Schisms, murder, and hungry ghosts in Shangra-La

Cross Currents, Spring, 1999 by Mike Wilson

The second fact is that the practice of tantricism has been a recurring issue in Tibetan Buddhism. As described above, it was tantric monk Padmasabhava who exorcized Tibet of its demons and paved the way for the establishment of Buddhism. The form of Buddhism that took hold popularly was heavily influenced by tantra and the native Tibetan deities. In the eleventh century C.E., another Indian teacher, Atisha, came to Tibet and taught Buddhist doctrine free of tantric elements, reinterpreting tantra in a symbolic and philosophical manner, and advising that only two of the four tantric initiations be utilized. It is said by Thugmen Jigma Norbu, a former Tibetan monk and brother of the current Dalai Lama, that Atisha tried to strike a balance between Buddhist scripture and popular tantric practices. The resulting resistance caused Tibetan Buddhism to break into separate schools - the Kadampa, which followed Atisha's views; the Kargyupa and Sakyapa, which wanted to retain more of the traditional Tibetan deities; and the Nyingmapa, or Old Sect, which did not care at all for Atisha's reforms and followed tantric-influenced practices associated with Padmasabhava. Norbu says that the Bon of today in Tibet consider themselves closer to the Nyingmapa than to any other Buddhist sect.

In the fifteenth century, the monastic reformer, Tsongkhapa, continued the reforms begun by Atisha - establishing the Gelugpa school, founding the important monasteries of Ganden, Sera, and Drepung, emphasizing pure Buddhist teachings and the practice of virtue - but did not attempt to subvert or reform the older Tibetan Buddhist sects, all of whom coexisted with the Gelugpa and the native Bon.

The heads of the Gelugpa school were known as Dalai Lama and were believed each to be the reincarnation of his predecessor. Upon the death of a Dalai Lama, a search is made among children in Tibet for his reincarnation. Oracles and prophecies suggest areas to search and candidates to be tested and screened, often with reference to their ability to recognize acquaintances or belongings of the previous Dalai Lama. In this way, the head of the Gelugpa school reincarnates repeatedly to serve as Dalai Lama. The present Dalai Lama is the fourteenth in succession.

Gelugpa Ascendance and Death of the Great Fifth's Rival

Keeping the foregoing in mind, we turn our attention to events in seventeenth-century Tibet. In 1642 C.E., the Dalai Lama, head of the Gelugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism, acquired authority over a politically divided Tibet. The "Great Fifth," as he is known in Tibet, was shrewd in his dealings with the Chinese, the Mongols, and with his Tibetans. He consolidated power through an alliance with Mongol leader Gushri Khan, who defeated the strongest secular leader in Tibet, King of Tsang, a member of the Nyingmapa order. At the time the Great Fifth gained power there were both secular and sectarian rivalries. In addition to various schools of Tibetan Buddhism, the old Bon religion was reviving its bid for supremacy in Tibet. Rather than use his power to crush the Nyingma sect, which he easily could have done through his alliance with the Mongols, the Great Fifth deliberately incorporated Nyingmapa teachings and practices into his ecclesiastical court (Norbu, 248-49). Some Gelugpa purists objected.