Esoteric Buddhism as self-deification

Nicolas Poussin (1594–1665), A Dance to the Music of Time (detail) (c 1634-6)

Mahāyāna Buddhism now generally accepts that because of Buddha Essence (buddhadhātu), all sentient beings are potential Buddhas, and through the “purification” of that Essence they can become Buddhas themselves or have access to a Buddha’s realization. In Mahāyāna, Buddhas are not human beings, although they are thought to be able to manifest in a human body, follow the career of a future Buddha, become a full blown Buddha and “pass into nirvāṇa”, in order to reveal and show the path to Buddhahood.

“The basis of purification is the eternal, noncomposite realm of reality [dharmadhātu] that fully permeates all beings as the buddha nature [sugatagarbha][1].”

Although the heart is often seen as the seat of the Essence (t. khams s. dhātu), dharmadhātu permeates the entire body. Compare with Logos (divine energy) permeating the entire body through the soul in e.g. Hermetism and Gnosticism. Esoteric Buddhism (vajrayāna, Dzogchen, etc.) teaches that Buddha Essence abides in the human body as a divine body (t. lha’i sku) or Vajra Body. The Mahāyāna Trikāya theory[2] allows for that possibility.

“The basis of purification, which is this very buddha nature, abides as the body with its clear and complete vajra signs and marks. A similar form is used as the path and leads to the fruition of purification: that very divine form that existed as the basis[3].”

The “purification” of the Buddha Essence, the dharmadhātu and their “innate” divine body can be seen as a “self-deification” process from a human point of view. This “self-deification” takes place in two main stages called Generation/Creation Stage and Completion/Perfection Stage, hence the title of Jamgon Kongtrul’s text and the English translation : Creation and Completion.

The Buddha Essence and its innate “pure” divine form is what we “really” are, the “impure” human form we inhabit is temporary and due to impure perception. As long as we don’t recognize and realize our true Essence, we will continue to inhabit “impure” forms and live in an illusion.

Compare with e.g. Gnostic writings such as The Apocalypse of Peter and what Elaine Pagels (The Gnostic Gospels, 1990, Penguin Books) writes about light as a vehicle and about becoming “spiritually alive”.

“Peter, deep in trance, saw Christ, who explained that "I am the intellectual spirit, filled with radiant light[4]."

“Through this vision, Peter learns to face suffering. Initially, he feared that he and the Lord "would die"; now he understands that only the body, "the fleshly counterpart," the "substitute," can die. The Lord explains that the "primal part," the intelligent spirit, is released to join "the perfect light with my holy spirit[5]." (Elaine Page 1990, p. 108)

In the different parts of the Creation Stage (t. bskyed rim), self-deifiers and candidates for full future Buddhahood imagine themselves already as Deities, and purify their current human existence and previous existence, whilst reappearing as the Deity and identifying with it, instead of continuing to identify with their impure human form. The identification with the divine form requires working with the subtle energies of the psychophysical body, through visualizations, haṭhayoga (t. rtsa rlung thig le), yantras, Mudrā practice, etc., simultaneously purifying the human form and letting emerge the divine form, that is already there in essence, and that will serve as a light vehicle before and after the death of the impure human body[6].

When seen as they really are, all appearances are no longer ordinary and impure, but pure and divine, because of “The Secret Essence, Definite Nature Just As It Is[7]” (dPal gsang ba’i snying po de kho na nyid nges pa). This is not presented as a “skilful method”, but as a definite (t. nges pa) method that cuts through illusion so that the divine essence can freely flow. Once illusion/darkness is removed the Divine Light shines forth unimpededly. Full Buddhahood is not different from this, according to esoteric Buddhism, and more specifically in Dzogchen as taught by teachers like Rongzompa (11th), Longchen Rabjam (14th), Ju Mipham (19-20th) etc. To them it actually is the only path to become a perfect Buddha, and Madhyamaka’s emptiness (or anatta, the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path) won't get you there, at least not all the way.

It seems difficult to use the Divine as the highest reality and authority, and also present it as a skillful method or technique (Buddhism), but it does seem one can “skillfully” use Buddhism to lead non-theists to the Perfect Light...

“Then, in the beginning of Kali-yuga, the Lord will appear as Lord Buddha, the son of Añjanā, in the province of Gayā, just for the purpose of deluding those who are envious of the faithful theist.” (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.3.24[8] also see “Purport”)

There is nothing wrong with the divine objectives and methods of esoteric Buddhism or of Dzogchen[9], if they were clearly presented as such, including and especially to a Western audience of newly converted Buddhists, but unfortunately most often they are not, hence the many “misconceptions” and “misunderstandings” in Buddhism, and almost as many books and articles on how Buddhism is misunderstood. The reality of esoteric Buddhism does not hold up against the common understanding of what “Buddhism” is about, and in particular the notion of “skilful means” (upāyakauśalya). Doctrines and methods qualified as “definitive meaning” (t. nges don s. nitārtha) changed that. Unless “definitive meaning” is considered as having a similar function as movies announced as based on “real events”...

