The Bon religious practice in Bhutan

Abstract

Bon in Bhutan is a little-known religious practice despite the ubiquity of its worldview in the Bhutanese way of life. Characterized by animistic and shamanistic practices, Buddhist writings and oral narratives presented Bon as the antithetical religious belief that has existed before the arrival of Buddhism. In the face of being viewed as false and heretical by Buddhist priests for centuries, the heterodox Bon is widely practiced in Bhutan and the Himalayan hinterlands even as it lacks any formal organizations. The core practices of Bon are oriented toward fulfilling this-worldly and pragmatic goals such as replenishing the blessings associated with property and increasing livestock and fertility. The focus upon the worldly goals and the non-existence of a founder, canonical texts, and metaphysical doctrines render Bhutanese Bon uniquely an unreformed and unorganized religious practice that is primarily oral and pertains to the worship of an amorphous body of worldly deities and spirits, which, until recently, involved live animal sacrifices. Show more