[Buddha-l] New Buddhist Topic--Buddhism and Cats

[S. A. Feite]

On Dec 28, 2011, at 11:40 PM, Katherine Masis wrote:

> This is a genuine topic I have wanted to pursue.  Apologies if it  
> has already been discussed, just refer me to the year and I'll look  
> for the thread.
>
> Several years ago, I heard that "the only animal that was not  
> invited to the Buddha's Parinirvana was the cat."  This statement  
> was accompanied by all the usual stereotypes about cats: they're  
> mean, treacherous, etc., which is why they were excluded from the  
> guest list.  Where in the world did that statement come from?  And  
> who wrote out the invitations?


In Tantric Buddhism there is the Jnana Dakini Simhamukha the lioness  
dakini:

(...) she is a wrathful manifestation of Guhyajnana Dakini, who,  
according to the Nyingmapa tradition, was the principal Dakini  
teacher of Padmasambhava in the country of Uddiyana. Therefore,  
although Simhamukha is a Dakini in her aspect, she functions as a  
Yidam or meditation deity and her special functions are averting and  
repulsing (bzlog-pa) psychic attacks that may assault the  
practitioner and the subduing of negative female energy as  
personified by the Matrikas or Mamos. These latter are wild  
uncontrolled female spirits inhabiting the wilderness, both the  
mountains and the forests, beyond the confines of patriarchal  
civilization. These female spirits are generally hostile to the male  
gender. Simhamukha appears in a form wrathful, feminine, and demonic;  
indeed, her form is said to be actually that of a Matrikia or Mamo,  
not because her nature is evil or demonic, but because her wrathful  
aspect (khro gzugs) skillfully overcomes and subdues those violent  
negative energies. Simhamukha is a Jnana Dakini or wisdom goddess.  
According to Jigmed Lingpa (1726-1798), the famous Nyingmapa master  
and discoverer of hidden treasure texts or Termas, Simhamukha  
represents a Nirmanakaya manifestation, appearing in time and  
history, whereas her Sambhogakaya aspect is Vajravarahi and her  
Dharmakaya aspect is Samantabhadri, the Primordial Wisdom herself.

Very often the Dakinis and the Matrikas were the old pre-Buddhist  
pagan goddesses of the earth and sky, although generally the Matrikas  
always tend to be more local in their nature. Dakinis may appear in  
many different female forms, young and old, some with animal heads.  
In Hindu tradition, the goddess Durga is called the Queen of the  
Dakinis and Matrikas or witches. In many ways, Simhamukha represents  
a Buddhist version of Durga, but instead of riding on a lion and  
brandishing her weapons with eighteen arms, Simhamukha has the head  
of a lion. Among the eight Tantra sections (sgrub-pa bka’ brgyad)  
transmitted to Tibet in the 8th century by Padmasambhava, there is  
the section called Ma-mo rbad gtong, “the cursing and spell casting  
associated with the witch goddesses,” wherein Simhamukha, as the  
chief divine figure, very much assumes the role of the Hindu goddess  
Durga in subduing demons and evil spirits and protecting  
practitioners from negative provocations of energy coming from the  
Mamos. Like other nature spirits, the Mamos are disturbed by  
mankind’s destruction of the natural environment and therefore  
inflict plagues, new diseases, earthquakes, madness, wars, and other  
calamities upon human civilization.

The Magical Function of Averting Psychic Attacks
As we have said, the principal magical function of Simhamukha is the  
averting or repulsing (bzlog-pa) of negative energy and sending it  
back to its source, whether that source is a black magician or an  
evil spirit (gdon). Such a provocation of negative energy is called a  
malediction (byad-ma, byad-kha), and this is illustrated in the story  
of Bari Lotsawa (see below). Most often the Goddess is invoked to  
avert psychic attack. As indicated previously with the Dakini  
Kurukulla, Tantric Buddhism sees this working with energy in concrete  
ways in terms of the four magics or magical activities. Although  
Simhamukha can work with any of the four, she principally relates to  
the fourth function or fierce magical actions (drag-po’i ‘phrin-las).  
Therefore, the dark azure blue-colored Vajra Simhamukha is placed in  
the center of the mandala. Spiritually, she represents the  
transformation of anger or wrath into enlightened awareness, and  
psychically or magically, she accomplishes the subduing and  
vanquishing provocations of negative energy (gdon) personified as  
demons and evil spirits. She is surrounded by her retinue of four  
Dakinis who resemble herself, except for their body-color and certain  
attributes: in the east there is the white Buddha Simhamukha who has  
the magical function of pacifying circumstances and healing, in the  
south is the yellow Ratna Simhamukha who has the magical function of  
increasing wealth and prosperity, in the west is the red Padma  
Simhamukha who has the magical function of enchanting and bringing  
others under her power, and in the north is the dark green Karma  
Simhamukha who has the magical function of vanquishing and destroying  
negative forces. Each of these aspects of Simhamukha have their own  
mantras and rituals. If the practicioner is working which a specific  
function, say for example, becoming successful at business or winning  
at the horse races, he would put Ratna Simhamukha in the center of  
the mandala, doing the visualization while reciting her action  
mantra. But in thangkas, Vajra Simhamukha is usually represented as a  
single figure without the accompanying retinue. (...)



from:

http://vajranatha.com/teaching/Simhamukha.htm