The Development of Vajrayana

1950 - present: The Iron Birds Do Fly

• annexation of Tibet by China, the Dalai Lama escapes to India.
• suppression of Vajrayana according to the communist slogan "religion is opium".
• large scale killings of monks and the destruction of monasteries, a process the Chinese call "liberation from feudalism".
• exodus of teachers (from 1959 onwards) of all still existing lineages, resulting into a new diffusion of the teachings into the World at large - fulfilling an 8th century prediction by Padmasambhava that the Dharma would spread to the West once the iron birds fly. [see note below]
• the Chinese government takes great care that maps all over the world do not anymore show Tibet as a nation; only as a province of a greater China.
• Vajrayana teachers and teachings first find a welcome home within the so-called New Age movement of the 60s and 70s and - adaptable as ever - soon find their way to the InterNet of the 90s.
• meanwhile, China realizes that the Tibetans at home do not abandon their religion nor their exiled leader, the 14th Dalai Lama. While allowing the rebuilding of some previously destroyed monasteries with a limited number of monks, h Chinese also start meddling with some of the existing reincarnation lineages; trying to install fake "religious authorities" who will aid Chinese rule in the future.

Note:
The very first airplanes flew across Tibet during World War II, starting in 1942.

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• Vajrayana History:
• Introduction
• 1: Before 750
• 2: 750 - 836
• 3: 836 - 842
• 4: 900 - 1250
• 5: 1250 - 1800
• 6: 1800 - 1950
• 7: 1950 - present