by Vajranatha

Whatever may have contributed in terms of historical and cultural influences to the luminous figure - of Tonpa Shenrab NEwo (ston-pa gshon-rab mi-bo), it is certain that the traditions of Yungdrung Bon preserved in the Bonpo scripnires consider him to be a fully realized enlightened being who appeared in ancient times in order to reveal to humanity the path to liberation from the darkness and suffering of Samsara. In other words, the followers of Yungdrung Bon consider Tonpa Shenmb to be a supremely enlightened manifest Buddha in exactly the same sense that the other schools of Tibetan Buddhism consider the Indian prince Siddhartha Gautania, born some 2500 years ago, to be one. If we inquire what is the essential difference between Bon and Buddhism, we find that it is not a matter of doctrine and practice, so much as lineage. The four extant schools of Tibetan Buddhism the Nyingmapa, the Sakyapa, the Kagyudpa, and the Gelugpa all look back to the historical figure of Sakyamuni as their founder and as the source of all their traditional teachings. And at least, the first three of these Tibetan schools had direct face to face contact with Indian Buddhist masters from whom they received their specific Tantric teachings. However, the Bonpos look not to India, but to the country of Zhang- zhung in West Tibet as the immediate source of their tradition. For the ultimate source, they look much farther away not to this Indian prince, Siddhartha Gautama, but to another prince, Shenrab Nliwo, who appeared as a Buddha in an even more remote period in time in the mysterious land of Olmo Lung-ring in Tazig, ancient Iranian Central Asia.
Anciently the teachings of this earlier Central Asian Buddha, Tonpa Shenrab Mewo, were classified into the Four Portals (sgo bzhi) and the the Nine Ways (theg-pa dgu). The teachings contained in three of these Portals and in the higher five among the Nine Ways are more or less the same as those found in the other schools of Tibetan Buddhism, especially the Nyingmapa or Old Tantra school. Both the Nyingmapa tradition and the Bonpo tradition developed in the early period of medieval Tibetan history (8- 10 cen. CE), whereas the other Tibetan schools originated with a fresh impetus of Indian Buddhism coming from the south in the eleventh century and afterwards. The Nyingmapas and the Bonpos both classify the teachings of the Buddhas into Sutra (mdo), Tantra (rgyud), and Upadesha (rnan-ngag) or Dzogchen, and regard the latter, Dzogchen or the Great Perfection (rdzogs-pa chen-po), as the culmination and pinnacle of all the teachings of 0 the Buddhas who have appeared throughout the three times. Again, in both schools, these teachings have been transrmitted in two ways:
1. as an uninterrupted continuous lineage of transmission (bka'-ma) from earliest times until the present, and
2. as an interrupted transmission lineage of hidden treasure texts or Termas (gter-ma) that were concealed in an earlier period and rediscovered at a later time.
Both schools look to an enlightened being or Buddha other than the Indian Sakyamuni as the principal source of their respective traditions, namely, Guru Padmsambhava from Uddiyana for the Nyingmapas and Tonpa Shenrab from Olmo Lung-ring in Tazig for the Bonpos.

In the past there have been Nyingmapa masters known as Tertons (gter-ston), or "discoverers of hidden treasures", who, besides discovering their own Nyingrmpa Tennas concealed by Guru Padmasambhava, have in addition discovered Bonpo Termas and extracted them from their places of concealment. One such example is the famous Nyingmapa Terton, Dorje Lingpa (rdo-te gling-pa, 1346-1405). There are also examples of Bonpo masters who have found Buddhist Terrna texts. The Nyingmapas assert that Guru Padmasambhava also concealed Termas in Tibet for the benefit of the future generations of Bonpos, and in the nineteenth century Jarngon Kongtrul included some of these in his monumental collection of Buddhist Terinas, the "Rin-chen gter n-mdzod". From an examination of the "sgrub-pa bka' brgyad" and various Terma systems of the Nyingmapas, it is clear that Guru Padmasarnbhava incorporated many old pagan Bonpo deities into the Buddhist pantheon as Guardians (srung-ma) or protectors of the Doctrine. On the other side, the Bonpos claim that both Sakyamuni Buddha and Guru Padmasambhava had been disciples of Tonpa Shenrab in their previous lives. For this reason, there is no contradiction in terms of fundamental teaching and practice in the two traditions, Buddhist and Bonpo.

