The later spread of buddhism in Tibet

Abstract

There is a simple and a complex answer to the question of what Tibetans mean by the spread of Buddhism in Tibet. Our main sources on the spread of Buddhism in Tibet are texts belonging to different genres of Tibetan historiography. These works were written by religious specialists for a specific religio-political purpose and date from a time considerably later than the historical period in question. The chos-'byungs typically begin their accounts of the spread with a story of some Buddhist monks who fled Central Tibet during the time of Glang-dar-ma's persecution and built up small religious centres in North-Eastern Tibet (Khams) where monastic traditions are said to have been upheld throughout the dark age. Keywords: Buddhism; canonisation; Khams; Tibet; Tibetan historiography