Religion has swayed the whole life of many Tibetans. Religion is an unextractable component of their culture and almost every aspect of life has a religious significance to Tibetans. Opinions on the soul, the interconnectedness of everything, the importance of art, the social role of spiritual teachers, all play a role in how Tibetans view their world.
A popular religious tradition in Tibet is nature reverence. Tibetans believe that the world is heavily populated with spirits and demons; these spirits and demons must be acknowledged and appeased in order to have a prosperous and strife free life. Offerings such as burn juniper and alcoholic beverages are often put out for spirits. Mountains and lakes are considered to be very powerful spirits or deities that are often protector deities. When crossing a mountain pass it is tradition to carry a stone from the base of the mountain to the other side of the mountain and put it in a pile. This is to show your thanks to whatever spirit allowed you to safely pass through the mountain.
Mount Kailash is an important mountain to Tibetans and it is also the mountain that some believe that Sherab Mibo ascended to from heaven. The idea that sacred people descend from heaven onto mountains is a popular Tibetan motif; seven Tibetan kings are said to have descended from heaven onto various mountains (Tucci 218-219). There is also a popular creation story in Tibet about a white yak that creates the world by perpetually dividing a sacred mountain.
The idea that the world is full of spirits plays a big part in how Tibetans look at the world. In popular Tibetan tradition one has a soul, or bla, and shares it with multiple other beings (Tucci 191). When you are sleeping or in a trance your bla leaves your body and travels around (Tucci 191). There are four safe places for your soul to go when it is traveling: a specific lake, a specific yak, a specific tree, or a specific bird. The bla of those specific entities can also inhabit the human they are associated with. The bla can become lost while it is wondering, especially if it is scared by a demon (Tucci 191-192). When that happens it is necessary to visit a shaman and have him or her go out and find your bla and take it back either by force or by ransom.
Besides indigenous Tibetan beliefs, Tibet has also had its sacred outlook influenced by Buddhism. In Tibet Vajrayana Buddhism is the dominate form of religion. Several aspects of Vajrayana Buddhism have shaped the way Tibetans view the world from a sacred perspective. Almost all Tibetan Buddhist practices associated with mainstream Vajrayana doctrine will involve trying to overcome dualities.
Tibetan Buddhism teaches that everything is interconnected; this is called patichasamupada. Everything is considered interconnected because nothing has independent origin and no being has a continuous self through time. Nothing has independent origin because everything is the result of something that has happened, nothing comes out of a vacuum. No being is believed to have a self or atman because it is believed that everything can be broken down into separate independent, yet related, components that are constantly subject to change and decay. Because of that it is said that to draw any distinction between one thing and another is a false distinction because everything has one taste or one essence. So if one was to say that he or she was Albert Einstein, he or she would be deceiving themselves into believing that Albert Einstein is continuous through time and that Albert Einstein is somehow separate and distinct from somebody else. Because it is believed that one has no self and everything has dependent origins, Tibetan Buddhist assert that dualities are inherently false and must be over come. This is in contrast to Bon tradition which is very heavily dualistic.
In Bon it is believed that there is a good white force and an evil black force. Every being is either associated with white force or black force (Tucci 214). The spirits mentioned previously are considered to either be good spirits associated with the white force or bad spirits associated with the black force. However in Tibetan Buddhism, at least in the Tantric Monastic setting, such dualism is considered false and must be over come.
The desire to overcome dualism has greatly influenced the Tibetan Buddhist out look on the world and has shaped many of their practices. Many ceremonies involve deliberately manipulating symbols that represent opposite forces and one must try to experience how these dualisms are in fact not a dualism.
The chief way to experience the non-duality of existence is through deity yoga. Deity yoga is the primary form of Tibetan meditation. In deity yoga one must first visualize a deity in front of them. This can be a very hard processes and requires a lot of practice and skill. Because of the importance of deity yoga it is very important that one knows what a deity looks. This has highly influenced Tibetan art and almost all Tibetan art has some sort of religious significance. Sometimes one must be empowered to learn all of the multiple meanings of a Tantric image.
