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A Brief History of the Origin of Tibetan Buddhism

The Buddha Shakyamuni was born in Lumbini, Nepal as prince Siddhartha in 563 B.C. and lived to be 80 years old. As a young man, Siddhartha left the pleasures of royal life in search of an end to the miseries of existence. After quickly perfecting the meditation practices taught by the most advanced teachers of his time, Siddhartha realized that enlightenment could not be attained by extreme methods of asceticism or by achievement of concentration states. By practicing the middle way of gently examining the nature of his own mind he attained buddhahood, the enlightened state.

Over the next 50 years and until his death, Buddha Shakyamuni gave many different kinds of teachings in order to accommodate the various capacities of beings. Although the Buddha gave only oral teachings, his early disciples recorded his teachings and instructions and thus passed them on in their original form. All these teachings are included in what are known as the sutrayana and the tantrayana.

Buddha Shakyamuni (18th c.)
© Himalayan Art Collection

Accomplished Buddhist masters also authored many treatises that explain the meaning of the Buddha's teachings. The emphasis was on the authentic and accurate transmission of the teachings as this is of prime importance. Over the centuries different lines of transmission, each with its own characteristics came about.

Buddhism in Tibet includes all the teachings that originated in India. Through the effort of Indian masters and Tibetan translators, the whole corpus of Buddhist teachings was translated into Tibetan. Thus, Buddhism flourished in Tibet as the national religion until the middle of the 20th century when China invaded Tibet.

Padmasambhava (19th c.)
© Himalayan Art Collection

In the 8th century the Tibetan King, Trisong Detsen, invited two Buddhist masters, Padmasambhava (also known as Guru Rinpoche) and Shantarakshita to Tibet. At that time the king initiated translation of many important Buddhists texts into Tibetan. This early activity of teaching and translation brought about the Nyingma tradition, referred to as the "Old Translation School." The teachings in the Nyingma tradition are based on the texts of this early period of translation.

In the 9th century, Buddhism in Tibet suffered a period of repression and decline under the reign of King Langdarma who converted the Buddhist monasteries to the pre-Buddhist religion of Bon. Not until the 11th century would Buddhism flourish again in Tibet. At that time, a second period of translation occurred that involved the revision of earlier terminology and

included new translations as well. The traditions that base their transmission on that period are referred to as the Sarma traditions or the "New Translation Schools." Of these the Kagyu, Sakya and Gelug schools are the most well known.

The Kagyu tradition was introduced to Tibet by Marpa Lotsawa, the translator (1012-1097). Marpa emphasized four special transmissions that trace their origin to the Indian siddha Tilopa and other Indian masters of the mahamudra lineage. The Sakya tradition was founded by Khon Konchog Gyalpo (1034-1102), who focused his transmission on the teachings expounded by the Indian Mahasiddha Virupa. The Gelug tradition was established by Tsongkhapa (1357-1419), who stressed the teachings of the Kadampa school founded in Tibet by the Indian master Atisha (982-1054).

Adapted from a compilation and translation by members of the
Karmapa International Buddhist Institute's Department of Translation.