For the Bonpos especially, the Dharma, whether it is called "chos" or "bon" in Tibetan, is not something sectarian, but it truly represents a Frinwrdial Revelation which is again and again revealed throughout time and history. It is not only primordial, but perennial. The Dharma is not simply the unique product of a particular historical period, namely, sixth century North India. Many Tibetan Lamas among the different Buddhist schools freely admit dw the historical Buddha Sakyamuni could not have actually taught all of the authoritative texts found in the Buddhist canon during his career on earth. This is especially the case with the higher Tantras, for it is said that most of these texts were revealed in a timeless celestial dimension by Vajrasattva, the archetype of enlightenment and the Sambhogakaya aspect of Buddhahood, who never was a historical Buddha. Western scholars, coming from a tradition of textual criticism and historical analysis, assert that neither the Tantras nor the Mahayana Sutras were actually taught by the historical Buddha. Even in terms of the Hinayana tradition, as represented, for example, by the Sutras in the Pali language, there is nothing found here that was actually written down in the time of the historical Buddha in the sixth century before Christ. The oldest texts of Sutra and Vinaya, such as the "Sutta Nipata" and the "Khandhaka", were not set down in writing until fully a hundred years after the Parinirvana of the historical Buddha. So the authenticity of the teachings attributed to the Buddha must be established on grounds other than historical documentation and textual criticism. ne same may be said for the Terinas traditionally attributed to Guru Padnisambhava by the Nyingmapas.
Within the Sutra system of Yungdrung Bon, there are found an ethical system based on compassion and on the theory of karma, as well as a monastic disciple or Vinaya (Tib. 'dul-ba), more or less identical with the Shila and Vinaya found in the Indian Buddhist tradition preserved in Tibet. The major difference is that of lineage, because the Bonpo Vinaya claims to derive from an Iranian source (Tazig), rather than an Indian one. In terms of doctrine, the principal Bonpo Sutras expound the Prajnaparamita or Perfection of Wisdom teachings, as well as the Madhyamaka philosophy, and these are identical with the Indian Buddhist tradition, although, again, it is said that they derive from Iranian sources.

The Bonpos readily admit that Sakyamuni taught the Prajnaparamita on the Vulture Peak near Rajgir, but assert that the full corpus of original Prajnaparamita teachings of Tonpa Shenrab were concealed in the realm of the Nagas (serpentine beings who dwell in the dimension of the water element) and that only a portion of these teachings were recovered by the South Indian Buddhist master Nagarjuna in the first century when he journeyed to the Nagaloka. Subsequently he propagated these Prajnaparamita Sutras, as well as the Madhyamaka philosophy distilled from them, in South India and this became the core of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition. The Bonpos point out that their own Prajnapararnita collection (khams gsum) in sixteen volumes is much larger than the Indian Buddhist recension and, therefore, it is far more complete. Buddhist Lamas counter this assertion by claiming that the Bonpos merely plagiarized the Tibetan Buddhist translations of the Prajnaparamita Sutras by substituting a few Bonpo technical terms for the Buddhist ones. This, however, is quite unlikely for reasons to be cited below. (See the section on Shenchen Luga.)
Moreover, the Bonpos maintain that Tonpa Shenrab taught the Vinaya, which embodies the path of renunciation, toward the end of his career on earth, not at the beginning of it as did Sakyamuni. Furthermore, although the Vinaya tradition once flourished in Iranian Central Asia and in Zhang-zhung in West Tibet long before the coming of Indian Buddhism to Central Tibet in the eighth century, it became eclipsed and died out in the former regions and was only revived in the tenth century in Kham or Fast Tibet. Over the years since that time, the Bonpo monastic system was revived and came to flourish throughout Tibet, even in Central Tibet, the home of Gelugpa orthodoxy since the fifteenth century. Throughout Tibet and adjacent Nepal and China, the Bonpos have maintained small monasteries, sometimes with hundreds of monks. These Bonpo monks followed a training and a pattern of life in terms of studies and monastic discipline fully comparable to their fellow Buddhist monks belonging to other schools. In more recent centuries, Bonpo monks have been educated in the Gelugpa style, being thoroughly trained in Madhyamaka philosophy and logic, and taking examinations by way of debate for the Geshe degree (dge-bshes), the equivalent of a PhD. In the case of monastic life, training, and discipline, there is little difference to be found between modern day Buddhists and Bonpos. In term of the Tantric teachings, within the Bonpo system there are found four types of Tantra, namely,
1. "Bya-ba'i rgyud",
2. "sPyod-pa'i rgyud",
3. "Ye gshen gyi rgyud", and
4. "Ye gshen chen-poli rgyud".

