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Tibet Overview: Culture
Mythology | Tibetan Buddhism | Culture books
Any study of the origins of Tibetan Buddhism must necessarily start with the origins of Buddhism itself - in India. In approximately 500BC Prince Siddharta, the boy who was to become Buddha, was born. As an adolescent, the boy left his family and joined a group of monks. He tried to find a sense of fulfilment with the monks but was left dissatisfied. Then, one evening the young prince sat under a bodhi tree near Gaya and felt that the revelation he had been seeking was 'illumination'. He discovered that earthly misfortunes created evil in the world and one's moral objective must be to place the conscience on a level where such things are controlled by the spirit. The spirit of conscience must rise to the level of the gods, unburdened by human suffering.
The Buddha's teachings are based on the four noble truths. Those are (1) that misery is an inevitable part of life, (2) that misery originates from desire, (3) that desire can be eliminated, and (4) that the overcoming of desire, and hence suffering, is made possible by following the eightfold path of virtue.
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The Jowo Sakyamuni Buddha statue
inside the Jokhang temple - one of
Tibet's holiest relics, Lhasa
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