The Cradle of Bön
Bön is Tibet’s indigenous spiritual tradition, predating the arrival of Buddhism by centuries, perhaps millennia. Before Indian Buddhism crossed the Himalayas in the 7th century CE, Bön was the dominant religious framework across the Tibetan plateau — a rich tapestry of animism, shamanism, ritual magic, cosmology, and philosophy. In the Bön worldview, Mount Kailash is not just sacred; it is the origin point of the religion itself, the axis around which the entire cosmos is organized.
In Bön texts, Kailash is referred to by several sacred names: Yungdrung Gutse (Eternal Swastika Mountain), Tise, and Nine-Story Meru. The term “Yungdrung” (Tibetan: g.yung drung) means “eternal” or “unchanging,” symbolized by the swastika — an ancient symbol representing permanence and the indestructible nature of reality, used in Bön long before its tragic appropriation elsewhere in the 20th century.
The Nine-Story Mountain
Bön cosmology describes the universe as centered on a nine-tiered sacred mountain (the Swastika Mountain of Nine Stages), with each tier corresponding to a different class of deities and a progressively more refined realm of existence. This cosmic mountain is the template for all sacred geography, and Mount Kailash is understood as its physical manifestation on Earth — the place where the transcendent pattern touches the material world.
The mountain’s four faces align with the four cardinal directions, and in Bön tradition, each direction is guarded by a specific protective deity:
- North: Associated with the element of water and the deity King of the Nagas
- South: Associated with fire and the deity of the Jewel Family
- East: Associated with air and the Vajra-deity
- West: Associated with earth and the Lotus-deity
This four-directional schema mirrors the organized structure of the Bön mandala and is reflected in ritual practice to this day. The swastika shape itself represents this four-directional axis with the dynamic of rotation — hence the counterclockwise (anti-sunwise) circumambulation that distinguishes Bön from Buddhist practice.
Tonpa Shenrab Miwoche
The historical founder of the systematized Bön tradition is Tonpa Shenrab Miwoche, an enlightened being said to have lived approximately 18,000 years ago in the ancient land of Tagzig Olmo Lung Ring — identified by many Bön scholars as a region in what is now western Tibet and surrounding areas toward Zhang Zhung. In Bön accounts, Tonpa Shenrab journeyed to Mount Kailash to subdue negative forces and transmit the teachings of the Eternal Bön to the people of the region.
Key episodes from Tonpa Shenrab’s association with Kailash include:
- The subjugation of demons that plagued the area, transforming Kailash from a hostile wilderness into a sanctified pilgrimage site
- The establishment of ritual protocols for circumambulation, offering, and meditation at the mountain
- The concealment of treasure texts (terma) within the mountain’s slopes and surrounding valleys, to be discovered by future masters when the time was ripe
For devout Bönpo practitioners, Mount Kailash is the foremost pilgrimage destination, surpassing all other sacred sites in importance. A pilgrimage to Kailash is considered a once-in-a-lifetime spiritual achievement, bringing immense merit and purification of negative karma.
Counterclockwise Circumambulation
One of the most visible distinctions between Bön and Buddhist practice at Kailash is the direction of circumambulation. While Buddhists walk clockwise (following the path of the sun), Bön practitioners perform the Kora counterclockwise (opposite to the sun’s path). Both routes share most of the same trail in the vicinity of Darchen, simply moving in opposite directions.
This difference is deeply rooted in the distinct ritual technologies of the two traditions:
- In Bön, counterclockwise movement aligns with the rotation of the swastika and is believed to activate a specific type of spiritual energy
- The practice is understood as unwinding the knots of samsaric conditioning, a symbolic reversal of ordinary samsaric motion
- Some Bön texts explain that the sun’s apparent clockwise motion represents the conventional, deluded world; by walking against it, the practitioner deliberately steps out of consensus reality and into a sacred mode of being
In modern times, the two traditions coexist peacefully on the Kora path. It is not unusual to encounter Buddhist pilgrims walking clockwise and Bön practitioners walking counterclockwise on the same stretch of trail, each acknowledging the other with a nod — a living demonstration of interfaith harmony at one of the world’s most sacred mountains.
The Destination of Souls
Central to Bön soteriology is the teaching that the soul ultimately returns to Kailash. After death, the consciousness (la or sem) journeys through the intermediate state (bardo) and, for those who have lived virtuous lives and maintained a connection to the sacred mountain, finds its way back to Kailash. There, the soul merges with the luminous essence of the mountain, achieving a form of liberation.
This belief gives Kailash an almost magnetic quality in the Bön spiritual imagination. Many elderly Bönpos, sensing the approach of death, make extraordinary efforts to undertake the Kora at least once. To die within sight of Kailash, or even with the mountain’s image held in the mind, is considered supremely auspicious.
Buddhism and Bön: Coexistence at the Sacred Mountain
The relationship between Bön and Buddhism at Kailash has a complex history. The famous legend of Milarepa’s contest with Naro Bonchung (see the Milarepa entry) narrates a competitive, sometimes hostile dynamic. Historically, Bön faced periods of suppression as Buddhism became the state religion of Tibet, and some accounts describe the destruction of Bön texts and the forced conversion of Bön adherents.
However, the history is more nuanced than a simple narrative of replacement. During the 11th century, Bön underwent a significant reform and systematization — sometimes called “Reformed Bön” or “Yungdrung Bön” — that adopted many organizational and philosophical structures from Buddhism while retaining its distinctive cosmology, ritual practices, and origin narratives. Modern scholarship increasingly recognizes Bön as a parallel wisdom tradition rather than a mere precursor to or derivative of Buddhism.
At Mount Kailash today, the two traditions coexist with mutual respect:
- Both Buddhist and Bön monasteries are maintained in the region
- Pilgrims of both faiths share guesthouses, teahouses, and the trail itself
- The mountain is understood to transcend sectarian identity — its sacredness is prior to and larger than any single religious claim
- Joint rituals have been known to occur on significant occasions, with lamas of both traditions offering prayers together
This coexistence makes Kailash one of the world’s most remarkable sites for interreligious encounter — a place where difference is not erased but honored, and where the mountain’s silent presence unites what doctrine divides.