Chapter - 08 Bon Po Religion - Jain Library

Shri Ashtapad Maha Tirth - II
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Bon and Jain Religion – A comparative study
Prashant Dave
Introduction to Bon
Tibet, especially Kailash Mansarovar region is the land of snowy mountains. It inspires human
consciousness to imbibe and breathe in the infinity. Its grandeur and grace invites us for inner
patience. It is a place where inner mystery is being unveiled, in its purest form. It is a place
where inner peace and tranquility are being ensured.
No words, or mind can capture, thoughts are frozen, and I tilted on the tip of the pen cannot
cling to the world, when personal prefix and suffix are invalidated, only the plane of peace and
tranquility expands. We enter into a land of silence and delight. When we are disillusioned
about the roaring voice of the world we can shrug off the pride, arrogance and vanity of
human beings. We say goodbye to the world and enter into the abode of one’s own being.
It is a land of peace, tranquility and nobility. This is a land of inner contentment a meeting
point of Bon and Jainism. This is the land of Mount Kailash, the land of Ashtapad. It is the
most outstanding object on the surface of our own planet. It is a pure land, a land of reverence
and revelation. It is a land of obeisance. It is a gifted land. The gift of the land is transparent
delight, depth and silence. This is a land of grandeur and divinity. This is the abode of life. It
is a meeting point of inner and outer harmony. It is an ideal of all religions and particularly
for Bon and Jainism. This is the shrine of the highest level of consciousness, the consciousness
of Arhats and Siddhas.
‘Bon’ was a way of life in ancient Tibet before the induction of Buddhism there. There is
openness in ‘Bon’. Its passage begins from within, from inside to outside. It emerges not
from the nature but it sprouts from the self. This is an essential characteristic of ‘Indo-Tibetan’
religion and culture. Religion starts from self–search. World is an expansion of one’s own
consciousness. Myths and Legends are the natural expression of religion.
Incapability to sustain one’s life molded the ethical life of the people of Tibet to be more
receptive, sympathetic, equitarian, enduring and simple. Agriculture and cattle breeding were
the sole occupation of the people of Tibet. They borrowed the agricultural skill and this can
be a clear indication of their connection to Rushabhdev.
One important thing is that the region of Mount Tise and Lake Pham, which is the land of
Rushabhdev and Ashtapad, is a part of ‘Shang Shung’ culture which is related to the ‘Pre Buddhist
Bon Religion’.
Ref. Vol. XVI Ch. 124 H Pg. 7334-7339
Bon and Jain Religion - A comparative study
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