The first two of these classes, known as the Lower Tantras (phyi rgyud) correspond to the Buddhist classifications Kriya Tantra and Charya Tantra. Tle second two, known as the Higher Tantras (nang rgyud), approximately correspond to the Buddhist classifications of Father Tantra (pha rgyud) and Mother Tantra (ma rgyud) of the Anuttara Tantra system. The Bonpos are also in possession their own recension of the "Kalachakra Tantra,", but this version is incomplete and so it is classified as Kriya Tantra and not Anuttara Tantra. Although the meditation deities or Yidams (yi-dmn Iha) in the Bonpo Tantras are in general distinctly non-Indian in origin, the methodology in the Higher Tantras is much the same, involving the generation process or Kyerim (bskyed-rim) and the perfection process or Dzogrim (rdzogs-rim). However, the lineages for the Father and Mother Tantras of Bon drive from Tazig and Zhang-zhung rather than India. Originally these Bonpo Tantras were taught to certain great adepts or Mahasiddhas by Tonpa Shenrab in his manifestation as Chimed Tsugphud ('Chi-med gtsug-phud) in his previous life. At that time Sakyamuni was his disciple under the name of Sangwa Dupa (gSang-ba'dus-pa, Skt. Guhyasamaja).
Then in terms of Upadesha or Dzogchen, "the Great Perfection", the teachings, the methods, and the terminology is more or less identical in the Bonpo and the Nyingmapa systems. Both nations divide the Dzogchen teachings into thre series: the Semde (sems-sde), the Longde (klong-sde), and the Mangagde (man-ngag-sde). However, most of the extant Bonpo textual sources for the Dzogchen teachings, such as the "Zhang-zhung snyan- brgyud", the "bsgrags-pa skor gsum", the "Gab-pa dgu skor", and so on, belong to the Mangagde series where the emphasis is on the practices of Trekgchod (khregs-chod) and Thodgal (thod-rgal). (See below). Therefore, in terms of the highest teachings of Yungdrung Bon known as Dzogchen, there is no substantial difference with what are considered to be the highest teachings of the Buddhas in the Nyingmapa system, namely, Dzogchen or Atiyoga. Again, it is lineage that is the only real difference.
On the one hand, the Nyingmapas assert that the Dzogchen teachings were introduced into Central Tibet in the eighth century of our era by Padmasambhava, Vimatainitm, and Vairochana the translator. These teachings were brought to Tibet from India, but ultimately they originated with the master Garab Dordje (dGa'-rab rdo-rje, Skt. Prahevajra?) who was born in the country of Uddiyana to the northwest of India (probably the Swat valley in modern Pakistan). [On the life and teachings of Garab Dordje, see my book "The Golden Letters: the Three Statements of Garab Dordje, the First Teacher of Dzogchen", Station IEII Press NY, Barrytown 1991.]
On the other hand, the Bonpos point out that according to the lineages found in the "Zhang-zhung snyan-rgyud", the Dzogchen teachings existed long before this period (even before the time of Garab Dordje) in Tazig and in the country of Zhang-zhung, from whence they were introduced into Central Tibet by Gyerpungpa who lived in the eighth century. There thus exist two authentic and historically attested Dzogchen lineages, one coming from Uddiyana via India to Central Tibet and the other coming from Zhang-zhung to the west both of them converging in Central Tibet in the eighth century. It is the same teaching in both cases, but there are two different lineages. But whereas the Buddhist lineage goes from the contemporaries Padnmsambhava, VinWamitra, and Vairochana back to Srisimha and Manjusrirnitra in India, and then back to its source in Garab Dordje in Uddiyana, the Bonpo lineage is much longer and far more ancient It goes from Tapihritsa, the master of Gyerpungpa (7-8 cen. CE.), back through an unbroken line of twenty-four realized masters to Tonpa Shenrab in Tazig as the ultimate human source of the Dzogehen teachings. Furthermore, this Zhang-zhung lineage includes a master named Zhang-zhung Garab who is probably identical with the Garab Dorje in the Nyingmapa lineage. Zhang-zhung in West Tibet and Uddiyana in Pakistan are adjacent regions geographically. All of this evidence points to a common origin. of the Dzogchen teachings preserved among the Bonpos and the Nyingmapas in the Indo-Iranian/ Tibetan borderlands at a time prior to the seventh century.
