Bhutan – The Last Bastion of Mahayana Buddhism
Vajrayana Buddhism is also known as Tantric or Mahayana Buddhism. Vajrayana ideas and practices such as altruistic intention, compassion, emptiness, Buddha Nature, and its rituals dominate the Buddhist system in Bhutan. It is for this reason that Bhutan is frequently branded as the last bastion of Mahayana Buddhism.
Vajrayana is a complex and multifaceted system of Buddhist thought and practice that evolved over centuries ago. Its main scriptures are called Tantras. Both traditional scholars and modern academics agree that the Mahayana tradition did not start as a distinct sect or school but as a movement of new ideas and practices among people who were members of monastic and philosophical schools that were already in existence. The Mahayana movement, as such, distinguished itself from mainstream Buddhist thoughts and practices through a number of expansive theories and rituals.
The Tantric masters expanded the notion of non-self and emptiness to apply to all forms of existence, and indeed also to non-existence. Thus, they expounded a greater and deeper understanding of non-self or emptiness which is free from all notions of existence and non-existence.
The Mahayana movement took the mainstream Buddhist practice of non-violence further. They argued that not only should a practitioner seeking perfect enlightenment abstain from causing harm to other beings but he or she must also actively strive to eliminate the suffering of all sentient beings.
This focus on compassion led to a more complex and fluid moral system. Instead of a clear-cut moral code of dos and don’ts, the Mahayana practitioners were required to use the best sense of judgment to conduct themselves.