With regard to Bon, a relatively secret religion in Tibet, this chapter will popularize this knowledge. Interested readers can take a look, and if they are not interested, the chapter on Bon can be skipped without affecting the plot.

Bon is also known as the Religion and the Bowl Religion, and is also commonly known as the Black Religion because the believers are wrapped in black scarves on their heads. Before Buddhism was introduced to Tibet, Bon was a popular witchcraft religion in Tibet, and the objects of worship included various natural objects such as heaven and earth, sun and moon, thunder, lightning, hail, mountains, rocks, grass and beasts, as well as gods and ghosts in the natural world. Bon is a teachings taught by Lucky Miwo Nyorai, also known as the ancient Zhangxiong Dharma. Its history dates back about 18,000 years. Historically, there have been twenty-four uninterrupted great achievers who have achieved rainbow avatars through the practice of Bon, and there are even fewer other uninterrupted rainbow avatar achievers.

In ancient Tibetan records, "ben" means "chanting" and "chanting", which is an extremely important part of the various rituals of primitive beliefs. The various primitive beliefs in which the main ritual is the chanting of various mantras are called "primitive religions"; There is also the "Yongzhong Sect" founded by the Buddha of Xinhuan Miwo.

This religion not only involves religion, but also covers folk customs, astronomy, calendrical calculations, Tibetan medicine, philosophy, karma (logic), debate, art, dance, music and other aspects, which is an important spiritual belief of the people in Tibet and its surrounding areas, and still plays an indispensable role in the spiritual and cultural life of the Tibetan people. There are thousands of scriptures and documents in this religion, and there are 178 Tripitaka Kangyur alone (including 74 Vinaya, 70 Sutras, 26 Continuations, and 8 Libraries). The content involves Buddhism, philosophy, logic, literature, art, astrology, medicine, science, engineering and other fields, and is an encyclopedia of the local cultural knowledge of the Tibetan people), there are more than 390 in Tengyur, which is a summary of the local religious literature and classics of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, which is equivalent to the panoramic encyclopedia of Tibet in the ancient Zhangxiong period, and still has a far-reaching impact on the life of the Tibetan people, cultural customs, psychological quality, way of thinking, behavioral norms and other aspects.

Due to various historical reasons, Yongzhong Buddhism seems to have become a forgotten corner, and even misunderstood, but it is inextricably linked with Tibetan Buddhism, especially the Dzogchen teachings and the Tibetan teachings of the Nyingma sect, and their relationship is even more delicate. (Dzogchen is called "Le Zao" in Zhangzhung and "Zopa Chinpo" in Tibetan, which means supreme extreme yoga and is the core of Yongzhong's teachings), and many of the customs and lifestyles of Tibetans today have also been handed down from the Zhangzhung era. Tibetans' weddings, funerals, and Tibetan medicine still follow the traditions of the religion to a certain extent, and the Tibetans also have many unique ways of praying for blessings: such as turning the sacred mountain, worshipping the god lake, planting horse flags, inserting colorful prayer flags, carving stone scriptures, placing mani piles (the tradition of this religion is engraved with the bright eight-character mantra: "Hum Ma so also Sared"), divination, offering to the dolma plate, butter flowers and even using prayer wheels, which are all relics of the religion.

Legend has it that the founder of Bon was Shenrab Mivo, whom the believers call Dongba Sinrao (translated as Mentor Xinrao) and is believed to have been the prince of Zhangzhung (also known as the prince of Dase, Daser refers to the vast region of Western Asia) and founded Yongzhong Honjiao on the basis of reforming the original religion. Xinrao was born in Volmolungring. "Womo Longren" means the deep valley of the Womo region, which is explained in the Buddhist text, "Gzermig": "Wo is not reincarnation; Mo is a wish; Long is the conferral of hard work; Benevolence is eternal compassion. There are three theories about the location of Womollongren:

The first type: the Gangdis Mountain and the vicinity of the Mapanyongcuo Lake in China are considered to be the legendary Womo Longren;

The second type: Womollongren is a place name in Dasser, West Asia.

The third type: Wo Mo Long Ren is the legendary Shambhala Shambhala (also translated: Shangri-La).

