How many Tibetan monks practiced meditation in "old Tibet"?

Question

One aspect of the notion of "Buddhist Modernism" is that in modern history (ancient times aside) even the Theravada monkhood, let alone the laity, did not generally meditate, until the Burmese/Thai revival due to Mahasi Sayadaw and a few others in the 19th and early 20th century. (http://meaningness.wordpress.com/2011/07/07/theravada-reinvents-meditation/)

Yet, there is still the question of Tibetan monks, given the vigor of that tradition back to its introduction into Tibet. McMahan suggests (without any references!) that very few of them meditated:

Tibetan forms of meditation have gone rather abruptly from being the province of a small number of specialist monks in Himalayan hermitages to being offered widely to the public in countries all over the globe. (McMahan, David L. (2008-10-17). The Making of Buddhist Modernism (p. 187). Oxford University Press. Kindle Edition.)

But my impression is that in "old Tibet", that is pre-1950's, a fairly large fraction of the (very numerous) monkhood did practice meditation, via tantric sadhana and/or mahamudra.

Does anybody have actual references bearing on this? I realize there will be no quantified data, but how about biographies, reminiscences and other historical literature?

Answer 1

Only just pre-1950s, the current Dalai Lama was born in 1935.

Starting half-way through this page, At Home With the Dalai Lama, is an account of his learning to meditate (and probably of being forced to learn to meditate), at age 8.

I also know that he wasn't a particularly good student when he was young. He had a mercurial temper and was impulsive. Monastic disciplines like meditation and scriptural study did not come naturally to him.

"Around seven or eight," the Dalai Lama told me in an earlier meeting, a mischievous gleam in his eyes, "I had no interest in study. Only play. But one thing: my mind since young, quite sharp, can learn easily. This brings laziness. So my tutor always keep one whip, a yellow whip, by his side. When I saw the yellow whip, the holy whip for holy student the Dalai Lama, I studied. Out of fear. Even at that age I know, if I study, no holy pain."

Despite his reluctance to study when he was a child, the Dalai Lama applied himself every morning. With perseverance and self-control, he learned to sit still for long periods. Gradually he was better able to control his errant impulses. Meditation and study came before play; delayed gratification became a matter of course.

Reading this gives me the impression that the curriculum which the Dalai Lama learned was passed down through successive generations/incarnations.

The Speech Delivered by His Holiness 14th Dalai Lama to the Second Gelug Conference (Dharamsala, June 12th 2000) says,

Now it is about six hundred years since Lama Tsong Khapa lived in Tibet. About three hundred years earlier, Dipamkara Atisha founded the great Kadam tradition. It was this school that Lama Tsong Khapa used as his foundation. He started a tradition that emphasised tantric study that concentrated on practices of the three deities, Guhyasamaja, Heruka Chakrasamvara and Yamantaka.

“May this tradition of the Conqueror, Losang Dragpa,
That teaches the outward, calm and controlled demeanour of the hearer,
And the internal poise associated with the two stages of the yogic practitioner,
And adopts both Sutra and Tantra as mutually complementary paths flourish.”

And as to what is achieved through the adoption of such a practice, we have the words:

“May this tradition of the Conqueror, Losang Dragpa
That takes the emptiness explained in the Causal Vehicle (sutra),
And the great bliss that is achieved through the Resultant Means (tantra),
Conjoined with the essence of the collection of eighty-four thousand teachings flourish.”4

Having all of these features then, this doctrine is a consummate one. It incorporates study, contemplation and meditation in balanced, equal measure and this is what makes it so remarkable. When it comes to detailed study of the great texts, it is the Sakya and Gelug systems which are the most developed.

Answer 2

I just ran across this recent quote by His Holiness The Dalai Lama which hints that meditation is considered a core activity and skill for Tibetan monks, rather than McMahan's "the province of a small number of specialist monks in Himalayan hermitages" . (Emphasis added.)

http://www.ozy.com/c-notes/the-dalai-lama-on-china-the-future-of-tibet/34231.article?utm_source=A1&utm_medium=pp&utm_campaign=pp

Dalai Lama:

We have trained some monks here in India who have returned to Tibet. But this is rare. The danger is that religion becomes a mere ritual. It’s not sufficient to ring a bell, you know. Monks have to master the doctrine and the meditation. They need to be good in both. This requires thorough training.

Of course, this may be interpreted as a critique of "old Tibet" as too reliant on "mere ritual", with the emphasis on meditation a post-diaspora reform. I am still inclined to believe that many if not most monks in Tibet did meditate seriously, that is, the culture of enlightenment remained vigorous in Tibet in a way that it was apparently lost in Theravada societies prior to its modern reinvigoration.

BTW, this is a fascinating interview for other reasons, most notably...

OZY:

So the Tibetans do not need a Dalai Lama anymore?

Dalai Lama:

No, I don’t think so. Twenty-six hundred years of Buddhist tradition cannot be maintained by one person. And sometimes I make a tough joke: We had a Dalai Lama for almost five centuries. The 14th Dalai Lama now is very popular. Let us then finish with a popular Dalai Lama. If a weak Dalai Lama comes along, then it will just disgrace the Dalai Lama. (The Dalai Lama laughs.)