The view of Yu.N. Roerich on the Bon religion in Tibet

Abstract

The theme of the Bon religion in Russian Oriental studies still remains insufficiently studied. This is due both to the complexity of the Bon doctrine itself, and to the peculiarities of the development of Russian Tibetology, which was persecuted in the Soviet era. The scientific heritage of Yu.N. Roerich (1902-1960), the Tibetologist and historian of the East, has been little studied. His study of the Tibetan Bon religion is an indisputable contribution to the development of scientific studies of the Ancient Tibet. In Tibetology, the study of Bon is mainly concentrated on reformed Bon, which, in historical interaction with Buddhism, largely adopted its terminology and cult practice. There are relatively few works devoted to the original form of Bon, and the problem is often simplified in them, reducing Bon to shamanism. Roerich considered the Bon as a primordial Tibetan religion, based upon a deep philosophical doctrine of its own. This allowed Bon not only to survive thousand years, but also to adapt to Buddhism that came to Tibet, transforming eventually into one of the schools of Tibetan Buddhism. He proved the connection of the Bon religion with the Geser Epic, as well as with the megalithic culture of Tibet. He described and analyzed the discovery of megaliths, similar to European ones, found in Tibet by the Central Asian expedition of his father N.K. Roerich. An undoubted breakthrough in the study of the Bon religion was Roerich's pioneering description of the Sharugon Bon monastery, as well as the study of its library.