Buddhist Civilization in Tibet

Abstract

This booklet contains two articles which I wrote a few years ago. The first, "The Development of Buddhism in Tibet" is a brief account o f the history o f the four major Buddhist schoob in Tibet. It includes a description o f their doctrines and monastic institutions. These four schools are the Nyingmapa (the Ancient Ones), who are followers of the Old Tantras (those tantras translated into Tibetan before the eleventh century a.d.), the Kagyudpa, Sakyapa, and Gelugpa who are followers of the New Tantras (those tantras which were translated after the eleventh century a.d.). The account which I have given in this article is the traditional version o f the history o f Buddhism in Tibet as it appears in Tibetan historical texts. The second article, “The Scope o f Tibetan Literature" is a brief outline o f the subject. It presents a general schema of Tibetan literature, classifying the works on various subjects — secular and religious. I have included the names o f only a few major literanj works as examples o f the literature fedling under each heading. I am grateful to Harold Talbot for editing these articles. My gratitude also goes to the Center for the Study o f World Religions and to Michael Baldwin and the other members o f the Buddhayana Foundation, U.S.A. for their generous sponsorship, which enabled me to prepare these texts for printing. I am also thankful to Eric Jacobson for editing, proofreading and assembling the glossary and index and to Martha Hamilton for doing the typesetting, artwork and arranging for the texts to be printed.