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76 Dreamworlds of Shamanism and Tibetan Buddhism
As Snellgrove has argued, Buddhism originally came into conflict
with the cults of local deities and shamanistic pre-Buddhist ritualists
known as Bön, but the rivalry really became consolidated between the
developing Bön religion and the developing Buddhist religion. In that
relationship, both Bön and Buddhism competed for control over the
indigenous deities and both propagated a path to liberation; however,
from the traditional Buddhist perspective, Bön remained a version of
the pagan indigenous element it had always struggled to defeat.17
Variants of the storied battle between the lama and other sha-
manlike figures are also found among the Tamang people of Nepal.
According to Holmberg s study, Tamang society recognizes three ritual
specialists: the lama who presides over the death rituals and guides
the soul to a good rebirth, the lambu who performs the sacrificial of-
ferings and exorcisms, and the shaman/bombo who calls back lost souls
and mediates between humans and spirits while in trance. Their ver-
sions of the ancient conflict between the lama and the bombo are not
resolved as neatly as in Milarepa s story. In the Tamang version, the
lama and the bombo were brothers. In that competition, the lama was
also victorious, but the bombo who was banished to the bottom of a
lake continued to dance there and managed to throw a spell on the
eyes of the lama s daughter. The lama, unable to cure her, was forced
to return to the bombo and make a deal with him. In addition to
payment for his services, the lama promises the bombo, I will take
care of the dead and you will take care of the living. 18 In this way, the
narrative legitimizes the division of ritual roles in Tamang society and
allows the lama and bombo their distinctive spheres of influence. In
the Milarepa story, the Bön-po does not convert to Buddhism and
there is no deal between them; he simply leaves, accepting his defeat.
In the Tamang version, the shaman figure is defeated, but even the
victorious lama is shown to be in need of his services. The stories
imply that Buddhist rivals were defeated but not eliminated and that
accommodations were made for both to coexist.19 In contemporary
Tibetan Buddhism, the tradition of the sung-ma or ch ökyong oracle
mediums through whom the protector deities speak directly with
humans provides a possible link with pre-Buddhist shamanic rituals
of spirit possession and divination.20 Indeed, the evidence points to a
dynamic in which Buddhism with its soteriological concerns must
struggle to maintain its foremost position within the Tibetan context.
The wrathful and horrific deities for which Tibetan Buddhism is
famous bear witness to the powerful forces of Tibet that were said to
be conquered by the superior magic of the eighth-century tantric yogi
Padmasambhava.21 According to legend, he defeated them and bound
them by oath to become protectors of the Dharma; nevertheless, they
Dream in the Tibetan Context 77
are ever to be treated with caution, and in daily religious practice they
are continually reminded of their defeat and their sworn promises.
Each ritual invocation recalls the past struggle, renews the oath, and
most importantly enacts, in the present, the victory of the Dharma
over the obstructing forces of indigenous loyalties.
THE LAMA, THE SHAMAN, AND THE YOGI
The relationship between Buddhist lamas and shamans has been the
focus of a number of studies dealing with the relationship between
Vajrayåna Buddhism and indigenous traditions.22 Many scholars have
noted the correlation between these two types of ritual specialists in
providing such pragmatic services as rainmaking, exorcism, healing,
demon suppressing, divination, or guiding the dead. The title of
Geoffrey Samuel s study of Tibetan societies Civilized Shamans cap-
tures his thesis that the literate lamas of Tibet function as shamans
and that Vajrayåna techniques serve as a sophisticated means of train-
ing shamanic practitioners. Barbara Aziz relates the phenomena of
spirit possession to the idea of the tulku (Tib. sprul sku, reincarnate
lama ) and suggests that a tulku could be regarded as possessed from
birth by a deity in other words, possessed for life.23 William Stablein
makes a similar comparison in his study of the ritual dedicated to the
tantric deity Mahåkåla. He states, [I]f a shaman can say, I am pos-
sessed by a spirit, the Vajramaster, after the invitation phase of the
ceremony, can say I am Mahakala. 24 Certainly, in these ways lamas
can be compared to shamans. However, it is also important to take
into account the differences that allow tantric Buddhist lamas to dis-
tinguish themselves entirely from shamans and their practices. Tibetan
Buddhism recognizes the state of possession,25 whereby an oracle is
taken over by a spirit, and exactly as in shamanic forms of possession,
the spirit speaks through the oracle-medium. And although a tulku
may well be someone who can enter into a state of possession, to
propose that the tulku is, by virtue of his or her reincarnated status,
possessed is to ignore the basic notions supporting the concepts of
possession and reincarnation. Reincarnation implies the continuation
of a single mind-stream; possession suggests a second. Shaman and
spirit are two distinct entities; the tulku line is one.26 Similarly, the
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