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Religion and spirituality is extremely important to the Tibetans and
has a strong influence over all aspects of lives; ingrained deeply into
their cultural heritage. Bön is the ancient traditional religion of Tibet,
but following the introduction of Tantric Buddhism into Tibet by
Padmasambhava this became eclipsed by Tibetan Buddhism, a distinctive form
of Vajrayana. Tibetan Buddhism is practiced not only in Tibet but also in
Mongolia, parts of northern India, the Buryat Republic, the Tuva Republic,
and in the Republic of Kalmykia.
Tibetan Buddhism has four main traditions (the suffix pa is comparable to
"er" in English):
Gelug(pa), Way of Virtue, also known casually as Yellow Hat, whose
spiritual head is the Ganden Tripa and whose temporal, the Dalai Lama.
Successive Dalai Lamas ruled Tibet from the mid-17th to mid-20th
centuries. This order was founded in the 14th to 15th century by Je
Tsongkhapa, based on the foundations of the Kadampa tradition. Tsongkhapa
was renowned for both his scholasticism and his virtue. The Dalai Lama
belongs to the Gelugpa school, and is regarded as the embodiment of the
Bodhisattva of Compassion.
Kagyu(pa), Oral Lineage. This contains one major subsect and one
minor subsect. The first, the Dagpo Kagyu, encompasses those Kagyu schools
that trace back to Gampopa. In turn, the Dagpo Kagyu consists of four
major sub-sects: the Karma Kagyu, headed by a Karmapa, the Tsalpa Kagyu,
the Barom Kagyu, and Pagtru Kagyu. There are further eight minor
sub-sects, all of which trace their root to Pagtru Kagyu. Among the eight
sub-sects the most notable of are the Drikung Kagyu and the Drukpa Kagyu.
The once-obscure Shangpa Kagyu, which was famously represented by the 20th
century teacher Kalu Rinpoche, traces its history back to the Indian
master Niguma, sister of Kagyu lineage holder Naropa. This is an oral
tradition which is very much concerned with the experiential dimension of
meditation. Its most famous exponent was Milarepa, an eleventh century
mystic.
Nyingma(pa), The Ancient Ones. This is the oldest, the original
order founded by Padmasambhava.
Sakya(pa), Grey Earth, headed by the Sakya Trizin, founded by Khon
Konchog Gyalpo, a disciple of the great translator Drokmi Lotsawa. Sakya
Pandita 1182–1251CE was the great grandson of Khon Konchog Gyalpo. This
school very much represents the scholarly tradition.
Islam
Main article: Islam in Tibet
In Tibetan cities, there are also small communities of Muslims, known as
Kachee (Kache), who trace their origin to immigrants from three main
regions: Kashmir (Kachee Yul in ancient Tibetan), Ladakh and the Central
Asian Turkic countries. Islamic influence in Tibet also came from Persia.
After 1959 a group of Tibetan Muslims made a case for Indian nationality
based on their historic roots to Kashmir and the Indian government
declared all Tibetan Muslims Indian citizens later on that year. There is
also a well established Chinese Muslim community (gya kachee), which
traces its ancestry back to the Hui ethnic group of China. It is said that
Muslim migrants from Kashmir and Ladakh first entered Tibet around the
12th century. Marriages and social interaction gradually led to an
increase in the population until a sizable community grew up around
Lhasa. (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibet )
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