| Tibetan Buddhism (Simplified Chinese: ????) is the | | | | Asia, especially in Mongolia and Manchuria. It was |
| body of religious Buddhist doctrine and institutions | | | | adopted as an official state religion by the Mongol |
| characteristic of Tibet, the Himalayan region (including | | | | Yuan dynasty and the Manchu Qing dynasty of China. |
| northern Nepal, Bhutan, and Sikkim and Ladakh), | | | | Tibetan Buddhism in the contemporary world |
| Mongolia, Buryatia, Tuva and Kalmykia (Russia), and | | | | Today, Tibetan Buddhism is adhered to widely in the |
| northeastern China (Manchuria: Heilongjiang, Jilin). It is | | | | Tibetan Plateau, Bhutan, Mongolia, Kalmykia (the |
| a multifaceted and integrated teaching, naturally | | | | Russian north Caucasus), Siberia (central Russia), and |
| implementing methods for all human-condition levels: | | | | the Russian Far East. In the wake of the Tibetan |
| Hinayana, Mahayana, Vajrayana (Tantric Path) and Ati | | | | diaspora, Tibetan Buddhism has gained adherents in |
| Yoga (Dzogchen). In the past, Tibetan Buddhism was | | | | the West and throughout the world; there are |
| referred to by some as "Lamaism" (Teaching of | | | | estimated to be thousands of practitioners in Europe |
| spiritual teachers) but by many this is now considered | | | | and the Americas. Western celebrity Tibetan |
| inappropriate. | | | | Buddhism practitioners include Richard Gere, Adam |
| Certain Buddhist scriptures arrived in southern Tibet | | | | Yauch, Allen Ginsberg; Philip Glass, and Steven Seagal, |
| from India as early as 173 CE during the reign of | | | | who has been proclaimed a tulku. |
| Thothori Nyantsen, the 28th king of Tibet. During the | | | | Seagal's tulku status and martial arts skill positioned |
| third century the scriptures were disseminated to | | | | him to be chosen as godfather to Yabshi Pan |
| northern Tibet (which was not part of the same | | | | Rinzinwangmo. Rinzinwangmo, or "Renji," is the only |
| kingdom at the time). The influence of Buddhism was | | | | child of the 10th Panchen Lama of Tibet. Renji |
| not great, however, and the form was certainly not | | | | studied in the United States for a brief period, and |
| tantric, as the earliest tantric scripture texts (tantras) | | | | her family relied on Seagal for her safekeeping. |
| had only just then begun to be codified in India. | | | | Although there were many householder-yogis in |
| The most important event in Tibetan Buddhist | | | | Tibet, monasticism was the foundation of Buddhism |
| history, however, was the arrival of the great tantric | | | | in Tibet. It's estimated that as much as 25% of the |
| mystic Padmasambhava in Tibet in 774 at the | | | | population of Tibet was monastic from the 16th |
| invitation of King Trisong Detsen. It was | | | | century through the Chinese invasion. There were |
| Padmasambhava (more commonly known in the | | | | thousands of monasteries in Tibet, and nearly all |
| region as Guru Rinpoche) who merged tantric | | | | were ransacked and destoyed by the Chinese |
| Buddhism with the local Bön religion to form | | | | communists. Most of the major ones have been at |
| what we now recognize as Tibetan Buddhism. In | | | | least partially reestablished. |
| addition to writing a number of important scriptures | | | | In Mongolia during the 1920s approximately 1/3 of the |
| (some of which he hid for future tertons to find), | | | | male population were monks, though many lived |
| Padmasambhava established the Nyingma school | | | | outside monasteries. These monasteries were largely |
| from which all schools of Tibetan Buddhism are | | | | dismantled during Communist rule, but many have |
| derived. | | | | been reestablished with the Buddhist revival in |
| Tibetan Buddhism exerted a strong influence from | | | | Mongolia following the fall of Communism. |
| the 11th century AD among the peoples of Central | | | | |