But what is really quite distinct in Yungdrung Bon from anything Indian are the practices and the methods found in the so-called Causal Ways of Bon (rgyu'i theg-pa). The first three Portals of Sutra, Tantra, and Dzogehen, are purely spiritual teachings whose goal is spiritual that is, enlightenment or realization of Buddhahood and liberation from rebirth in Samsara. They constitute the Fruitional Ways ('bras-bu'i theg-pa), the higher teachings of Bon. But the causal ways include methods of ritual, magic, divination, astrology, geornancy, protection, invoking prosperity, propitiation of spirits, exorcism, healing, herbal medicine, and so on, belonging to very archaic cultural strata, namely, ancient Central Asian paganism and shamanisim All of this material is concerned with living in the world rather than leaving it, and it has been preserved in Bon along with the higher spiritual teachings leading to liberation fmm Samsara. Whether originating in Zhang-zhung or being of indigenous Tibetan origin, this Causal Bon (rgyu'i bon) became co-extensive with Tibetan folklore and popular religion before Indian Buddhism came to Central Tibet in the seventh century. This popular folk culture, including the practices of native shamans, known as Flawo (dpa'-bo), flourished in Tibet until the systematic Chinese Communist destruction of native Tibetan culture after 1959 with the advent of the Red Guards and their Cultural Revolution. [See my forthcoming book on Tibetan shamanism entitled, "Tibetan Shamanism Healing, Nature Spirits and Earth Magic".

Furthermore, all of the Tibetan Buddhist schools, including even the Gelugpas, adopted many of these indigenous Bonpo practices in their cults of the Guardian Deities, as well as in such magical practices as spirit traps (mdos), ransom rites (glud), and so on. In terms of the actual behavior of these Tibetan schools of Indian Buddhist origin, Indian belief and practice has become inseparably fused with native Tibetan belief and practice, and this gives the special and unique character to Tibetan Buddhism.
In the Tibetan language there is no word for "Buddhism"; neither does there exist one in Sanskrit. In the Sanskrit language of ancient India, the teaching of the Buddha is called the Buddha Dhanna, where "dharma" means "existence", coming from a root meaning "to uphold, to support". In the Buddhist context, the term "dharma" means a teaching, but it also means existence or reality. Therefore, it is particularly a teaching about the nature of existence. In the Hindu context, "dharim" means law or custom associated with a particular caste in society. When translated into Tibetan, "dharrna" was rendered by the old Tibetan word "chos" meaning custom. For example, ancient Tibetan religion in general was known as "lha chos", "the customary way of the gods", while legend and folklore was known as "mi chos", "the customary ways of men". Although originally quite a general term, "chos" became co-opted by this Buddhist usage in translating Indian texts. In this way the distinction arose between "chos" and "bon". Thus a "chos-pa" is one who follows "chos", meaning a Buddhism of Indian original and inspiration, while a "bon-po" is one who follows "bon", the lineage from Tonpa Shenrab of Tazig. However, both "chos-pas" and "bon-pos" are called "nang-pas" or "insiders", that is, native practitioners as opposed to it phyi-pas" or foreigners. "Nang-pa" is generally translated as "Buddhist" by Western scholars.

