Bon or Bön, also known as Yungdrung Bon, is the indigenous Tibetan religion which shares many similarities and influences with Tibetan Buddhism. It initially developed in the tenth and eleventh centuries but retains elements from earlier Tibetan religious traditions. Bon is a significant minority religion in Tibet, especially in the east, as well as in the surrounding Himalayan regions.
Songtsen Gampo, also Songzan Ganbu, was the 33rd Tibetan king and founder of the Tibetan Empire, and is traditionally credited with the introduction of Buddhism to Tibet, influenced by his Nepali consort Bhrikuti, of Nepal's Licchavi dynasty, as well as with the unification of what had previously been several Tibetan kingdoms. He is also regarded as responsible for the creation of the Tibetan script and therefore the establishment of Classical Tibetan, the language spoken in his region at the time, as the literary language of Tibet.
Thonmi Sambhota is traditionally regarded as the inventor of the Tibetan script and author of the Sum cu pa and Rtags kyi 'jug pa in the 7th century CE. Thonmi Sambhota is not mentioned in any of the Old Tibetan Annals or other ancient texts, although the Annals does mention writing shortly after 650. The two treaties attributed to him must postdate the 13th century.
Tonpa Shenrab, also known as Shenrab Miwo, Buddha Shenrab, Guru Shenrab and a number of other titles, is the legendary founder of the Bon religious tradition of Tibet. The story of Tonpa Shenrab was revealed in a fourteenth century terma of Loden Nyingpo.
Zhangzhung is an extinct Sino-Tibetan language that was spoken in Zhangzhung in what is now western Tibet. It is attested in a bilingual text called A Cavern of Treasures and several shorter texts.
Lopön Tenzin Namdak is a Tibetan religious leader and the most senior teacher of Bon, in particular of Dzogchen and the Mother Tantras.
Tapihritsa or Tapahritsa was a Bon practitioner who achieved the Dzogchen mastery of the rainbow body and consequently, as a fully realised trikaya Buddha, is invoked as an iṣṭadevatā by Dzogchen practitioners in both Bon and Tibetan Buddhism. He is known for his achievement of the rainbow body.
Kyunglung is a village located within the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. Known as the "Silver Palace of Garuda Valley", Kyunglung Ngüka is situated southwest of Mount Kailash. It is associated with palaces found in the upper Sutlej Valley, which were once part of the capital city of the ancient Zhangzhung kingdom.
Tritsuk Detsen, better known by his nickname Ralpachen, according to traditional sources, was the 40th king of the Yarlung Dynasty of Tibet. He reigned after the death of his father, Sadnalegs, in c. 815, and grew the empire to its largest extent. He is traditionally said to have been murdered by his brother in 838. Ralpachen is one of Tibet's three Dharma Kings, and referred to as "son of God" in the ancient Tibetan chronicle Testament of Ba.
Mangsong Mangtsen, Trimang Löntsen or Khri-mang-slon-rtsan succeeded to the Tibetan throne either after the death of his father Gungsong Gungtsen, or of his grandfather the 33rd Tibetan king Songtsen Gampo. He became the 34th king of Tibet's Yarlung Dynasty, and the second king during the Tibetan Empire era.
Gungsong Gungtsen was the only known son of Songtsen Gampo, the first Tibetan Emperor and the Prince of Tibetan Empire in Yarlung Dynasty.
Shenlha Ökar or Shiwa Ökar is the most important deity in the Yungdrung Bon tradition of Tibet. He is counted among the "Four Transcendent Lords" along with Satrig Ersang, Sangpo Bumtri, and Tonpa Shenrab Miwoche.
Namri Songtsen, also known as "Namri Löntsen" was according to tradition, the 32nd King of Tibet of the Yarlung dynasty. During his 48 years of reign, he expanded his kingdom to rule the central part of the Tibetan Plateau. He also had a good diplomatic partnership with other tribes and Empires. His actions were decisive in the setting up of the Tibetan Empire, to which he can be named co-founder with his son, Songtsen Gampo. He Sieged in Kingdom of Sumpa in early 7th century.
The Tibetan Empire was an empire centered on the Tibetan Plateau, formed as a result of imperial expansion under the Yarlung dynasty heralded by its 33rd king, Songtsen Gampo, in the 7th century. The empire further expanded under the 38th king, Trisong Detsen, and expanded to its greatest extent under the 41st king, Rapalchen, whose 821–823 treaty was concluded between the Tibetan Empire and the Tang dynasty. This treaty, carved into the Jokhang Pillar, delineated Tibet as being in possession of an area larger than the Tibetan Plateau, stretching east to Chang'an, west beyond modern Afghanistan, and south into modern India and the Bay of Bengal.
During Tang dynasty rule in China (618–907), a complex relationship between imperial China and Tibet regime was developed. During this period Chinese and Tibetan forces had many battles since both parties were military powers, but there were also years of peace and friendly relations.
The Sumpa were a tribe living in northeastern Tibet from ancient times. Chinese historical sources refer to them as "Qiang", a term for people living in what is now southwest China, and their actual ethnic identity is not known. Their territory was absorbed by the Tibetan Empire in the late 7th century, after which point they gradually lost their independent identity.
The main religion in Tibet has been Buddhism since its outspread in the 8th century AD. As of 2022 the historical region of Tibet is mostly comprised in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) of China and partly in the Chinese provinces of Qinghai and Sichuan. Before the arrival of Buddhism, the main religion among Tibetans was an indigenous shamanic and animistic religion, Bon, which would later influence the formation of Tibetan Buddhism and still attracts the allegiance of a sizeable minority of Tibetans.
Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen was a great Dzogchen master of the Bon tradition of Tibet who took not only Bon disciples, but gathered students from all traditions of Tibetan Buddhism.
Samten Gyeltsen Karmay (1936-) is a writer and researcher in the field of Tibetan Studies. His work is focused on the study of Tibetan myths, beliefs, the Bon religion and religious history.
The Bön Kangyur and Tengyur are collections of canonical texts of the Tibetan Bön religion. Like the Tibetan Buddhist canon, the Bönpo canon consists of two complementary collections: the Kangyur or translated word, consisting of 179 large volumes containing teachings attributed to Tonpa Shenrab, the legendary founder of the Bön religion; and the Tengyur containing commentaries on those teachings, as well as cycles of additional instructions, biographies, and rituals. These canonical texts were supposedly translated from original texts in the Zhang-Zhung language.