“Tibetan Buddhist spiritual practice centers around the deities in its devotional rituals and meditation techniques. It may be disconcerting for those who have heard that Buddhism is a "nontheistic" religion to discover an elaborate system of worship with a pantheon of goddesses and gods. It is for this reason that some other Buddhist schools have considered the Buddhism in Tibet to be corrupt or untrue to its original form. However, these deity practices are deeply rooted in the very foundations of Buddhist thought and represent an exceptionally skillful use of technique to evoke realization of those ideas on the deepest levels.” (Creation and Completion, 2002)

A distinction must be made between gods and rebirth in saṃsāric heaven(s), to which mainstream Buddhism has the same attitude, and supermundane deities (yidams, herukas, etc.) and Buddhas.

“[Misconception n° 10]. All spiritual traditions, Buddhism included, are different paths to the same mountaintop. Many great Buddhist figures, from the Japanese Zen master Dogen to the current Dalai Lama, state unequivocally that enlightenment is accessible only to those who follow the Buddhist path. One can get only so far (generally, rebirth in heaven) by following other religions; only Buddhism has the path to liberation from suffering. All roads may lead to the base camp, but only Buddhism leads to the summit.” (Ten misconceptions about Buddhism, Robert E. Buswell Jr. and Donald S. Lopez Jr., November 19, 2013)

Icarus and Daedalus (1799), Charles Paul Landon

“Only Buddhism has the path to liberation from suffering”, the proof remains in the pudding. Besides, Tibetan Buddhism and Dzogchen are quite clear about the summit and that not all Buddhism leads there. Nirvāṇa, the end of suffering (t. mya ngan las 'das pa), is not the mountaintop for Mahāyāna and esoteric Buddhism. A teacher like Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche (1933-2023) is quite outspoken about deities not being a skillful means, but supermundane beings, including Dharmapalas. Some Dharmapalas, e.g. Six-armed Māhakāla, are yidams. In an interview with Thrangu Rinpoche published in Creation and Completion.

“Devas can be gods of the desire realm, gods of the form realm, or gods of the formless realm. They are mundane, samsaric beings. The other type of being, referred to as lha or deva or deity, is supermundane, beyond the world. These are beings who have such wisdom, and especially such stable bodhichitta, such commitment to the welfare of others and to benefiting the teachings, that they are entirely unlike a mundane being. Dharmapalas can be thought of as beings who are completely and utterly committed to the welfare of others and therefore are very active in accomplishing their welfare. You could say that dharmapalas are included within the class of things that we call "devas," just as some awakened people are included within the class of what we call "humans." But not all humans are awakened, and not all devas are dharmapalas. There are all different sorts of people. Some people are wonderful and some are horrific. It is the same way with devas. There are wonderful devas, horrific devas, and everything in between. Dharmapalas are a kind of wonderful deva.“ (Creation and Completion, 2002)

All qualities and activities are already present on the level of Buddha Essence and need a perfected divine form or vehicle to join with the Perfect Light and/or become fully operational. Without deification (saṃbhogakāya) these supramundane activities for the sake of mundane beings would be impossible.

***

[1] Sarah Harding, Creation and Completion, Essential Points of Tantric Meditation by Jamgon Kongtrul, Wisdom Publications, 2002, p. 8. The quote is from Jamgon Kongtrul’s Lam zhugs kyi gang zag las dang po pa la phan pa'i bskyed rdzogs kyi gnad bsdus:

sbyang gzhi chos dbyings rtag brtan 'dus ma byas//
bde gshegs snying pos gro kun yongs la khyab//

[2] The earliest source for a dharmakāya and rūpakāya as prototype for the three kāyas is generally considered to be the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra (Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Verses), composed around the 1st century BCE. The Trikāya theory is explicitly taught in the Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra, the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, the Lotus Sūtra, etc.

[3] Sarah Harding (2002), p. 10. Quote from bsKyed rdzogs gnad bsdus :

de yang sbyang gzhi bde gshegs snying po nyid//
rdo rje mtshan dpe gsal rdzogs skur bzhugs pas//
de dang 'dra ba 'i rnam pa lam byed kyis//
sbyangs 'bras gzhi la yod pa 'i lha sku nyid//

[4] “Gnostic accounts often mention how the recipients respond to Christ's presence with intense emotions—terror, awe, distress, and joy.

