradition, Tazig was located to the west of the kingdom of Shang Shung, located in Western Tibet.

This could mean that Bon came from Central Asia and probably from a region with Iranian culture. It is possible that Shenrab Miwo lived in the region of ancient Iranian culture and then came to Shang Shung. According to some sources, he arrived in Shang Shung sometime between the 11th and 7th centuries BC. This is also quite a long time ago and, again, it is impossible to prove this or that point of view. It is clear that by the time the Yarlung dynasty was founded in Central Tibet (127th century BC), some kind of local tradition already existed. But we don’t even know what it was called at that time.

Connections with Iranian culture Arrow down Arrow up

The connection to Iranian culture is absolutely amazing. There have been many theories on this topic. These relationships should be considered not only from the point of view of Bon, but also from the position of Buddhism. There is a huge amount of material common to Bon and Buddhism. At the same time, the Bonpos claim that the Buddhists received these materials from them, and the Buddhists claim that the Bonpos borrowed them from the Buddhists. Each side claims to be the source. Getting to the truth is incredibly difficult. How can we know this?

Buddhism came from India to Afghanistan very early. In fact, it is believed that two of the Buddha's own disciples were from Afghanistan who returned and brought Buddhism there. In the 1st and 2nd centuries BC, Buddhism reached Iran and Central Asia. Buddhism existed there. Bon argues that ideas very similar to the teachings of the Buddha came to Western Tibet from Persia much earlier than from India, and it is possible that their source was a mixture of Buddhism and local Iranian cultures present in the region. The area that would be logical to call the source of Iranian-Buddhist views is Khotan.

Khotan Arrow down Arrow up

Khotan is located north of Western Tibet. As you know, Tibet is on a very high plateau with many mountains. If you move further north, towards the end of this plateau, there is another mountain range - it descends below sea level and into the desert in eastern Turkestan. Today it is the Chinese province of Xinjiang. Khotan was located at the foot of these mountains, where they turned into the desert. This region of Iranian culture - people from Iran lived here - a major center of Buddhism and trade had a huge cultural influence on Tibet, although the Tibetans themselves downplay the significance of this influence and say that everything came to them from India and China.

Even Tibetan writing is derived from the Khotanese alphabet. Emperor of Tibet Songtsen Gampo sent a minister to Khotan to obtain a writing system for the Tibetan language. The trade route to Khotan ran through Kashmir, and it so happened that the great teacher from Khotan, whom they hoped to meet, ended up there. They received the writing system of Kashmir from him and therefore history narrates that Tibetan writing came from Kashmir. If we analyze the writing system, we will see that it actually came from Khotan. Of course, the Khotanese writing itself came from India. The point is that Tibet had many cultural ties with Khotan.

We can note that the Bonts' account is very plausible. It is quite possible that the Bon came from Khotan. Following this point of view, we can argue that Buddhism came to Tibet from two directions: from Khotan or Iranian cultures to Western Tibet, and then, later, from India. In the first case, it could appear in the form of an early bond. It is possible that Buddhism, and especially Dzogchen, came from both regions and each borrowed this tradition from the other. This is probably closer to the truth.

Description of the universe and posthumous existence Arrow down Arrow up

One of the elements of Bon that comes from Iranian culture is a description of how the universe developed. In Buddhism there are Abhidharma teachings about Mount Meru and so on, but this is not the only explanation for the origin of the world. There is also an explanation of Kalachakra that is slightly different. Bon texts, like Buddhist ones, provide an explanation of abhidharma, but in addition one can find in them their own, special explanation, which is partly similar to the Iranian one. For example, it mentions the opposition between light and darkness. Some Russian scientists saw a commonality in the Tibetan and ancient Persian names of various deities and other iconographic figures. They refer specifically to the connection with Iranian culture.

A feature of early Bon is increased attention to life after death, in particular to the intermediate state. When they died, the kings went to the afterlife. They had to be equipped for this journey, so animal sacrifices were made, and perhaps even human sacrifices, although the latter is controversial. Of course, they buried paintings, food and everything that could be useful on the posthumous journey.

It is interesting to note that Tibetan Buddhism borrowed its emphasis on the intermediate state. In Indian Buddhism there is mention of the bardo, but very little attention is paid to it, whereas in Tibetan Buddhism there are many rituals related to the bardo. We can find that the importance of preparing for departure to another world is emphasized in ancient Persian culture. The only feature of the early Bon that we can speak with confidence is the belief in life after death: this is indicated by the tradition of funeral rituals and objects discovered in burials. Everything else is nothing more than speculation. We have the opportunity to explore the tombs of ancient kings.

Shang Shung's influence reached the Yarlung region in Central Tibet and lasted from very early times until the founding of the first Tibetan empire by Songtsen Gampo. He made alliances with different countries, marrying local princesses. It is well known that he took princesses from China and Nepal as wives. However, he also married a princess from Shang Shung. Consequently, the first Tibetan emperor was influenced by each of these cultures.

During this early period, Buddhist teachings only partially reached Tibet, and their influence was actually very small. However, the emperor built Buddhist temples at various “power points”. It was believed that Tibet looks like a demoness lying on her back, and erecting temples on her acupuncture points would help subdue the unbridled forces. Looking at the world from the point of view of acupuncture points, subduing demons and so on is very Chinese. This was the form of Buddhism in Tibet at that time. It is important that Emperor Songtsen Gampo, despite accepting Buddhism, preserved the Bon funeral rituals that were practiced in Yarlung before him. Undoubtedly, this tradition was supported by his wife, the princess of Shang-Shung. Thus, funeral rituals with sacrifices and the like continued into this early Buddhist period.

Expulsion of the Bonians Arrow down Arrow up

Around 760, Emperor Tri Songdetsen invited Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambhava) from India. They built the first monastery - Samye, marking the beginning of the monastic tradition. There was also a translation bureau in Samye, where texts were translated not only from the languages ​​of India and Chinese, but also from Shang Shung, in which, apparently, writing had already appeared by this time. There are two Tibetan writing systems. Emperor Songtsen Gampo received the printing system from Khotan. According to the research of some great scholars such as Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche, there was an earlier writing system in Shang Shung, which served as the basis for the handwritten form of the Tibetan language. In Samye, Bon texts, presumably about funeral rituals, were translated from the Shang Shun language into Tibetan.

The famous debates between Indian and Chinese Buddhists took place in Samye, then a religious council was founded, and in 779 Buddhism was proclaimed the state religion of Tibet. Undoubtedly, this decision was largely political. Soon after this, in 784, persecution of the Bon faction began. This is where the subsequent enmity begins, so it is important to dwell on this event in more detail. What actually happened?

At the imperial court there was a pro-Chinese, pro-Indian and ultra-conservative, xenophobic faction of local residents. Emperor Tri Songdetsen's father married a Chinese queen, who had great influence on him, as a result of which his father took a pro-Chinese position on many issues. The conservative faction organized the father's murder. I think this is one of the reasons why the Chinese lost the debate. They wouldn't have won anyway: the Chinese had no tradition of debating, and they were up against the best debater from India. The debaters did not speak the same language, so what language was the debate conducted in? They were transferred. Of course, all this was a political move, the purpose of which was to get rid of the Chinese faction. Because of the Chinese, the emperor's father was killed. Now, in addition to this, the king also wanted to get rid of the xenophobic faction. The Indian faction posed the least threat to the emperor's political power, so the conservative political faction was sent into exile. These were Bons.

Some people's claims that the Bon performed funeral rituals at the imperial court are confusing. It was not these Bonians who were sent into exile. Conservative ministers and politicians who were also Bonans were expelled. Interestingly, burial and sacrifice rituals continued at court even after their expulsion. To celebrate the signing of a treaty with China in 821, a column was erected that included images of funeral ceremonies. Animals were sacrificed. Although the Bon people no longer performed imperial funeral rituals, they were not completely without influence. I think it is extremely important to understand that the enmity between Buddhists and Bons was politically motivated, it was not related to religion and rituals.

The conservative faction was expelled to two regions. One is Yunnan, now a territory of southwestern China north of Burma. The other, Gilgit, was in northwestern Pakistan, very close to where Guru Rinpoche was born. It can be assumed that the Bon people may have received some of the Dzogchen teachings from this area, where Guru Rinpoche himself received them, and later brought them back to Tibet, independently of Guru Rinpoche. There are many possible explanations for the fact that Bon has a Dzogchen tradition, independent of the Buddhist tradition originating from Guru Rinpoche. It's not just a matter of someone saying so and therefore it being so. We must view this issue in historical context.

Secret texts in Bon Arrow down Arrow up

Many Zhang Shung texts were hidden during the expulsion of the Bon people - hidden in the masonry of the walls of the Samye Monastery by a great master named Drenpa Namkha. At the same time, Guru Rinpoche also hid the texts: he felt that the time had not yet come, people were not wise enough to understand them. He only hid the texts about Dzogchen. The Bon people hid all Bon teachings, including Dzogchen. So, although the Bon and Nyingma simultaneously hid the texts, the reasons for this - like the texts themselves - differed.

The next emperor of Tibet, Relpachen, was a fanatic. He decreed that each monk should be supported by seven families. Many taxes were introduced to support the monasteries. The monks from the religious council had enormous political influence. His successor, Langdarma, is demonized because he persecuted the religious council and withheld tax funds from the monasteries. He dissolved the monasteries, but did not get rid of the libraries. We know this because when Atisha came to Tibet in the 11th century, he noted the splendor of the local libraries. Langdarma simply suspended the monastic institutions because they were gaining more and more political power. So during his reign the monasteries were abandoned.

The Bon texts hidden in Samye were first discovered in 913. Shepherds entered the monastery, and when they leaned against the wall, it collapsed, and the texts hidden in it appeared to the eyes of the shepherds. A pile of Bon texts was also discovered about a century later by a great Bon master named Shenchen Luga. He ordered them in 1017. Basically, these texts had nothing to do with Dzogchen, but contained teachings that we would call common to Tibetan Buddhism. Only after this did the Nyingma begin to find texts hidden in Samye and other monasteries. Some masters discovered both Bon and Nyingma texts, often in the same place. The Nyingma texts mostly contained Dzogchen teachings. Historical data about the later stage of Bon development is more accurate than about the early stage - before the expulsion of the Bon people and the hiding of the texts.

Comparison of Bon and Tibetan Buddhism Arrow down Arrow up

We found that Bon has a lot in common with the traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. This is why His Holiness calls Bon one of the five traditions. The Bonpos won't like it, but we can easily call them another form of Tibetan Buddhism. It all depends on what we mean by “Buddhist tradition.” The terminology is mostly the same. Bon talks about enlightenment and how to achieve it, about Buddhas and so on. Some terms and deity names vary, but the underlying teachings are the same. There are also a few minor differences, such as walking around religious sites counter-clockwise rather than clockwise. Ceremonial headdresses also differ. The robes of bon monks are the same, except for the shirt: it is blue, not yellow or red.

In Bon, as in schools of Tibetan Buddhism, debates are held. The tradition of debate goes back a long way, so we still wonder who founded it. It was definitely present in Indian monasteries long before it appeared in Tibet. However, it may have entered the Tibetan Buddhist tradition through Bon. On the other hand, it is not at all necessary that one tradition adopted it from another.

Interestingly, the Bonpo debate tradition is very close to the Gelug tradition. Many Bon monks study debate in Gelug monasteries and even receive various degrees of geshe rank. This suggests that although Bon has a Dzogchen tradition, Bon's Madhyamaka interpretation is closer to the Gelug version than the Nyingma version. Otherwise, they would not be able to take part in the Gelug debates. The similarities between Bon and Tibetan Buddhism are not exclusively related to the Nyingma school. Bon is not like the Nyingma with other names and titles. Everything is much more complicated.