It can be seen that, whether one would consider Bonpos to be Buddhists or not, albeit rather unorthodox ones, it is all a matter of definition. His Holiness the Dalai Lama has prevailed upon the Tibetan Governrmnt in exile at Dhammsala to recognize Bon as the fiffi Tibetan school along side the Gelugpas, the Kagyudpas, the Sakyapas, and the Nyingmpas. Bonpos now have representation on the Council of Religious Affairs at Dharamsala. But as far as the Bonpos themselves are concerned, they are the original "Buddhists". Both Sakyamuni and Padmasambhava appeared thousands of years later in the history of our planet than did Tonpa Shenrab in Olmo Lung-ring. During his own lifetime in North India a mere 2500 years ago, Sakyamuni taught only a portion of what he had learned in other worlds from his predecessor, the Buddha Tonpa Shenrab, in one or another of the latter's many manifestations. Thus the Bonpo Lamas readily appropriate all traditions of Buddhism as their own. And it is true, furthermore, that among the Tibetan sectarians, the Bonpo Lamas have been the most open to reading and studying all the wations of Tibetan BuddhisM whereas it is mre ordinarily for a Tibetan Lama to read any book outside of his own school. Certain Bonpo masters also played a key role in the "Ris-med" or Non-sectarian Movement in nineteenth century East Tibet. (see below.)
Both Buddhist and Bonpo call their respective founders by the title Buddha (sangs- rgyas) and strive by identical means to attain enlightenment or Bodhi (byang-chub). If the term "Buddha" is understood to mean only Siddhartha Gautama, otherwise known as Sakyamuni, who lived in North India in the sixth century BC, then the Bonpos are noi Buddhists. But the Bonpos acknowledge a whole series of Buddhas; they freely recognize Sakyamuni as a Buddha, and even a later figure like Padmasmnbhava as a Buddha. Bul they look back to a far more ancient and remote period of time for the source of their teachings, to another prince among men who lived in Olmo Lung-ring thousands of years before the time of Sakyamuni.

The biography of Tonpa Shenrab is not a mere copy of that of Sakyamuni, as found, for example, in the 'URtavistara". THe fonmer did not attain enlightenment as a Buddha on this planet earth, but in some extraterrestial dimension (Akanistha) at a time immemorial. He had no need to attain enlightenment by way of a human rebirth as did Sakyamuni because he was already enlightened before he came here. In contrast to Sakyamuni, hc taught most of his doctrine while he was a layman, not a monk. His various consorts and children play important roles in his life and in the dissemination of his teachings. True, he does have a long struggle, both moral and magical, with a demonic prince of darkness Khyabpa Lag-ring, a figure reminiscent of both Mara and Devadatta in the life ol Sakyamuni, but the latter is eventually converted and becomes his devoted disciple. Aftei passing into Parinirvana, his teachings are collected and written down, and then sprek throughout the world by Mucho Demdrug and the Six Translators. From Tazig they spreac to the WesL but also to India in the south and China in the east. Bon was introduced int( Tibet in the time of its second king, long before Buddhism came up from India. So the Bonpo Lamas believe that Bon represents the original, true, and authentic religious culture of this whole region of Central Asia. Only later was Bon persecuted and subsequently caused to disappear from many parts of Tibet. Nonetheless, its sacred texts were safely hidden away, to be rediscovered and taken out later when the times were ripe. Thus, Bot revived in the tenth and eleventh centuries and continued to flourish until the present day.
After all, the Sanskrit word Buddha is not a personal name but a generic title. Coming from the Sanskrit root "budh-" meaning "to awaken", the term Buddha indicates ai individual who has awakened to his own real nature and potentiality and to the full meanini of life. A Buddha is an individual who sees things as they really are in themselves undistorted by emotional and intellectual obscurations, and this knowledge or gnosis (ye shes) is what makes one free. This freedom is a liberation from the sorrows of the beginningless cycle of death and rebirth called Sarnsara that represents time an( conditioned existence. Buddhahood is the culmination and ultimate goal of humai evolution, but, at the same time, it is is at the source and origin of that same evolution. It is both the Alpha and the Omega. Every sentient being, both human and non-human possesses this Buddha-nature at the very core of its being as a Primordial State beyond time and conditioning, but it goes unrecognized because of the thick layers of obscuration accumulated from time without beginning. But because all beings without exception possess this Buddha-nature, they all equally possess the possibility of actually realizing the Buddha-nature in full manifestation and not just as potentiality. The Sanskrit word Buddha is translated into Tibetan as "sangs-rgyas", where "sangs-pa" means "purified" from the darkness of ignorance and delusion, like an individual awakening from a sleep of dreams and "rgyas-pa" means "to open and expand" into full and unobscured knowledge, like, lotus blossom opening and expanding in the morning sunlight.

