Tonpa Shenrab Miwoche

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Tönpa Shenrab (also known as Buddha Shenrab, Guru Shenrab, Tonpa Shenrab Miwoche, Lord Shenrab Miwo and many other titles) is the founder of the Bön tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. He is directly comparable to Padmasambhava, the founder of the princial branches of Tibetan Buddhism (Nyingma, Sakya, Kagyu and Gelug).

According to Bön tradition, Tönpa Shenrab predates Padmasambhava and the Buddha Shakyamuni. It is held that Tönpa Shenrab first studied the Bön doctrine in Tagzig Olmo Lung Ring (which for economy may be equated with space, heaven and the aetherial realm), at the end of which he pledged to Shenla Okar, the god of compassion, to guide the peoples of this world to realisation.

Like the Buddha Shakyamuni, Tönpa Shenrab was born a prince, but recinded his royal inheritance at the age of 31 to follow the path of enlightenment. Tönpa Shenrab embraced the life of a renunciate and commenced austerities, spreading the dharma; wherein he arrived in the land of Zhangzhung near what is widely held to be Mount Kailash.

Accounts of Tönpa Shenrab's life are to be found in three principal sources; mDo-'dus, gZer-migand and gZi-brjid. The first two are held to be terma realised by Bön tertön in the tenth or eleventh century. The third text is of 'whispered' lineage (sNyan-brgyud), transmitted via disciplic succession.

1 The Four Portals and One Treasury
2 The Nine Ways of Bön
3 The Bon Canon
4 References

[edit] The Four Portals and One Treasury

The doctrines taught by Tonpa Shenrab are generally classified into two types, first, The Four Portals and One Treasury (sGo-bzhi mDzod-lizga) the:

White Water (Chabdkar) relates esoteric matters;
Black Water (Chab-nag) concerns narratives, magic, funeral rites and ransom rituals;
Land of Phan ('Phanyul) codifies monastic rules and philosophical expositions;
Divine Guide (dPon-gasa) enshrines the Dzogchen teachings; and finally
Treasury (mTho-thog) which serves as an anthology of the salient items of the Four Portals.

[edit] The Nine Ways of Bön

The second classification, the Nine Ways of Bön (Bön theg-pa rim-dgu) is as follows, the:

Way of Prediction (Phyva-gshen Theg-pa) codifies ritual, prognostication, sortilege and astrology;
Way of the Visual World (sNang-shen theg-pa) details the psychophysical Universe;
Way of Illusion ('Phrul-gshen theg-pa) explains the rites for the dispersal of adverse thoughtforms, entities and energies;
Way of Existence (Srid-gshen theg-pa) details funeral and death rituals;
Way of a Lay Follower (dGe-bsnyen theg-pa) contains the ten principles for wholesome activity;
Way of a Monk, (Drnag-srnng theg-pa) codifies monastic rules and regulations;
Way of Primordial Sound (Adkar theg-pa) charts the integration of an exalted practitioner into the mandala of highest enlightenment;
Way of Primordial Shen, (Ye-gshen theg-pa) renders the guidelines for seeking a true tantric master and the samaya that binds a disciple to his tantric master; and in summation
Way of Supreme Doctrine or The Way of Dzogchen (Bla-med theg-pa) enshrines Dzogchen.

The nine ways are further codified into three, the:

Causal Ways (rGyui-theg-pa) comprises the first four,
Resultant Ways ('Brns-bu'i-theg-pa) covers the second suite of four; and in closure;
Unsurpassable Way or the Way of Dzogchen (Khyad-par chen-po'i-theg-pa or rDzogs-chen) is the ninth.

[edit] The Bon Canon

These are contained in the Bön canon comprising more than two hundred volumes classified under four sections: the Sutras (mDa), the Perfection of Wisdom Teachings ('Bum), the Tantras (rGyud) and Knowledge (mDzod). Besides these, the Bon canon includess disciplines such as rituals, arts and crafts, logic, medicine, poetry and narrative. It is interesting to note that the Knowledge (mDzod) section concerning cosmogony and cosmology though unique to Bon shares a more than passing correlation with some Nyingma doctrines.