Bon also pays great attention to various traditional Indian sciences, which Bon residents study much more deeply than in Buddhist monasteries: medicine, astrology, poetry, and the like. In Buddhist monasteries, these subjects are taught more in Amdo (Eastern Tibet) than in Central Tibet.

In both Bon and Tibetan Buddhism, there are monasteries and monastic vows. It is interesting that, although many of the vows in both traditions are similar, there are certain vows in Bon that would be more logical to expect from Buddhist monasteries, where this is not the case. For example, Bon people have a vow of vegetarianism, but Buddhists do not. Moral rules in Bon are somewhat stricter than in Buddhism.

Bon has a tulku system, the same as in Buddhist monasteries. They also have geshes. They have Prajnaparamita, Madhyamaka, Abhidharma and all other branches of Buddhist texts. Some terms and explanations differ slightly, but no more significantly than between different traditions of Buddhism. For example, Bon has its own version of the creation of the world, but Kalachakra also has a special point of view on this matter. This is the general picture. Bon is not that unusual.

Tibetan culture and essential teachings Arrow down Arrow up

I believe it is very important to try to discover those aspects of Buddhism borrowed from Bon that reflect the national Tibetan approach, so that we can have a clearer idea of ​​what Tibetan culture is and what essential Buddhism is. It is also important to be able to distinguish cultural aspects from the essential Bon teachings.

All Tibetan traditions have adopted the four-step treatment. If a person complains of illness, the first thing they do is throw “mo”, and this is a type of fortune telling. This came from the boom. In ancient times, fortune telling was not carried out with the help of a bone, as is done now: a rope with various knots was used for this. Mo indicates whether the illness is caused by harmful spirits and, if so, what rituals need to be performed to appease them. Secondly, astrology is used to determine the best time to perform rituals. Astrology is based on the Chinese system of elements - earth, water, fire, metal and wood. Then, thirdly, rituals are performed to get rid of harmful influences from outside. And finally, fourthly, the person takes the medicine.

The theories behind the rituals differ slightly between Buddhism and Bon. From a Buddhist point of view, we work with karma and consider the external situation as a reflection of karma. Ritual, or puja, helps to activate positive karmic potentials. Bon pays equal attention to the harmonization of external forces and the internal karmic situation.

In both cases, these healing pujas use tormas, which are essentially a relic of ancient sacrificial rituals. Tormas are made from barley flour in the shape of small animals and are used as scapegoats, which no doubt came from the Bon. They are given to harmful spirits: “Accept this and leave the sick person alone.”

The topic of sacrifice is very interesting. The Boners say: “We didn’t do this. This is an earlier Tibetan tradition.” Buddhists say: “These are bons. We didn’t practice this.” Obviously everyone denies that they made sacrifices, but undoubtedly they did. Milarepa mentions that sacrifices were performed in his time. Even as recently as 1974, when His Holiness the Dalai Lama first gave the Kalachakra empowerment in Bodh Gaya, he told people from the border regions of Tibet quite harshly to stop the practice of animal sacrifice. This tradition existed for a very long time.

Both Bon and Buddhist rituals associated with the bardo use images of various deities. This goes back to Iranian-Bon funeral rituals, when various objects were buried along with the deceased person.

Another borrowing from Tibetan Buddhism from Bon is the “net for harmonizing space”: a spider-like net of multi-colored threads symbolizing the five elements. It is based on the idea that it is necessary to harmonize external elements before working with internal karmic elements. The net is made in accordance with the result of the fortune telling and hung outside. Sometimes these networks are called "spirit catchers", but this is not exactly what they really are. They are intended to harmonize the elements, this is a request to the spirits to leave people alone. Very Tibetan.

The concept of “life spirit” ( bla), which exists in both Bon and Buddhism, originated from the Central Asian Turkic idea of kut- the spirit of the mountain. The one who ruled the area around the sacred mountain was the khan - the ruler of the Turks, and later the Mongols. The ruler embodied kut, the spirit of life. He had charisma and he could rule.

The spirit of life can be stolen by harmful creatures. In all traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, pujas are performed to capture and restore the life spirit stolen by harmful spirits. An obligatory part of the pujas is ransom: here is the torma, give me back my spirit of life. How do you know if your life spirit has been stolen? When a person cannot cope with life's circumstances, in the West we call it a nervous breakdown or mental trauma. One whose spirit has been stolen cannot organize his life. This spirit rules our lives just like the khan rules the country. The Tibetan word "la", "life spirit", is part of the word "lama". A lama is someone who truly has a life spirit. "La" is also used in certain contexts to translate the term "white bodhicitta". It is a very strong substance, or essence, within the body.

There is also a spirit of prosperity. If he is strong, everything will turn out well and we will prosper. In Tibetan it is "yang" ( g.yang), and in Chinese "yang" means "sheep". On Losar (Tibetan New Year), people eat sheep's head and make tsampa into a sheep's head fried with barley grains. All this is connected with the spirit of prosperity. Obviously, this tradition came from ancient Bon rituals.

Prayer flags also came from the boom. They are painted in the colors of the five elements and hung with the aim of harmonizing the external elements, so that everything around comes into balance, and we can do inner work. Many prayer flags depict the wind horse (lungta, rlung-rta), which is considered the horse of luck. Postal service first appeared in China, and postmen rode horses. They could stop at certain places to change horses. These post horses were called wind horses: these are the same Chinese words. The idea that luck will ride on a horse like a postman with goods, letters and money is very much in the spirit of the Tibetans and Chinese.

Certain aspects of the Bon healing system were carried over into Buddhism, such as sprinkling with blessed water using a feather. During all Buddhist initiation rituals, a peacock feather is placed in the vase. Burning juniper branches (in Tibetan " sang") is held on the top of the mountains to greet those approaching. This ritual is performed along the road when His Holiness the Dalai Lama returns to Dharamsala. This is considered an offering to the local spirits.

The importance of oracles in Tibetan Buddhism is often mistakenly considered a legacy of shamanism, but oracles and shamans are not the same thing. An oracle is a spirit that speaks through a medium. It serves as a "channel". Shamans living in Siberia, Turkey, Africa and so on are people who enter a trance and find themselves in various dimensions, where they talk with many spirits, usually with the spirits of their ancestors. The spirits give them answers to various questions. When shamans come out of trance, they convey a message from their ancestors. Unlike shamans, the medium has absolutely no memory of what the oracle spoke through him or her. Oracles began to be considered protectors. Oracle Nechung is also a protector named Nechung. The trace of shamanism, however, was reflected in the division of the world into above-ground, above-ground and underground, which prevailed in Bon sources and then passed into Buddhism.

The Buddha gave teachings on completely different topics. Wherever Buddhism spread in Asia, people identified elements in it that were close to their culture. In Indian Buddhism, pure lands are mentioned but not given special attention. The Chinese, who adhered to Taoist ideas about the transition to the Western Land of Immortals, considered the doctrine of pure lands very important and significantly developed it. This is how we got “pure land Buddhism.” This is one of the most significant schools of Chinese Buddhism. Similarly, within Indian Buddhism we find teachings about protectors, various spirits, puja offerings and the like, and the Tibetans especially developed these elements because they had similar ideas in their culture.

Conclusion Arrow down Arrow up

I think it is very important to treat the Bon tradition with great respect. There are many things in Bon and Tibetan culture that do not quite coincide with Tibetan Buddhism. Likewise, some elements of Buddhist teachings can be found in Bon. Disputes about who adopted what from whom are pointless. Buddhism and Bon were in contact, and there is no reason why they could not influence each other.

It is important to understand that the Bonians are considered villains, on the one hand, for political reasons, due to their hyper-conservatism in the 8th century. The other side is psychological: people, emphasizing their merits, tend to project their negative qualities onto others. This phenomenon can be found particularly in fundamentalist Buddhist traditions, with their emphasis on guru devotion and the great importance of protectors. The latter receive a lot of attention. The texts warn that terrible things will happen to those who are against the Dharma or a particular tradition. “Destroy our enemies, trample them, tear out their eyes,” and the like. I believe it would be correct to follow the example of the Dalai Lama, who talks about the five Tibetan traditions. Each of them teaches the authentic path to enlightenment. They have a lot in common, they all talk about achieving the same goal - enlightenment.

Among the common features, some can be attributed to Tibetan culture, others are more Buddhist. What we want to follow is up to us. If we want to embrace certain aspects of Tibetan culture, great, why not? However, this is not necessary. By being able to distinguish the Tibetan elements from essential Buddhism, we can at least understand what exactly we are following. In Buddhism you cannot be a purist. Even Indian Buddhism conformed to Indian society. We cannot separate Buddhism from the society in which it was spread, but we can clarify for ourselves what is cultural heritage and what is the four noble truths, the path to enlightenment, bodhichitta and so on.

Lines of the hymn to heaven, earth and light:

Let there be a sapphire in the sky! Let the yellow sun fill the world with its orange-golden light!

May the nights be full

With the pearly shine of the moon! Let a quiet light descend from the stars and planets, and let the rainbow shine with blue fire. Let the ocean rain,

May the earth be eternal

The parent of goodness;

So many beautiful countries.

The Bon religion existed in Tibet long before the birth of Buddha Gautama, and in some remote areas, its traditions are still passed on.

Bon originates in those times when nagas lived on our planet - from the kingdom of the great Serpents, and human life was in constant danger because of the spirits and other powerful natural forces that reigned over Tibet.It is believed that the first Bon teacher, Tonpa Shenrab, came from Heaven to teach people to resist and control these forces.

Therefore, the original symbolism of the ancient tradition of Tibet, the Bon swastika, is twisted in the opposite direction (counterclockwise), which symbolizes opposition to the forces of nature and the inflexibility of the will of the followers.

Here is what the modern Bon teacher Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche tells about the origin of the Bon religion:

"Bon is the indigenous pre-Buddhist religious tradition of Tibet, which is still practiced by many Tibetans in Tibet and India. The founder of the Bon religion in the human world isLord Tonna Shenrab Miwoche.

According to traditional biography, inprevious era Shenrab bore the name Salvaand studied Bon doctrines with his two brothers, Dagna and Shepa, in the Sidpa Yesang heaven under the guidance of the Bon sage Bumtri Logi Kesan. After completing their studies, all three brothers went to the God of Compassion Shenlhe Okar with a question about how they could alleviate the suffering of living beings.

Shenlha Okar advised them to take on the role of mentors of humanity during the next three world eras.Dagpataught people in the past era,Salvaincarnated in the form of Tonpa Shenrab Miwoche and is the teacher and mentor of humanity in the present period, and, finally, the youngest brother,Shepa, will appear as a teacher in the next world era.

Tonpa Shenrab descended from the celestial spheres and appeared in bodily form at the foot of Mount Meru along with his closest disciples - Malo and Yulo. He then took birth in the body of a prince, the son of King Gyal Tokar and Princess Zangi Ringum. This happened in a radiant garden full of wonderful flowers, in a palace located south of Mount Yungdrung Gutseg, at dawn on the eighth day of the first month of the first year of the male wood mouse (1857 BC). He married young and had several children. At the age of thirty-one, he renounced his worldly life and began the practice of strict asceticism and training in Bon doctrine. Throughout Shenrab's life, his efforts to spread the teachings of Bon were hindered by a demon named Khyabpa Lagring, who tried in every possible way to interfere with his work. Eventually he was converted to the path of truth and became a disciple of Shenrab. One day, Khyabpa stole Shenrab's horses, and Shenrab pursued him through the entire Zhang Zhong kingdom to southern Tibet. Having overcome Mount Kongpo, Shenrab entered Tibet.

