Buddhism is practiced throughout the country though, in the south, most Bhutanese people of Nepali and Indian descent practice Hinduism. Minority groups practice various forms of ancient animistic religions including Bon, which predates Himalayan Buddhism.
Monks are held in great respect and play an active part in community life. It is a custom for one son from each family to enter the monastic order at about age 10. The custom is less prevalent today because boys are now free to decide for themselves whether they wish to enter a monastery or not.
Bhutan's official religion is Drukpa Kagyu, a school of tantric Mahayana Buddhism. It is similar to the Buddhism of Tibet, but has unique belief and practices. To place Bhutan's religion in the full context of Buddhism, it's necessary to go back nearly 2500 years and trace the points at which the Drukpa Kagyu lineage and its antecedents diverged from other schools of Buddhism.

The Origins of Buddhism

Strictly speaking, Buddhism is not a religion, since it is not centred on a god, but a system or philosophy and a code of morality.

Buddhism was founded in northern India in about 500 BC when Siddhartha Gautama, born a prince, achieved enlightenment. Many schools in Buddhism believe that there were previous Buddhas, and most believe that Gautama Buddha is not expected to be the last 'enlightened one'. Buddhists believe that the achievement of enlightenment should be the goal of every being, and eventually we could all reach Buddhahood.

The Buddha renounced his material life to search for enlightenment but unlike other prophets, found that starvation did not lead to discovery. Therefore, he developed his rule of the 'middle way' - moderation in everything. The Buddha taught that all life is suffering, but that suffering comes from our sensual desires and the illusion that they are important. By following the 'eight fold path', these desires will eventually be extinguished and a state of nirvana, where we are free from all delusions, which we reached. Following this process requires going through a series of rebirths until the goal is reached and no more rebirths into the world of suffering are necessary. The path that takes you through this cycle of births is karma - but this is not simply fate. Karma is a law of cause and effect; your action in one life determines the role you will play and what you will have to go through in your next life.

The Buddha is known to the Mahayana Buddhists of Sakyamuni. He never wrote down his dharma (teachings), and a schism developed so that today there are two major Buddhist schools.

Theravada Buddhism

The Theravada, 'doctrine of the elders', holds that the path to nirvana, the eventual aim of all Buddhists, is an individual can work towards an end to the endless cycle of rebirths by practicing monastic discipline in accordance with the sutras (teachings of the Buddha) and meditating on the impermanent nature of reality; the worship of deities is secondary. The Theravada school is followed in Sri Lanka, Burma (Myanmar) and Thailand and by the Buddhist Newars in the Kathmandu Valley.

In contrast, the Mahayana, or 'great vehicle', school holds that the combined belief of its followers will eventually be great enough to encompass all of humanity and bear it to salvation. Today, various forms of Mahayana Buddhism are practiced in Vietnam, Japan, Nepal and China.

Mahayana Buddhists believe in the existence of holy beings, of saints, who have sacrificed their own release from suffering in order to aid in the salvation of all living things. Such a person is called a bodhisattva, one who has attained enlightenment, but delays their entry into nirvana in order to lead others to enlightenment. The bodhisattva remains in the world as a teacher or guru, suffering and toiling for the salvation of all beings. Thus, in the Mahayana tradition, bodhisattvas are worshipped as Buddhas. The historical Buddha, Sakyamuni, is viewed as one of a succession of Buddhas.

Mahayana Buddhism developed into a more metaphysical form than Theravada Buddhism, with elaborated rituals and symbolism. It emphasises mental development and service to humanity

Vajrayana Buddhism, the diamond vehicle, evolved from Mahayana traditions, probably in India during the 2nd to 4th centuries. Often called Tantric Buddhism, it focuses on existential problems and emphasises the use of meditation under the direction of an initiated teacher as a means to achieve enlightenment. Unlike the pure Mahayana tradition, which attaches most importance to theoretical aspects of Buddhism, the Vajrayana tradition portrays Buddhism as part of he individual. Yogic and meditative methods are used to bring about a complete transformation of the practitioner. Female energies and goddesses are worshipped and demonesses exert a powerful influence.

Vajrayana students must be accepted by a recognized teacher and must undergo a long process of initiation and training (tantra means 'practice'). The emphasis is to understand compassion through a process of meditation, Eventually, the student learns yogic or contemplative practices and uses mudras (gestures and postures) and mantras (sacred syllables and phrases). Vajrayana Buddhism has a collection of texts known as the tantras, which supplement the initial teachings of the Buddha.

Though Buddhism had been practiced in Tibet since the reign of King Songtsen Gampo (618-649), it was not the dominant force in the country until much later. Tibet was plagued by demons, and King Trisong Detsen (755-797) invited Guru Rimpoche to visit Tibet to try to subdue the negative forces that were interfering with the construction of Samye monastery. Every night the demons destroyed all the previous day's work. The Guru subdued the demons, not by destroying them, but by bringing them under his control. The converted demons helped to build the monastery, accomplishing more at night than the workers did during the day, thus establishing Tibet's first Buddhist monastery.

Guru Rimpoche's primary weapon to control the demons was the dorji. This symbol is an important icon, and it is from this that name Vajrayana evolved (vajra is the Sanskrit name for dorji).

