When East Came West

When East Came West

Thoughts on the transmission of Tibetan Buddhism to the western world

The counter-culture decade of the 60s was experienced differently around the world. For many of us in the western world it was a magical time of vision, of inner and outer exploration, of seeking new spiritual paths, and of breaking free of what we perceived to be the stifling establishment of our parents’ generation. In faraway China, revolution was also in the air but it was carried out very differently.  “Peace and Love” did not really play a part in China’s counter-cultural attitudes. Neighboring Tibet fell victim to the aggression of the Chinese “people’s revolution” when in 1959 it invaded that country. Subsequently, during the years of the so-called Cultural Revolution, a peaceful and happy nation, that had bothered nobody for centuries, was battered and brought to the point of extinction—all in the name of equality. Thousands of Tibetans fled their beloved homeland to seek refuge in neighbouring India.

At the same time, the cultural revolution that was happening in the minds of many young people in the West led them to seek out spiritual paths in far off India.  Thousands took the hippie trail to the East. Many traveled by the famous “magic bus” that wound its way from Istanbul to Delhi. In their explorations of the Indian subcontinent, they inevitably came across the Tibetan refugees who were desperately trying to set up new institutions, such as a government, monasteries, and settlements. For many westerners there was an immediate attraction to the Tibetans and their Buddhist way of life. Those who were refugees from a capitalistic West saw hope and salvation in the Tibetans who themselves were refugees from a communist China. The Tibetans, to their eternal credit, willingly imparted their Buddhist knowledge and experience to these young seekers from the West

This meeting of the two cultures—one a seeker of the spiritual, the other a seeker of material safety—was a seminal and highly fortuitous coming together that would initiate one of the most important transmissions of a spiritual tradition in the 20^th  century—that of Tibetan Buddhism to the West. It was fitting and auspicious that this transmission should begin in India. This ancient country had been home to the Buddha and many other great spiritual leaders. Moreover, centuries earlier a similar meeting and transmission had taken place. At that time the Tibetans were the seekers. They had traveled to India to search for gurus and masters who could impart to them the great texts of Buddhism. Many of these Tibetans were translators, who names are revered even now in Tibetan society. They brought these precious teachings back to Tibet where they were disseminated to a willing audience. The rest is history. Buddhism spread throughout Tibet. After a while it took on a particularly Tibetan flavor, although the essential ingredients that travelled from India and Nepal were never lost.

There are many parallels in these two transmissions. Both involved the efforts of pioneers who translated Tibetan texts, brought them back to their countries, set up institutions, monasteries, and worked to settle the teachings in their new home. However, eighth century Tibet was a very different time.  The ancient Tibetan kings took an active interest in establishing Buddhism in Tibet, and with their absolute power there was much they could do.  Royal patronage helped set up institutions, and decrees were issued ordering the standardization of translation terminology. Although there existed a prevailing non-Buddhist religion known as Bon, the decision from on high that Buddhism was to be the new state religion meant that its resistance was short-lived, but not without its influence.

In the modern western world authoritarianism in the form of those on high telling us what religion to practice, how to practice it, what is and what is not its pure form, and so on, is discouraged. Generally, we allow individuals the freedom to decide for themselves—an important feature of democracy.  Moreover, there is an individualistic streak in the western mind that encourages independence of thought. Deference is regarded with suspicion.  So how will Tibetan Buddhism fare in the modern world?

Despite the general liberal, and even libertine, attitudes in the West, the form that Tibetan Buddhism is taking these days in the West is to a large extent still determined  by the parameters of the particular Tibetan tradition it originated in, and by those Tibetan teachers who have made the journey to the West in order to disseminate the teachings. There is still something very Tibetan about Tibetan Buddhism. This ensures that the tradition remains unchanged while it finds its feet in its new home. Therefore, although we do not have the same authority-led culture as in eighth century Tibet, it seems that for the most part that authority is being exercised by the Tibetan teachers in the West, and by Dharma Centres who mould themselves in a Tibetan image.