This was Shenrab's first visit to Tibet. At that time, Tibetans practiced ritual sacrifices. Shenrab pacified the local demons and began instructing people to perform rituals using special dough figurines in the shape of sacrificial animals for offerings, and thanks to this, the Tibetans abandoned the sacrifice of real animals. In general, Shenrab found that the country was not yet ready to receive the five Paths of "fruit" related to the highest Bon teachings, so he began to teach the Tibetans the four Paths of "cause". These practices focus on strengthening the connection with guardian spirits and the natural environment, exorcising demons and eliminating various negative factors. He also taught Tibetans purification practices through burning incense and sprinkling water, and introduced prayer flags used to promote positive energy and happiness. Before leaving Tibet, Shenrab prophetically declared that all his teachings would flourish in Tibet when the time was right. Tonpa Shenrab died at the age of eighty-two."

Old Bon (bon rnying-ma)

or Yungdrung Bon

(g"yund-drung bon) as such consists of the teachings and practices attributed to Shenrab Miwoche himself, who appears as the Teacher or source of revelation (ston-pa), and in particular itmeans the highest teachings of Sutra, Tantra and Dzogchen. He revealed these teachings to his followers at Olmo Lungring on earth and in other parts of the celestial sphere in his previous incarnation as Chimed Tsungphud ("Chi-med gtsug-phud"). These teachings are believed to have been written down by Tonpa Shenrab during his lifetime or in the subsequent period, were later brought from Olmo Lungring in the Tajik language 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 a separate language, distinct from Tibetan, and. , apparently, was akin to the Western Himalayan Tibeto-Burman dialect of Kinauri. Thus, it was not an artificially created language invented by the Bon followers in order to have an ancient source language corresponding to the Indian Sanskrit of Buddhist manuscripts.

Map of SHAMBALA found in the Kurtyum-Bon monastery

The word bon itself comes from yun-drun-gi-bon, which means " cast magic spells", or "repeat secret formulas". Reciting mystical formulas was one of the main distinguishing features of bon, and the same can be said of later religion. One of the names for Bon magicians was “Ah-Mes” (“Thunderous, ancient!”), but over time these two syllables merged into one word .

" Oh" is a mystical syllable that is well known in the Indian tantric tradition. This sound, in addition, is part of the universal mystical syllable Aum. "Ancient" means an immortal entity and is analogous to the Indian Puranas. Therefore, it is not at all by chance that in the Bon religion the spirit of the mountains also bears the name Ah-Mes.

There is an assumption that the words “Bon” and “Bot” (the name of Tibet, Bot, Bhota) come from the same source. The name "Tibet" in the Tibetan language is "Bod" (pronounced pyo, meaning "upper part of the land of snow", which geographically includes the provinces of U and Tsang. Thus, the name To-Pyo (d) is the region now known as Central Tibet , - in the mouths of Europeans from Darjeeling began to sound like Tibet.

The Sanskrit equivalent of Bod is Bhota, the name by which Tibet has always been known in India. It is not surprising that this religion has been present in Tibet in one form or another throughout its history.

Bon-po Charugon Monastery

It is believed that starting from the reign of the second king of Tibet, Mitri Tsangpo, some Bonpo texts, especially the Father Tantras (pha rgyud), were brought from the Zhangzhung to Central Tibet and translated into the Tibetan language. Thus, the Bonpos claim that the Tibetans at that time acquired a script based on the sMaryig alphabet used in Zhang-zhung, which was therefore the predecessor of the dbus-med alphabet often used today for writing Tibetan manuscripts, especially among the Bonpos. The Bonpos suffered two successive cycles of persecution, the first during the reign of the eighth king of Tibet, Drigum Tsangpo, and then the second during the reign of the great Buddhist king of Tibet, Trisong Detsan in the eighth century AD. According to tradition, in both cases, the persecuted Bonpo sages hid their books in various places in Tibet and surrounding areas such as Bhutan. These caches began to be rediscovered starting in the tenth century. Therefore they are known as newly discovered texts or "hidden treasures" (gter-ma). Some other texts were never hidden, but remained in circulation and were transmitted in an unbroken line from the eighth century onwards. These texts are known as snyan-rgyud, literally "oral tradition", even though they existed as written texts from an early period. One example of such an “oral tradition” is the Zhang-zhung snyan-rgyud, which in the eighth century the master Tapiritsa allowed his disciple Gyerpungpa to write down in the form of condensed secret oral instructions (man-ngag, Sanskrit upadesha). Sometimes the texts were dictated during ecstatic visions or altered states of consciousness by some ancient sages or deities to lamas who lived in later centuries. One such example is the famous biography of Tonpa Sherab, known as Zi-brjid, dictated by Lodan Nyingpo (bLo-ldan snying-po, born 1360) by mountain spirits. This classification is rather similar to the Nyingmapa classification of their tests for bka"-ma and gter-ma. This variety of Old Bon flourished in Western and Central Tibet down to the present day.

The Bon religion is often incorrectly described as a combination of shamanistic beliefs, fetishism and demonology.

The Bon priest was a magician and necromancer whose practice included chanting magic spells.

He performed dances incomprehensible to the uninitiated and fearlessly entered into battles with invisible demons that surrounded him.

In fact, according to Bonpo tradition, some of these practices, such as invoking the gods (lha gsol-ba) and rituals of exorcising evil spirits (sel-ba), were taught by Tonpa Sherab himself in prehistoric times, during his short stay in Kongpo, in Southeastern Tibet. Similar rituals were later included in the classification of Bon teachings and practices known as the nine successive paths or vehicles (theg-pa rim dgu). These shamanic varieties of practices are today known as the "Causal Paths of Bon" (rgyu"i theg-pa). The teachings and practices contained in the Causal Paths are considered dualistic in their philosophical views, that is, the gods (lha), representing the forces of light and order, and called Ye, and the demons (bdud), representing the forces of darkness and chaos, called Ngam, have an independent existence, and the practitioner is mainly concerned with performing rituals that call upon the positive energies of the gods and ward off the negative influences of demons and evil spirits (gdon). A study of the ritual texts discussed shows that these texts are mainly of non-Indian origin.

The worldview of the Bon people was that any place was inhabited by spirits, especially lakes and mountains, rocks and caves. Spirits were everywhere: some hid deep underground, others soared high in the sky. There were many varieties of these spirits: jigs protected the occupied territory; the tsang were like mischievous gnomes who climbed rocks and lived in caves; the gloomy and terrifying Sabdag lived in the lower world and viciously pursued those who disturbed his peace by digging the earth. Most Bon spirits were hostile to humans and had pronounced features of Dre demons. But there were also spirits that could be appeased or defeated. They turned into benefactors and protectors and were then considered as gods - lha. It is quite natural that an endless struggle unfolded between these two armies - gods and demons; man had to be careful to use the opposition of these forces for his own benefit.

A person could save himself if he correctly directed the power of the gods and knew how to appease the demons. If he was a nomad planning to cross a mountain pass, then for religious purposes he should have built a cone-shaped structure (stupa) of stones and walked around it with reverence, thereby showing respect to the spirit of the mountains. When setting up a camp, he had to sacrifice some kind of domestic animal. Although, according to the Tibetans, there were entire legions of gods and demons, the most powerful of them were the “white god of the sky,” the “black goddess of the earth,” the “red tiger,” and the “fierce dragon.” In the Bon pantheon, female deities outnumber male ones. The cult of the mother goddess was a completely natural product of the primitive social structure of old Tibet, based on matriarchy. Some elements of this influence also survived in the late Bon-cho. This is evidenced, for example, by such characters of the late pantheon as Palden-Lhamo (Tibetan analogue of Indian Kali), Dolma (Tara), as well as various dakinis.

Bon religious events had a very complex structure. They consisted not only of "casting spells", but also included various rituals, dances and sacrifices. And naturally, these events required the presence of special clergy.

To control the forces of nature, Bon priests identify themselves with God. Trance-inducing rituals are used, during which a person receives a mystical experience that allows him to realize and subjugate the world around him, other people, and, first of all, himself. Since confrontation requires enormous energy, sacrifices and blood rituals are used. Many rituals, such as casting spells through a doll, hair or scraps of clothing, are very similar to shamanism or African Voodoo. Largely because of this, the fame of “black magic” developed around Bon. In fact, an adept can with equal success both inflict damage and heal people.

The impact of Buddhism was noticeable only in Central Tibet. The rest of the country, and especially the eastern regions, always remained under the strong influence of Bon. The ideology of Buddhism greatly influenced the nature of the Bon religion, the worldview of the Tibetans and the course of history of the entire country. But there is also no doubt that the ideology of Buddhism itself, penetrating into Tibet, was strongly influenced by the Bon religion.

The old religion of Tibet, even with the advent of Buddhism, was never completely supplanted; at times it resisted viciously, relying on the support of rulers and clergy, which led to tense confrontation between the followers of the new religion (CHos-Pa) and the followers of the old one (Bon-Ra). Still, Bon was forced to transform into Bon-cho in order to survive. Buddhism began to be called Sangye kyi Cho ("Dharma, the Teachings of the Buddha"), as well as Nayu-pai Cho "Inner Dharma", that is, the religion of the Tibetan metropolis). We can try to restore the previous picture and see what the ancient Bon religion was like. Today no one will dispute the idea that the religion of any country is in one way or another connected with the geographical and climatic features of the region.

The Tibetan Bon religion, which has existed for almost 20 millennia, is rightfully considered one of the most ancient and mysterious beliefs on our planet.

The Bon religion arose during a period when, as written in the first book of the Mahabharata by Adiparve, the legendary nagas lived on earth - demigods with a snake body and several human heads. Nagas are described both in ancient Chinese treatises and in the only surviving Bon manuscript, dated to the 6th century AD. (in the middle of the last century it was translated into German), as well as in numerous legends of the peoples living in the southwestern part of Tibet...

The people who were under the rule of the Nagas longed to be freed from their rule. And this happened - man gained independence 18 thousand years ago, when the Teacher, Tonpa Shenrab, descended from the sky to the foot of Mount Meru. He taught the local peoples to worship the White God of the Sky, the Black Goddess of the Earth, the Red Tiger and the Raging Dragon, and also discovered the secrets of how to control the powerful nagas, numerous spirits and the natural forces of nature. The first graphic symbol of the Bon religion was the swastika, twisted in the direction opposite to the clockwise movement (anti-solstice), which personified man’s eternal struggle with the elements and the other world.

By the time the “yellow faith” - Buddhism - came to Asia, the Bon religion became widespread in India, Persia, Southern Siberia, Central

Asia and China. However, the need to create centralized monarchical states led to the fact that Asian rulers began persecuting followers of the traditional faith, intensively propagating Buddhism. In the 7th century BC. under the Tibetan ruler Driguma Tsenpo, Bon monasteries were closed, many manuscripts of the “heretical” religion were destroyed, and its adherents were expelled from Tibet. Until the 11th century AD. It was forbidden to practice Bon under penalty of death. However, this ancient teaching managed to survive, and in 1017, after the discovery of esoteric texts carefully preserved for centuries, the Bon religion again appeared to the world in an updated and systematized form. Tradition attributes the merit in reviving the “faith of the ancestors” to Shenchen Luga.

Teachers and traditions

Shenchen Luga, a descendant of Kongtsa Wangden, one of the sons of Tonpa Shenrab, lived at the turn of the 10th-11th centuries. This great Tertoi (a person who finds precious texts and teachings) is considered a reformer of the Bon religion, who managed to reconcile the supporters of his faith and the followers of Buddhism. Shenchen Luga divided bon into two directions: exoteric, the meaning of which was understandable to wide sections of the people, and esoteric - secret rituals and doctrines, carefully preserved for many millennia and known only to dedicated lamas.