The second step of deity yoga is to become one with the deity. This is another example of trying to breakdown duality. In Tantric Buddhist practice there is no difference between one and the deity. One must only realize this. When one does realize that one is not different from the deity, then one develops deity pride. Deity pride is recognizing that you are the deity and the deity is you. Nothing has changed except the realization and experience of the practitioner.
Because we are talking about deity yoga in a Buddhist setting there must naturally be a last step to deity yoga. That is the step of dissolving the self into nothingness. This is the last step of deity yoga, if one can fully experience this step it is said that he or she has reached enlightenment. However once one does reach this state of enlightenment one does not leave samsara. Because Vajrayana is closely related to Mahayana schools it retains the bodhisattva vow.
The bodhisattva vow is simply a vow one takes to not reach full enlightenment, in the sense that one is freed from samsara, until every sentient being has reached enlightenment. This has greatly influenced the way Tibetans have views their world Because enlightened individuals are not going to leave samsara they are reborn to help other people reach enlightenment. This is where the Tibetan idea of a tulku comes from; a tulku is an enlightened individual who is reborn. The idea of the tulku has had many implications for Tibet.
Because people can be reborn it is possible that a new born baby is a fully enlightened being. One could even be the incarnation of a deity, such as the roles of the Dalia Lama and the Panchen Lama. Because of Tibetans typically sacred outlook on life, their system of government has traditionally been lead by spiritual teachers or spiritual beings. Pre-Buddhist Tibet had a tradition of divine kings, and then they later had a tradition of divine leaders in the tulku lamas.
Because of the importance of lamas in Tibetan society they do practice lama devotion. Because lamas are often considered to be incarnations of spiritually powerful beings, it is natural that Tibetans have incorporated lama devotion into their daily life. Also it is believed that lamas have magical powers such as the ability to read minds. Many important folk heros and saints in Tibet have been lamas such as Milarepa.
As mentioned above art is very important in Tibet because of deity yoga, but also because it helps keep one constantly reminded of religioius themes. Besides art depicting deities, art depicting different realms of rebirth and art depicting the truths of impermenance are very important in Tibet. Also in keeping with maintaining a sacred attitude many Tibetans will carry a prayer wheel with them and spin it all day long, in essence spinning the prayers into the world.
Not every Tibetan agrees with every other Tibetan on issues of religion, naturally. Some Tibetan practices are not congruent with other Tibetan practies, such as the the aforementioned Bon notion of duality and the Vajrayana notion of over coming duality. They also disagree about animal sacrifice, Bon do it and Buddhist do not. Animal sacrifice is more popular in the outskirts of the country than it is in the cities. Another thing that Bon and Tibetan Buddhism have in common is circumambulation (Tucci 150, 242). However they do differ on which direction; Bon go counter-clockwise and Tibetan Buddhist go clockwise.
Shamanism plays a big part in Tibetan religiousity. It is believed that a shaman is capable of rescuing lost souls, can tell the future, and can heal. The defining characteristic of a Shaman is deliberate soul travel brought on by trace. Shamans also practice exorcisms and are routinely possessed by spirits. Being possessed by spirits is another instance of the differencing opinions between Bon and Tibetan Buddhism. Buddhism in general does not teach of exorcisms, but to a Tibetan exorcisms may very likely be labeled as Buddhism.
Shamanism, deity yoga, lama devotion, art, and philosophy have all contributed to the Tibetan's sacred out look on life. When one believes in the interconnectedness of everything or that one shares their soul with the enviornment around them then it is easy to understand why Tibetans typically have a sacred outlook on life.
Works Cited
Tucci, Giuseppe. The Religions of Tibet. Trans. Geoffrey Samuel. Los Angelas: University of California P, 1980.
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