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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 7 page research paper that considers the questions of why Tibetan Lamas are considered to be divine. The writer first gives background to Tibetan Lamaism and its principal tenets and then explores the subject of Lamaic divinity. Bibliography lists 3 sources.
Page Count:
7 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khlamas.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
with religious authority, as the lamas not only managed religious affairs but also directed political, military and financial affairs (Nal-min ii). When the Chinese took over Tibet in 1967,
there were between 120,000 and 150,000 lamas (Nal-min 232). While the Chinese pledged that they would protect religious freedom, they have worked to suppress lamas judged to be "counter-revolutionaries"
(Nal-min 232). Tibetans still consider their lamas to be divine leaders and Communist "re-education" has failed to dissuade them from this perspective. Why Tibetan lamas are considered divine goes to
the heart of their particular variation of Buddhism. The principal religion of Tibet is "Great Vehicle (Mahayana) Buddhism," which in Tibet has take an individual form, which not shared
by followers of Mahayana found elsewhere (Stein 164). This form of Buddhism is known as "Lamaism," due to the important role played by the Lama, a term that does not
connote just any monk, but rather indicates an individuals personal master or teacher (guru) (Stein 164). Two Indian schools dominate Lamaic thought and have each been accepted in Tibet. They
are the Madhyamika (middle way) of Nagarjuna ad the Yogacara (practice of yoga) or Vignaptimatra (consciousness-only) of Asanga (Stein 165). Both schools are concerned with the nature of the
Noumenon, which Stein refers to as "the Absolute," which must be attained to ensure salvation (Stein 166). Reason alone is not capable of bringing human beings to an awareness of
the Absolute (Stein 166). What is "really true" (paramdrtha) dictates that the phenomenal world has no existence (Nal-Min 167). This corresponds with the Absolute, which is indefinable and beyond
understanding--it is the "silence of the saints" (Nal-Min 167). Then, there is also the truth that is "relatively true," that is conventional truth (samvrti) which is the reality of appearance
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