BON : THE PREBUDDHIST RELIGION OF TIBET

Lama Yungdrung smiled and said that he belongs to Bon sect, a pre-Buddhist sect of Tibet. Before the coming of Buddhism in Tibet , Bon was the prevalent religion. 'We are Bonpos and our religion is Yungdrung Bon'., Lama yungdrung said. 'Ours is the original religion of Tibet. ' He said with a resolve and I noticed the streak of a humble prideness on his face. 'We have our own Buddha whom we call Sangey Tonpa Shenrap', He said. Later on I discovered that the followers of Bon religion were reduced to minority after coming of Buddhism of Guru Padmasambhava in Tibet in the seventh century. There is even a history of conflict between Buddhism and Bon in Tibet. But I noticed no tangible difference between the two religion. Their Lamas wore same dress only with a difference of a blue inside their robe. They have their own religious head called Lopon Tenzing Namdak who now live at a Bon monastery in Nepal. On the way a little far from a small helmet called Rabangla, we reached Shohing, a small village. Where on the road side I came across a small monastery. 'This is my monastery', he said. ' Presently only 15 lamas live here, but we have a plan of expending our monastery, so more and more lamas can be accomodated and we can preserve our religion and tradition', Lama Yungdrung sounded exited. There was even a small guest house for the guests in the monastery. We were lodged there.