Buddhism in Tibet

The importance of Tibet to Buddhism as a whole has yet to be realised by the world at large. The 20th century, Western stereotype of Buddhism developed mainly through early contacts with Theravada and Zen Buddhism. Few people realised that these two schools were far from representative of the total wealth of diversity which was Buddhism during its first 18 centuries in India. India was its birthplace, cradle and home until Muslim invasions more or less eradicated it from that land in the 12th century. Theravada Buddhism, which spread from Sri Lanka throughout South-East Asia, grew from just one of the eighteen early Buddhist schools of India. Chinese (and later Japanese) Buddhism developed from the seeds sown by their founders, who brought home from their sojourn in India only the particular teachings they had encountered or preferred.
Tibet however, couched like a sleeping snow-lion along the northern flank of the Himalaya, was India's closest neighbour. Despite the hardship of crossing the mountain passes, Tibet was directly influenced, over four important centuries, by masters from all the great centres of Buddhism in India. Western Tibet was close to Kashmir and the Punjab, Eastern Tibet was in contact with China, and Central Tibet was closest to Nepal, the Gangetic plain (with its huge monasteries of Nalanda and Vikramasila), and Bengal (ancient Vanga). To the north, Tibet controlled an important part of the Silk Route, along which flowed ideas as well as rare goods. In the 400 years from the 8th through to 12th centuries, the full spectrum of Indian Buddhism went to Tibet.

For 1100 years, that wealth of Indian Buddhism has been carefully and reverently preserved in Tibet. In the latter half of the twentieth century, it burst onto the world stage and is now benefitting millions of people everywhere.

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