The Bon Religion Of Tibet

"Accepting everything, refusing nothing through the centuries, it is the one all-embracing form of Tibetan religion," as leading Tibetan scholar David L. Snellgrove once said of Bon. This book, the first of its kind to be dedicated solely to the art of Bon religion and culture, which to this day has been overshadowed by its Buddhist counterpart, aims to explore and reveal the many hidden treasures of this so far overlooked religion. Engaging with the great scholars of the field, in particular the revered Samten G. Karmay, the reader is invited to delve into the depths of this wonderful culture. Jeff Watt, curator of the Rubin Museum of Art, enlightens the reader by differentiating between Bon and Buddhist art, which it are so often confused. The other contributors look at specific topics within Bon, including its paintings, sacred geography and its founding and therefore set the beautiful art and artifacts within their context. The purpose of this book is to inspire, and in the process to enable the reader to appreciate the beauty of Bon art while simultaneously gaining an understanding of the ethos of Bon, from the time of its founding through to the more than one million practicing Bonpo of today.

The Bon religion claims to be the original and authentic religion of the Tibetan people, and to have been firmly established in the Land of Snows long before Buddhism was introduced in the seventh century AD. Although its adherents were gradually reduced to a minority, Bon has nevertheless continued to flourish in many areas up to the present day in Tibet, especially in the eastern and north-eastern regions where a reconstruction and renaissance is taking place, as well as within the Bon community in exile in India. The iconography of the Bon religion is presented through a series of thangkas, miniatures and bronzes from public and private collections in the West, as well as from communities within Tibet and in exile. With a few exceptions they are hitherto unpublished and date from the late fourteenth to mid-twentieth centuries. The peaceful, tutelary, protector and local deities as well as the Bon siddhas, lamas and dakinis are identified and fully described by means of excerpts from ritual or biographical texts which are translated here for the first time.

History of Bon-po sect and its conflict with Lamaist Buddhist of Tibet.

This book, first published in 1961, examines the old Tibetan Bon religion, the development of Buddhism in India and Tibet, and covers the religious struggles of the eighth and ninth centuries. It also describes the rise of the Lamaist sects and the priest state of the Dalai Lamas, and taken as a whole is a study of the development of the character of Tibet itself.

Very little is known in the West about Tibetan Buddhism in comparison with other eastern religions. This is partly because the vast literature which it has produced, and which illuminates its history, is still far from accessible. In addition there exists a deep division between monastic Lamaism and religion as it is lived by the people: the former is fragmented into many schools, while the latter shows numerous regional variations. The first comprehensive account of Tibetan Buddhism to be published in English since Waddell's "Buddhism of Tibet" appeared in 1894, this translation is certain to become the standard reference work on the subject.

Accepting everything, refusing nothing through the centuries, it is the one all-embracing form of Tibetan religion, as leading Tibetan scholar David L. Snellgrove once said of Bon. This book, the first of its kind to be dedicated solely to the art of Bon religion and culture, which to this day has been overshadowed by its Buddhist counterpart, aims to explore and reveal the many hidden treasures of this so far overlooked religion. Engaging with the great scholars of the field, in particular the revered Samten G. Karmay, the reader is invited to delve into the depths of this wonderful culture. Jeff Watt, curator of the Rubin Museum of Art, enlightens the reader by differentiating between Bon and Buddhist art, which it are so often confused. The other contributors look at specific topics within Bon, including its paintings, sacred geography and its founding and therefore set the beautiful art and artifacts within their context. The purpose of this book is to inspire, and in the process to enable the reader to appreciate the beauty of Bon art while simultaneously gaining an understanding of the ethos of Bon, from the time of its founding through to the more than one million practicing Bonpo of today.