There are different theories about the date of his birth: foreign scholars and the texts of the religion believe that Xin Rao was born in 16,017 B.C., that is, more than 18,000 years ago; Scholars in the domestic academic community believe that Xin Rao was born about 4,000 years ago.

The primitive religion is a polytheistic belief with no clear leader; Later, during the Yongzhong Honjiao period founded by Xinrao Miwo, the religion became systematized and had a clear set of canons and theories: the head of the Great Perfection of the religion was Fuxian Wang Rulai (Bengugendu Rongbu), the head of the language of the religion was Xinrao Miwo, and the head of the Yi sect was the ancient Zhangxiong monk of the sect Pillow Banangka.

As for when the custom of building pagodas began in Tibet, it is difficult to verify, but it is certain that Buddhism had the custom of building pagodas before it was introduced to Tibet, which is clearly recorded in the ancient Yongzhong scriptures. The biography of the founder of this religion, Xingrao Miwo, "The Sutra of Pure Purity", contains a more systematic description of the type, structure, size and function of the stupa. There are also detailed descriptions of the 18 major cities of the Eight Directions centered on the ancient Zhangxiong's Qionglong Silver City before the 7th century AD, the 360 small cities on the periphery, and the surrounding 1,008 pagodas. There are also a large number of earthen pagodas or stone pagodas in the same period of time as Zhangxiong, among which the five pagodas are the most famous, the designers and funders of each pagoda and the specific construction site are clearly recorded in the history books, and the stupa as the object of "meaning" in the "body, speech, and meaning" are relied upon, and its structure and size have strict classical basis and profound theoretical support. Each part of the stupa has a practical symbolic meaning. The world itself is a tower of nature that is born as a wish. The base of the tower symbolizes the nine centers of Yongzhong that are immutable, and the four-color steps of the tower base symbolize the four elements of wind, fire, water, and earth and the universe and the "four vows that cannot be guarded" (no trade-offs, no self and others, no movement of nature, all pure), Mount Meru symbolizes the "five bodies", the first layer symbolizes the "ten virtues", the second layer symbolizes the "four minds", the third layer symbolizes the "four divine feet", the fourth layer symbolizes the "ten wisdoms", the bottle base symbolizes the "eighty-two meditations", the vase symbolizes the "eighteen emptiness", and the white conch (the square treasure on the bottle mouth) symbolizes" Equal to the four natures", the canopy symbolizes the "four paths of hard rao" (the path of whiteness without habits, the path of long-term continuous settlement, the path of righteousness without reincarnation, and the middle path has reached the highest path), the central pillar symbolizes the "eight paths of liberation" (liberation from the six realms and three evil pleasures, from suffering, from confusion, from habits, from the concentration of truths and separation, from the eight immaculate, from ignorance, from hatred), and the thirteen layers of the Dharma. The wheel symbolizes the "Thirteen Great Fearlessness", the rain eaves symbolize the "Four Great Sorrows" (continuous like the flow of water, endless like the foundation, universal balance like the sun, boundless like the void)-, the streamer symbolizes the omniscient wisdom, the two Dapeng horns at the spire symbolize the twin fortunes of compassion and wisdom, the spire symbolizes the great happiness of the Dharma body, and the sword symbolizes the supreme consummation. In addition, each part of the stupa also symbolizes each part of the Buddha's body, as the sutra says, "The tower is the body, and the body and the tower." The stupa of this religion and the stupas of other sects of Tibetan Buddhism are about the same except for the structural function, but the symbolic meaning of the top of the pagoda and each part is very different, so it is difficult to determine whether the stupa architecture was introduced to Tibet with Indian Buddhism, which is worthy of further research and verification by colleagues in the academic community.

