Editing Bon (section)

== History ==
[[File:Buddhist criticism on a Bon funeral ritual.jpeg|thumb|A manuscript containing a Buddhist criticism of an ancient Bon funeral ritual]]

=== Pre-Buddhist Bon and the arrival of Buddhism ===
Little is known about the pre-Buddhist religion of ancient Tibet and scholars of Bon disagree on its nature.<ref name=":9">{{Cite web|last=Schaik|first=Sam van|date=2009-08-24|title=Buddhism and Bon IV: What is bon anyway?|url=https://earlytibet.com/2009/08/24/buddhism-and-bon-iv/|access-date=2022-01-28|website=early Tibet|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":25">{{Cite book |title=The Tibetan Book of the Dead |publisher=[[Viking Press]] |others=Introductory commentary by the [[14th Dalai Lama]] |year=2005 |isbn=0-670-85886-2 |edition=First American |location=New York |pages=449 |translator-last=Dorje |translator-first=Gyurnme |translator-last2=Coleman |translator-first2=Graham |translator-last3=Jinpa |translator-first3=Thupten}}</ref> Some think that Bon evolved from [[Zoroastrianism]] and others say [[Kashmir Valley|Kashmiri]] Buddhism.<ref name=":25" />

Bon may have referred to a kind of ritual, a type of priest, or a local religion.<ref name=":9"/> In ancient Tibet, there seem to have been a class of priests known as ''kushen'' (''sku gshen'', “Priests of the Body”, i.e., the king's body). This religion was eventually marginalised with the coming of Buddhism and Buddhists wrote critiques and polemics of this religion, some of which survive in manuscripts found in Dunhuang (which refer to these practices as "Bon").<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":9"/>

Likewise, Powers notes that early historical evidence indicates that the term "bon" originally referred to a type of priest who conducted various ceremonies, including priests of the [[Yarlung dynasty|Yarlung]] kings. Their rituals included propitiating local spirits and guiding the dead through ceremonies to ensure a good afterlife. Their rituals may have involved animal sacrifice, making offerings with food and drink, and burying the dead with precious jewels. The most elaborate rituals involved the Tibetan kings which had special tombs made for them.<ref name="Powers 2007, p. 497"/>

[[Robert Thurman]] describes at least one type of Bon as a "court religion" instituted "around 100 BCE" by King Pudegungyal, ninth king of the [[Yarlung dynasty]], "perhaps derived from Iranian models", mixed with existing native traditions. It was focused on "the support of the divine legitimacy of an organized state", still relatively new in Tibet. Prominent features were "great sacrificial rituals", especially around royal coronations and burials, and "oracular rites derived from the folk religion, especially magical possessions and healings that required the priests to exhibit shamanic powers". The king was symbolised by the mountain and the priest/shaman by the sky.  The religion was "somewhere between the previous "primitive animism", and the much changed later types of Bon.<ref>Thurman in: Rhie, Marylin and [[Robert Thurman|Thurman, Robert]] (eds):''Wisdom And Compassion: The Sacred Art of Tibet'', p. 21-22, 1991, Harry N. Abrams, New York (with 3 institutions), {{ISBN|0810925265}}</ref>

According to David Snellgrove, the claim that Bon came from the West into Tibet is possible, since Buddhism had already been introduced to other areas surrounding Tibet (in [[Central Asia]]) before its introduction into Tibet. As Powers writes, "since much of [[Buddhism in Central Asia|Central Asia at one time was Buddhist]], it is very plausible that a form of Buddhism could have been transmitted to western Tibet prior to the arrival of Buddhist missionaries in the central provinces. Once established, it might then have absorbed elements of the local folk religion, eventually developing into a distinctive system incorporating features of Central Asian Buddhism and Tibetan folk religion."<ref name="Powers 2007, p. 502"/>

