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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 monastic 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. According 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 Annals. 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). 156