Yet these gnostic writers do not dismiss visions as fantasies or hallucinations. They respect—even revere—such experiences, through which spiritual intuition discloses insight into the nature of reality. One gnostic teacher, whose Treatise on Resurrection, a letter to Rheginos, his student, was found at Nag Hammadi, says: "Do not suppose that resurrection is an apparition [phantasia; literally, "fantasy"]. It is not an apparition; rather it is something real. Instead," he continues, "one ought to maintain that the world is an apparition, rather than resurrection." Like a Buddhist master, Rheginos' teacher, himself anonymous, goes on to explain that ordinary human existence is spiritual death. But the resurrection is the moment of enlightenment: "It is . . . the revealing of what truly exists . . . and a migration (metabole—change, transition) into newness." Whoever grasps this becomes spiritually alive. This means, he declares, that you can be "resurrected from the dead" right now: "Are you—the real you—mere corruption? . . . Why do you not examine your own self, and see that you have arisen?" A third text from Nag Hammadi, the Gospel of Philip, expresses the same view, ridiculing ignorant Christians who take the resurrection literally. "Those who say they will die first and then rise are in error." Instead they must "receive the resurrection while they live." The author says ironically that in one sense, then, of course "it is necessary to rise 'in this flesh,' since everything exists in it!” Elaine Pagels, 1990.

[5] Apocalypse of Peter, 83.12-15, in NHL 344

[6] For further reference on Self-deification in a different context and with a different meaning I add below a footnote (103) of M. David Litwa’s Desiring Divinity, Self-deification in Early Jewish and Christian Mythmaking, Oxford University Press Inc, 2016, .

“Neoplatonists believed that our souls, though immaterial, needed a physical, luminous vehicle. See further E. R. Dodds, Proclus: The Elements of Theology (Oxford: Clarendon, 1963), 313–21; H. J. Blumenthal, “Soul Vehicles in Simplicius,” in Platonism and Late Antiquity, eds. Stephen Gersh and Charles Kannengiesser (South Bend: University of Notre Dame Press, 1992), 173–88; John Dillon, “Plotinus and the Vehicle of the Soul,” in Gnosticism, Platonism and the Late Ancient World: Essays in Honour of John D. Turner, eds. Kevin Corrigan and Tuomas Rasimus, NHMS 82 (Leiden: Brill, 2013), 485–96.”

[7] Title of the English translation of the Guhyagarbha Tantra followed by the Commentary by Longchen Rabjam entitled Thorough Dispelling of Darkness throughout the Ten Directions, translated by Lama Chonam and Sangye Khandro of the Light of Berotsana Translation Group under the guidance of Khen Rinpoche Namdrol, Snow Lion Publications 2011.

[8] tataḥ kalau sampravṛtte
sammohāya sura-dviṣām
buddho nāmnāñjana-sutaḥ
kīkaṭeṣu bhaviṣyati

[9] E.g. this video by Mingyur Rinpoche (What is Dzogchen) to get an idea.

“[Father Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche] said, "Are you meditating?"
I said, "Yes."
He said, "Oh, actually there's nothing to meditate on. The view is fake, the meditation is fake.”
“Wow!” My mind became like "huh." It was a great introduction of Dzogchen for me, really cutting through concepts. That was really beneficial for me. So this is the Dzogchen style of cutting through the conceptual mind.”

"Trekchö" means "cutting through" — cutting through concept, or our ordinary conceptual box, or what we sometimes call a "prison."

After this introduction (khregs gcod), the student is ready for the real work, self-deification (thod bgal).

Blinded by Luminous realization?

The Conversion of Saul, Michelangelo (wikimedia)

Luminous realization seems to be what elsewhere is sometimes called deification (apotheosis), daimonification or self-deification (sometimes critically referred to as “egotheism” or “autotheism”). Deification is the possibility for humans to attain god-like powers and faculties and to become like gods. Daimonification is the same thing but on the lower level of a daimon or genius, and therefore less or not transcendental. Luminous realization requires the belief in the Luminous reality of gods and daimons (and their powers), a Luminous Self, and a Luminous subtle body allowing for transfers, rebirth, “resurrection” and the highest permanent realizations.

In the classical world Nature was enchanted, i.e. run by half-gods, titans, daimons, genii, etc. In order to have some limited power over this enchanted Nature regarding things that mattered in their lives: their health, that of their children and their cattle, fortune, longevity etc., human cults to daimons were established. The powers of daimons tend to be more magical and this-worldly, including a non-transcendental afterlife. Everything Natural or regarding “the creation” was/is run by daimons. The status of a daimon (yakṣa, siddha, vidyādhara, kami etc.), like their powers and faculties, were open to the more industrious and zealous humans in that field, who had access to certain levels of daimonification during or after their lives.

