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MONGOLIAN MONKS’ STUDIES IN LHASA’S
MONASTERIES
Alexa Péter
Eötvös Loránd University, Institute of East Asian Studies, Budapest
Introduction
Buddhist monkhood and Buddhist monastic education always played significant role
in transmitting the religious traditions in Mongolia. The spread of Buddhism in the
Mongolian region took place in four phases. During these waves different Buddhist
influences arrived in Mongolia and among them, Tibetan Buddhism was the most
significant. Many Tibetan monks came to ordain monks, to give empowerments and
to help to organise the ceremonial life of the temples and the monasteries. In this
way Tibetan Buddhism spread thorough the Mongolian region and was combined
with local characteristics.! By the 19" century Buddhism had penetrated deeply into
Mongolian culture and the new doctrine had positive influence on the Mongolian mo¬
nastic life leading Mongolian monks to study in Tibet. They used Tibetan language
in ceremonies and rituals and several years later, when returned home, they started
their missionary efforts at their own place. The aim of this paper is to represent how
these Mongolian monks lived in Lhasa’s monasteries in the late 19" century.
Historical Background
It is difficult to precisely determine when Buddhism spread into Mongolia. Ac¬
cording to the Mongolian Buddhist tradition, the Mongols came into contact with
Buddhism in four different waves.’
The first Mongolian Buddhist wave began in the 3" century, during the time of the
Indian Buddhist emperor Ashoka, who extended his empire northward and captured
the city of Khotan. From there Buddhism gradually spread eastward to the Mongolian
Gobi kingdoms along the Silk Road.‘ A few centuries later Tibetan Buddhism began
its flow northward, when Songtsen Gampo (Srong btsan sgam po, r. 617-649), the
' Teleki, Krisztina: Significant Monasteries in Mongolia Specified in Zawa lam Damdin’s Golden An¬
nals. Zentralasiatische Studien XVII (2013), p. 135.
Soni, Sharad Kumar: Exploring Mongol-Tibetan Relations: The Contribution of Buddhism. Mongolian
& Tibetan Quarterly XXII, No. 2. No 2 (2013), p. 51.
Ashoka was an Indian emperor of the Maurya Dynasty (322-185 BC). He lived around the 3" century
BC and he was a powerful king who reigned over a realm covering much of the Indian sub-continent.
The cave paintings in Dunhuang along the Hor section of the Silk Road certainly bear witness to an
early Mongol enthusiasm for Buddhism. Mullin, Glenn: Buddhism in Mongolia: Three or Five Waves
of Cultural Blossoming. (http://www.fpmtmongolia.org/buddhism-in-mongolia).
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