There are two main types of teachings:

Primitive Honkyo

Primitive Honkyo

The "Honjiao" did not arise at the same time as the teachings of Xinrao Miwo, probably in the Stone Age, before Xinrao was born, various primitive beliefs were already prevalent in Central Asia, that is, the polytheistic worship known as the primitive religion, which was called the "Duoben Period" or "Duben Period" by Tibetan scholars. There are: "Dragon Ben", "Praise Ben", "Sacrifice Ben", "Divination Ben", "Fortune Ben", "Demon Ben", "Bathing Ben" and other more than 30 kinds of primitive religions, the wizards of the primitive religion for the people to relieve disasters, get rid of diseases and evils, have a large number of believers. This proves that the meaning of the word "Benjiao" is very wide, and the original Benjiao is inextricably linked with the "shamanism" that spread in Central Asia, Northeast Asia, and American Indian tribes, as well as the "Dongba Religion" practiced by the Naxi people in Yunnan (Dongba Religion should belong to a primitive religion, but Dongba Religion has Xinrao Miwo as its ancestor, and may have been influenced by the "Four Vehicles" teaching of Yongzhong Honjiao in its later period).

Yongzhong Benjiao

On the basis of reforming the original religion, the Yongzhong Sect Xin Rao Miwo incorporated its own teachings and created a new religion, so that the religion could be unified. This new religion is called "Yongzhong Honjiao" and is different from the original Honjiao, and the Yongzhong Honjiao founded by Xin Huan Miwo is also called Benjiao, and the teachings of Yongzhong Benjiao are divided into two kinds:

Guben: Originating from the ancient tradition of Xinrao Miwo, it strictly maintains the pure Yongzhong tradition and has its own unique Dzogchen inheritance system. Some scholars in Europe and the United States believe that Guben is a little-known form of existence of ancient Buddhism in Central Asia. Of course, this argument is not accepted by some orthodox scholars in Tibet.

Xinben: It is a new tradition formed by the interaction and blending of Yongzhong Buddhism and Indian Buddhism (mainly with the Nyingma school) in the later period, and the statue style and practice method of the new version incorporate some elements of Indian Buddhism.

Some Tibetan scholars refer to the new version as the "white book" or "jue book" and the ancient book as the "black book" or "cha book". A discriminatory term formed in the scene. The existing main family lineages or temple lineages of this religion are: Xin, Zhu, Xu, Meiwu, Ba, Qiong, etc., although some of them also incorporate some new teachings, but they still focus on the inheritance of pure ancient teachings. Of course, there are also some monasteries that practice with a mixture of the new and the old.

The difference between the Yongzhong religion founded by Xinrao Miwo and the primitive religion is that when Xinrao Miwo came to Tibet from Zhangxiong to preach, he already had a systematic theory and corresponding canons, and the primitive religion was not yet a mature religion at this time. Instead of directly abolishing the original religion, he skillfully absorbed the original religion and reformed it substantially. For example, rituals such as Tibetan medicine, astronomy, calendrical calculations, geography, divination, transcendence, dreams, fortune, fortune, stone inscriptions, carvings, and bathing are still used by some Tibetan villagers to prevent diseases from people and animals, or to bring benefits in daily life. The above worldly methods were listed as the "Four Vehicles of Cause" (also known as Sparten) by Yongzhong's teachings, and Xin Rao also incorporated the teachings he founded himself, "Fruit Four Vehicles" and "Unprecedented" as the "Nine Vehicles". In addition, the primitive practice of killing animals and sacrificing blood was opposed by Xin Rao Miwo, who used tsamba and ghee to knead various colored thread flower plates to replace the animals to be killed and sacrificed in the primitive religion and achieved success: called "mdos" or "yas". Believers believe that this is the origin of the gtorma and the buttersculpture. Torma and ghee flowers are widely used as offerings not only by their own religion but also by Buddhists, and have become a major feature of Tibetan Buddhism. Although the practice of killing and sacrificing still exists in and around Tibet, it is not permissible by the teachings of Xinrao. Therefore, Xinrao's reform not only reduced the bad habit of killing and sacrificing in Tibet at that time, but also had a profound and beneficial impact on the culture of Tibet in the later period.

The existing main family lineages or temple lineages of this religion are: Xin, Zhu, Xu, Meiwu, Ba, Qiong, etc., although some of them also incorporate some new teachings, but they still focus on the inheritance of pure ancient teachings. Of course, there are also some monasteries that practice with a mixture of the new and the old.