Those aspiring to higher and more permanent realizations went for deification and self-deification. In Buddhism and more in particular esoteric Buddhism, this would refer to the possibility and the means to become a Buddha oneself, in one of the Buddha’s numerous manifestations, including as a Deity (s. iṣṭa-devatā t. yi dam), a Heruka, etc. The Luminous Self already is a potential Buddha (tathāgatagarbha) that only needs to be actualised, through unifying the Luminous Self, the Deity and the Guru. The Luminous Body of the Deity and one’s own Luminous subtle body with its inherent Luminous energy system are one, and are the vessel of the Luminous Self undifferentiated from the Luminous inner Guru. It is simultaneous to the ascension into the Luminous spheres, leaving behind saṃsāra. This is a deification process (in ten, twelve or fourteen levels) authorized through Luminous empowerment and results in the actualisation of the “Triple Body” (trikāya) of a Buddha: dharmakāya, saṃbhogakāya and nirmāṇakāya. The “self-empowerment” (svādhiṣṭhāna) is the transformative practice of rituals, visualization techniques, meditative and pneumatic and inner alchemic practices etc. to transform delusioned states of consciousness (waking state, dream, sleep, etc.) in a “continuous luminous awareness that is one's own enlightened nature”[1] with the Luminous Triple Body of a Buddha. “Luminosity” and Luminous self-empowerment/deification are most often part of such esoteric Buddhist path. Was this the same method as Maitrīpa/Advaya-Avadhūtipa exposed in his Commentary (D2268) to the Dohākośagīti attributed to Saraha?

“The collection of twenty-six texts on non-conceptual realization is the result of blending the essence and tantric mahāmudrā teachings of Saraha, Nāgārjuna and Śavaripa with a particular form of Madhyamaka philosophy, called 'non-abiding' (apratiṣṭhāna), which aims at radically transcending any conceptual assessment of true reality. This goal is achieved by "withdrawing one's attention" (amanasikāra) from anything that involves the duality of a perceived and perceiver. The result is a "luminous self-empowerment [svādhiṣṭhāna]," Maitripa's (986–1063) final tantric analysis of amanasikāra.” A Fine Blend of Mahāmudrā and Madhyamaka, Klaus-Dieter Mathes, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2016.

This is indeed the by now traditional view of Tibetan Buddhism. Were these twenty-six texts all works written by Advayavajra? Have they been collected intentionally to "blend" Tantric Mahāmudrā and Madhyamaka 'non-abiding' (apratiṣṭhāna)? Was Advayavajra aware of such a teaching under the name of “Mahāmudrā”? Was he aware of the triple classification of “Mahāmudrā” teachings into Sūtra Mahāmudrā, Tantric Mahāmudrā and Essence Mahāmudrā? Does mental nonengagement (amanasikāra) result in "luminous self-empowerment”, i.e. “deification” in the Triple Body of a Buddha? Did Saraha (Dohākośagīti), Nāgārjuna (2nd-3rd century) and Śavaripa teach “Tantric Mahāmudrā”? Were Saraha, Nāgārjuna and Śavaripa the actual authors of the texts in which they are believed to have taught “Tantric Mahāmudrā”? Is Śavaripa a historical figure and did Advayavajra meet Śavaripa?

Advayavajra, Sahajavajra and Gampopa (originally a Kadampa monk) were most likely not aware of “Sūtra Mahāmudrā”. Gampopa, like Atiśa, followed “Apratiṣṭhāna-Madhyamaka” (tib. dbu ma rab tu mi gnas pa), and so did Sahajavajra when he comments his teacher Advayavajra’s Ten Verses on True Reality (Tattvadaśaka).

“The world itself, which is free from knowledge and knowable objects,
Is taken to be non-duality.
But even vain clinging to a state free of duality
Is taken, in like manner, to be luminous [s. prabhāsvaraḥ t. ‘od gsal ba]. (TD 7)

By the power of having realized this true reality,
The yogin, with eyes wide open,
Moves everywhere like a lion,
By any [chosen] means [and] in any [chosen] manner. (TD 8)

[The yogin] who has left the [eight] worldly dharmas behind
And adopted yogic conduct [that appears to be] crazy
Does everything without [any need for] a reference point,
Being adorned with self-empowerment [s. svādhiṣṭhānavi t. bdag byin brlabs pas]. (TD 9)” (translation by KD Mathes)

It is tempting in a small text with translations as “luminous” and “self-empowerment” to understand the “self-empowerment” to be luminous and therefore tantric, and the translation “empowerment” as having a link with “empowerment” (abhiṣeka). And this would allegedly be “Maitripa's (986–1063) final tantric analysis of amanasikāra”. Sva adhiṣṭhāna can also mean “self-standing”, “resolve” or “self-determination”, becoming the only reference point.

“In the late canonical literature of Theravada Buddhism, adhiṭṭhāna is one of the ten "perfections" (dasa pāramiyo), exemplified by the bodhisattva's resolve to become fully awakened.”