Externally, exoteric bon has much in common with traditional Buddhism. Thus, the life stories of the founder of Bon Tonpa Shenrab are in many ways similar to the story of the founder of Buddhism, Buddha Shakyamuni, set out in Lalitavistara. Just like Buddhism, Bon has a monastic system, similar to the “yellow faith” system, and preaches the doctrine of enlightenment and spiritual purity. And many modern exoteric rituals of the Bon religion are similar to Buddhist ones. However, the esoteric direction of Bon is a complex system based on ancient traditions, set out “in the language of the gods” and first written down by the sages of the Tazig state, which supposedly existed in the southwest of Tibet more than six thousand years ago.

In particular, the secret texts of Bon report that the teaching that existed before the coming of Teacher Shenrab was called “Bon of the Top of the Universe” and came from the depths of human history, originating more than 50 thousand years ago.

When the Teacher, that is, the emanation of the Highest Light, appeared on Earth, the Teaching began to be called “Bon Swastikas”.

True followers of the Bon religion believe that the world consists of three spheres of the universe: white - the heavenly region of the gods, red - the earthly region of people and blue - the lower region of water spirits. Through these spheres grows a mystical tree, through which the inhabitants of different worlds communicate with each other.

The heavenly and lower worlds of the Bonians are filled with many powerful entities that have a constant influence on the world of people.

The main ones among them are white spirits - lha, protectors of humanity. The earthly world is inhabited by fierce tsang - red men - the vengeful spirits of priests dissatisfied with their death. But the most ruthless enemies of people are evil black men - dood demons. It is to pacify these hostile forces that most of the secret rituals of the Bon religion are aimed.

Rulers in pursuit of the secrets of bon

Fragmentary, sometimes semi-mythical information about the unprecedented power of the Bon lamas, legends that the first of them are the rulers of the mysterious state of Agharti, securely hidden in the high mountain caves of the Himalayas, became the reason that many powerful people were looking for ways to establish close contacts with the priests of the Bon religion .

Thus, an ardent follower of Buddhism, the Indian king Ashoka from the Mauryan dynasty, who lived in the 3rd century BC, went to war against the neighboring kingdom of Kalinga, whose inhabitants professed Bon.

However, the conqueror suffered a crushing defeat. And the reason for this was the secret knowledge that the Bon lamas possessed. After this, Ashoka, as the chronicles tell, devoted the rest of his life to the study of the sacred knowledge of Bon, and shortly before his death he created the Society of Nine Unknowns, which supposedly exists today.

Chinese chronicles of the 15th century preserved a mention of how the ambassadors of the Emperor of the Celestial Empire in 1403 visited the Sangri Monastery, the center of philosophical research of the Bon religion, after which they brought a number of ancient and very valuable scrolls as a gift to their ruler.

Russia was also interested in the world's oldest religion. In 1902, on the personal instructions of Emperor Nicholas II, a secret reconnaissance expedition went to Tibet, the official purpose of which was to fight England for establishing influence in this Asian region. According to the memoirs of one of the participants in the campaign, Dambo Ulyanov, recorded for the purpose of conspiracy in the Kalmyk language, Russian intelligence officers made several unsuccessful attempts in Lhasa to make contact with the Bon lamas. However, soon after this, two members of the expedition died suddenly from an unknown illness. The efforts of the Soviet special services undertaken in the 20-30s of the last century turned out to be equally unsuccessful.

It was not possible to establish relations with the highest clerics of the Bon religion, after which the USSR lost its influence in this region for many decades.

In the same 30s, under the auspices of the Ahnenerbe secret society, a German expedition was sent to Tibet. Hitler's envoys were luckier than Stalin's.

Until 1943, close relations were maintained between Berlin and Lhasa, during which members of the Ahnenerbe were able to learn the secrets of a number of magical practices of the oldest religion in the world.

Amazing rituals

In the 50s of the twentieth century, a film from 1938 was discovered in one of the Masonic lodges of Western Europe, on which a German cameraman captured the magical rituals of Bon lamas in the Tibetan city of Jarling, summoning evil spirits, hovering above the surface of the earth and reviving dead fellow tribesmen. According to experts, the video found was not a fake. This film to some extent opened up the complex and mysterious world of the Bon religion for Europeans.

Modern researchers are inclined to believe that the shamanic practices of the indigenous peoples of Siberia, Kamchatka, North and South America are rooted in the ancient Bon religion. Moreover, both rituals and the revival of dead people, which became widespread in ancient times, have their origins in the original Tibetan beliefs.

Travelers who visited Tibet in the 20th century claim that followers of the Bon religion, like thousands of years ago, build specially shaped stone stupas there in certain places, light sacred fires, perform magical dances over the corpses of fellow countrymen, while casting spells in ancient and ancient an obsolete language. Their exact meaning is known only to dedicated lamas, who continue their centuries-old work in quiet monastery cells.

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Among the ruined palaces of the great city, in squares overgrown with grass, sheep wandered, and a yellow-faced shepherd sang a sad song about a blessed, protected country like a steppe mirage, where the earth is blue and the sky is golden.

The nomads asked their leaders: “Where else should we go?” The leaders told them: “We have brought you to the promised land, settle and live peacefully.” But many of the nomadic tribes did not listen and went further west, to the country of the Feathered Serpent, but there they were exterminated by the ruler Ptitligua. Some of the nomads penetrated to the equator, and there they were destroyed by blacks, herds of elephants and swamp fevers.

The Uchkurs, the leaders of the yellow-faces, chose the wisest of the military leaders and installed him as the ruler of the conquered country. His name was Tubal. He ordered walls to be repaired, gardens to be cleared, fields to be plowed and destroyed houses to be rebuilt. He issued many wise and simple laws. He called to him the sages and initiates who had fled to the caves and said to them: “My eyes and ears are open to wisdom.” He made them advisors, allowed them to open temples, and sent messengers everywhere with the news that he wanted peace.

This was the beginning of the third, highest, wave of Atlantean civilization. The dreamy, fermenting, like hops, blood of Asian nomads, star worshipers, descendants of the possessed Su Hutam Lu, poured into the blood of numerous tribes - black, red, olive and white.

The nomads quickly dissolved among other tribes. All that remains of yurts, herds, and wild will are songs and legends. A new tribe of strong-built, black-haired, yellow-swarthy people appeared. The Uchkurs, descendants of horsemen and military leaders, were the aristocracy of the city. They called themselves Atlanda, which meant “people from the steppes.” From this name, subsequently, a common name appeared for the entire country - Atlantis, whereas before that time it was called by various names of incarnations of the sun.

The Atlands loved science, art and luxury. They decorated the city with new walls and heptagonal towers, lined the twenty-one ledges of the giant pyramid with gold, built aqueducts, and for the first time in architecture began to use a column. In Atland there was a spirit of construction and a spirit of great anxiety.

They sought to satisfy their anxiety in conquests. The fallen countries and cities were again conquered. In the north they fought with the Cyclopes, the wild descendants of the Zemze tribe who survived the mixing. The great conqueror, Rama, reached India and destroyed black rule in long wars. He united the infant tribes of the Aryans, who belonged to the seventh of the seven nations of the race, into the kingdom of Ra. So, once again, the borders of Atlantis expanded to unprecedented sizes and strengthened - from the country of the Feathered Serpent to the Asian shores of the Pacific Ocean, from where, once upon a time, yellow-faced giants threw stones at ships.

The anxious soul of the Atlands sought an outcome in Knowledge. The ancient books of Zemze and the wise books of the sons of Aam were read again. A circle has closed and a new one has begun. The half-decayed “seven sleeper papyri” were found in the caves. With this discovery, Knowledge begins to develop rapidly. What the sons of Aam did not have - an unconscious, creative force, what the sons of the Zemze tribe did not have - a clear and sharp mind - flowed in abundance in the anxious and passionate blood of the Atland tribe.

The basis of the new knowledge was this:

“In man lies dormant the most powerful of the world’s forces, the matter of pure reason. Just as an arrow, stretched with a bowstring and directed by the right hand, hits the target, so the matter of the dormant mind can be strained by the bowstring of the will, directed by the hand of knowledge. The power of aspiring knowledge limitless."

The science of knowledge was divided into two parts: - preparatory - development of the body, will and mind, and main - knowledge of nature, the world and formulas through which the matter of aspiring knowledge masters nature.

The complete mastery of Knowledge, the flourishing of a culture unprecedented on earth and hitherto unreplicated, lasted a century, between 450 and 350 years before the Flood, that is, until the destruction of Atlantis.

There was universal peace on earth. The forces of the earth, brought to life by Knowledge, served people abundantly and luxuriously. Gardens and fields yielded huge harvests, herds multiplied, and work was easy. The people remembered old customs and holidays, and no one stopped them from living, loving, giving birth, and having fun. In legends this age is called golden.

At that time, a sphinx was placed on the eastern border of the earth, depicting the four elements in one body - a symbol of the mystery of the sleeping mind. The seven wonders of the world were built: the labyrinth, the colossus in the Mediterranean, the pillars to the west of Gibraltar, the tower of the astrologers on Poseidones, the seated statue of Tubal and the city of Lemurs on the Pacific island.

The light of Knowledge penetrated the black tribes, until that time crowded into tropical swamps. The blacks quickly adopted civilization and began building giant cities in central Africa.

The grain of wisdom of Zemza gave full and lush flowering. But now, the wisest of those initiated into Knowledge began to understand that in all the growth of civilization lies original sin. Further development of Knowledge must lead to destruction: humanity will strike itself, like a snake stinging itself in the tail.

The original evil was that existence, the life of the earth and creatures, was perceived as something coming out of the human mind. Exploring the world, man only knew himself. Man was an essence, the world was the fruit of his mind, his will, his dreams, or delirium. Being is only the consciousness of man, the Being, the Self.

Such an understanding of existence should have led to the fact that each person would argue that he alone is the only, existing, true Self, everything else - the world, people - is only his idea. What followed was inevitable: the struggle for the true Self, for the only personality, the extermination of humanity, as if it had rebelled against the man of his own dream, - contempt and disgust for existence, as for an evil ghost.

This was the initial evil of Zemze's wisdom.

Knowledge is split. Some did not see the possibility of removing the seed of evil and said that evil is the only force that creates existence. They called themselves Black, since Knowledge came from Blacks.

Others, who recognized that evil lies not in nature itself, but in the deviation of Reason from naturalness, began to look for counteraction to evil. They said: “A sunbeam falls on the earth, dies and is resurrected into the fruit of the earth: - this is the fundamental law of life. The same is the movement of the world Mind: - descent, sacrificial death and resurrection into the flesh. The fundamental sin - the loneliness of Reason - can be destroyed the Fall. Reason must fall into the flesh and pass through the living gates of death. These gates are the floor. The fall of Reason is accomplished by the power of Eros.

Those who claimed this way called themselves White because they wore a linen tiara - a sign of Eros. They created a spring holiday - the mystery of the Fall, which was played out in the luxurious gardens of the ancient temple of the sun. The virgin youth represented Reason, the woman - the gates of mortal flesh, the serpent - Eros. People came from distant countries to watch these spectacles.

The split between the two paths of Knowledge was great. The fight began. At that time, an amazing discovery was made - the ability to instantly release the vital force dormant in plant seeds was found. This force, explosive, fiery-cold matter, freeing itself, rushed into space. The blacks used it for fighting, for weapons of war. They built huge flying ships that were terrifying. Wild tribes began to worship these winged dragons.

