Kunal Singh: On Vedic/Tantric roots of Buddhism

Hinduism, Buddhism included is a meditative
religion and thus it marks meditative progress with the attainment of
various deities.  This has been confused by the non-religious writers as
leading to 'polytheism' and yet Hinduism is a religion that knows the path
well to the one supreme, after attaining to whom, all minor deities are
attained.  Unlike other religions, it also knows what is encountered in the
path.  If you haven't attained to a deity it will naturally be very
difficult for you to relate.  But I'm afraid if as a Buddhist you ignore
attaining to deities then you're the one whose wasting his time.  And at
least you seem to be on a different path from the original 500 Arhats of
Buddhism who discussed the land of Sakra in some detail.

 The statement of 'sense pursuits' has special significance when it is
applied to Indra, maybe one day you'll find out, though given that you seem
to be on the wrong path, it may be doubtful. The more correct statement
would be that there are higher deities than Indra to attain to.  Whatever
you do, do the world a favor and don't write any books on Buddhism until you
attain to a deity.  As until you do, neither your practice nor your beliefs
of any religion are confirmed by experience.  This is why tantra is there to
enable a practitioner to confirm his interpretation of scripture with real
physical experience.

All people will encounter the deities upon death!  But only a few lucky ones
acquire to them while still alive!

Apparently quite a few things have changed since Buddha died and Buddhism
was formalized as a religion afterwards, the first casualty almost always is
the truth, and it is replaced by the perversions of the subsequent followers
with imperfect understanding.  Therefore, it is important to discuss what
Buddha and Jain really preached!  Since both have been blamed/praised
depending on your viewpoint for the spread of vegetarianism in India, I
thought it interesting that neither really advocated vegetarianism, thus
reinforcing that meat-eating is in no way harmful to either the
meditative/tantric practices of Buddha or the fasting/praying practiced
espoused by Jain.

It is fascinating that people who took on the leadership of Buddhism
subsequent to Buddha's death, led by Mahakasyapa held Ananda accountable for
introducing women into the sect, while Buddha himself after expressing
initial reservations before giving into Ananda seems to have praised one of
the women Arhats in his own Sangha for her psychic abilities.  It is even
more interesting that despite Mahakasyapa's love for asceticism, none of the
more accomplished Arhats of Buddhism accepted his invitation, each deciding
to relinquish the world after the departure of Buddha but not before
expressing anguish at what was occurring, a reaction to Mahaksayapa's
politics.  Ananda was severly chastised by Mahakasyapa and excluded from the
initial gathering for not havng achieved enlightenment, and yet when he
finally did achieve it, Mahakasyapa explained it away as having done it to
give him further motivation.  It seems to me that Ananda, having been a
close relative of Buddha, may have been deliberately sidelined by
Mahakasyapa to assume the leadership of the sangha.

The most stubborn proponent of vegetarianism seems to have been Buddha's
evil cousin Devadatta, in an apparent attempt to be more 'religious' and
'enlightened' than even the Buddha himself!  Ha, ha, ha!  Reminds me of
quite a few vegetarians worshipping Rama, Krishna, Buddha, Jain, Guru Nanak
etc.  Sometimes you wonder whom they hold in higher regard, their declared
role model or themselves!  But another interesting point seems to be that
evil men often tend to be vegetarians, there seems to be a strong
correlation between religious ignorance and vegetarianism.

The philosophy of the Buddha is contained in the various Sutras declared by
the Buddha himself.  Buddha spent twelve years at Rajgriha, the most sacred
spot in Buddhism due to its tantric nature.  It was here that he expounded
his Sutras (no surprise, Magadhan region was always known for Siddhas).  And
it is here that the spirit of Mahakasyapa awaits the coming of the next
Buddha (Maitreya).

 

What is surprising is that the words the Buddha uses almost describe
Hinduism.  He discusses death and the coming of Yama and the judgement
delivered by Yama.  Yes when I had earlier theorized that Yama represented
judgement day, I finally verified it due to the clear statements of the
Budha and correlating it to the legends of Savitri.

 

It is important to realize that Buddhism is exactly the same as Hinduism.
In sutras such as Bhaisajya Guru, commonly referred to as Medicine Buddha,
what Buddha describes as death and the after-life is exactly the same as
Hinduism.  Other Sutras such as Sukhavati Vyuha Sutras describing the pure
Western paradise, is exactly Hinduism.  Then of course there is the common
trend of people acquiring to birth after death in one of the various
regions.  The realms of the East, the West, the South and the North, are in
full agreement with Vedic Hinduism and indeed the Vedas themselves.  But the
central Sutra in Buddhism is considered the Vajracchedika.  And indeed the
Vajrayoga itself is considered the highest tantra in Buddhism practiced by
the Vajra acharyas of Buddhism, and of the traditional Sakyas of Nepal.

 

Even in the far east, there is the Vajra tradition in Japan of Heruka.
Interestingly, the Sakyas have preserved their ancient Vajra tradition by
ensuring that other Newari ethnicities will not modify their traditions.
Only a Sakya girl for example can be accepted for the Kumari temple and
there are other restrictions on the entry to the Vajracarya profession
ensuring continuity of Sakya tradition over all others.

 

 

Though the Sakyas have preserved their traditional culture, it is
interesting to note that the Buddhist tantra owes its origins to the
Magadhan region.  And this is not simply due to the origin of the Buddhist
sutras spoken by Buddha.  As far as Japan, the temples of Buddhism have the
founder as Hieun Tsang.  And amongst the Sutras taken by Hieun Tsang was the
Vajracchedika and the Bhaisajya Guru Sutra.  Many of the Sanskrit texts were
deemed lost in China and Japan, or so they claimed, until they were found in
Nepal, Kashmir (Gilgit), and many seem to be at least published from Bihar.
But I found it interesting that the Bhaisajya Guru Sutra found in Kashmir,
or at least the reproduction in Sanskrit published, seems to be missing two
very important pages that the Chinese translation seems to have containing
the mantra of the Medicine Buddha and the practice associated with it.

 

The Vajrayogini tradition itself may seem quite foreign or 'Buddhist' to
neo-Hindus due to its repeated association with Buddhism.  But every tantric
Hindu knows that the term Vajra, associated in the Vedas with Indra, when
associated with the word yogini (female deity) means Durga who is referred
to in many tantric Sanskrit phrases as 'vajrayogini.'  Some of her mantras
end in 'vajrayoginyai namaH'.  Even Kali is dismissed at the end of rituals
asking her to protect the ultimate 'vajra sthana.'  And any advanced
practitioner of yoga knows where that vajra sthana is.

THANK THE BUDDHA FOR HIS UNDERSTANDING,

THE LAST INCARNATION OF VISHNU!
HAVE TO COLLECT MORE OF HIS SUTRAS!

 

Some of the text of the sutras are quite amusing, as Buddha asks his
disciples if they will believe him if he told them of a tantric method to
protect the dying.  Ah, the burden carried by the Buddha due to having
perfect understanding, to be always misunderstood and disbelieved.