In this specific work attributed to Advayavajra and in Sahajavajra’s Commentary thereof, there is no need to apply a tantric or “deifying” (Form Bodies) reading. For Apratiṣṭhāna-Madhyamaka, and for Gampopa[2], the purified Dharmadhātu was the sole constituent of Buddhahood[3].

“The view of my spiritual friends is as follows: The nature of the Samyaksambuddha is Dharmakāya, the end of all error and natural harmony. But such statements are mere words. In reality Dharmakāya is unborn (so does not stand for any conception at all) and is ineffable.

Venerable Mi.la.ras.pa used to say that transcending awareness is not discursive[4]. It is beyond any predication such as existence or non-existence, eternalism or nihilism, and beyond the realm of intellect. Whatever name it is called does not alter its nature. This is particularly true of the word 'transcending awareness'. It was coined by a numskull, so that even if a Buddha were to be asked to explain it, he could not do so. When it is stated that Dharmakāya is beyond the intellect, unborn and ineffable, or such that one can only say 'do not ask me, look into your own mind', the statement is not true of reality. As is written in the 'mDo.sde.rgyan' ('Mahāyāna-sūtrālańkāra' IX, 3):
Liberation (is) merely the end of error.

Therefore since the Buddha is Dharmakāya and since Dharmakāya is unborn and ineffable, it is not a transcending awareness. If you object that this contradicts the statement in the Sūtras about the two types of spiritual awareness, you must know that it does not. It is like saying that we see blue when we are merely conscious of an appearance of blueness, In other words, to that which (in a process of symbolic transformation) becomes Dharmadhātu and which is transcending awareness we attribute the name 'awareness which sees Reality as it is' and call it ultimate knowledge, while we speak of it as relative when it (the process of symbolic transformation) concerns those who have to be brought to spiritual maturity. This interpretation (of transcending awareness) is a good one. By means of it we can say that the most excellent renunciation and spirituality are the essence or the nature of a Buddha.[5]”

Was Gampopa, born after Maitrīpa’s death, and allegedly Milarepa’s student, stooping down to his students with lesser dispositions, teaching them only “Sūtra Mahāmudrā”? Did he have a personal dislike for Luminous Mahāmudrā since he didn't teach it? Did he not know it or receive it? The polemics followed after his death. We don’t know for certain and his Kagyupa descendants don’t want to know, because the whole Tibetan Buddhist tradition has turned “Luminous” since. The Yogācārin Ratnākaraśānti (T. rin chen 'byung gnas zhi ba, ca. 11th cent.), also called Śāntipa, was quite specific about the necessity of theurgic means to accomplish full Luminous Buddhahood. The practice of the Hearers (śrāvaka) and the Mādhyamika is not sufficient and results in “complete cessation, because of not perfecting the actions of purifying the [Luminous] Buddha qualities”. Theurgy, deity practice, in itself is not sufficient either, and neither is “meditat[ing] only on the true nature of what the deities stand for and not the deities”.

“(5) Therefore, the meditation of both [the mind as deities and the true nature of the deities at the same time], because it is extremely pleasant to the mind and because it is a special kind of empowerment, causes one to obtain the highest perfect awakening very quickly.[6]”

In other words “Luminous emptiness”, “Theurgic emptiness”, “Empty Luminosity”, “Empty Theurgy”, or somesuch, but it is clear theurgy or deity practice (deification) is the main ingredient here that can’t be sacrificed, and that is believed to be the only effective access to all the Luminous Buddha Qualities, inherent in the Luminous Self.

Without Luminous Buddhism no blessings, no siddhis and no formal Buddha Bodies. Why not practice Chinese Ch’an in that case?!

When traditional Tibetan Buddhism looks back on earlier times, they do so with the “hindsight” and bias of the later traditions. The whole history and evolution of Tibetan Buddhism is “blended” in a luminous ahistorical hagiographic mix, which is retroactively applied to the earlier situations. A blending and blinding Light.

***

[1] The Other Emptiness, Rethinking the Zhentong Buddhist Discourse in Tibet, edited by Michael R. Sheehy & Klaus-Dieter Mathes, 2019

[2] See Jewel Ornament of Liberation, Herbert V. Guenther, Rider, 1970, p. 261-262

[3] Rong-zom-pa’s Discourses on Buddhology, Orna Almogi, 2009, p. 177

[4] This may be a later interpolation. Also see Des citations qui font plus que citer (2015)

[5] Jewel Ornament of Liberation, Herbert V. Guenther, Rider, 1970, p. 261-262

"And in the 'mDo.sde.rgyan' ('Mahāyāna-sūtrālaṅkāra' IX, 12):  

Where the fog of conflicting emotions and primitive beliefs about reality,

Though present for a long time

Has been dispersed by very great renunciation 

The most excellent virtues and positive qualities are obtained. 

