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No other religion apart from
Buddhism has been able to take root in Tibet. Only
a small population of about 2,000 throughout Tibet
have faith in Islam, while there is no trace of
Christianity at all. The Bon, the aborigine religion
of Tibet, a sect of shamanism which chiefly worshiped
idols and the Nature and practiced driving off evil
spirits, had at one time prevailed in Tibet but
lost ground with the penetration of Buddhism.
Thus, Buddhism can as well be said to be the sole
religion of Tibet, and the faith has taken so deep
in root that it means almost everything to the Tibetans
as already mentioned. Well-to do families even built
in their compound their private chapels or prayer-rooms.
To begin with, the first Buddhist scripture printed
in Sanskirt was said to have been descended from
Heaven in the 5th century during the reign of 28th
Tsanpo Tho-Tho-Ri Nyantsan. It was translated into
Tibetan in the 7th century in Songtsan Gampo's reign.
Since the translation, Buddhism got propagated into
Tibet, and later in the 8th century after the visit
of the Bengali Master Padmasambhava, the spread
of Buddhism got accelerated and religious sect started
taking shape. In the 11th century the visit of the
Bengali Master, Atisha, to Tibet greatly encouraged
the study of Buddhism into Tibet and sowed the seed
for the Gelugpa, the greatest sect that was to come.
Filally, in the 15th century, Tsongkapa, the great
reformer of Tibetan Buddhism, came to Tibet from
Qinghai and founded the Gelugpa sect, the order
of Excellence, and hereafter Buddhism went all-out
spreading like a wild fire into Tibet and the breath-taking
city-like monasteries shot up one after another.
The 5th Dalai Lama's becoming of the absolute ruler
both of the church and the state is another decisive
victory for Buddhism to rise to its paramountcy
as the religion of the entire Tibetan nationality.
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