Yongzhong Buddhism originated from the Zhangzhung civilization[2], and many Tibetans did not know about the Zhangzhung civilization due to ancient Tibetan political, historical, and religious reasons. They believe that India has made a great contribution to the formation of Tibetan culture, and that all cultures from India have great value, but they also believe that the native Tibetan religion and things outside of Indian civilization have contributed little and have little value to the formation of Tibetan culture. Even many Tibetans believe that before Buddhism was introduced to Tibet, Tibet did not have its own language and script, and its culture was very ignorant and backward. This absurdity has been propagated for centuries by some orthodox fanatics, and it is the long-term continuation of this state of affairs that has led to the loss of Tibet's true history and native culture, and has limited scholars' interest in the study of the Xiong civilization and the religion, which has only changed in recent years.

Tibetans are only familiar with Songtsen Gampo (617~650 AD), who introduced Buddhism as recorded in the official history of Tibet, and have little knowledge of the history and civilization before the seventh century AD. According to the research of some foreign historians, there were at least 30 Tibetan kings before Songtsen Gampo, or 32. According to historical records, the first Zampu Niechi Zampu in Tibet was certified and crowned by the Sangha of this religion. Even if there is disagreement on this point, there is no doubt that Songtsen Gampo was not the first Tibetan king. Tibetan civilization was not formed under the rule of a single monarch, and the history of Tibet before the seventh century was not a blank slate: in the Ali region, where Tibet has the highest altitude and the harshest climate, traces of irrigation from thousands of years ago have been found, including farmland, water canals, and so on. Tibetans have lived nomadically for generations, and there are various indications that there was an agricultural civilization here in the early days, and there were ancestors who lived here and lived a farming life, but later due to the harsh climate, the farming methods disappeared, and the nomadic production mode took over. In Ali "Dome Silver City" castle ruins, archaeologists found more than 120 groups of ancient architectural remains, unearthed a large number of pottery, stone tools, iron tools, bone carvings, indicating that this was a prosperous and developed settlement, here also found a large area of burial tombs, which is very different from the funeral customs of Tibet advocating heavenly burial, the unearthed bronze double-sided statue here, its style is also completely different from the statue of modern Tibetan Buddhism...... All this shows that before the introduction of Buddhism and before the so-called official history of Tibet, there was a glorious civilization on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and this civilization was the Zhangzhung civilization, which belonged to a branch of the ancient Qiang.

Gu Xiangxiong was once known as Yang Tong and Yang Tong in Chinese history. The "elephant" in the word "Zhangxiong" is called "frame" in Tibetan and "bird" in Chinese; "Xiong" is called "Qiong" in Tibetan, "Peng" in Chinese, and "Xiangxiong" is the place where the Dapeng bird lives. According to the situation that the ancient elephant male people used the Dapeng bird as a totem, the above explanation is reasonable. Before the fifth century B.C., the state of Zhangxiong produced a very high ancient civilization and created the Zhangxiong script (the Zhangxiong script is still used by some ancient peoples in India and Nepal and other tribes. The red winged bird represents the energy of the flame, protecting and dispelling external, internal, and secret obstacles, transforming the five poisons, and liberating sentient beings from suffering. It is said that the practice of the Red Roc Goldfinch is very effective in healing physical and mental ailments.

Nowadays, some Tibetologists at home and abroad have devoted themselves to the study of the history of Zhangxiong, and have published some articles devoted to the study of Zhangzhung civilization, such as the language of Zhangxiong: only the names of Zhangxiong people and places, many of the names of Zhangxiong before the 10th century, and the 60 place names in Zhangzhung are all Zhangzhung language, and the Ali region still uses the place names of the ancient Zhangzhung era, and these Zhangzhung words make it difficult for people with a high level of Tibetan language to study. According to the records of the history of this religion, the ancient Qiang people created the Zhangxiong script on the basis of the Daser script. The Zhangzhung script is also called "Marwen", which is similar to the oracle bone script of the Han Chinese. At that time, "Marvin" was mainly used for the writing of the scriptures of the religion, and the use of the Zhangzhung script continued for at least a thousand years. It is worth mentioning that with the help of many parties, some monasteries in India and Nepal have been able to translate Zhang-zhung into English and Tibetan, and have published corresponding comparative versions. But in general, people's understanding of the Xiong civilization is still very limited.