This is Buddhahood.”

[6] The Yogācārin theurgist Ratnākaraśānti (T. rin chen 'byung gnas zhi ba), also called Śāntipa, made a similar declaration about the superiority of the use of theurgy in esoteric Buddhism. He wrote about five different Buddhist contemplative scenarios[3], where the inclusion of theurgy would guarantee the quickest and most complete results.

“(1) If one meditates on the mind alone, then one would only obtain mundane mental concentration (ting nge ’dzin, *samādhi) like the stage of the infinity of consciousness (rnam shes mtha’ yas skye mched, *vijñānānantyāyatana).

(2) Yet if one meditates on emptiness above all, that [result] too becomes only complete cessation, because of not perfecting the actions of purifying the Buddha qualities.

(3) Or, if one meditates on [the mind] only as having the nature of the deities, in this case, one does not even become awakened at all through that alone because the perfection of actions is incomplete.

(4) Or, if one meditates only on the true nature of what the deities stand for and not the deities, then in this case too, one would attain Buddhahood in many countless aeons but not quickly.

(5) Therefore, the meditation of both [the mind as deities and the true nature of the deities at the same time], because it is extremely pleasant to the mind and because it is a special kind of empowerment, causes one to obtain the highest perfect awakening very quickly[4].” “Madhyamakanising” Tantric Yogācāra: The Reuse of Ratnākaraśānti’s Explanation of maṇḍala Visualisation in the Works of Śūnyasamādhivajra, Abhayākaragupta and Tsong Kha Pa Daisy S. Y. Cheung

Access to Luminosity through sacrifice, fire, blood and gore

Ten vignettes of Shaiva ascetics performing penance, detail (British Museum)

Fire is with air, one of the higher and nobler elements. It is used for its purifying, refining and dematerialising virtues in sacrifices. In Vedic (1500BCE) hymns of Praise to Agni, we learn how offerings are purified, undone of their more material aspects, before they can reach the gods, so that the cosmic order is held up. Fire was also used as a “means of transport” for elites (warriors, heroes, kings, priests etc.), or those with the necessary means to pay for the ceremonies, wood etc., to have their bodies incinerated, so that their souls could be welcomed by the gods or they would have access to celestial realms. Sometimes their wives, servants, etc. would “travel” together with them. Following the “law” of universal sympathy, the fire and the fiery aspect of one’s being correspond to each other. One’s digestive fire, mental and emotional energy, one luminous spiritual energy or radiance. The higher part of the soul, destined to travel upwards (“homing”).

Death and apotheosis of Hercules (Heracles)
From " Mythologie de la jeunesse " by Pierre Blanchard 1803 (private collection)

Anything sacrificed to a fire can be sent up to the gods if one follows the proper ritual, techniques and methods. Living beings including humans can be sent up. Humans can also self-immolate following the prescriptions in the hope to end up with the gods or in their vicinity. Heracles decided to self-immolate on a funeral pyre on Mount Oeta. Not for this specific act but because of his heroic life, he was taken up by the gods and deified. Heaven has always welcomed warriors and heroes. Heaven loves virility. Spiritual heroes, self-sacrificing ascetics, are also welcome. Again the means of transport is fire (tapas). Fire, exposure to fire or heat, will separate the higher soul (ātman) from the body and prepare it for the ascension. Fasting is another way to burn away physical and spiritual impurities.

Pratyekas entering the element of fire, Borobodur (wikimedia)

Tejas ( "luminosity", "brightness", "fiery energy" or "radiance" ) is the name for the “spiritual fire” that burns away mental and emotional impurities. The future Buddha, like many Jains, practiced tapas until he discovered his own method of the middle way, although according to Mahāyāna and esoteric Buddhism this was all staged. The "Play in Full" Lalitavistara Sūtra (3rd century), illustrated in the Borobudur reliefs, explains that 500 Pratyeka Buddhas left the earth before the birth of the Buddha, because their mission was accomplished. Since they were spiritual heroes they knew how to produce their own fire, and how to auto-combust through “entering the element of fire” (tejadhātu), attaining parinirvāṇa at the same occasion. Did they travel upwards? To the gods? We seemed to have lost all trace of them.

