For 1,000 years
Tibet was run by its monasteries or
gonpas, which overlooked every town
and settlement. A handful were great
monastic cities, such as Drepung and
Sera, with thousands of monks.
Several score, like Samye, housed
about 500. Most were small, without
land holdings, supported by the
monks' relatives. Monasteries were
the pillars of Tibet.
Under the rule of the dalai lamas,
monasteries were free from taxation
and they formed independent economic
units. If they owned land, they held
the local people as serfs. Trade and
commerce were an integral part of
their existence. The bigger ones
accumulated vast wealth.
Every family in Tibet was expected
to give at least one son to the
monkhood. It is estimated that about
one-fifth of Tibet's male population
was celibate monks. The religious
life, open to all, was the only
avenue of education, improved social
status or power. A monk brought
honor and merit to his family and
might, after long study, become a
lama. The monasteries were the only
centers of learning, art, literature
and medicine in Tibet. They embodied
every formal aspect of culture.
The structure of authority
throughout Tibet depended on '
incarnate lamas' - monks, discovered
as small children, who were thought
to be the reincarnations of previous
abbots or lamas and were not
infrequently found in the families
of powerful nobles. About 2,000 of
these tulkus existed at any one
times. At the pinnacle stood the
dalai and Panchen lamas, who were
acclaimed as incarnations of a
bodhisattva a Buddha. Tibet was
governed by the dalai lama, along
with his regent, cabinet and a
council made up of the abbots of
principal monasteries and lay
noblemen, who owned much of Tibet's
land and were rich and influential
in their own right.
Boys generally became monks at the
age of seven; girls- far fewer in
number- became nuns at ten. Only the
brightest entered a scholarly life
within the monastery schools. Many
more became clerks, craftsmen,
builders, artists, cooks,
housekeepers or monk-soldiers feared
for their ferocity.
Those who became educated followed a
long course of study, examinations
and initiations that lasted for 20
to 25 years. Examinations took the
form of debates between the student
monk and more-learned lamas. Only
after mastering logic, rhetoric,
theology and close analysis of the
Buddhist sutras could he become a
lama himself. When he reached and
advanced state of learning, he was
considered eligible to follow the
path of esoteric or occult doctrines
and could develop paranormal powers.
Life for a monk, regardless of his
status in the monastery, was
rigorous. He rose before dawn and
was occupied all day with religious
services, administrative tasks,
study, vigils, sutra-chanting,
recitation, memory work, and the
never-ending chores of communal
life.
|