The whites realized that the death of the world was close, and began to prepare for it. They selected among the ordinary people the purest, strongest and meekest of hearts and began to lead them to the north and east. They gave them high, mountain pastures, where the settlers could live in a primitive and contemplative manner.

White's fears were confirmed. The Golden Age was degenerating, satiety was setting in in the cities of Atlantis. Nothing restrained a more saturated fantasy, a thirst for perversion, the madness of a devastated mind. The power that the man had mastered turned against him. The inevitability of death made people gloomy, ferocious, and merciless.

And now the last days have come. They began with a great disaster: the central region of the city of the Hundred Golden Gates was shaken by an earthquake, a lot of land sank to the bottom of the ocean, sea waves separated the country of the Feathered Serpent forever.

The Blacks accused the Whites of using the power of spells to unchain the spirits of earth and fire. The people were indignant. The blacks staged a night beating in the city - more than half of the residents wearing the linen tiara died, the rest fled outside of Atlantis, many went to India.

Power in the city of the Hundred Golden Gates was seized by the richest citizens of the black order, called Magatsitl, which means “merciless.” They said: “We will destroy humanity, because it is a bad dream of reason.” In order to fully enjoy the spectacle of death, they declared holidays and games throughout the land, opened state treasuries and shops, brought white girls from the north and gave them to the people, opened the doors of temples to everyone thirsting for unnatural pleasures, filled fountains with wine and roasted them in the squares. meat. Madness took hold of the people. It was during the autumn grape harvest days.

At night, in the squares illuminated by fires, among the people, frenzied by wine, dancing, food, and women, Magatsitli appeared. They wore high helmets, armored belts, and no shields. With their right hand they threw bronze balls, which burst into cold, destructive flames; with their left hand they plunged the sword into the drunken and insane.
The orgy was interrupted by a terrible earthquake. The statue of Tubal collapsed, the walls cracked, the columns of the aqueduct fell, flames burst out of deep cracks, and the sky was covered in ash.

In the morning, the bloody, dim disk of the sun illuminated the ruins, burning gardens, crowds of crazy people, exhausted by excesses, and heaps of corpses. The Magacitals rushed to the egg-shaped flying machines and began to leave the earth. They flew into starry space, to the homeland of abstract reason. Several hundred devices flew away. A fourth, even stronger, shock of the earth was heard. An ocean wave rose from the north from the ashen darkness and spread across the earth, destroying all living things.

A storm began, lightning fell into the ground and into homes. A downpour poured down, and fragments of volcanic stones flew.

Behind the stronghold of the walls of the great city, from the top of the stepped, overlaid with gold, the pyramids of Magazitla continued to fly through the ocean of falling water, from smoke and ash into starry space. Three shocks in a row split the land of Atlantis. The city of the Golden Gate was plunged into boiling waves.

The religion that undisputedly dominated Tibet before the advent of Buddhism is known as Bon." It is believed that the words "Bon" and "Bot" (the name of Tibet, Bot, Bhota) come from the same source. The name "Tibet" in the Tibetan language is " Bod" (pronounced pyo, means "upper part of the land of snow", which geographically includes the provinces of U and Tsang. Thus, the name To-Pyo (d), the region now known as Central Tibet, began to sound in the mouths of Europeans from Darjeeling like Tibet.

The Sanskrit equivalent of Bod is Bhota, the name by which Tibet has always been known in India. It is not surprising that this religion has been present in Tibet in one form or another throughout its history. The impact of Buddhism was noticeable only in Central Tibet. The rest of the country, and especially the eastern regions, always remained under the strong influence of Bon. The ideology of Buddhism greatly influenced the nature of the Bon religion, the worldview of the Tibetans and the course of history of the entire country. But there is also no doubt that the ideology of Buddhism itself, penetrating into Tibet, was strongly influenced by the Bon religion.

The old religion was never completely supplanted; at times it resisted viciously, relying on the support of rulers and clergy, which led to tense confrontation between the followers of the new religion (CHos-Pa) and the followers of the old (Bon-Ra). Still, Bon was forced to transform into Bon-cho in order to survive. Buddhism began to be called Sangye kyi Cho ("Dharma, the Teachings of the Buddha"), as well as Nayu-pai Cho "Inner Dharma", that is, the religion of the Tibetan metropolis). We can try to restore the previous picture and see what the ancient Bon religion was like. Today no one will dispute the idea that the religion of any country is in one way or another connected with the geographical and climatic characteristics of the region. The climate of Tibet, a country located at the dizzying heights of the Himalayan heights, is extremely harsh and subject to very sudden and unpredictable changes. Living conditions were so demanding of man and so implying no resistance on his part that man involuntarily began to perceive the world around him as inhabited by wayward and hostile spirits. It was not about the creatures of our world, but about invisible forces that could only be controlled through occult skill.

The word bon itself comes from yun-drun-gi-bon, which means “to cast magic spells” or “to repeat secret formulas.”

The recitation of mystical formulas was one of the main distinguishing features of Bon, and the same can be said for later religion. One of the names for Bon magicians was “Ah-Mes” (“Thunderous, ancient!”), but over time these two syllables merged into the word Amnye. "Ah" is a mystical syllable that is well known in the Indian Tantric tradition. This sound, in addition, is part of the universal mystical syllable Aum. "Ancient" means an immortal entity and is analogous to the Indian Puranas. Therefore, it is not at all by chance that in the Bon religion the spirit of the mountains also bears the name Ah-Mes.

The Bon religion is often incorrectly described as a combination of shamanistic beliefs, fetishism and demonology. The Bon priest was a magician and necromancer whose practice included chanting magic spells. He performed dances incomprehensible to the uninitiated and fearlessly entered into battles with the invisible demons that surrounded him.

The worldview of the Bon people inhabited any place with spirits, especially lakes and mountains, rocks and caves. Spirits were everywhere: some hid deep underground, others soared high in the sky. There were many varieties of these spirits: jigs protected the occupied territory; the tsang were like mischievous gnomes who climbed rocks and lived in caves; the gloomy and terrifying sabdag lived in the lower world and viciously pursued those who disturbed his peace by digging the earth. Most Bon spirits were hostile to humans and had pronounced features of Dre demons. But there were also spirits that could be appeased or defeated. They turned into benefactors and protectors and were then considered as gods - lha. It is quite natural that an endless struggle unfolded between these two armies - gods and demons; man had to carefully use the opposition of these forces for his own benefit.

A person could save himself if he correctly directed the power of the gods and knew how to appease the demons. If he was a nomad planning to cross a mountain pass, then for religious purposes he should have built a cone-shaped structure (stupa) of stones and walked around it with reverence, thereby showing respect to the spirit of the mountains. When setting up a camp, he had to sacrifice some kind of domestic animal. Although, according to the Tibetans, there were entire legions of gods and demons, the most powerful of them were the “white god of the sky,” the “black goddess of the earth,” the “red tiger,” and the “fierce dragon.” In the Bon pantheon, female deities outnumber male ones. The cult of the mother goddess was a completely natural product of the primitive social structure of old Tibet, based on matriarchy. Some elements of this influence also survived in the late Bon-cho. This is evidenced, for example, by such characters of the late pantheon as Palden-Lhamo (Tibetan analogue of Indian Kali), Dolma (Tara), as well as various dakinis.

Of particular interest among the many different deities is the "blue sky god", described as the "unchanging sky". Its appearance is associated with the ideas of ancient people about the sky as something unshakable. The blue sky was a symbol of permanence, the abode that every Tibetan strived to achieve. The sky represented the maternal aspect, the womb, the source and end point of existence. Among the many funeral rites of Tibet, the most preferable was the one called “sky burial”, during which, according to the ideas of the ancient Tibetans, a person returned to heaven.

The Heavenly Mentor was considered the supreme deity in Bon; later he began to be identified with the great yogi god of Mahayana Buddhism - Samantabhadra. This later deity figures most prominently in the pantheon of the Nyigma school, whose close connection with the Bon religion is beyond any doubt. The magical ritual dagger phurbu, widespread in Tibet and used in the rituals of all schools, is revered as a symbol of the heavenly deity. This deity of Indian origin has a winged body and is often referred to as the Garuda bird.

Bon legends and traditions speak of the Bon heaven, which is worshiped, and the achievement of which after death is the highest goal. Reaching heaven actually meant gaining a beautiful body and eternal life and happiness while still alive. All their lives people dreamed of reaching heaven and at the end of it they sought to make a “sudden breakthrough” into the kingdom of eternal happiness.

Bon religious events had a very complex structure. They consisted not only of "casting spells", but also included various rituals, dances and sacrifices. And naturally, these events required the presence of special clergy.

Bon priests did not take a vow of celibacy, and yet they were often reclusive, wore a hairstyle of matted, uncut hair and lived completely alone in the thicket of the jungle or high in the mountains. When performing the ritual, the Bon priest put on a high black miter, decorated with peacock or rooster feathers; sometimes a diadem made of human skull bones was used, topped with a pair of crossed “lightning bolts” (visvavajra). In his hands the priest held a small double drum (damaru), each section of which was stylized as a human skull. This drum was the main instrument of the magician, and its sound inspired and evoked sacred awe.

The range of functions of a Bon clergyman was extremely wide: he acted as both a magician and a necromancer, a shaman and a wizard. He fell into the power of the gods, and through him the deities manifested themselves in this world. With various magical manipulations, he could protect people from the tyranny of evil spirits and could attract the attention of a patron deity to a person. There were also special skills that a particular Bon priest could specialize in. Some specialized exclusively in magic and could "weave a rope" between earth and sky. Others predicted the future, read signs and made predictions, cured illnesses and controlled the weather. There were magicians who specialized in working with the dead - they escorted their souls to safe places in the other world. One of the varieties of Bon shamans was engaged exclusively in the singing of spells and specialized in the musical and vocal performance of religious services. Magic at that time and in those places had a special meaning; all other human affairs depended on it, from agricultural work to weddings, which is why the Bon priests were held in such high esteem.

The Bon priests have a line of succession that begins with the “blue toga-clad” founder of the religion, Shenrab, whose first syllable indicates his membership in the profession of shaman. It is said that he was "a real person who reached the heights of perfection in magic" and the one who "gave form to the Bon religion." He was also a ruler, combining the roles of supreme shaman and king, which was later reflected in the system of Tibetan theocracy. He was perceived by his contemporaries as an emanation of the “Heavenly Mentor”, who, as emphasized earlier, was subsequently identified with Samantabhadra. Shenrab was given the title Tonpa (Teacher) and was revered on a par with Buddha Shakya-yamuni. The spiritual exploits of Tonpa Shenrab are captured in Bon folklore as a collection of special hymns. One of them contains the lines:

He announced the nine paths of the Bon teachings, To open the gates of heaven for the living, To sweep away the gates of destruction for the dead, and to lead the life of the dear swastika.

Bon priests used the swastika sign (yun-drung in Tibetan) as a magical weapon of great power. The word is also used as a title for the founder of a religion. The swastika (Sanskrit “emblem of happiness”), the appearance of which is shrouded in mystery, is also called the Greek cross and symbolizes the movement of celestial bodies around the Big Dipper. According to other sources, the swastika symbolizes the sun, which is confirmed by the fact of its presence in those places where the cult of the sun was widespread.

In the Indian tradition, the swastika sign symbolizes the birth of fire from the crossed rods of the Arat. The swastika sign is clearly visible on ancient objects found in the Indus Valley. The swastika is an early prototype of the "indestructible weapon" (vajra, dorje in Tibetan). The word dorje ("diamond", literally "lord of stones") is usually translated as "lightning" or "diamond" and is now the most common ritual object in Tibet.

