Tonpa Shenrab Miwoche

Tonpa Shenrab (Tibetan: སྟོན་པ་གཤེན་རབ་མི་བོ་།, Wylie: ston pa gshen rab mi bo, lit. 'Teacher Shenrab'), also called Shenrab Miwo (Wylie: gshen rab mi bo), Shenrab Miwoche, Buddha Shenrab, Guru Shenrab, and other titles, is the founder of Bon, the oldest religious tradition of Tibet. Bönpos (followers of Bon) usually add the honorific “Tonpa” (“founder” or “teacher”) before his name to pay respect. His story was learnt in a fourteenth-century teaching of Loden Nyingpo.

The name Shenrab Miwo is from the Zhang-Zhung language, which is similar to Old Tibetan. It is the Zhangzhung word for "bodhisattva" (same as Tibetan shégya sempa, Wylie: shes rgya sems dpa').^[1]

“Tonpa” means “Founder/Teacher”; “Shenrab” is considered by Bönpos as “Buddha.” The term “Yungdrung” also has Buddhist hints: “Yungdrung” means Vajra, and “Yungdrung Tsulpa” means Bodhisattva.

"[Shenrab Miwo] occupies a position very similar to that of Śākyamuni in Buddhism, but ... we have no available [or pre-10th century] sources with which to establish his historicity, his dates, his racial origin, his activities, and the authenticity of the enormous number of books either attributed directly to him or believed to be his word."^[2]

The stories of Tonpa Shenrab’s life are found in three places: the Dodü (Wylie: mdo 'dus), Zermik (Wylie: gzer mig), and Ziji (Wylie: gzi brjid). The first two are thought as hidden teachings revealed in the 10th or 11th century, while the third is orally transmitted (Wylie: snyan brgyud).

Bön tradition says that Tonpa Shenrab lived alone far from people, long before Śākyamuni. He was born in 16,017 BCE in a place called Olmolungring. He got married and taught subjects like science and medicine. At age 31, he left his royal life, found spiritual wisdom at Mount Kailash, and spent the rest of his life sharing the Bön religion. He lived for 82 years.^[3][4]

Alternative narratives, sometimes framed in more “historical” terms, place Shenrab in the early 1st millennium BCE. A few accounts describe him as the first king who unified Tibet and founded the Zhangzhung kingdom in the 6th century BCE. Others identify him as a Zhangzhung prince active in the 4th century BCE.^[5] Still other traditions claim his birth as early as 1917 BCE.

Tonpa Shenrab, like Gautama Buddha, was born into a royal family. When he turned thirty-one, he gave up his royal position to seek spiritual wisdom. He chose a simple and disciplined life and began teaching the Bön religion. His journey eventually led him to Zhangzhung, a region close to Mount Kailash.

Since he was young, Tonpa Shenrab showed remarkable talents. He taught various sciences, appeared in different forms to help others, and traveled to many places. He got married at 16, battled demons at 18, taught in China and India at 20, and started preaching by the age of 26. At 31, he became a monk, reached spiritual enlightenment, and lived until he was 82.^[3]

Followers of Bön believe that in a past life, Shakyamuni Buddha was known as “Prince White Banner,” and that Tonpa Shenrab was his spiritual teacher. They say Shenrab created the Zhangzhung culture, which included skills like crafting, language, medicine, astronomy, and deep spiritual teachings. Some even believe he was the original source of world culture and the roots of Buddhism.^[3][5]

Tibetan Buddhists often reject these stories, saying they copy the life of the Buddha. They refer to Bön as an “outer path” (Wylie: phyi lam pa), meaning it's outside the main Buddhist teachings. Today, Bön is officially managed under the Buddhist Association of China.

Shenrab Miwoche is said to have three aspects or forms:

• the tulku (Wylie: sprul sku) or nirmaṇakāya, Shenrab Miwoche;
• the dzokku (Wylie: rdzogs sku) or sambhogakāya, Shenlha Okar and
• the bönku (Wylie: bon sku) or dharmakāya, Tapihritsa.

1. ↑ Hummel, Sigbert (1992). "gShen". Bulletin of Tibetology. 28 (3). Gangtok, Sikkim, India: Namgyal Institute of Tibetology: 5–8.
2. ↑ Karmey, Samten G. (1975). A General Introduction to the History and Doctrines of Bon, pp. 175–176. Memoirs of the Research Department of the Toyo Bunko, No. 33. Tokyo.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} "Yungdrung Bonpo website – Shenrab Miwo". bonpo.com.cn. Yungdrung Bonpo. 2008. Archived from the original on 2019-08-24. Retrieved 2018-08-11. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "bon" defined multiple times with different content
4. ↑ [http:/www.bonpo.com.cn/chuancheng/ShowArticle.asp?ArticleID=37 "辛饶弥沃"]. www.bonpo.com.cn. Retrieved 2025-09-21. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} The ancient Zhangzhung civilization of Tibet Archived 2007-09-26 at the Wayback Machine