According to Powers, ancient Bon was closely associated with the royal cult of the kings during the early [[Tibetan Empire]] period and they performed "ceremonies to ensure the well-being of the country, guard against evil, protect the king, and enlist the help of spirits in Tibet's military ventures."<ref name=":7"/> As Buddhism began to become a more important part of Tibet's religious life, ancient Bon and Buddhism came into conflict and there is evidence of anti-Bon polemics.<ref name="Gorvine 2018, p. 21">Gorvine 2018, p. 21.</ref> Some sources claim that a debate between Bonpos and Buddhists was held, and that a Tibetan king ruled Buddhism the winner, banishing Bon priests to border regions.<ref name=":7"/> However, Gorvine also mentions that in some cases, Bon priests and Buddhist monks would perform rituals together, and thus there was also some collaboration during the initial period of Buddhist dissemination in Tibet.<ref name="Gorvine 2018, p. 21"/>

Bon sources place the blame of the decline of Bon on two persecutions by two Tibetan kings, Drigum Tsenpo and the Buddhist King [[Trisong Detsen|Tri Songdetsen]] (r. 740–797).<ref name=":11">[[Per Kværne|Kværne]], Per. "Bon Rescues Dharma" in Donald S. Lopez (Jr.) (ed.) (1998). ''Religions Of Tibet In Practice,'' p. 99.</ref> They also state that at this time, Bon terma texts were concealed all over Tibet.<ref name=":11"/> Bon sources generally see the arrival of Buddhism in Tibet and the subsequent period of Buddhist religious dominance as a catastrophe for the true doctrine of Bon. They see this as having been caused by demonic forces.<ref name=":15">Kvaerne 1996, p. 22.</ref> However, other more conciliatory sources also state that Tonpa Shenrab and Sakyamuni were cousins and that their teachings are essentially the same.<ref name=":15">Kvaerne 1996, p. 22.</ref>

The most influential historical figure of this period is the Bon lama [[Drenpa Namkha]]. Buddhist sources mention this figure as well and there is little doubt he was a real historical figure.<ref name=":18">Kvaerne 1996, p. 119.</ref> He is known for having ordained himself into Bon during a time when the religion was in decline and for having hidden away many Bon termas. Bon tradition holds that he was the father of another important figure, Tsewang Rigzin and some sources also claim he was the father of [[Padmasambhava]],<ref name=":18">Kvaerne 1996, p. 119.</ref> which is unlikely as the great majority of sources say Padmasambhava was born in [[Swat, Pakistan]].  A great cult developed around Drenpa Namkha and there is a vast literature about this figure.<ref name=":18">Kvaerne 1996, p. 119.</ref>

=== The development of Yungdrung Bon ===
[[File:Shenchen Luga..jpg|thumb|The Bon [[Tertön|terton]] (treasure discoverer) [[Shenchen Luga]] (11th century), a key figure of the renaissance period.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Biography Of Shenchen Luga|url=https://collab.its.virginia.edu/wiki/renaissanceold/Biography%20of%20Shenchen%20Luga.html|access-date=2022-01-29|website=collab.its.virginia.edu}}</ref>]]
Yungdrung Bon (Eternal Bon) is a living tradition that developed in Tibet in the 10th and 11th centuries during the [[History of Tibetan Buddhism#Tibetan Renaissance (10th–12th centuries)|later dissemination of Buddhism]] (sometimes called the renaissance period) and contains many similarities to Tibetan Buddhism.<ref>Kvaerne 1996, p. 10.</ref> According to Samuel, the origins of modern Yungdrung Bon have much in common with that of the [[Nyingma]] school. Samuel traces both traditions to groups of "hereditary ritual practitioners" in Tibet which drew on [[Vajrayana|Buddhist Tantra]] and "elements of earlier court and village-level ritual" during the 10th and 11th centuries.<ref name=":5">Samuel 2012, pp. 230–231.</ref>

These figures were threatened by the arrival of new Buddhist traditions from India which had greater prestige, new ritual repertoires and the full backing of Indian Buddhist scholarship. Both Nyingmapas and Bonpos used the concept of the terma to develop and expand their traditions in competition with the [[Sarma (Buddhism)|Sarma]] schools and also to defend their school as being grounded in an authentic ancient tradition.<ref name=":5"/> Thus, Bonpo tertons (treasure finders) like Shenchen Luga and Meuton Gongdzad Ritrod Chenpo revealed important Bon termas. An interesting figure of this era is the Dzogchen master and translator [[Vairotsana]], who according to some sources also translated Bon texts into Tibetan and also hid some Bon termas before leaving Tibet.<ref>Rossi 2000, p. 23.</ref>