Vajra - a powerful weapon of the Indian leader of the gods Indra (in the Rig Veda it is the "club of Indra") - became the prototype of the Tibetan dorje. It is also interesting to trace the tantric line of this transformation: for the formidable tantric deity with a horse's head - Hayagriva (Tamdin in Tibetan), whose wife Vajravarahi holds this magical weapon in her hand. According to a common legend, the dorje as Tamdin's dagger, called Tamdin phurbu, belonged to an Indian saint who, having been transported by air to Tibet, sat on a hill near the Sera Monastery. This legend confirms the version about the Indian origin of the dorje, a widespread magical weapon of Tibet. Dorje, miraculously brought from India, is kept in the Sera Monastery near Lhasa and is one of the main shrines of this monastery.

All dorjes of Tibet are made from this Indian original. Speaking about the swastika in different religious traditions, one feature should be noted: in the Bon tradition it “rotates” from right to left, that is, it is left-handed, in contrast to the right-handed swastika of Buddhism, which symbolizes the process of “rotation” from left to right. This detail is explained by the characteristic feature of Bon: doing many things in reverse order (walking around the stupas on the left side, turning prayer wheels in the opposite direction and reciting mantras in reverse, for example, “Om Mani Padme Hum” as “muh-em-pad-ni-mo” ").

Bon priests never united in a religious organization of any kind. Despite the fact that in the late period several Bon monasteries were formed and arose (Dzogchen Gompa in northeastern Tibet), any monastic organizations have always been contrary to the spirit of Bon. Bon priests lived among the laity and fulfilled the needs of ordinary people. With the exception of religious practice, they did not differ from the laity either in dress or manners.

Sacrifice was an important part of Bon rituals. Animals and birds (and according to some sources in the prehistoric period, people - later human sacrifices were replaced by dough figurines) were killed in honor of various gods and spirits.

The sacrificial prayer used in the late Vajrayana, which may have Bon origins, well captures the spirit of the Bon religion itself: "Oh, you all spirits, demons, werewolves, ghosts, evil entities, spirits of madness and epilepsy, male and female celestial patrons, and all others also, accept this sacrifice and may there be an agreement between us, and may grace and protection flow from this agreement.

The ritual of sacrifice was accompanied by a stern warning to the common people: “If you dare to break the agreement, you will be cut up and thrown away, like these animals being sacrificed! Therefore, be united in your thoughts and devoted to the gods of heaven and earth, so that they can see your pure thoughts !" In later Buddhist rituals, the offering of torma sacrificial items also remained a very important element. Torma images are made from dough and butter and come in various shapes (often images of animals or birds). The tormas are placed on the altar and then ceremonially broken and burned or thrown into the air. Every lama must master the art of making and presenting a torma. The background of this ritual undoubtedly relates to the Bon religion.

Bon sacrifices were accompanied by ritual dances and dramatic performances, which later passed into Buddhism. A special dance performance, known as tsam, was performed by specially trained actors who wore appropriate masks to portray gods and demons. This mimic mystery accompanied the ritual of offering the torma. A few words should be said “to justify” this mystery, which many Western researchers identified with “satanic dances.” Its main purpose, even if it was carried out in urban monasteries, was to expel evil spirits and provide blessings, which allegorically personifies the expulsion of misfortune and the ushering in of happiness. Mystery is only part of the ritual. Popular throughout the Buddhist Himalayas, the tsam mystery (called Mani Rimdu in the Khumbu of Nepal) is a vibrant legacy of the Bon religion.

Originating in the Tibetan mystery of Tsam, Mani Rimdu begins with a “life initiation,” during which life essence in the form of ritual water and magical life-giving pills are distributed to all present. “This ceremony aims to distinguish ordinary life from the sphere of higher mental manifestations. The word la means a soul that lives not only in the human body, but also in some mountains, which is typical for Bon ideas.

In the Khumbu region there is Mount Khumbila, which is believed to have la, and if the “soul” of the mountain dies, then all living things in its vicinity will die. To prevent this, the lamas of the surrounding monasteries perform special rituals, including dance mysteries. Ancient Bon rituals and mysteries of this kind necessarily included animal sacrifices, since in those days the offerings of blood and meat of victims were of a very specific nature. Currently, sacrificial torma pies are made from dough and butter, but are painted red, which symbolizes the blood of the victim.

Experts in Tibet distinguish three stages in the development of the Bon religion. In the first stage, which can conventionally be called “wild bon,” the emphasis was on magic and sorcery, which made it possible to conquer or appease the violent and malicious spirits surrounding a person. The second stage, which is called “wrong” or “erroneous bon,” was characterized mainly by miracles and valiant deeds of shaman sages who came to Tibet from outside (mainly from Kashmir).

When the Tibetan king Dri-gumtsang was killed, the frightened local priests, who did not know how to cope with the raging harmful spirit, called for help from three foreign magicians (from Kashmir, Soul from the country of Shang-Shung). One of the invitees was so skilled in magic that he could fly through the sky riding a drum; reveal conspiracies by calming the “divine eagle” (Garuda); cut iron with a feather.

The second magician could predict the future and interpret fate with the help of multi-colored ropes. The third magician skillfully performed funeral rites for people who died violent deaths. All three were apparently Indian Tantrics and Siddhas. Tibetan sources indicate a strong influence of Indian Shaivites and Tirthikas (heretic ascetics) on the development of the Bon religion during this period.

The third stage in the history of the Bon religion is characterized as the "reformed" or "converted" Bon. Bon was forced to adapt to Buddhism as a new, stronger religious movement. At present, in Tibet, the Bon monks are not considered by Buddhists as an alien element, and their peaceful coexistence with the “people of dharma” is beyond doubt.

The third stage of development of the Bon religion continues to this day. Currently, it is reliably estimated that at least two-thirds of Tibetans identify themselves in some way with the Bon tradition, despite the religious and political dominance of Buddhism for more than six centuries.

BON AND DZOGCHEN

In the last issue we talked about an expedition to Nepal, where we conducted a course on “long life” practices in the Mandarava cave. On the way back, we visited one of the last operating monasteries on the planet, Bon (where the famous Lemurian explorer “miraculously” flew in), where we asked the abbot of the monastery several questions.

Reforms, as we see, occur not only at the sacred level, but also at the everyday level. When we arrived at the monastery, it was approaching noon, in the monastery courtyard, monks in blue and crimson togas (robes) were holding debates.

The debate in Bon-po, as in Buddhism, looks very spectacular from the outside. The monks wave their arms, stand on one leg, suddenly drop down and clap their hands, as if trying to convince their opponent not only logically, but also physically. Here, as nowhere else, there is a direct connection between the practice of involving in the process of learning or spiritual practice everything that a person owns, namely: speech - body - mind.

At the time of our arrival, the elderly abbot, known throughout the world as an authoritative scientist and practitioner of the Bon tradition, had handed over his formal powers to a young but experienced successor. As he said himself, chuckling, “I’m retired now.” But he accepted us, which does not happen to all pilgrims. The first question I asked was, “What is the ultimate goal in the Bon tradition?” The Lama smiled and in turn asked, who are you and who is your teacher?

I replied that I practice Dzogchen, and my teacher is Namkhai Norbu. At that time, I did not yet know that at one time N. Norbu received some practices from this abbot. The Lama smiled again and replied, “The ultimate Bon practice is Dzogchen, there is no higher state!” I didn't have any more questions.

This is such a beautiful story, almost like according to Muldashev... It is noteworthy that in all Buddhist monasteries you will definitely be given hints in every possible way about donations. It’s interesting that everything happened here (like everything in the opposite direction for Bon practitioners) - when visiting the abbot, it is customary to present khadaki (a silk scarf for blessing), which is usually stocked up in advance. We expected to get them in the monastery itself, but at that time the keeper of the monastery store went to the city on business and we asked the senior monk if they had khadaks. They kindly presented them to us, but they flatly refused to take the money, even in the form of donations; they had to literally “shove it in” by force, to the genuine interest of the monks watching this tragicomedy.

After tea was kindly offered to us, we went to Kathmandu; an evening service was going on in the main temple - I heard the familiar sounds of mantras loudly chanted by the lamas. The main mantra pronounced by yogis practicing mind yoga was the sound “A” - the basis of everything. The monks were returning to the source of their consciousness, while we were returning to Moscow.

“Knowledge of Dzogchen is like being on the highest of mountain peaks: all other mountains are open to the eye and devoid of the veil of mystery, and anyone who finds himself on this highest peak cannot be conditioned by anyone or anything.” From the tantra section of Dzogchen Upadesha.

HIGHEST EXCELLENCE

In this issue I decided to make a spiritual gift to the readers; today they have the opportunity to meet a person who helps anyone who wants to achieve the highest perfection - the state of Dzog-pa-chen-po. His name is Chögyal Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche. This short article not only describes one of the most important experiences of the great master, but also indicates the main principles of Dzogchen.

“When I came to my Teacher Changchub Dorje, I was much educated in the intellectual sense. My head was filled with everything that I had learned in monastic schools. I thought that complex initiation rituals were essential for the transmission of the Teaching, and I began to ask Changchub Dorje to give me one initiation. I asked him for a long time, every day, but he always refused. “What’s the use? - he said. - You have already received initiations from your other teachers. In the Dzogchen teaching, such initiations are not the main thing. Transmission is not given only in formal initiations." But despite his words, I insisted on performing a complete initiation ritual, like those that other teachers always gave me. I was not satisfied with his answers: I wanted him to wear a special headdress , prepared a mandala, poured water from a jug on my head, or did something else like that. This is what I sincerely, with all my heart, desired, but the Teacher still refused.

I insisted for so long that he finally agreed and promised that in about two months, on the day of Padmasambhava, the tenth day of the Tibetan lunar calendar, he would give me the initiation that I so wanted - the Samantabhadra empowerment, as well as the empowerment of peace and wrathful deities of the bardo. In fact, these initiations are not very difficult, and a teacher skilled in such things can handle them very quickly. But Changchub Dorje never received formal education and was not used to giving empowerments. When the long-awaited day finally arrived, the dedication took him from nine in the morning until midnight! First, he had to prepare himself by performing a self-initiation ritual. This took all the time until noon. Then he started initiation for me. But, firstly, he could not read the text, and then I saw that he did not know how to perform all the ritual actions that were required of him. He was not an expert in such matters. Therefore, he took his student, who was himself a knowledgeable teacher, as an assistant, and he prepared all the mandalas and ritual accessories. Then this student began to read the text in order to prompt the Teacher along the way what he should do. But when Changchub Dorje reached the place where it was said that such and such a mudra should be performed, it turned out that he did not know how to do it. I had to interrupt the ritual to learn this mudra. Then there was a very long prayer addressed to all the Teachers of the lineage, and while singing it the Teacher had to ring a bell and rattle the damaru; a small drum. A person who is used to performing rituals can do all this very quickly, but Changchub Dorje did not do such things, and the whole situation began to take a strange turn, turning into a complete farce. First of all, he began to find out with his assistant what was written in the notes to the text, “Aha!” he said, “it says here that you need to ring the bell!” Then he took the bell and for a whole five minutes did nothing but ring it without interruption. Then they read that the damaru should be rattled. And for about five minutes he rattled the damaru. Then it dawned on him: “Oh! Now I understand! You have to ring the bell and rattle the damaru at the same time!” This he did, but in the meantime he forgot that he also had to sing, and therefore, with the help of a student who could read, he did it all over again. After all, Changchub Dorje did not receive a systematic education - he was a practitioner and, thanks to his practice, he showed his wisdom and clarity and therefore became a Teacher. So he busied himself with this dedication all day and a good part of the evening. By the time he finished, I was almost in a state of shock: after all, I knew perfectly well how to perform the initiation, and it had nothing to do with what was happening.