One of the Buddha’s oldest students, Dabba Mallaputta, arhat at the age of seven, had developed the same power (iddhi). The Buddha said so himself:

“While venerable Dabba Mallaputta, monks—after going up into the sky, and sitting in cross-legged posture in the air, in the firmament, entering the fire-element, and emerging—was attaining Complete Emancipation, his body burning and being consumed, there was no charcoal and no ash evident. Just as while ghee or oil is burning and being consumed there is no charcoal and no ash evident, so also while venerable Dabba Mallaputta—after going up into the sky, and sitting in cross-legged posture in the air, in the firmament, entering the fire-element, and emerging—was attaining Complete Emancipation, his body burning and being consumed, there was no charcoal and no ash evident." (Dutiyadabbasutta—Bhikkhu Ānandajoti)

Another arhat, Sagata (“the dragonslayer”), was an exemplary monk, but was set up by other monks to become the drunk through whom the vow against intoxicants was pronounced in the Vinaya. Thanks to this, we know the following:

"Then Ven. Sagata went to the hermitage of the coiled-hair ascetic of Ambatittha, and on arrival — having entered the fire building and arranged a grass mat — sat down cross-legged with his body erect and mindfulness to the fore. The naga (living in the fire building) saw that Ven. Sagata had entered and, on seeing him, was upset, disgruntled, and emitted smoke. Ven. Sagata emitted smoke. The naga, unable to bear his rage, blazed up. Ven. Sagata, entering the fire element, blazed up. Then Ven. Sagata, having consumed the naga's fire with his own fire, left for Bhaddavatika." LB Horner

Sagata (Sāgata Mahāthera) attained arhatship, and was praised by the Buddha as being his most preeminent disciple in the mastery of the fire element (tejodhātukusalānaṃ) (AN 1.188 à 1.267 Etadagga Vagga).

Among the śramaṇa and in Pāli sources the body was considered a foul and impure vessel, that kept one in saṃsāra and was a cause for attachment to sensual pleasures. Therefore the Buddha taught the great benefits of meditating on repulsiveness (asubha bhāvanā), and went in retreat immediately thereafter, causing a bit of a Jim Jones drama

“Then those mendicants thought, “The Buddha spoke in many ways about the meditation on ugliness. He praised the meditation on ugliness and its development.” They committed themselves to developing the many different facets of the meditation on ugliness. Becoming horrified, repelled, and disgusted with this body, they looked for someone to slit their wrists. Each day ten, twenty, or thirty mendicants slit their wrists.

Then after a fortnight had passed, the Buddha came out of retreat and addressed Ānanda, “Ānanda, why does the mendicant Saṅgha seem so diminished?”

Ānanda told the Buddha all that had happened, and said, “Sir, please explain another way for the mendicant Saṅgha to get enlightened.”

“Well then, Ānanda, gather all the mendicants staying in the vicinity of Vesālī together in the assembly hall.” (Vesālīsutta—Bhikkhu Sujato)

“Well then…”, and the Buddha quickly taught the mindfulness of breathing.

The fascination with fire, self-purification, self-sacrifice, self-combustion, self-immolation, self-mummification remained a constant with Buddhism as it went abroad, e.g. in China, including and perhaps specifically in Mahāyāna Buddhism, with bodhisattvas sacrificing not only their wives and children, but also their own eyes, body parts and their lives. Based on the Lotus Sūtra (Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtra) and other bodhisattva materials, the idea of paying homage to the Buddhas through sacrificing one’s body parts or body became widespread in China.

In the Lotus Sūtra, the bodhisattva Medicine King (Yao Wang 藥王 ; Skt. Bhaiṣajyagururāja) “set fire to his own body as an act of homage to the buddhas”[1]. A Chinese monk with the name Daodu 道 度 (462–527) was one of the first to walk the path of self-immolation in Buddhist China.

“The body is like a poisonous plant; it would really be right to burn it and extinguish its life. I have been weary of this physical frame for many a long day. I vow to worship the buddhas, just like Xijian 喜見 (Seen with Joy [Bhaiṣajyagururāja]).”

The Birds, Hitchcock (moving picture)

He started with a fast. Soon five-colored rays of light and multicolored vapor emanated from his body. Then “a purple glow” started “radiating from a niche within it”. On the day of his sacrifice, a flock of five or six hundred birds came to the monastery, “perched together on a single tree before simultaneously taking off and flying together towards the west”.

“In the early hours of that night the whole monastery complex was illuminated by vivid displays of light that lit up the buildings for several hours.Around midnight, from the summit of the mountain came the sound of a stone chime being struck and someone reciting verses on impermanence.

The monks heard the crackling sound of wood starting to burn. Scrambling up the mountain to investigate, they discovered their comrade Daodu seated calmly with his palms together facing the west. His whole body was engulfed in flames.” (Burning for the Buddha)

He set an example of “heroic practice” and those who resorted to the ultimate gift (dāna) became the object of a cult[2], their remains being kept in stūpas. The Da zhidu lun 大智度論 (Great Perfection of Wisdom Treatise) attributed to Nāgārjuna confirms:

“What is to be understood by the fulfillment of the perfection of generosity appertaining to the body which is born from the bonds and karma? Without gaining the dharmakāya (dharma body) and without destroying the fetters the bodhisattva is able to give away without reservation all his precious possessions, his head, his eyes, his marrow, his skin, his kingdom, his wealth, his wife, his children and his possessions both inner and outer; all this without experiencing any emotions.”

