BRIEF
INTRODUCTION TO BASIC CONCEPTS OF "TIBETAN" BUDDHISM
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Vajrayana and Tantrism
The third category, Vajrayana or Tantrayana, which derives from
Mahayana, is the school most closely associated with Tibetan Buddhism
-- so integral a part of it that it has become virtually identified
with the religion of Tibet. The most mystical and esoteric of the
schools, Tantric Buddhism is farthest from the common origin, and
found little or no acceptance in southeast Asia, where it is sometimes
not even considered an authentic school of Buddhism. The concepts
and practices of tantrism originated in India and are associated
with Shaivism, the cult of Shiva, the god of Yogins. It was from
Indian sources that Mahayanists absorbed this movement, and these
two schools are exemplified in the great Lo Monthang gompas: Mahayana
in Thubchen, and Vajrayana in Jampa.
Vajrayana or Tantrayana Buddhism involves mystical concepts and
practices, some of which appear to depart sharply from central Buddhist
precepts. In a relatively early book (1894) on Tibetan Buddhism,
L. Austine Waddell, an English observer, called it a cult whose
name, he wrote, should more properly be Lamaism, as its divergence
from Buddhism was so great. Waddell thought that some of its higher
rituals invited comparison with Catholicism (the resemblance is
entirely superficial), but considered that many of its other practices
were mere devil worship or sorcery. Having only a shallow understanding
of Vajrayana, Waddell regarded it as an inferior, even primitive
spiritual order. Yet so distinctively different are some aspects
of Vajrayana that even Professor Giuseppe Tucci, one of the most
distinguished scholars in the field, used the term "Lamaism"
interchangeably with Buddhism.
Tantrism is a profoundly complex subject. It might be described
as an alternative route to enlightenment, requiring intense concentration
and induction through special rites of initiation, but offering
the hope of achieving enlightenment in accelerated time, perhaps
even in a single lifetime: a sort of spiritual shortcut. The way
of Mahayana, the way of the Bodhisattva, is considered the slower
way, requiring many lifetimes to achieve, whereas Vajrayana, the
tantric way, is a faster, although more risky route. Sometimes known
as Mantrayana, it uses mantric formulas, incantation, ritual, and
magic to achieve power over supramundane beings and, ultimately,
to transcend the self and become one with the deity. This is Buddhism
in its least recognizable appearance, the form most difficult to
adapt or reconcile with what are traditionally regarded as the original
teachings of the Buddha Shakyamuni. Yet, although Vajrayana is almost
synonymous with Tibetan Buddhism, its roots are in India.
Tantrism
derives from Indian texts, the Tantras, which provide the theory
and describe practices of ritual yoga, as in a dramatic script.
The yoga that has achieved popularity in the western world is a
very late and only remotely recognizable offshoot of an ancient
mystic concept. Yoga made use of certain physical disciplines and
practices to achieve the mystic's goal, the exercises being a subordinate
element. Rather than a training for mystical experience, aiming
for a state of spiritual transformation, the yoga now popular in
the West is often a system of physical exercise that makes use of
breath control, offering enhanced flexibility, improved balance,
relaxation of tension, and a sense of rejuvenation. The serenity
thus gained by a relaxed body, regulated breathing, and calm mind
is meant to provide a spiritual benefit as well. But
although tantric yoga makes use of physical as well as mental discipline,
it aims for much more than the physical benefits of flexibility
and balance, or the tranquility of a calm mind in a calm body. It
is based on the principle that the duality, the separation, of spirit
and matter is an illusion, and its goal is the transcendance of
such delusion into mystical union with the divine. The yogin, transported
to another state of existence, reaches the ultimate state of bliss,
of beatitude. Sometimes referred to as "ecstasy," this
is not the ecstasy of Dionysiac frenzy, but rather of perfect serenity,
of still, untroubled consciousness.
The
state of union with the divine is symbolically represented in Buddhist
tantric art by a depiction of sexual embrace between the divinity
and his consort in the attitude known as "yab-yum" (see
below).
In
depicting the highly symbolic and non-naturalistic visions of Tibetan
Buddhist art, the artist was in an ideal sense a yogi, who could
thus convey the type of spiritual, extra-sensory vision required
for this art.
The
concepts and practices of tantrism in the Buddhist universities
of eastern India have been dated at least to the eighth century,
from which time translations have survived, yet the theory and some
of the texts may be several centuries older. In its origin and later
development in India, it is connected with Shaivism, rites performed
by yogins, followers of the Hindu god Shiva. The influence of those
ideas and practices reached the great Buddhist monastic universities
that flourished in eastern India, and which were at their prime
between the seventh and eleventh centuries. Some of the tantric
masters who became known as mahasiddhas -- great adepts, master
yogins -- were not necessarily attached to the monastic universities
and the rules of the monastic orders, but were freely wandering
yogins.
Arcane
as Tantrism may seem, neither Tibetan Buddhism nor Tibetan art can
be understood without this fundamental concept.
Although
its divergence from "original" Buddhism may appear extreme,
and despite its mysticism and aura of magic, followers and scholars
of Vajrayana Tantrism hold it to be authentically Buddhist in its
essence, affirming the interdependence of all things and thus the
illusive nature of duality, and the truth of the interaction of
cause and effect. Mahayanists hold that in each of us may be found
the desired "Buddha-nature," which we can learn to uncover.
Vajrayana goes farther, claiming that by cutting through misconceptions
and delusions, one can perceive the deepest reality, the fundamental
unity of phenomena. Because of the latter idea, Vajrayana can appear
to hold good and evil to be equivalent, but that is a misinterpretation.
Moreover, some tantric texts refer to practices (involving foods,
physical functions, sexual acts, and even immoral acts) that contravene
essential Buddhist teachings. Questions about the historicity of
such practices, and whether they are meant to be viewed symbolically
rather than understood literally, are complex and disputed. Because
of the risk of misinterpretation of Vajrayana texts and concepts,
even when they are understood symbolically, and because of the risk
of other misdirections, Vajrayana emphasizes the necessity of having
a spiritual guide, a teacher or "guru," to lead one through
the complexities of meaning and practice.
Meditation,
above all, is considered the key to reaching transcendent understanding
and spiritual transformation, and the great vehicle for meditation
is the mandala. Jampa, entirely painted with mandalas, is a fully
tantric temple.
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