Introducing Tibetan Buddhism

Chapter 7:Lamas and other religious practitioners

Main topics covered• Lamas and lay practitioners• The two propagations of the teachings• Hereditary lamas• Visionary lamas (tertön)• Reincarnate lamas• The Gelukpa system of election• Celibate monastic practitioners (monks and nuns) and non-celibate yogis• Temples and Monastic Establishments

Key points 1• In most Buddhist countries the key leadership role is that of the fully-ordained Buddhist monk or bhikkhu (gelong in Tibetan). While there are many ordained monks in Tibet, the main religious leaders are the lamas.

• While many lamas are monks, most monks are not lamas, and many lamas are not monks, particularly in the non-Gelukpa traditions. The two roles overlap, but they are quite distinct from each other. Lamas vary from local village-level lamas to the heads of major religious traditions such as the Sakya Tridzin or Gyalwa Karmapa. They are all, however, teachers (the word is used to translate Sanskrit guru) and above all they are all masters of Tantric ritual. Training in Tantra is passed from lama to student, and the role of the lama is central in this transmission.

Key points 2• Lamas are also often administrators of substantial estates, and people of great authority in Tibetan society. They may also have direct political power, as with the Dalai Lamas in Tibet and the Shabdrung Rinpoche in Bhutan.

• As this social and political role of the lama suggests, Buddhism in Tibet is a collective project as much as an individual one, with its goal the welfare and collective improvement of the community as much as individual attainment of Buddhahood.

Temple of Tratruk

The initial foundation is attributed to the time of Songtsen Gampo, early seventh century, photo 1987

Atiśa’s monastery at Nyetang

Photo 1987

Key points 3• As lamas acquired estates and followings, the question of succession became increasingly significant. Various modes of succession developed, including hereditary succession, the recognition of tertön or visionary lamas (in the Nyingma and Bon traditions), the recognition of reincarnate lamas, and other systems of selection and succession.

Tertön (visionary lama)

Image of the tertön Dudjom Lingpa with two other lamas, Zangdok Pelri Monastery, Kalimpong , photo 2007

Reincarnate lama (tulku)

Trulshik Rinpoche , Thupten Chöling Monastery, Nepal. 1971

Potala, Lhasa

Photo from north side, 1987

Reincarnate lama (tulku)

Young tulku with the abbot of Drepung Loseling monastery, Bodh Gaya. Photo by Ruth Rickard, 1994

Namka Drime and Andzin Rinpoches

Namka Drime Rinpoche (left) and Andzin Rinpoche (right) in their shrine-room at Chandragiri, Orissa, 1990

Key points 4• Other significant religious roles are that of male and female ordained celibate practitioners (monks, nuns, male and female novices), and yogic practitioners, who usually did not take vows of celibacy.

Monks

Assembly of monks at Tango Gompa, Bhutan, 2010

Stages of ordinationMen

Ordinary layman

Taking refuge

Genyen(‘lay follower’)

Getsul (‘novice’)

Gelong(‘fully ordained monk’)

Women

Ordinary lay-woman

Taking refuge

Genyenma (‘lay follower’)

Getsulma(‘novice’)

Gelongma(‘fully ordained nun’)

Three levels of ordination

Lay yogic practitioner

Thubten Repa, a lay yogic practitioner at Chandragiri, Orissa, 1989

Key points 5• Tibetan religious communities (gompa) also varied considerably from small village temples to sizeable monastic towns or cities containing many constituent temples, colleges and lama households. The variety of religious roles and communities can be connected with the lack of strong centralised authority through much of Tibetan history.

Small gompa

Kardang Gompa, Lahul, India – temple, chortens, house, photo 1989

Medium-size gompa

Lamayuru Gompa, Ladakh, photo by Ruth Rickard, 2010

Large monastic centre

Part of Labrang Gompa, Amdo, photo 2010

The end