[Buddha-l] Re: Magic

[Joy Vriens]

ALberto wrote:

>A few years ago in Italy there was an investigation into the practices 
>of a satanic sect, some members of which have recently been convicted of 
>murder. At that time I saw a television program about them where they 
>showed the implements and paraphernalia employed by the sect for their 
>rituals. Several of the things they used were items used by Tibetan 
>Buddhists (vajras, flying daggers, skullcaps, etc.) 
>I don't know what, if any, knowledge of or connection with Tantra this 
>sect had, but it is easy to understand how people into black magic or 
>satanism will find Tantric implements visually appealing. 

The openly admitted ideal of many a tantric Buddhist was to become a vidyadhara. 

"Thus Marpa sang. All the assembly saw Lord Marpa as a guru. In the charnel ground, the jackals howled and other noises resounded. Everyone assembled there became very afraid and said, “We should make sure to finish our ganacakra by evening. This charnel ground is very sensitive and there is the danger that obstacles from spirits will arise.” 

Lord Marpa thought, “If it were my gurus Naropa and Maitripa, they would prefer to actually sit on a corpse and acquire human flesh in the charnel ground. If they could not acquire these, they would visualize then through Samadhi, and so, enjoy them. Even when rows of ksetrapala dakinis lined up in person to receive torma, they would not be afraid. But tonight these people are afraid of the howls of the jackals in this empty valley and the natural sounds of the elements.” 

>From The Life of Marpa, hagiography written in the 15th century.

"[Maitripa/Advayavajra] manifested many revitalizations of the dead in the Sitavana Cemetery and whatever he desired was all brought for him by Mahakala in the sky from many hundreds of leagues around whether the things were moveable or fixed. 
The daughter of the King of Malabar was brought to him from out of the heavens and later on she became renowned as the dakini Gighadhara. Usually she stayed in the East at Gusula forest as its master. The dakini transformed herself into a wolf, received gTor.ma offerings, perfected the art of "gazes" and magically transformed her body into various amazing and innumerable forms." From the Seven Instruction Lineages of Taranatha (16th century)."

For comparison, the Kapalika sect also aspired to achieving the state of a vidyâdhâra. The following 7th c. extract is to give an idea about what the "seating on corpses" and revitalizing corpses in order to become a vidyâdhâra could be about.

"In his Harsha-Carita, a beautifully crafted but incomplete Sanskrit biography of die seventh-century king Harsha, the celebrated court poet Bâna describes an encounter between King Pushpabhûti and the Kâpâlika adept Bhairava. The ascetic accepted the king into pupilage and soon asked him to participate in the kind of nocturnal rite for which the Kâpâlikas were famous. After anointing a corpse with red sandalwood, Bhairava, painted black and wearing only black garments and ornaments, seated himself on its chest. Then he lit a lire in the corpse's mouth and offered black sesame seeds into it, while reciting magical incantations. Suddenly the ground before them split open and a fierce-looking spirit entity emerged and attacked Bhairava, the king, and three other disciples who were present. Bhairava managed to disable the entity but refused to kill it and was later rewarded for his mercy by Goddess Lakshmî. At any rate, the ritual proved successful, and Bhairava acquired the st!
 atus of a vidyâdhâra or "possessor of wisdom." Extract from The Yoga Tradition by Georg Feuerstein.


As I already stated the current practise of tantra has been adapted, integrated through symbolism and interiorized. But these seem to have been the original practises the current practises have been derived of. Would they qualify as satanic?

Joy