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Bon
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==Etymology== Early Western studies of Bon relied heavily on Buddhist sources, and used the word to refer to the pre-Buddhist religion over which it was thought Buddhism triumphed.<ref>Kvaerne, Per, "The Study of Bon in the West: Past, present, and future", in Alex McKay, ed. ''History of Tibet, Volume 1'' (New York: Routledge, 2003), 473–4.</ref> Helmut Hoffmann's 1950 study of Bon characterised this religion as "animism" and "shamanism"; these characterisations have been controversial.<ref>Kvaerne, "Study of Bon in the West," 473-4.</ref> Hoffmann contrasted this animistic-shamanistic [[folk religion]] with the organised priesthood of Bonpos which developed later, [[Shaivism]], Buddhist [[Tantras (Buddhism)|tantras]].<ref>Kvaerne, "Study of Bon in the West," 474.</ref>{{Clarify|reason=The structure of this sentence leaves it unclear as to what’s being claimed about the relationship, if any, between Bon, Shaivism and Buddhist tantras. Specifically: as written, the commas around “Shaivism” seem to mark it as an appositive (reading as if to say that the previously-mentioned “organised priesthood of Bonpos” is called “Shaivism”).|date=July 2024}} Hoffman also argued that [[Gnosticism]] from the West influenced the systematised Bön religion.<ref name="s900">{{cite book | last=Wedderburn | first=A.J.M. | title=Baptism and Resurrection: Studies in Pauline Theology against its Graeco-Roman Background | publisher=Wipf & Stock Publishers | year=2011 | isbn=978-1-61097-087-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7-dMAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA19 | access-date=2024-05-10 | page=19}}</ref> Hoffmann's study was foundational for Western understandings of Bon, but was challenged by a later generation of scholars influenced by David Snellgrove, who collaborated with Bonpo masters and translated Bonpo canonical texts. These scholars tended to view Bon as a heterodox form of Buddhism, transmitted separately from the two transmissions from India to Tibet that formed the Tibetan Buddhist tradition.<ref>Kvaerne, "Study of Bon in the West," 476</ref> With the translation of Bonpo histories into Western languages as well as increased engagement between Bonpos and Western scholars, a shift took place in Bon studies towards engaging more thoroughly Bonpos' own histories and self-identification, recognising Bon as an independent religious tradition worthy of academic study.<ref>Kvaerne, "Study of Bon in the West," 478.</ref> The term ''Bon'' has been used to refer to several different phenomena. Drawing from Buddhist sources, early Western commentators on Bon used the term for the pre-Buddhist religious practices of Tibet. These include folk religious practices, [[Imperial cult|cults surrounding royalty]], and [[divination]] practices. However, scholars have debated whether the term ''Bon'' should be used for all of these practices, and what their relationship is to the modern Bon religion. In an influential article, R. A. Stein used the term "the nameless religion" to refer to folk religious practices, distinguishing them from Bon.<ref>Kvaerne, Per, "Extract from ''The Bon Religion of Tibet''", in Alex McKay, ed. ''History of Tibet, Volume 1'' (New York: Routledge, 2003), 486.</ref> Per Kvaerne uses Bon solely to refer to a tradition he dates from tenth and eleventh centuries CE, the tradition which developed into the modern Bon religion.<ref name="ReferenceA">Kvaerne, "Extract from ''The Bon Religion of Tibet''", 486.</ref> Kvaerne identifies this tradition as "an unorthodox form of Buddhism,"<ref>Kvaerne, "Extract from ''The Bon Religion of Tibet''", 486."</ref> but other scholars such as Samten G. Karmay take seriously Bonpo narratives which define Bon as a separate tradition with an origin in the land of 'Olmo Lungring.<ref>Karmay, "Extract from 'A General Introduction to the History and Doctrines of Bon'", 496-9.</ref> The term Yungdrung Bon (Wylie: ''g.yung drung bon'') is sometimes used to describe this tradition. Yungdrung Bon is a religion with a [[universal religion | universalist]] framework, although it is mainly limited to Tibetans, with some non-Tibetan converts. There is also a kind of local village priests which are common throughout the Himalayas that are called "bon", "lhabon" or "aya" (and bombo in Nepal). These are not part of the Bon religion proper, but are lay ritual specialists, often on a part time basis. Samuel states that it is unclear if these "bon" priests go back to the ancient period or if the term developed after Yungdrung Bon.<ref>Samuel 2012, p. 230.</ref> Furthermore, the [[Dongba]] (东巴) practices of the [[Nakhi people]] and the Hangui (韩规) religion of the [[Pumi people]] are both believed to have originated from Bon.<ref>{{cite web|title=普米韩规古籍调研报告|url=http://www.pumichina.com/pmyj_show.asp?id=58&classid=258&title=|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120914115046/http://www.pumichina.com/pmyj_show.asp?id=58&classid=258&title=|archive-date=2012-09-14|access-date=2013-06-14|publisher=Pumichina.com}}</ref>
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