According to the Buddhist tradition of India, there have appeared in the past an infinit number of Buddhas throughout time and space and in the future there will arise anothe unending succession of Buddhas. Even at this very moment, in the countless world systems inhabited by intelligent life-forms throughout our universe of stm and galaxies Buddhas are being bom, are attaining enlightenment, are revealing the teachings of the Dharma, and are passing away into Parinirvana. Every star and planetary system in the heavens is the field of activity of some Buddha. But the appearances and the disappearances of these countless numbers of Buddhas is only a phantom show for the sake of awakening and liberating those sentient beings who are yet still asleep in the ocean of Samsara, deluded by their own negative emotions, misconceived ideas, and fantasy projections, like dreamers trapped in their own dreams. These Buddhas are not born out of any necessity, nor do they die as ordinary sentient beings die when their stores of positive karma and life-force are exhausted. These Buddhas have transcended Samsara and the limitations of time and space; they are primordially enlightened in the sense that their enlightenment is not some event that occurs in time and history brought about by antecedent causes.
Therefore, they merely appear to be born as ordinary sentient beings, to attain enlightenment, to the teach the Dharma, and to die physically, their streams of consciousness passing away into Nirvana so that they appear to be no more. They only appear to do all this in order to teach and to demonstrate to ordinary deluded sentient beings the path to liberation and enlightenment, the path to the awakening to the realization of their own Buddhahood. If these Buddhas did not appear to be born and to live and to die as ordinary mortal beings are born and age and die, then living beings would dispair that they would ever attain the exalted status of Buddha enlightenment. They would wrongly conclude that this is a teaching too high for them that the Buddhas are something like immortal gods and we mortal beings can never aspire to attain such an exalted status beyond the stm.
However, the Buddha is not a god in the conventional sense. Such gods (lha, Skt. deva) dwell on the etherical and the astral planes of the Kamadhatu (the universe where all beings are dominated by sense experience and desires), or else on the mental planes of the Rupadhatu (the universe of purely mental experiences). Here, on the lower mental planes, dwell those Creator Gods, the Brahma-Pmjapatis, who mistakenly believe that they actually create worlds and the living beings who inhabit those worlds. Whereas in reality such manifestations are actually brought about by the natural process or karina and not the arbitrary fiat of some deity. Beyond these mental planes are the planes of cosmic consciousness known as the Arupadhatu where even more exalted deities dwell. Nonetheless, all of these various planes of existence belong to Samsara or conditioned existence, and all of the gods who inhabit them, no matter how exalted or how long-lived or how knowledgeable and wise they may be, are sentient beings limited within Samsara. They are conditioned beings enjoying or experiencing a temporary conditioned state of existence because their condition is brought about by antecedent causes, that is, their past karrna or the consequences of the actions they committed in previous lives. And because their existence is conditioned, it is impermanent. Whatever is produced by causes must eventually pass away. Consequently the existence of a god in heaven is not something eternal because that existence is contained within Samsara. And all conditioned existence is impermanent. There is no refuge or safe haven to be found anywhere within Saznsara. Thus rebirth in heaven among the gods or angels (the Devas) is not the ultimate goal of the spiritual path, for such a celestial existence will eventually come to an end and, due to the re-emergence of previously latent negative karma, one will find oneself reborn elsewhere in a lesser state. (On the question of karma, cosmology, and the creation of the world, see my book, "Self-Liberation through seeing with Naked Awareness, Station Hill Press, Barrytown NY, 1989.]
For the same reasons, no existence in the hot or cold hells (dmyal-ba), or or among the hungry ghosts (yi-dwags), or among the restless titans (Iha ma yin) is eternal because such states of existence are equally created and brought about by the past karrna of the individual in question. When the store of this positive karina is exhausted, that existence for the individual comes to an end and his stream of consciousness (main-shes) finds itself elsewhere, re-manifesting in some other dimension, in a new life and a new embodiment with a new personal identity, whether that be human or non-human.