It was already approaching midnight, and we were all very hungry. We sang together many times the Song of the Vajra, a short, slow hymn that introduces the practitioner to contemplation through integration with its sound, the syllable structure allowing for increasingly calm breathing. This is the characteristic Dzogchen way of using ritual. We then recited a short Ganapuja and ate. After eating, Master gave me a real explanation of the meaning of empowerment and transmission, and I realized that, despite all the formal empowerments I had received, I did not understand their true meaning, I was not imbued with it.

Then, for three or four hours straight, Changchub Dorje gave me a real explanation of Dzogchen - not in an intellectual way, but in the form of a very direct and relaxed friendly conversation. Although I had been studying for so long, this was the first time Teacher actually made a direct attempt to make me understand something. What he said and the way he said it sounded like true Dzogchen tantra spoken out loud, freely and spontaneously. I knew that even the most educated scientists could not speak like that. He spoke from his own clarity, not from intellectual understanding. From that day on, I learned that the intellectual education that had previously been so important to me was only of secondary importance. And I realized that the main thing in the transmission is not the performance of rituals and initiations and not lengthy intellectual explanations. That day my mental constructs were shattered to the ground. Before that, I was completely closed in the ideas that I received while studying at school. In order to receive Introduction, Dzogchen requires transmission, and the Direct Introduction that I received from the Master that day and continued to receive throughout my subsequent stay with him has been the typical way in which the Dzogchen teachings have been transmitted through the line of spiritual succession from Master to disciple since the time of Garab Dorje, the first Dzogchen Master, who himself received transmission through direct vision of the Sambhogakaya. Although a simpler variety of the Dzogchen teachings was included in many branches of the Bon tradition by Shenrab Miwo, the great Bon reformer, long before Garab Dorje, nevertheless, what we now call the “three branches of the Dzogchen teachings” are for the first time on this planet and in this kalpa began to transmit to Garab Dorje. And although the great Master Padmasambhava, who came later, is undoubtedly more widely known, it was from Garab Dorje that he received both the Direct Transmission in the form of pure vision transcending time and space, and the ordinary oral transmission through the spiritual line of his disciples.

The great Bon Teacher Shenrab Miwo was born in 1856 BC. e. He reformed and unified the various Bon traditions existing at the time, replacing genuine animal sacrifices with the offering of ritual figurines. He also introduced the earliest known version of the Dzogchen teaching (Yangdagpei Sambon), which is less developed than the three sections of Garab Dorje. The root of the word "bon" means "to pronounce" or "to chant", so the name applied to anyone who recited mantras or performed rituals. Bon ritual practices are aimed at enabling a person to go beyond duality and master energy.

Garab Dorje was a fully realized being. A realized being can choose the place and time of his birth, which seems impossible from the limited point of view of dualistic vision. Around 184 BC. e. he manifested himself in the form of the Nirmanakaya, born in the country of Uddiyana (formerly Urgyen), located northwest of India. There he lived, preaching the Teaching to people and dakinis. Before entering the Body of Light, Garab Dorje gave his last Teaching, in which the entire essence of Dzogchen is concentrated in three principles, sometimes called “The Three Last Testaments of Garab Dorje”. Although the purpose of the Dzogchen teaching is not to develop the intellect, but to take a person beyond limitations to the primordial state, it nevertheless contains a clear and clear, crystalline lattice-like structure of interconnected explanations. The basis of this clear structure is the Three Testaments, or Three Principles of Garab Dorje.

Three principles of the Dzogchen Teaching according to Garab Dorje

1. DIRECT INTRODUCTION to the original state is given to the student directly by the Teacher. The teacher always remains in the original state, and the presence of this state is itself transmitted to the student in any situation or in any activity in which they both participate.

2. The student enters into non-dual contemplation and, experiencing the primordial state, is no longer in DOUBT as to what it is.

3. The disciple CONTINUES IN THIS STATE of non-dual contemplation, in the original state, bringing contemplation into his every action, until it is realized, becomes real, that which is originally the true state of every person (Dharmakaya), but remains hidden due to dual vision. The practitioner continues to remain in this state until complete realization."

Lama Karma Samten Choilel

Materials used by R. Rao translated by A. Ivannikov. Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche "Crystal and the path of light. Sutra, Tantra and Dzogchen"

Bon- the national religion of the Tibetans. In fact, it was the official religion of Tibet during the period of the kings (VI-IX centuries), and continued to dominate the region until it was partially replaced by Buddhism in the 13th century. Bon is the indigenous pre-Buddhist religious tradition of Tibet, which is still practiced by many in Tibet, Bhutan, and India. The founder of the Bon religion in the human world is Lord Tonna Shenrab Miwoche.

History of the Bon religion

The scientific study of the history of the Bon religion is associated with significant difficulties, mainly due to the lack of historical sources. As Tibetologist D.I. Buraev notes, the only Bon text that, to one degree or another, can be considered a source is the Bon chronicle “Royal rabs bon gyi a'byung gnas” published in 1915 by S. Ch. Das, compiled at the end of the 14th century. - the beginning of the 15th centuries and dedicated to the presentation of the genealogies of the royal families of Tibet and Mongolia, as well as the actual history of Bon. At the beginning of the 20th century, a small part of it was translated into German by B. Laufer.

According to the assumption of Kuznetsov B.I. — the Bon religion comes from Eastern Mazdaism; the names of the Indo-Iranian gods are cited as evidence: Mithras, Ahura Mazda and Anahita (Astarte). Associated with Mazdaism is the name of the supreme deity Bon - the Wise Bumkhri, comparable to Ahura Mazda.

In Tibet, the Bon teachings initially settled in the state of Shang Shung (western and northern Tibet). Subsequently, his magical and shamanic rituals, according to some Western researchers, influenced the Nyingma Buddhist school. Another view is that Buddhism influenced the ancient shamanic practices of Bon, resulting in the reformed Bon.
Followers of Bon talk about three “historical forms” of their teaching: 1) the most ancient (shamanic) Bon; 2) reformed coupon; 3) “Eternal Bon”, or “Swastika Bon” (gyung drung bon).

The Tibetan term Bon has two different cultural contexts:

In the first case, the word bon means "to cast magic spells" or "to repeat secret formulas", and refers to the native pre-Buddhist shamanistic and animistic culture of Tibet, a culture that had much in common with other shamanistic tribal cultures of Central Asia and Siberia. Although these cultures included different types of religious practices and beliefs, at the center of them there was always a practitioner known as a shaman.

The activity of the shaman was definitely characterized by entering an altered state of consciousness (trance) through rhythmic chanting, drumming, dancing, and so on, regardless of whether this altered state of consciousness or "ecstasy" was considered as a journey of the soul, an exit from the body, or a type of spirit possession . The main social function of such a practitioner was healing. The traditional form of Central Asian shamanism, including spirit possession, is widely practiced in Tibet today among both Buddhist and Bon populations, as well as among Tibetan refugees living in Ladakh, Nepal and Bhutan.

A practitioner of shamanism is known as lha-pa or dba-po. On the borders of Tibet in the Himalayas and along the Sino-Tibetan border, among some Tibetan-speaking and related peoples there are practices of shamanism known as Bonpo, for example among the Na-Khi in China and among the Tamang in Nepal.

In the second case we are talking about another form of religious culture, also known as Bon, whose followers claim to represent the pre-Buddhist civilization of Tibet. These Bon practitioners claim that at least part of their religious tradition does not originate in Tibet, but was brought to central Tibet before the seventh century from the then independent country of Shang Shung to the west of Tibet, and there from the more remote areas of Tajiko -(stag-gzig) or Iranian-speaking Central Asia in the northwest.

This form of Bon is also known as Yungdrung Bon(g.yung-drung bon), " Eternal Teaching", a term whose equivalent in Sanskrit would be "Swastika-dharma", where the swastika or solar cross is a symbol of the eternal and indestructible, corresponding in almost every way to the Buddhist term "vajra" or diamond (rdo-rje). In addition to ritual texts , related to shimanic and animistic practice, this ancient tradition possesses a large number of texts, also claiming pre-Buddhist origin, and relating to the highest teachings of Sutra, Tantra and Dzogchen (mdo rgyud man-ngag gsum).

The Bonpo lamas look to an earlier prince, Sherab Miwoche (gShen-rab mi-bo-che), originally from Olmo Lungring ("Ol-mo lung-ring) in distant Central Asia, as their Buddha (sangs- rgyas) and the source of their teaching. Consequently, the latter was given the title of Tonpa or Teacher (ston-pa), literally "one who reveals secrets."

Modern scholars may question the historicity of this figure - the Bonpo tradition ascribes a truly incredible dating to Tonpa Shenrab, claiming that he flourished some eighteen thousand years ago. Moreover, his biography in the Bonpo sources is in no way inferior to the biography of Shakyamuni Buddha found in Lalitavistara. The story of Tonpa Shenrab represents one of the great epic cycles of Tibetan literature.

According to traditional biography, in a previous era Shenrab bore the name Salwa and studied Bon doctrines with his two brothers, Dagna and Shepa, in the Sidpa Yesang heaven under the guidance of the Bon sage Bumtri Logi Kesan. After completing their studies, all three brothers went to the God of Compassion, Shenlha Okar, asking how they could alleviate the suffering of sentient beings. Shenlha Okar advised them to take on the role of mentors of humanity during the next three world eras. Dagpa taught people in the past era, Salwa incarnated in the form of Tonpa Shenrab Miwoche and is the teacher and mentor of humanity in the present era, and finally the youngest brother, Shepa, will appear as a teacher in the next world era.

Tonpa Shenrab descended from the celestial spheres and appeared in bodily form at the foot of Mount Meru along with his closest disciples - Malo and Yulo. He then took birth in the body of a prince, the son of King Gyal Tokar and Princess Zangi Ringum. This happened in a radiant garden full of wonderful flowers, in a palace located south of Mount Yungdrung Gutseg, at dawn on the eighth day of the first month of the first year of the male wood mouse (1857 BC). He married young and had several children. At the age of thirty-one, he renounced his worldly life and began the practice of strict asceticism and training in Bon doctrine. Throughout Shenrab's life, his efforts to spread the teachings of Bon were hindered by a demon named Khyabpa Lagring, who tried in every possible way to interfere with his work. Eventually he was converted to the path of truth and became a disciple of Shenrab. One day, Khyabpa stole Shenrab's horses, and Shenrab pursued him through the entire Zhang Zhong kingdom to southern Tibet. Having overcome Mount Kongpo, Shenrab entered Tibet.

This was Shenrab's first visit to Tibet. At that time, Tibetans practiced ritual sacrifices. Shenrab pacified the local demons and began instructing people to perform rituals using special dough figurines in the shape of sacrificial animals for offerings, and thanks to this, the Tibetans abandoned the sacrifice of real animals. In general, Shenrab found that the country was not yet ready to receive the five Paths of "fruit" related to the highest Bon teachings, so he began to teach the Tibetans the four Paths of "cause". These practices focus on strengthening the connection with guardian spirits and the natural environment, exorcising demons and eliminating various negative factors. He also taught Tibetans purification practices through burning incense and sprinkling water, and introduced prayer flags used to promote positive energy and happiness. Before leaving Tibet, Shenrab prophetically declared that all his teachings would flourish in Tibet when the time was right. Tonpa Shenrab died at the age of eighty-two.

Mythological origins and history of the Bon religion

According to Bon mythological literature, there are “three cycles of propagation” of the Bon doctrine, which occurred in three dimensions: on the upper plane of the gods or Devas (lha), on the middle plane of human beings (mi) and on the lower plane of the Nagas (klu).

