Tibetan-YellowHat

= Yellow Hat BUDDHISM by (Erin Kickham)  =

Three things everyone should know about Yellow Hat
Tibetan- Yellow Hat Buddhism otherwise known as Gelugpa Sect was developed in the early 15th century. The followers of this sect wear a yellow cassock( a long, close fitting garment) and hat hense the name "yellow hat". There are three things that one should know about Yellow Hat Buddhism, the man Tsonkhapa Blobzangragspa, The Dalai Lama, and Doctrinal training.

Critical Vocabulary/ Major concepts:
Deity Lhasa, Tibet Dgelugspa Sutra Tantra Atisa Dalai Lama Meditation Anual New Year Ceramony of Great Prayer Deity Yoga

Historical timeline (major developments):
This section should include for our five key dates and their significance. Note that there are timeline makers on the Internet. You might be able to figure out how to use a widget to insert one. Again, using a religion textbook, encyclopedia or handout from class will speed this up. 15th century- Tsong kha pa(1357-1410) founded Dgelugspa 1409- Monastic university on mountain called Dga'Idan or in other words "the joyous" 1416- Student of Tsong kha pa built monastic university of Drepung 1419- Student of Tsong kha pa built monastic university of Se ra 1640- fifth Dalai Lama becomes head of Tibetan government 1959- Chinese take over position in government

[|General Historical Timeline of TIbetan Buddhism]

Geography
Here is a map of Lhasa Tibet where The "Yellow Hat Buddhism was primarily founded. This particular map is interactive and will allow one to get a sense of what Tibet is like zooming in and out.

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Here is a map of Tibet in relationship to China so that you can have a general understading of where Tibet actually is in the world.

**Pilgrimage Sites**
Ganden Monastary

Sera Monastery Depung Monastery



These three monasteries are among the greatest in the capital (Lhasa) in Tibet. Here is where many people both monks and those who participate in Lay practice use prayer wheels. For many Tibetan men whom are monks these monasteries are physically and mentally their lives.

Monastic Practice
In Tibet it is not the easiest action to send a family memebr to the monastery because that family is then respinsible for the monk. Many men of Tibet enter monasteries, but not all are monks. In order to partcipate in the 25 years of schooling in the Gelug sect monastaries one must be "intellectually and spirtually elite". There are two different meditations, which are stabalizing meditation and analytical meditation. In the yelllow Hat sect Deity Yoga is practiced, whcih is the idealogy of meditation oneself as having the physical form not of a normally seen person. The form is of a deity embodying the highest levels of wisdom and compassion. "The monastery begins its day at 5am when all the monks assemble at the prayer hall for morning worship. Two hours later they return to their respective houses to enjoy a breakfast of Tibetan bread and butter tea (a mixture of black tea, milk, butter and salt). The rest of their morning until lunch break at 12.30pm is taken up with monastic classes. In the afternoon, monks attend individual lessons given in their separate houses. After a dinner of soup and rice at 6pm, they attend Buddhist scripture classes until 9pm. Senior monks will attend philosophical debates instead."
 * Daily Routine**



Lay Practice
As oppose to Monastic practice Lay practice focuses on the outward religion activities. There are many rituals within the temples and many people participate in pilgrimage. Within these rituals are manin prayers that are repeated multiple times using both personal and public prayer wheels or flags. Lay people pasrticipate in many festivals. Ones funeral is a key ceremony within all sects of Tibetan Buddhism. Those who follow the lay practice look to the monks for the organization of rituals.

All the sects of the tibetan Buddhism can be found locally in Boston MA although there may not be specific schools of the Gelug Sect there are places one can to practice Tibetan Buddhism. There are two local places in Boston, The Kurkulla Center for Tibetan Buddhist Study and The Drikung Meditation Center. Although, one may not be in Tibet it is still possible to practice the Tibetan Buddhism in the U.S.

Here is everyday people of the U.S. practicing meditation Here is the Drikung Meditation Center in Boston

Scriptures and Poetry
media type="custom" key="7249691" Above is texts from a commentary of Tsongkhapa's great Exposition of the Stages of the Path which is a book that is a major part of the Yellow Hat Sect study.

Buddha Images (Yellow Hat AKA Gelug or Dgelugspa Tibetan Buddhism):
Here is Atisa the one of whom Tsongkhapa envisioned at age 40 Here is an image of Tara, savioress one of the deities that a part of daily devotional assemblies

Current Events
[|Yellow Hat Sect Participates in Great Prayer Festival]

This particular page shows pictures of the Yellow Hat Sect participating in the Great Prayer Festival of TIbet

[|New York Times Writes About The Dalai Lama] This is a particular article on the Dalai Lama in Tibet by the New York TImes. On the side of this article are links to other articles about the Dalai Lama and Tibet.

Personal Reactions
Through the study of the Yellow Hat Buddhism I learned that it has many other names such as the Gelug and Dgelugspa Sect in Tibet. I found it interesting to learn about this kind of mystical sense of Buddhism with meditating into the body of a deity. In order to become familiar with the Yellow Hat Sect I had to develop a general knowledge of Tibetan culture as well as other sect of Tibetan Buddhism. This helped me develop a well rounded understanding of Tibetan Buddhism as a whole.

Resources: "Dalai Lama." //New York Times// n. pag. Web. 20 Oct 2010. . "Monlam's colouful Englightment." //Independent// n. pag. Web. 20 Oct 2010. . "Tara." //Tea Alchemy//. Web. 20 Oct 2010. . "Monasteries in Tibet." //Adventures Travel and News from Himalayas//. Web. 20 Oct 2010. . Eliade, Mircea. "Yellow Hats." //Encyclopedia of Religion//. 4. New York: Macnillan Publishing Company, 1987. Print. Eliade, Mircea. "Dgelugspa ." //Encyclopedia of Religion//. 2. New York: Macnillan Publishing Company, 1987. Print.