Nevertheless, there have been some suggestions that now, some forty years after the initial transmission began, we should be searching for ways to develop our own “Western Buddhism.” Such suggestions have even been made by Tibetan teachers themselves. There is some wisdom in that suggestion. Buddhism, especially Tibetan Buddhism, is very popular in the West these days. This means that it has more exposure and consequently more people want to find out about it. Many of these people were not part of that great hippie trail in the 60s and have never been to India. They are not familiar with the rituals, traditions, prayers recited in Tibetan, prostrations, elaborate offering ceremonies, long-life prayers, and so on, found in traditional Tibetan Buddhism. These external aspects may have the effect of turning people away from Buddhism, thereby preventing them reaching the inner essence of Buddhism, which is the Four Truths, the training of the mind, the development of love and compassion and so on. The outer aspect of Tibetan Buddhism is immediately apparent, but it is the inner aspect that is the most important.

However it takes a lot of confidence and not a small amount of insight to start to make changes to a solid tradition that has been built up over a thousand years or so, and which is backed by the wisdom of many a great Buddhist practitioner.  First it has to be decided which traditions have been culturally acquired and can be put aside, and which are essential or at least beneficial to practice. Could some be replaced with western equivalents? If, for example, the prayers were recited in Western languages, would something be lost? Some say the prayers, especially those composed by Tibetan masters, chanted over the centuries carry special blessings, and that to recite them in Tibetan brings greater benefit. Others say that to recite in a language you don’t understand is meaningless. Some people say that the form of Buddhism in Tibet, and even in ancient India, particularly suited the eastern mind, but now it should be adapted to suit the western mind, by opening its doors to western psychology and psychotherapy, for example. Others say that the problems that affected the ancient East are essentially no different to those of the modern West, and that the methods for dealing with them do not need to be changed. Some say we are westerners and that any spiritual path we follow should be in keeping with western values and attitudes. Others say that our western values have failed us and we need the wisdom of the East to help us out.

There is also a view is that there should be no deliberate attempt to “modernize” Tibetan Buddhism.  They point out that attempting to shape Buddhism to fit in with western values is to run the risk of watering it down by editing out the unpalatable parts, and that Buddhism will become subsumed into the New Age culture, or simply adopted as the latest fashionable spiritual path, whereby it becomes just another consumer product in the spiritual marketplace. Lamas are given glossy write-ups when advertising their latest course or retreat, teachings become expensive and out of reach of those who are financially strapped, tantra is promoted as a quick path to mystical experience, Tibetan Buddhism spawns its own range of designer products such as meditation cushions, rosaries, and so on.

Personally, I think that Tibetan Buddhism in the West will find itself, at least for the immediate future, held by tradition-based conservatism as well as straying to an over-liberalization. That seems inevitable. However, Buddhism is a flexible religion that allows for a certain amount of shape shifting. It lends itself to be molded and adapted to suit the needs of its followers. I think this can be seen even now in the countries in which it has taken hold. People are of types: Some value the power of the intellect, and make full use of it to make choices and to resolve doubts. Others value the power of experience over other forms of knowledge. Others believe strongly in the power of ritual. There are those for whom devotion is the key. Tibetan Buddhism accommodates all these types, and it has the flexibility to appear to them in an appropriate form. Therefore, I think that the responsibility of those who were part of that great transmission of Buddhism from Tibet to the West, and also of those who came to it in their own countries, is not to overly intervene or to overprotect but to keenly watch over its development and growth, and not sit back when rampant abuse occurs, when gross contamination of the doctrine takes hold, or when the efforts and accumulated wisdom of centuries of Indian and Tibetan masters are perverted for materialistic and selfish ends. I believe that such self-regulation coupled with the flexibility of Buddhism will ensure its survival, even in this unregulated, anything-goes western world of ours.

Gavin Kilty

Lama Tsongkhapa Institute, Pomaia, Italy

2012