In the Deva dimension, Shenrab built a temple called the “Indestructible Peak, which is the Lha Fortress” and opened the mandala of “All-Conquering Space”. He also introduced the teachings of the Sutras and appointed Dampa Togkar as his follower.

In the Naga dimension, he built a temple called “The Continent of One Hundred Thousand Gesars, which is the Naga Fortress” and opened the mandala of the Mother of the Pure Lotus. Here he introduced the teachings of the Prajnaparamita Sutra and gave instructions on the nature of the mind.

In the human dimension, Shenrab sent emanations towards the three continents aimed at the benefit of living beings. In this world, he initially expounded his teachings in the area of ​​Olmo Lungring, located to the west of Tibet and part of the country called Tatzig, which according to some modern scholars corresponds to Persia and Tajikistan. The syllable "Ol" means "unborn", the syllable "mo" - "not subject to decrease", "lung" - "prophetic words" and finally, the syllable "ring" symbolizes the eternal compassion of Tonpa Shenrab. Olmo Lungring occupies a third of the existing world and has the form of an eight-petalled lotus blooming under the sky, manifesting as a wheel with eight spokes. In the center of Olmo Lungring rises Mount Yungdrung Gutseg, the "Swastika of the Nine Pyramids". The swastika is a symbol of constancy and indestructibility, nine swastikas together are a symbol of the Nine Paths of Bon. At the foot of Mount Yungdrung Gutseg, four rivers originate, flowing in the direction of the four cardinal directions. This description has led some scholars to suggest that Mount Yungdrung Gutseg is Mount Kailash and the land of Olmo Lungring is the country of Shang Shung, located around Mount Kailash in western Tibet and being the cradle of Tibetan civilization. The mountain is surrounded by temples, cities and parks. Access to Olmo Lungring is via the "arrow path", so named because, before his visit to Tibet, Tonpa Shenrab shot an arrow from his bow and thus created a passage through the mountain range.

Until the seventh century, the country of Zhang Shung existed as a separate state, which included all of western Tibet around Mount Kailash and Lake Mansarovar. Its capital was the city of Khyunglung Nulkhar, the “Silver Palace of the Garuda Valley,” the ruins of which can now be found in the Sutlej Valley southwest of Mount Kailash. The local people spoke a Tibetan-Burman language and were ruled by a dynasty of kings that ended in the eighth century when King Ligmincha (or Ligmirya) was killed by the Tibetan king Trisong Detsen and Shang Shung was annexed to Tibet.

Further history of the development of the Bon religion

As Buddhism spread in Tibet and after the first Buddhist monastery was founded at Samye in 779 during the reign of King Trisong Detsen, Tibet began to experience a decline in the Bon tradition. Although King Trisong Detsen initially did not seek to destroy all Bon practices and even supported the work of translating Bon texts, he later initiated a harsh suppression of Bon. The great Bon master and sage Dranpa Namha, the father of the lotus-born Guru Padmasambhava, the founder of the Nyingma Buddhist tradition (rNying ma pa) and the master who contributed to the spread of the teachings of Tantra and Dzogchen in Tibet, publicly recognized the new religion, but in order to preserve the Bon tradition, he secretly continued to practice his practice and remained devoted to Bon. He asked the king the following question: “Why do you make a distinction between bon and chos?” (the word "Bon", meaning adherents of the Bon religion, and the word "Chos", meaning Buddhists - both also mean "dharma", or "truth"), by which he meant that in essence there is no difference between them. Vairochana, a Buddhist scholar and disciple of Padmasambhava, as well as many other translators of Indian and Oddiyana Buddhist texts took part in the translation of Bon texts from the Drusha language. In order not to be destroyed, many Bon texts had to be hidden in the form of terms in order to be rediscovered later, at a more appropriate time.

In the ninth and tenth centuries, the Bon tradition was subject to further persecution and attempts at destruction. However, its adherents were able to preserve the sacred scriptures until the eleventh century, when the Bon revival began. This was facilitated by the discovery of several important texts by Shenchen Luga, a descendant of the great master Tonpa Shenrab.

Shenchen Luga had many followers, some of whom founded the first Bon monastery in Tibet. In 1405, the great Bon master Nyamed Sherab Gyaltsen founded Menri Monastery. Menri and Yungdrung Ling became the most important of all the Bon monasteries.

Pantheon of Bon Gods

The Bon Pantheon contains a large number of deities. Each tantric ritual cycle in the Bonpo canon has its own complete collection of deities, methods of visualization and worship. One classification divides deities into three groups: peaceful (zhi-ba), wrathful (khro-bo) and fierce (phur-pa). In addition, Bonpo cosmogony describes groups of deities of Light and Darkness.

The highest level deity is Kuntu Sangpo (Kun-tu bZang-po) (Bonku (bon-sku: Body of Truth)), Shenlha O`kar (gShen-lha `Od-dkar) (Dzogku (rdzogs-sku: Body of Perfection)) and Tonpa Shenrab (Trulku (sprul-sku: Body of Incarnation)), who is the Teacher (sTon-pa) of the current world era. The most important female deity is Jamma (Byams-ma), the "Loving Mother", also known as Sa-trig Er-sangs. There are also collections of 1000 Buddhas and Buddhas of the three times (past, present and future). Among the protective deities known as Dharma Protectors (bKa`-skyong), the most important are Sipai Gyelmo (Srid-pa`i Gyal-mo: "Queen of Existence", the female form of the guardian of the Bonpo teachings), Midu or Midu Jampa Traggo (Mi- bdud `bYams-pa Khrag-mgo: male form of the guardian of the monastery Menri) and Tsengo Khurba (bTsan-rgod Hur-pa).

The most general division of deities: those distinguished among the supermundane gods of the higher spheres (`Jig-rten las` das-pa`i lha), demigods and lesser deities remaining active in this world (`Jig-rten pa`i lha).

The last group includes the entire collection of mountain deities, local deities (Sa-bdag), malevolent demons (gNyen), female forms of demons (Ma-mo), other spirits such as Dre (`Dre), Si (Sri), Lu (kLu) etc.

Rulers in pursuit of the secrets of bon

Fragmentary, sometimes semi-mythical information about the unprecedented power of the Bon lamas, legends that the first of them are the rulers of the mysterious state of Agharti, securely hidden in the high mountain caves of the Himalayas, became the reason that many powerful people were looking for ways to establish close contacts with the priests of the Bon religion .

Thus, an ardent follower of Buddhism, the Indian king Ashoka from the Mauryan dynasty, who lived in the 3rd century BC, went to war against the neighboring kingdom of Kalinga, whose inhabitants professed Bon.

However, the conqueror suffered a crushing defeat. And the reason for this was the secret knowledge that the Bon lamas possessed. After this, Ashoka, as the chronicles tell, devoted the rest of his life to the study of the sacred knowledge of Bon, and shortly before his death he created the Society of Nine Unknowns, which supposedly exists today.

Chinese chronicles of the 15th century preserved a mention of how the ambassadors of the Emperor of the Celestial Empire in 1403 visited the Sangri Monastery, the center of philosophical research of the Bon religion, after which they brought a number of ancient and very valuable scrolls as a gift to their ruler.

Russia was also interested in ancient religion. In 1902, on the personal instructions of Emperor Nicholas II, a secret reconnaissance expedition went to Tibet, the official purpose of which was to fight England for establishing influence in this Asian region. According to the memoirs of one of the participants in the campaign, Dambo Ulyanov, recorded for the purpose of conspiracy in the Kalmyk language, Russian intelligence officers made several unsuccessful attempts in Lhasa to make contact with the Bon lamas. However, soon after this, two members of the expedition died suddenly from an unknown illness. The efforts of the Soviet special services undertaken in the 20-30s of the last century turned out to be equally unsuccessful.

It was not possible to establish relations with the highest clerics of the Bon religion, after which the USSR lost its influence in this region for many decades.

In the same 30s, under the auspices of the Ahnenerbe secret society, a German expedition was sent to Tibet. Hitler's envoys were luckier than Stalin's.

Until 1943, close relations were maintained between Berlin and Lhasa, during which members of the Ahnenerbe were able to learn the secrets of a number of magical practices of the ancient religion.

Relationship between Bon and Tibetan Buddhism

Despite the strong antagonism that existed between the two religions in the early period, the later history of their relations contains examples of the interpenetration and synthesis of ideas and even common legendary heroes. In particular, the sage and magician of antiquity Drenpa Namka (8th century), according to the Bon people, was an adherent of their faith and feignedly converted to Buddhism during the persecution of the Bon people only in order to preserve his ancient faith. He became a symbol of the inseparability of Tibetan Buddhism and Bon, becoming an object of cult in both religions, and writers from both traditions showed interest in his biography. He is considered the patriarch of New Bon (Bon Sarma). According to his biography, Drenpa Namkha lived with a wife named Kandro Oden Barma, who gave birth to twin brothers Tsevan Rigdzin and Yungdrung Thongdrol. Tsevan Rigdzin became a Bon sage-writer, and Yungdrung Tongdrol and Nyingma and Bon Buddhists are often identified as Padmasambhava, the founder of the Nyingma school of Buddhism.

Unlike the four schools of Tibetan Buddhism, representatives of the five Bon families and later forms of Bon never showed political ambitions. Since Bon was greatly displaced by Buddhist sects, it did not cause serious concern among the leadership of the Buddhist community. However, the attitude of Buddhists towards those who believed in Bon was somewhat contemptuous - Buddhists called them “chiba” (outsiders). The situation changed with the rise to power of the fifth Dalai Lama, Lobsan Gyatso (1617 - 1682). The Shen, Shu and Dru clans were held in high esteem by him, and the Dalai Lama elevated their status to the level of high-ranking Buddhist dignitaries. In a decree issued in 1679, the Fifth Dalai Lama recognized Yungdrung Bon as an integral part of Tibetan esoteric science and his followers as "divine creatures" during his reign. After the death of the Fifth Dalai Lama, the theocrats of the Gelug sect became increasingly imbued with religious fundamentalism. Their attitude towards Bon and the Nyingma school close to it became increasingly hostile; this attitude did not change even after the defeat of the Tibetans in the uprising against Chinese occupation in 1959.

In 1988, driven by the desire to unite all Tibetan refugees, as well as to popularize the idea of ​​tolerance, the fourteenth Dalai Lama paid a visit to the Indian Menri Monastery and visited the Bon community in Dolanji (Himachal Pradesh, India). On this occasion, he dressed himself in a Bon headdress and held the scepter of Shenrab Mivo. In 2007, he visited Menri Monastery again, this time in connection with the opening of a new library.

The Bon community is a religious minority in Tibet. In Central Tibet, the largest concentration of Bons is observed in Dromo (Chumbi Valley), i.e. in the south of the region. In Tsang there are entire villages of Bon followers - Darding and Zangri in Nyemo; in the Kongpo region, east of Lhasa, and in the Nagchu region in the north. In Kham province, the areas of Derge, Kandze and Nyagrong are still inhabited by Tibetans - followers of this religion. Bon outposts also remain in Amdo. According to scientists, 218 Bon monasteries still exist (data taking into account the regions of China where Tibetans live).

Literature:

1. Kuznetsov B.I. - Ancient Iran and Tibet. (History of the Bon religion). St. Petersburg, 1998

2. Dugarov R. N. Bon and Buddhism in the traditions of the ancient beliefs of Amdo-Kham (Great Tibet VII-XVII centuries). Ulan-Ude, 1999

3. L.N. Gumilyov, Kuznetsov B.I. Reports of the VGO. Vol. 15: Ethnography. L., 1970

4. Buraev D.I. Bon religion and problems of sacralization of power in the Tibetan state of the 7th—9th centuries. dis. ... Dr. Ist. Sci. — Ulan-Ude: BSU, 2001