SECTS IN TIBETAN BUDDHISM Comparison of Practices Between Gelugpa and Nyingmapa Sects

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The teachings of Buddha are timeless and priceless. The eightfold path as preached by Buddha is still relevant and concurrent with non-violence and compassion in its central point and can answer most of the problems that the materialistic world is facing due to ignorance as its root cause.

The Tibetan books were well preserved by the Lamas in their monasteries throughout centuries and in live conditions. India, once the source of religion for Tibet, lost its Buddhist treatises during the past few centuries. Tibetan Buddhist treatises are considered the most authentic source for restoration of Buddhist teaching in the Indian sub-continent.

Nyingma, the first ever sect of Buddhism in Tibet was introduced by Padmasambhava of India and still it is practice. The Gelug sect is the fourth in succession and it claims to have the largest number of followers not only among Tibetans but also popular in the eyes of Western Buddhists, beside others, since more and more Gelug monks are invited to deliver lectures about Buddhism in the west. The responsible factors, inter alia, are perhaps the simplified and elaborate teachings about the altruistic state of mind i.e. Bodhicitta, great compassion, teachings on claming the mind and discerning the real (zhi Nas and Lha Thon) which carry most of the answers to the problems which the world is facing.

The present book is an attempt to disseminate the teachings of Buddha from the purest available sources i.e. Buddhism in Tibet. It is a tribute to the peace loving Tibetans who have lost their homeland but still preserve the Buddhist teachings among themselves.

About the Author :

Dr Vijay Kumar Singh, a Reader in the Department of Chinese and Tibetan Language, Panjab University, did his Masters in Buddhist Studies from the University of Delhi and was awarded PhD in Tibetan Buddhism from Panjab University, Chandigarh. He has written several papers on Tibetan Buddhism. These have been published in national and international journals and several books. He remains one of the very few scholars in the field of Lam Rim Teachings of Tibetan Buddhism. Lam Rim Teachings are considered to be the base of Buddhist scriptures that reached Tibet from India during the introduction of Buddhism in Tibet in 7th century. In Tibetan language, Lam means path and Rim is graded. Hence, the Lam Rim teaching is considered to be of Indian origin, but developed to its present extent by the Tibetan masters in their own environment with local flavours and soon it earned the respect and command of all the sects and sub-sects of Buddhism in Tibet.