This branch of Buddhism is sometimes referred to (incorrectly) in the west as Lama Buddhism or Lamias. The word lama means 'extraordinary maser' and is a title monks of superior learning. A more descriptive and accurate name is Himalayan Buddhism.

Himalayan Buddhism is different in practise from many western religions. Although it has a strict moral code, including the prohibition of killing, it does not require the layman to undertake sophisticated study. The monks memorise texts and recite them on important occasions. Those laymen who do understand the texts and rituals are respected, but most people don't fathom the intricacies of the liturgy. People gain merit by hearing the texts and it is not necessary for them to understand the deeper meaning of the recitations.

Similarly, merit may be achieved by spinning a prayer wheel, the inside of which contains thousands, or millions, of prayers written on paper. Contributing to the construction of goemba, supporting the monastic community, erecting payer flags and sponsoring the recitation of sacred texts all contribute to one's karma. It is also a merit-making exercise to witness dances and ritual performances by lamas, but no real understanding or active participation is necessary. The Earl of Ronaldshay described Himalayan Buddhism as:
'.a perfectly bewildering medley of gods and goddesses, Buddhas and bodhisattvas, guardian deities and canonised saints, ghouls, goblins and demons, deified kings and spirits of every conceivable description, paradises, earth's and hells.

Himalayan Buddhism was influenced by the ancient indigenous Bon tradition of Tibet, and a few pockets of Bon remain in the Himalayan regions. Many of the demons and shamanistic traditions of Tibetan Buddhism evolved from its interaction with Bon. These demons, by the way, were very real to the people of Tibet.

Many stories tell of Tibetan saints, or bodhisattvas, subduing these demons and spirits and converting them to Buddhism. These saints had great appeal to ordinary Tibetans, and a shamanistic tradition evolved as the popular form of Tibetan Buddhism. While the monks studied texts and followed strict rules, the religious practices of lay people included the worship of favourite saints and calling on sorcerers to solve particular problems such as health, financial difficulty or possession by demons.

Each monastery maintained its own leadership and a number of charismatic teachers became recognised, each with an individual interpretation of certain aspects of the scriptures. This difference in interpretation of the scriptures, combined with the influence of worship of the more popular saints, resulted in the evolution of various lineages or schools within Tibetan Buddhism, each with its distinctive style and traditions.

Nyingma Early western students of Tibetan Buddhism labelled this the 'Red Hat' school and assumed was the earliest from of Tibetan Buddhism because its name, Nyingma, means 'old'. It was the practice of Nyingma Buddhism that Guru Rimpoche introduced to Tibet and Bhutan. Nyingma monasteries never became great seats of power because most of their practitioners were local shaman-like teachers in rural villages. Nyingmapa monks may marry and often work individually in small village lhakhangs and remote cave retreats.

Nyingma tradition places a special emphasis on tertons. These are Nyingma Lamas who were the rediscoverers of Guru Rimpoche's hidden terma. The terma consisted mostly of sacred texts and teachings, often written in secret languages, as well as statues and ritual objects. The concept of termas is a living tradition, and new termas continue to be revealed to this day.

Tsong Khapa instigated a system of examinations, of which the highest degree granted was geshe. In 1409 he founded Ganden, west of Lhasa, one of Tibet's greatest and most important monasteries. Gelug followers later established several important monasteries in Tibet, including Drepung, Sera and Tashilunpo. From Tsong Khapa's disciples came the line Dalai Lama, who is believed to be the incarnation f Avalokitashvara (known in Tibet as Chenrezig), the bodhisattva of compassion.Sakya The Sakya school was named after its principle monastery in Tibet. Its systematically organised teachings are called lamdre. They integrate the precepts of sutra and tantra into a discipline designed to bring about Buddhahood in a single lifetime.

Kadam The patriarch of the Kadam (Bound by Precept) school was Atisha, whose teaching's stressed the need for austere monastic discipline and devotion to a teacher before the start of tantric practice. Students observed four fundamental rules: and prohibition of travel and money handling. The Gelug lineage absorbed the Kadampas in the 15t century. Kagyu The name Kagyu translates as 'whispered transmission'. It places fundamental emphasis on the oral transmission of esoteric teachings directly from master to pupil. The tradition evolved with the early Indian masters, and its most important teacher was the tantric guru Marpa (1012-1093). Among Marpa's disciples was Milarepa, Tibet's greatest poet. Milarepa eschewed the study of classical Tibetan text and wandered throughout Tibet meditating in high mountain caves and composing songs.

One of Milarepa's disciples was Gampopa, who authored important Kagyu texts and passed his teachings on to several gifted students. These students, in turn, founded the monasteries of Drigung, Taklung and Ralung (from which the first Shabdrung, Ngawang Namgyal, came).

The Kagyu system emphasises certain aspects of practical mysticism, including yogic practices of breathing techniques and postures. It is possible to achieve enlightenment within a lifetime, or at the moment of death, by relying on the Six Yogas of Naropa. These are self-produced heat, illusory body, dreams, the experience of light, the intermediate state between death and rebirth and the passing from one existence into another. Following the example of the married priest Marpa, Kagyu tradition does not demand celibacy or association with a religious institution.

There are numerous sub-orders of Kagyu, including Karmapa, Drikungpa and Drukpa. The Karmapa lineage is one of the important schools in present-day Tibet and Sikkim, and the Drukpa lineage is the pre-eminent religion of Bhutan.

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