活佛 轉世 제도와 근세 내륙아시아

The tulku tradition in the modern inner Asia

Since the Tibetan empire by the Yarlung dynasty Mahayana buddhism was first introduced to Tibet, and after the later dispensation Tibetan buddhism had been designated as the legitimate successor of the Indian buddhism, Mahayana-Vajrayana tradition. But the tulku tradition is very unique succession system of the dharma in the buddhism world, even though this tradition mixed with the mahākaru@@ā of Bodhisattva, the transmigration and immortality of souls which form basic elements of the Mahayana buddhism. This tradition first appeared upon the tibetan society around the middle of 14th century when Rol pa i rdo rje(1340-1383) had been designated as the incarnation tulku of Karma pagshi(1204-1283). Why did it happen after six centuries later since the buddhism had been disseminated into this society during the Tu-bo era? In this article I tried to explain the historical background of this tulku tradition in the inner asia includes Tibet and Mongolia, which had been related with the new political order under the legacy of the Mongol Empire. First, I tried to interpret the tulku(sprul sku) and the Qutuɤtu, both meaning the living buddha in Tibet and Mongolia. Based on the historical text, we can find related phrase like as “ phrul gyi lha btsan po” from the inscription of Tu-bo period and “qutuɤ” from The Secret History of Mongols, tulku and Qutuɤtu can be interpreted as “the divine being, the Holy”. So this evidence states that the holiness of tulku probably originated from the holiness and the supremacy of the tibetan emperor ‘btsan po’, traditionally considered as the descendants of Heaven from the old tibetan legends. This possible connection between the sacred and the secular realized during the era of Dalai lamaⅤ. Second, the tulku tradition appeared in Tibet and Mongolia during the 14th and 16th century separately, but there was some similarities of political backgrounds among them, reforming political order under the legacy of Mongol Empire. For example, the political supremacy of Jangchub gyeltsen(byang chub rgyal mtshan, 1302-1364) and Qalq-a Abadai Qaɤan (1554-1588), both the incarnation of Vajrapā@@i, related to the establishment of the tulku tradition in Tibet and Mongolia. Third, even though the tulku tradition had been appeared in Tibet around the 14th century, but the spread of this system throughout the whole tibetan society and wide inner asia had been waited until the designation of Dalai Lama Ⅳ, great-grandson of Altan Qaɤan during the 16th century. This great historical influence by the tulku tradition has been attributed to reorganization for the new political order among the Mongols, so there were several eminent tulku lineages in Mongolia borne in the Borjigins.