BellaOnline Forums Religion and Spirituality Buddhism Four Schools of Tibetan Buddhism

My article this week is on the four schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Many people aren't aware that there are four schools, and/or they assume that the Dalai Lama is the head of all four, like a 'Pope.' In fact, he belongs to one school, and from a spiritual perspective, they each have their own heads. The current Dalai Lama has gained universal respect amongst the four schools, but he doesn't officially lead them all. The Dalai Lama position was originally setup as a government head, but the current Dalai Lama resigned that aspect of his position in 2011.

To learn more about the four schools, read here:

The Four Schools of Tibetan Buddhism

I found this quote from Tibetan Lama Namkhai Norbu that reflects very well the Tibetan attitude towards the diversity of different practices and paths available both within Tibetan Buddhism, and outside of it:

"All the various types of teachings and spiritual paths are related to the different capacities of understanding that different individuals have. There does not exist, from an absolute point of view, any teaching which is more perfect or effective than another. A teaching's value lies solely in the inner awakening which an individual can arrive at through it. If a person benefits from a given teaching, for that person that teaching is the supreme path, because it is suited to his or her nature and capacities. There's no sense in trying to judge it as more or less elevated in relation to other paths to realization."

― Namkhai Norbu, Dzogchen: The Self-Perfected State