While Yungdrung Bon and Nyingma originated in similar circles of pre-Sarma era ritual tantric practitioners, they adopted different approaches to legitimate their traditions. Nyingma looked back to the [[Tibetan Empire]] period, and Indian Buddhist figures like Padmasambhava. Bonpos meanwhile looked further back, to Tibet's pre-Buddhist heritage, to another Buddha who was said to have lived before Sakyamuni, as well as to other masters from the kingdom of Zhangzhung.<ref name=":5"/> The main Bonpo figures of the Tibetan renaissance period were tertons (treasure revealers) who are said to have discovered Bon texts that had been hidden away during the era of persecution. These figures include [[Shenchen Luga]] (gShen chen Klu dga'), Khutsa Dawo (Khu tsha zla 'od, b. 1024), Gyermi Nyi O (Gyer mi nyi 'od), and Zhoton Ngodrup (bZhod ston d Ngos grub, c. 12th century). Most of these figures were also laymen. It was also during this era of Bonpo renewal that the Bon Kanjur and Tenjur were compiled.<ref>Achard (2008), p. xix.</ref>

Just like all forms of Tibetan Buddhism, Yungdrung Bon eventually developed a monastic tradition, with celibate monks living in various monasteries. Bon monks are called ''trangsong'', a term that translates the Sanskrit [[rishi]] (seer, or sage).<ref name=":7">Powers 2007, p. 505.</ref> A key figure in the establishment of Bon monasticism was [[Nyamme Sherab Gyaltsen]] (mNyam med Shes rab rgyal mtshan, c. 1356–1415).<ref name=":22">Achard 2008, p. xix.</ref> According to Jean Luc Achard, "his insistence on [[Madhyamaka]], logic, gradual path ([[lamrim]]) and philosophical studies has modeled the now traditional approach of practice in most Bon po monasteries."<ref name=":22">Achard 2008, p. xix.</ref> His tradition emphasises the importance of combining the study of sutra, tantra and Dzogchen.<ref name=":22">Achard 2008, p. xix.</ref> The most important Bon monastery is [[Menri Monastery|Menri monastery]], which was built in 1405 in [[Ü-Tsang|Tsang]]. Bon monks, like their Buddhist counterparts, study scripture, train in philosophical debate and perform rituals. However, Bon also has a strong tradition of lay yogis.<ref name=":7" />

=== The era of New Bon ===
[[File:Sanggye Lingpa (1705-1735). Tibet, 19th century, Rubin Museum of Art..jpg|thumb|Sanggye Lingpa (1705–1735), Tibet, 19th century, Rubin Museum of Art]]
"New Bon" (''bonsar'', or sarma Bon) is a more recent development in the Bon tradition, which is closely related to both Eternal Bon and the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":19">{{Cite web|last=Myrdhin Reynolds|first=John|title=Vajranatha.com {{!}} Bonpo and Nyingmapa Traditions of Dzogchen Meditation|url=https://vajranatha.com/bonpo-and-nyingmapa-traditions-of-dzogchen/|access-date=2022-01-29|language=en-US}}</ref> It is centered on the figures of [[Drenpa Namkha]], Tsewang Rigdzin and [[Padmasambhāva|Padmasambhava]], which in this school are considered to have transmitted and written commentaries on the works of Tonpa Shenrab in around the 8th century.<ref name=":1" />

According to Jean Luc Achard, the New Bon movement begins in Eastern Tibet with the works of Tulku Loden Nyingpo (1360–1385), a terton who discovered the ''Zibji'' (''gzi brjid''), a famous Tonpa Shenrab biography.<ref name=":1" /> His reincarnation, Techen Mishik Dorje is also known for his terma revelations.<ref name=":1" />

