Editing Bon (section)

=== Tonpa Shenrab ===
From the traditional point of view of the Bon religion, Bon was the original religion of Tibet and Zhangzhung which was taught there by various Buddhas, including [[Tonpa Shenrab]] (whose name means “Supreme Holy Man”).<ref name=":1" /><ref>Powers 2007, p. 503.</ref>

Tonpa Shenrab is believed to have received the teaching from the transcendent deity [[Shenlha Okar]] in a pure realm before being reborn in the human realm with the purpose of teaching and liberating beings from the cycle of rebirth.<ref name=":1" /> He attained [[Buddhahood]] several hundred years before [[Gautama Buddha|Sakyamuni Buddha]], in a country west of Tibet, called Olmo Lungring or Tazig (Tasi), which is difficult to identify and acts as a semi-mythical holy land in Bon (like [[Shambhala|Shambala]]).<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">Samuel 2012, p. 221.</ref><ref>Kvaerne 1996, p. 14.</ref> Various dates are given for his birth date, one of which corresponds to 1917 BCE.<ref name=":4"/> Some Bon texts also state that Sakyamuni was a later manifestation of Tonpa Shenrab.<ref name=":2">Samuel 2012, p. 221.</ref>

Tonpa Shenrab is said to have been born to the Tazig royal family and to have eventually become the king of the realm. He is said to be the main Buddha of our era.<ref name=":13">Kvaerne 1996, p. 17.</ref> He had numerous wives and children, constructed numerous temples and performed many rituals in order to spread Bon.<ref name=":13">Kvaerne 1996, p. 17.</ref> Like Padmasambhava, he is also held to have defeated and subjugated many demons through his magical feats, and like [[Epic of King Gesar|King Gesar]], he is also believed to have led numerous campaigns against evil forces.<ref name=":13">Kvaerne 1996, p. 17.</ref>

Tonpa Shenrab is held to have visited the kingdom of Zhangzhung (an area in western Tibet around [[Mount Kailash]]),<ref name="Powers 2007, p. 502">Powers 2007, p. 502.</ref> where he found a people whose practice involved spiritual appeasement with [[animal sacrifice]]. He taught them to substitute offerings with symbolic animal forms made from barley flour. He only taught according to the student's capability and thus he taught these people the lower vehicles to prepare them for the study of [[sutra]], [[tantra]] and [[Dzogchen]] in later lives.<ref name="twr">
[[Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche]], ''Healing with Form, Energy, and Light''. Ithaca, New York: Snow Lion Publications, 2002. {{ISBN|1-55939-176-6}}, pp. xx</ref> It is only later in life that he became a celibate ascetic and it is during this time that he defeated his main enemy, the prince of the demons.<ref name=":13">Kvaerne 1996, p. 17.</ref>

After Tonpa Shenrab's [[Parinirvana|paranirvana]], his works were preserved in the [[Zhang-Zhung language|language of Zhangzhung]] by ancient Bon siddhas.<ref name=":12">{{Cite web|last=Achard|first=Jean Luc|title=The Three Kinds of Bon (The Treasury of Lives: A Biographical Encyclopedia of Tibet, Inner Asia and the Himalayan Region)|url=https://treasuryoflives.org/foundations|access-date=2022-01-28|website=The Treasury of Lives|language=en}}</ref> Most of these teachings were said to have been lost in Tibet after the persecutions against Bon, such as during the time of [[Trisong Detsen]].<ref name=":4">Samuel 2012, p. 227.</ref> Bon histories hold that some of Tonpa Shenrab's teachings were hidden away as termas and later re-discovered by Bon treasure revealers ([[Tertön|tertons]]), the most important of which is [[Shenchen Luga]] (c. early 11th century).<ref name=":4">Samuel 2012, p. 227.</ref>

In the fourteenth century, Loden Nyingpo revealed a terma known as ''The Brilliance'' ({{bo|w=gzi brjid}}), which contained the story of Tonpa Shenrab. He was not the first Bonpo [[tertön]], but his terma became one of the definitive scriptures of Bon.<ref name="Schaik">Van Schaik, Sam. ''Tibet: A History''. [[Yale University Press]] 2011, pages 99–100.</ref>

Bon histories also discuss the lives of other important religious figures, such as the Zhangzhung Dzogchen master [[Tapihritsa]].{{sfnp|Wangyal|2002}}