Thus, if we ask the question, "Who created the world?", according to the Frimordial Teachings, the answer is "Karma created the world!" Karma is the cause of this human world or dimension in which we find ourselves, and not the capricious will of some Deity. And from where does this kanna originate? It is we ourselves who have created this karma by virtue of our free-will actions committed in past lives. All the gods and deities residing in this universe around us are only such because of their past meritorious karma. In fact, the entire universe itself represents the manifest result of the collective karma of all the sentient beings animal, human, and divine who find themselves rebom here and caught up in the dimension of this universe, and it is but one among an infinity. The universe is a constricted space having specific properties, created by the mass of collective karma. Although in potential unlimited and infinite, the dimension of this universe has become limited, distorted, and constricted by the kannic vision of sentient beings arising from past kamiic causes, and thus the world appears the way it does. This impure karmic vision is inherently deluded, distorted, and obscured.
In contrast to this, a Buddha is a being who has realized an unconditioned state (asamslaita-dhanna), a state beyond the time and the conditioning that represents Samsara. Only such an enlightened being possesses an unobscured pure vision and a knowledge or posis (ye-shes) of the real condition of things just as it is. Rather than a mind (yid) or a consciousness (mam-shes), both of which are inherently lin-Aited and dualistic in operation, a Buddha possesses a primordial immediate knowledge (ye-shes) wherein there is no longer any duality of subject and object or any discrepancy between knowledge and being. The gods, even those who call themselves the Creators, are still caught up in the dream of Samsara. Only an enlightened being who is beyond Samsara can reveal the.way which leads beyond time, mortality, and conditioned existence, the way beyond the beginningless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth called Smnsara. An of this display of Buddha activity in countless world-systems, these twelve great deeds accomplished by every Buddha, like the course of the heroic sun moving through the signs of the heavens during the world-year, is only an external manifestation of the compassion of the Buddha for the sake of teaching and awakening all sentient beings.
Thus tradition speaks of the manifestations of the Buddhas of the three tirms of past, present, and future. These are often symbolized in Tibetan paintings by a group of three Buddhas Dipankara representing all of the Buddhas of the past, Sakyarnuni representing all of the Buddhas of the present, and Maitreya representing all of the Buddhas of the future, In the Buddhist tradition of ancient India, the Sutras speak of some twenty-four Buddhas who have appeared on our planet, beginning with Dipankara and progressing to Sakyamuni in our own era. Other traditions closely associated with the ancient land of Nepal and preserved in such texts as the "Svayambhu Purana", speak of a series of seven Buddhas who manifested during the course of four ages or yugas that is to say, Vipashyin, Shikhin, Vishvabhu, Krakucchanda, Kanakamuni, Kashyapa, and Sakyamuni. The activities of these Buddhas of the past are still well remembered in Nepal. Western scholars harbor no doubts as to the historical existence of the last in this series, Sakyamuni, who, according to these scholars, lived in the sixth or fifth century before Christ. However, the Tibetans place his birth in 960 BC and his Parinirvana in 881 BC. Sakyamuni is not a personal name, but a title meaning "the sage of the Sakyas". The Sakyas were a tribe in ancient northern India and southern Nepal into which the historical Buddha was born, whereas his personal name was. Siddhartha and his clan name was Gautam. But there also exists in Nepal evidence for the historical existence of at least two of his predecessors. The relics of Kashyapa Buddha are said to be contained within the famous Baudhnath stupa in the Kathmandu valley and an inscription of the the Buddhist emperor Ashoka (3 cen. BC) found in southern Nepal records the fact that he restored a stupa there housing the relics of the Buddha Kanakamuni. Morover, there occur certain references in old Pali texts reporting that there still existed followers of the Buddha Kashyapa at the time when Sakyamuni began to teach.

According to traditions preserved among both the Buddhists and the Bonpos, in this auspicious age of the Bhadrakalpa (bskai-pa bzang-po) more than one thousand Buddhas will appear successively on this planet as World-Teachers and that also, according to both traditions, at an indefinite time in the future, the Buddha Maitreya, having descended to earth from the world of Tushita, will appear among humanity as the World-Teacher and reveal the way to world peace and universal love.
Thus the Buddha Dharma is not the historical revelation of a single teacher who appeared only once in a particular region at a particular moment in history, and which has been handed down to us, preserved in certain scriptures, unchanged over millennia. On the contrary, the Buddha Dharma is something universal and perennial- it is the universal and perennial Wisdom Tradition which reappears again and again throughout time and history, and in various different world-systems and not just among human beings.