The movement continued to develop, with new Bon terma texts being revealed well into the 18th century by influential tertons like Tulku Sangye Lingpa (b. 1705) and the first Kundrol Drakpa (b. 1700).<ref name=":1" /> New Bon figures do not consider their revelations to be truly "new", in the sense that they do not see their revelations as being ultimately different from Yungdrung Bon. However, some followers of more orthodox Yundrung Bon lineages, like the Manri tradition, saw these termas as being influenced by Buddhism. Later New Bon figures like Shardza Rinpoche (1859–1934) responded to these critiques (see his ''Treasury of Good Sayings'', ''legs bshad mdzod'').<ref name=":1" /> The work of these New Bon figures led to the flourishing of New Bon in Eastern Tibet.<ref>Achard 2008, p. xxi.</ref>

Some Tibetan tertons like [[Dorje Lingpa]] were known to have revealed New Bon termas as well as Nyingma termas.<ref name=":19" />

[[Lobsang Yeshe, 5th Panchen Lama|Lobsang Yeshe]] (1663–1737), recognised as the 5th [[Panchen Lama]] by the [[5th Dalai Lama]] (1617–1682), was a member of the Dru family, an important Bon family. Samten Karmay sees this choice as a gesture of reconciliation with Bon by the Fifth Dalai Lama (who had previously converted some Bon monasteries to Gelug ones by force). Under the Fifth Dalai Lama, Bon was also officially recognised as a Tibetan religion.<ref>{{citation|last=Karmay|first=Samten G.|title=The Great Fifth|url=http://www.iias.nl/nl/39/IIAS_NL39_1213.pdf|work=International Institute for Asian Studies Newsletter|issue=39|pages=12–13|year=2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130915182901/http://www.iias.nl/nl/39/IIAS_NL39_1213.pdf|access-date=2010-05-24|archive-date=2013-09-15|url-status=dead}}</ref> Bon suffered extensively during the [[Dzungar Khanate|Dzungar]] invasion of Tibet in 1717, when many [[Nyingda|Nyingmapas]] and Bonpos were executed.<ref>Norbu, Namkhai. (1980). “Bon and Bonpos”. ''Tibetan Review'', December, 1980, p. 8.</ref>

===Modern period===
In the 19th and 20th centuries, the Bon tradition (both New Bon and Eternal Bon lineages) flourished in Eastern Tibet, led by charismatic Bonpo lamas like bDe ch en gling pa, d Bal gter sTag s lag can (bsTan 'dzin dbang rgyal), gSang sngags gling pa, and Shardza Rinpoche.<ref>Achard 2008, p. xx</ref>

[[Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen]] (1859–1933) was a particularly important Bon master of this era, whose collected writings comprise up to eighteen volumes (or sometimes twenty).<ref>Achard 2008, p. xxiii.</ref> According to William M. Gorvine, this figure is "the Bon religion's most renowned and influential luminary of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries."<ref>Gorvine 2018, p. 2.</ref> He was associated with the orthodox Eternal Bon Manri monastery tradition as well as with New Bon figures like the 5th and 6th Kun grol incarnations, gSang sngags gling pa (b. 1864) and bDe chen gling pa (1833–1893) as well as with dBal bon sTag lag ca n, bsTan ' d zin dbang rgyal (b. 1832). These figures maintained the orthodox Manri tradition of Eternal Bon, while also holding New Bon terma lineages.<ref>Achard 2008, pp. xxi–xxii.</ref>

Shardza Rinpoche is also known to have had connections with the non-sectarian Buddhist lamas of the [[Rimé movement|Rime movement]] and to have taught both Buddhists and Bonpos.<ref>Samuel 2012, p. 228.</ref><ref>Gorvine 2018, p. 3.</ref>

Shardza Rinpoche had many disciples, including his nephew Lodro Gyatso (1915–1954) who led the lineage and Shardza's hermitage and college, after Shardza's passing.<ref>Gorvine 2018, p. 4.</ref><ref>Achard 2008, p. 113</ref> His disciple [[Kagya Khyungtrul Jigmey Namkha]] trained many practitioners to be learned in not only the Bon religion, but in all Tibetan sciences.<ref>{{Cite web|title=History of the YungDrung Bön Tradition|url=https://sherabchammaling.com/about/tibetan-bon/|access-date=2022-01-29|website=Sherab Chamma Ling|language=en-US}}</ref> More than three hundred Bon monasteries had been established in Tibet before Chinese occupation. Of these, [[Menri Monastery]] and [[Shurishing Yungdrung Dungdrakling Monastery]] were the two principal monastic universities for the study and practice of Bon.

