The Four Major Sects of Tibetan Buddhism

Tsongkapa's Religious Reform and the Emergence of the Gelugpa Sect as a Political Power

The Impact of Buddhism on Tibetan Culture

The "Pure Land"in Chinese religious mythology refers to the land where Buddha and the Bodhisattvas originated. It is identified as today's India, where in the past Buddhism flourished. Tibet, regarded as second only to India, was crowned with the title of "second Pure Land" ,a name well befitting a country where Buddhism has long permeated every aspect of its life and culture.

Lhasa, without exaggeration, may well be called a Mecca of Buddhism. Even today the surging crowds of prostrates inside and outside the Jokhang Temple day and night seem as large as ever, clouds of incense still rise in the Potala Palace, while fervent believers sup-porting the elderly and clutching children by the hand still visit the monasteries of Drepung and Sera. Among these people, many have come over a thousand miles from Sichuan, Qinghai and Gansu. They are prepared to stand in long queues waiting to all butter to the butter lamps, burn incense and pray for happiness in the "Next life".

Buddhist influence in the Land of Snows is all-pervasive. Monasteries, for example, are truly Tibet's most magnificent buildings, to which even the mansions of the nobility seem far inferior in comparison. Moreover there are an astonishing number of monasteries in Tibet. According to a report made by the Tibetan Local Government to the Administrative Council of the Qing court in 1737, there were 3,477 Gelug pa monasteries harboring 300,000 monks along. To-day, over twenty famous monasteries still remain, all well known to the people. For anyone traveling on the Tibetan plateau, whether in mountain wildernesses or in narrow valleys, amidst the vast, rolling grasslands or deep within virgin forests, ancient temples may be glimpsed or the sound of a hand bell may be heard. In pre-liberation days, besides the great number of professional monks, almost every household had a member renouncing his home and taking religious vows. Buddhism really is rooted deep within the life of every Tibetan household.

Also familiar to every household and every person in Tibet is the doctrine of Buddhism. Indeed, the Tibetan script was initially created expressly for the purpose of translating the Buddhist sutras. Tibet's traditional block prints are of religious texts first and foremost, and paintings mostly depict texts first and foremost, and paintings mostly depict the Buddha抯 birth or nirvana and reincarnations. The contents of the stories of popular Tibetan operas too are usually in praise of Buddhist teachings or of enlightenment. Carvings, without exception, depict the Buddha or Bodhisattvas, and as for architecture, there are buildings like the Potala Palace which, towering into the clouds, its golden roofs glistening in the sun, appears like a hovering ethereal dakini. Monasteries such as Drepung, Sera, Tashilhunpo, Sakya and Samye present a different picture. Built against a backdrop of mountains with buildings clustered one upon another, supreme halls towering above others, incense smoke curling up into the air, and a labyrinth of winding corridors, quiet and serene, these monasteries are like one might imagine the jeweled palaces of celestial realms. Buddhism is everywhere, and everything has something to do with Buddhism, too; the prayer-breads in people's hands, the prayer flags hoisted on roof-tops, the auspicious ??signs painted on doors, the "prayer walls"erected amidst fields or on roadsides, the folksongs people hum under their breath, and the widespread folk stories.