Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Tantric adepts claimed that through the use of unconventional techniques they could jolt
themselves towards enlightenment, and shorten the long road to bodhisattvahood. The pro-
cess involved identification with a tutelary deity invoked through deep meditation and re-
citation of the deity's mantra. The most famous of these mantras is the
'Om mani padme
hum'
('hail to the jewel in the lotus') mantra of Chenresig (Avalokiteshvara). Tantric prac-
tice also employs Indian yogic techniques to channel energy towards the transformation to
enlightenment. Such yogic techniques might even include sexual practices. Tantric tech-
niques are rarely written down, but rather are passed down verbally from tutor to student,
increasing their secret allure.
From ritual thigh bones and skull cups to images of deities in
yab-yum
sexual union,
many of the ritual objects and images in Tibetan monasteries are Tantric in nature. Togeth-
er they show the many facets of enlightenment - at times kindly, at times wrathful.
Buddhism in Tibet
The story of the introduction of Buddhism to Tibet is attended by legends of the taming of
local gods and spirits and their conversion to Buddhism as protective deities. This magnifi-
cent array of buddhas, bodhisattvas and sages occupies a mythical world in the Tibetan
imagination. Chenresig is perhaps chief among them, manifesting himself in the early
Tibetan kings and later the Dalai Lamas. Guru Rinpoche, the Indian sage and Tantric ma-
gician who bound the native spirits and gods of Tibet into the service of Buddhism, is an-
other, and there are countless others, including saints and protector gods. While the clerical
side of Buddhism concerns itself largely with textual study and analysis, the Tantric
shamanistic-based side seeks revelation through identification with these deified beings
and through their
terma
('revealed' words or writings).
It is useful to consider the various schools of Tibetan Buddhism as revealing something
of a struggle between these two orientations: shamanism and clericalism. Each school
finds its own resolution to the problem. In the case of the last major school to arise, the
Gelugpa order, there was a search for a return to the doctrinal purity of clerical Buddhism.
But even here, the Tantric forms were not completely discarded; it was merely felt that
many years of scholarly work and preparation should precede the more esoteric Tantric
practices.
The clerical and shamanistic traditions can also be explained as the difference between
state-sponsored and popular Buddhism, respectively. There was always a tendency for the
state to emphasise monastic Buddhism, with its communities of rule-abiding monks. Popu-