Nor is it the case that, on our own planet earth the Buddhas and the Bodhisattvas only manifest in northern India and Nepal. For example, Jesus of Nazareth was a master who manifested the Rainbow Body of Light ('ja'-lus-pa), the final result of the realization of Dzogchen practice. Although his public exoteric teachings were phrased in terms of parables and these alone have been preserved in the canonical scriptures and in the churches, his real teachings that were esoteric in nature were communicated only to a close group of disciples headed by Mary Magdalene, and these teachings were in pan preserved in the Gnostic Gospels. The close connection of the esoteric or Gnostic teachings of Jesus with Buddhist and Dzogchen teachings is quite evident And in the same way, in prehistoric times, there were Buddhas who appeared in remote Central Asia, the Dzogchen Tantras preserved in the Nyingmapa tradition speak of twelve such teachers of Dzogchen (ston-pa bcu-gnyis). Moreover, according to the Nyingmapa tradition in general, the Nirmanakaya Buddha, Garab Dorje (Skt. Prahevajra?), was born in the country of Uddiyana adjacent to both West Tibet and to Central Asia. Garab Dorje is said to have been already enlightened before his virgin birth among humanity to a Buddhist nun on an island in the Dhanakosha lake. A few days after his birth he began to expound the Dzogchen Tantras to his mother, her servant, and the local DaMni goddesses. He had learned these Dzogchen Tantras from enlightened beings in his heavenly pre-existence. At the age of seven he went to the temple of the local king, his grandfather, in order to confound his elders, the Panditas or learned Sanskrit scholars, with his explanation of Dzogchen, a state beyond cause and effect. Garab Dorje taught the Dzogchen precepts to the Daltini goddesses in the remote mountains of Central Asia and in the terrifying cremation grounds of India. His principal disciple was the Buddhist scholar Manjusrimitra, and the Dzogchen lineage which later came from India to Central Tibet descends from him. At the end of his teaching career on earth, Garab Dorje did not die in an ordinary fashion, but manifested the Body of Light ('od lus). Generally, the Nyingmapas regard Garab Dorje as the first human teacher of Dzogchen. [See my book on the Dzogchen teachings of Garab Dorje, "The Golden Letters: The Three Statements of Garab Dorje, the First Teacher of Dzogchen", Station Hill Press, Barrytown NY, 1991.]
Not the least among those Buddhas who appeared in ancient Central Asia in prehistoric times was Tonpa Shenrab Miwo (sTon-pa gShen-rab mi-bo) who is regarded as the principal source and founder of the Bon tradition. The title Tonpa (ston-pa) means "teacher" and Shenrab Miwoche is regarded as the World-Teacher by the Bonpos in the same way as the Tibetan Buddhists look to the Indian Sakyamuni. The name Shenrab Miwo is also a title meaning "the man who is the supreme Shen". The archaic word "gshen" has been variously interpreted by scholars as "shaman" or as "priest" or as "magician", or as being merely the name of an ancient priestly clan. Some would point to a similarity with the Iranian term Magi. Modern day Bonpos interpret "gshen" to simply mean a practitioner. As pointed out previously, Shenrab Miwoche is said to have been bom in Olmo Lung-ring in Tazig or Iranian Central Asia. Since his name in the ancient language of Zhang-zhung was dMu-ra, some scholars (Kuznetsov, et al.) would connect him with the great Iranian savior-figure Mithra. This is speculation, but what is certain is that the teachings of this Buddha from ancient Central Asia, known as Yungdrung Bon, survive to this day among the Tibetans. The Dharma taught by Tonpa Shenrab and that taught by Sakyamuni are identical at the higher level. The teachings of both of these Buddhas disclose the nature of existence and the human potential for enlightenment, and this is what is important, not sectarian differences.
Salvation is not revealed by the movement of history, nor is it the culmination of some historical process, whether this be directed by God or by man. Yet nothing is more near at hand. It is only to be found by discovering it within oneself, at the very core and heart of one's innermost being, in a state beyond cause and effect, beyond all time and conditioning, that primordial state which is one's inherent Buddha-nature.