Main topics covered
• Lamas and lay practitioners
• The two propagations of the teachings
• Hereditary lamas
• Visionary lamas (tertön)
• Reincarnate lamas
• The Gelukpa system of election
• Celibate monastic practitioners (monks and nuns) and noncelibate yogis
• Temples and Monastic Establishments
Key points 1
• In most Buddhist countries the key leadership role is that of the fullyordained Buddhist monk or bhikkhu (gelong in Tibetan). While there are
many ordained monks in Tibet, the main religious leaders are the lamas.
• While many lamas are monks, most monks are not lamas, and many
lamas are not monks, particularly in the non-Gelukpa traditions. The two
roles overlap, but they are quite distinct from each other. Lamas vary
from local village-level lamas to the heads of major religious traditions
such as the Sakya Tridzin or Gyalwa Karmapa. They are all, however,
teachers (the word is used to translate Sanskrit guru) and above all they
are all masters of Tantric ritual. Training in Tantra is passed from lama to
student, and the role of the lama is central in this transmission.
Key points 2
• Lamas are also often administrators of substantial estates, and
people of great authority in Tibetan society. They may also have
direct political power, as with the Dalai Lamas in Tibet and the
Shabdrung Rinpoche in Bhutan.
• As this social and political role of the lama suggests, Buddhism
in Tibet is a collective project as much as an individual one, with
its goal the welfare and collective improvement of the community
as much as individual attainment of Buddhahood.
Temple of Tratruk
The initial foundation is attributed to the time of Songtsen Gampo, early seventh century, photo 1987
Atiśa’s monastery at Nyetang
Photo 1987
Key points 3
• As lamas acquired estates and followings, the question of
succession became increasingly significant. Various modes of
succession developed, including hereditary succession, the
recognition of tertön or visionary lamas (in the Nyingma and
Bon traditions), the recognition of reincarnate lamas, and other
systems of selection and succession.
Tertön (visionary lama)
Image of the tertön Dudjom Lingpa with two other lamas, Zangdok Pelri Monastery, Kalimpong , photo 2007
Reincarnate lama (tulku)
Trulshik Rinpoche , Thupten Chöling Monastery, Nepal. 1971
Potala, Lhasa
Photo from north side, 1987
Reincarnate lama (tulku)
Young tulku with the abbot of Drepung Loseling monastery, Bodh Gaya. Photo by Ruth Rickard, 1994
Namka Drime and Andzin Rinpoches
Namka Drime Rinpoche (left) and Andzin Rinpoche (right) in their shrine-room at Chandragiri, Orissa, 1990
Key points 4
• Other significant religious roles are that of male and female
ordained celibate practitioners (monks, nuns, male and female
novices), and yogic practitioners, who usually did not take
vows of celibacy.
Monks
Assembly of monks at Tango Gompa, Bhutan, 2010
Stages of ordination
Men
Ordinary
layman
Three levels of ordination
Taking
refuge
Genyen
(‘lay
follower’)
Getsul
(‘novice’)
Gelong
(‘fully
ordained
monk’)
Women
Ordinary
laywoman
Taking
refuge
Genyenma
(‘lay
follower’)
Getsulma
(‘novice’)
Gelongm
a
(‘fully
ordained
nun’)
Lay yogic practitioner
Thubten Repa, a lay yogic practitioner at Chandragiri, Orissa, 1989
Key points 5
• Tibetan religious communities (gompa) also varied
considerably from small village temples to sizeable monastic
towns or cities containing many constituent temples, colleges
and lama households. The variety of religious roles and
communities can be connected with the lack of strong
centralised authority through much of Tibetan history.
Small gompa
Kardang Gompa, Lahul, India – temple, chortens, house, photo 1989
Medium-size gompa
Lamayuru Gompa, Ladakh, photo by Ruth Rickard, 2010
Large monastic centre
Part of Labrang Gompa, Amdo, photo 2010