Reflections on Tibet- Part 3

Samye Monastery and the beginnings of Tibetan Buddhism

The Samye monastery can be reached in 2 hours from Lhasa, however it took us 4 hours to reach it as the Chinese government is building a bridge across the river that allows buses to pass. This detour took us over a 15000 ft pass enabling us to see some spectacular sweeps of the Yarlung Tsangpo River, known as the Brahmaputra river in India, is one of the largest rivers of the world.
The 2,057 km traverse of Yarlung Tsangpo River on the world's roof, with an average altitude of >3,000 meters(10000 ft), is the highest river in the world. The Samye monastery sits by its banks. It was only accessible by ferry for many years from Lhasa until a narrow bridge only passable by cars was built in the 1960s.
Samye was the first monastery to be built in Tibet. It was probably founded during the 770's under the patronage of King Trisong Detsen, with the work being directed by Padmasambhava and Shantarakshita, the two Indian masters that the king had invited to Tibet. The monastery is designed on the plan of the Odantapuri temple in India (present-day Bihar), and mirrors the structure of the universe according to Buddhist cosmology. The central temple represents Mt. Sumeru, the mythical mountain at the centre of the cosmos. The layout of the huge monastery complex forms a giant mandala, a representation of the Buddhist universe, and is modeled after the Indian temple of Odantapuri in Bihar..

The four continents in the ocean around Mt. Meru are represented by the four temples at the cardinal points, each flanked by two smaller temples to symbolize islands in the ocean.
There are four large chortens (stupas) at the corners of the main temple in four different colors, and there is a Sun temple in the north and Moon temple to the south.
The main temple,is a grand six-story building that takes a couple of hours to thoroughly explore. The first floor is the most impressive of the six, and is dominated by the main assembly hall, with old mandalas on the high ceiling.
It was here at Samye that the first seven Tibetans were ordained as monks by Shantarakshita, after the Indian teacher had closely examined them to see if they were fit to be monks. They are still known today as the Seven Examined Men.

When the monastery was first built, both Indian and Chinese monks were invited there to work on the translation of Buddhist scriptures from their respective languages into Tibetan. The Indians lived in the Hayagriva temple to the south, and the Chinese in the Maitreya to the west. Conflicts arose between the two factions concerning doctrinal interpretation, and the king called for a public debate to settle the matter. This took place around 792, between Kamalashila, a disciple of Shantarakshita, and Hoshang.

The debate, which took place in the Jampa Ling, was presided over by King Trisong Detsen, and was intended to establish which form of Buddhism should prevail in Tibet: the Indian monastic tradition of systematic study, firm adherence to ethical rules, and a practice that entails the gradual ascendancy of stages leading to enlightenment; or the Chinese tradition of Ch'an (Zen), which favours a direct ('sudden') breakthrough to the ultimate nature of consciousness and existence, for which intellect and morality, the twin pillars of the Indian school, are not necessary, and can even be hindrances. The accounts of the outcome of the debate are ambiguous, both sides claiming victory. The actual outcome, though, is beyond doubt: The Indian view was favoured, and from then on the Chinese influence waned. Hoshang had to leave Tibet, and the Ch'an (Zen) tradition was effectively proscribed.

A unique monastery and village rolled into one, Samye is a highlight of a visit to Tibet. Situated amidst breathtaking scenery, the journey to Samye is splendid no matter how you arrive.It was impossible to photograph the complex because of its immense lay-out, but I downloaded an image from the web to show how great this place is. The pilgrims who arrive here from various parts of the land are a spectacle to watch and photograph. Please see my album of Samye which will be released soon. This article was mostly edited from material from the Internet and has not been a extemporaneous exchange of ideas as my previous ones.

I loved the history of the place, its significance to Buddhism, its connection to India and the evolution of philosophies that prompted me to publish this post. When one travels a lot along the silk route, like I have done, you often see conflicting religious interests between Taoism, Confuciusinism, Zen Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, Theravada, Hinayana and other Indo- European religions such as Nestorian Christianity and Indo- Greek worship( Gandhara).