What is Tibetan Buddhism?
Tibetan Buddhism is not a monolith- rather, it is an extremely complex mixture of beliefs, practices, and philosophies that made their way to Tibet from India and Central Asia over a period of 1000 years. In fact, there are schools of Tibetan Buddhism that have more in common with Zen/Ch’an than they do with other schools of Tibetan Buddhism. (Ch’an or Zen is like Mahamudra in that it is direct and immediate. Therefore, Zen has always stressed meditation over study and theory, and has been known as “the transmission that does not depend on teaching” or in Japanese: kyoge betsuden.) One of the strengths of Tibetan Buddhism is its preservation of so many methods, so many paths all of them reflections of the course the Buddha outlined.
biddhisatva vow, for eternity. Tibetan Buddhists believe that with each life we are reborn and experience karma–simply cause and effect–and that how we act in our current life is a reflection of past lives, and dictates the circumstances of our future lives. Pope Benedict, the leader of Roman Catholics worldwide, has stated that Buddism–not other branches of Christianity, or even Islam, is the greatest threat in terms of religion to the future of the Catholic Church. As shocking as this statement is, it is a testament to the spread of Tibetan religion worldwide. The popularity of the Tibetan variant of Buddha’s teachings shows that the message–of love, compassion, faith, and perfection within–strikes a chord worldwide. Tibetan Buddhism is gaining strength in the United States, and continueds to be a major force in the rise of Buddhism worldwide.As increasing numbers of monks and nuns emigrate to the United States, more teachers become available, and this deep font of knowledge wil