The body, although foul, impure and repulsive, became an asset, an afterlife capital for those without capital. It opened up the possibility of sacrifices like the “Body Lamp Ritual”, “Burning off fingers as lamps”, etc. These were degenerated times where it had become difficult to self-immolate the entire body.

“[Someone might say,] “Speaking of those who abandon the body, they ought to give up the whole body, like Prince [Mahā]sattva [who offered his body to a tigress], should they not? Now these people just use a finger as a lamp, lighting the forearm as a burning wick. How can you use these examples [in the self-immolation section]? Is this not too fortunate for them?”
I answer that burning off the fingers and chopping off the forearm are subsidiary practices (jiaxing 加行 ) of abandoning the body. In the time of the semblance dharma and the end of the dharma (xiangmo 像末 ), these acts have become even more difficult [to perform]. So [they are included here] just as those who were able to maintain, even to a lesser extent, [the principles of] honesty and uprightness are entered in the biographies of the worthy officials[3].” (Burning for the Buddha)

Incidentally, Zanning, the 10th century author of these lines also quotes a sūtra that refers to the “samādhi of the fire realm”. The title of that sūtra is Chutai jing 處胎經 (Sûtra [Spoken while] in the Womb [or Bodhisattva Womb Sutra]). Zanning also explains the superiority of bodhisattvas to arhats regarding the gift of life.

“The ability to carry out the act depends on being able to see the body as empty like a bubble. Because of this ability, he says, bodhisattvas are able to give away their bodies lifetime after lifetime, unlike arhats who preserve the body for a single life until they reach extinction or Taoists who see the body as either a husk or dust and ashes.”

“The teachings of Confucius and Zhuangzi do not discuss karma, and it is karma that enables self-immolators to exchange a weaker body in one life for a stronger one in the future, growing ever more powerful and magnificent as they continue on the bodhisattva path. They gouge out human eyes but acquire the eyes of a buddha; they slice up a body of flesh and thus build a golden body.” (Burning for the Buddha)

Those who live miserably and poorly can use their body as an asset to accumulate positive karma through sacrificing, in order to progressively acquire a better body and better conditions at every lifetime, like in the movie Groundhog Day. "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step"

Whether it is deification, buddhification, angelification etc., these goals seem to share the idea that the earthly body is a mere vessel and that more worthy immortal vessels are available for those repulsed by this body and this life and ready to make the necessary sacrifices at their own level. Fire can be of help in this project. Fire is our friend because it already has some of the "luminosity", "brightness", "fiery energy" or "radiance" of our future celestial vessels, and will burn away the remaining impurities.

Even Catholicism and its Purgatory, midway between heaven and hell, recognises that very quality of fire. It helps us to burn away remaining impurities and prepare us for a glorious future.

“14. If what he has built survives, he will receive a reward. 15. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as if through the flames. 16. Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple, and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” 1 Corinthians 3:14-16 Berean Standard Bible

Liu Benzun cutting off his arm, Pilu Cave (photo Ifeng.com)

I will end with the "Ten Austerities of Liu Benzun"

"Burning the Index Finger, Burning the Ankle, Cutting the Ear, Burning the Top of the Head, Burning the Genitalia, Burning the Knees, Cutting the Arm, Burning the Chest, Gouging the Eye, and Meditating in the Snow."

Liu Benzun gouging out eye (middle) and sitting in snow (right),
Pilu cave (Tripadvisor)

These austerities are still practiced nowadays judging by photos posted on Facebook by adepts. The Second Patriarch of Zen, Dazu Huike, seemed to have been a practitioner too, judging by Mumonkan Case 41.

"Case 41 Bodhidharma's Mind-Pacifying
Bodhidharma sat facing the wall.
The Second Patriarch stood [sat?] in the snow.
He cut off his arm and presented it to Bodhidharma, crying, "My mind has no peace as yet! I beg you, master, please pacify my mind!"
"Bring your mind here and I will pacify it for you," replied Bodhidharma.
"I have searched for my mind, and I cannot find it," said the Second Patriarch.
"Now your mind is pacified," said Bodhidharma."

***

[1] James A. Benn, Burning for the Buddha, Self-Immolation in Chinese Buddhism, Studies in East Asian Buddhism (2007)

[2] “ The cults of self-immolators were both local—celebrated in particular places by shrines, stûpas, images, and steles—and made universal through accounts in collections of monastic biographies and in more popular works that celebrated acts of devotion to particular texts such as the Lotus Sūtra.” Burning for the Buddha

[3] Zanning 贊寧 (919?–1001?), compiler of the Song Gaoseng zhuan, Biographies of eminent monks.