=== Present situation ===
[[file:Menri Feb 2016.jpg|thumb|[[Menri Monastery]], India]]
[[file:Yungdrup Bon Lamas.jpg|thumb|Yungdrung Bon lamas]]
[[file:14th Dalai Lama of Tibet and Bon Teacher Tenzin Namdak in 1978.jpg|thumb|14th Dalai Lama and Tenzin Namdak in 1978]]
In 2019, scholars estimate that there were 400,000 Bon followers in the [[Tibetan plateau]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Tibet |url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-report-on-international-religious-freedom/china/tibet/ |website=United States Department of State |access-date=13 October 2021}}</ref> When [[Incorporation of Tibet into the People's Republic of China|Tibet was invaded by the People's Republic of China]], there were approximately 300 Bon monasteries in Tibet and the rest of [[western China]]. Bon suffered the same fate as Tibetan Buddhism did during the Chinese [[Cultural Revolution|Cultural revolution]], though their monasteries were allowed to rebuild after 1980.<ref>Samuel 2012, p. 231.</ref>

The present spiritual head of the Bon is [[Menri Trizin Rinpoché]], successor of [[Lungtok Tenpai Nyima]] (1929–2017), the thirty-fourth Abbot of [[Menri Monastery]] (destroyed in the [[Cultural Revolution]], but now rebuilt), who now presides over [[Pal Shen-ten Menri Ling]] in [[Dolanji]] in [[Himachal Pradesh]], India. The 33rd lineage holder of [[Menri Monastery]], Menri Trizin [[Lungtok Tenpai Nyima]] and [[Lopön Tenzin Namdak]] are important current lineage holders of Bon.

A number of Bon establishments also exist in [[Nepal]]; [[Triten Norbutse Bonpo Monastery]] is one on the western outskirts of [[Kathmandu]]. Bon's leading monastery in India is the [[Menri Monastery#Menri Monastery in India|refounded Menri Monastery]] in [[Dolanji]], [[Himachal Pradesh]].

==== Official recognition ====
Bonpos remained a stigmatised and marginalised group until 1979, when they sent representatives to [[Dharamshala]] and the [[14th Dalai Lama]], who advised the [[Parliament of the Central Tibetan Administration]] to accept Bon members. Before this recognition, during the previous twenty years, the Bon community had received none of the financial support which was channelled through the Dalai Lama's office and were often neglected and treated dismissively in the Tibetan refugee community.<ref>Samuel 2012, p. 222.</ref>

Since 1979, Bon has had official recognition of its status as a religious group, with the same rights as the Buddhist schools. This was re-stated in 1987 by the Dalai Lama, who also forbade discrimination against the Bonpos, stating that it was both undemocratic and self-defeating. He even donned Bon ritual paraphernalia, emphasising "the religious equality of the Bon faith".<ref>Kværne, Per and Rinzin Thargyal. (1993). ''Bon, Buddhism and Democracy: The Building of a Tibetan National Identity'', pp. 45–46. Nordic Institute of Asian Studies. {{ISBN|978-87-87062-25-1}}.</ref> The Dalai Lama now sees Bon as the fifth Tibetan religion and has given Bonpos representation on the Council of Religious Affairs at [[Dharamshala|Dharamsala]].<ref name=":19"/>

However, Tibetans still differentiate between Bon and Buddhism, referring to members of the Nyingma, Shakya, Kagyu and Gelug schools as ''nangpa'', meaning "insiders", but to practitioners of Bon as "Bonpo", or even ''chipa'' ("outsiders").<ref>{{cite web |title=Bon Children's Home In Dolanji and Polish Aid Foundation For Children of Tibet |date=4 July 2023 |publisher=Nyatri.org |url=http://nyatri.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=455&Itemid=118}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bonfuturefund.org/wp/about-the-bon/ |title=About the Bon: Bon Culture |publisher=Bonfuturefund.org |access-date=2013-06-14 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130906172112/http://www.bonfuturefund.org/wp/about-the-bon/ |archive-date=2013-09-06 }}</ref>