Esoteric Buddhism
Buddhism, contrary
to Hinduism, is a very homogenous path
to liberation - the Buddha's Four
Noble Truths clearly define it. The difference between
Buddhism and Hinduism is that Buddhists do not consider Gods so important
as Hindus do; for Buddhists the relevant is only the
PATH to liberation or to nirvana
the direction of which described Buddha.
Buddhism has two basic schools - Pali Canon
Theravada, also called the Southern
School (Sri Lanka, Indonesia...) and Mahayana
- the Northern School (Tibet, China...).
These two schools have their subschools.
Shingon
Shingon is an
esoteric school of Buddhism started
by a mysterious monk named Kukai
in Japan at about the end of the first millennium (700-800
AD). This form of Buddhism is also known in Japan as Mikkyo
(secret path). Mikkyo originated in India and its practice
is very similar with beliefs and rituals of the Ganapatyas
sect (worshippers of Lord Ganesh who
consider Ganesh, contrary to mainstream vaishnavists or shaivists,
the Supreme God of the universe). Ganapatyas
still exist in India, but they are not documented very well, as their
practice is secret like that of Shingon. Most information from both
teachings has never come out to the public.
Shingon
is typical with rituals, magic, with invoking
Gods, which you may also notice, for example, by looking
at quite very unusual statues of Kantingen
(two Ganeshas,
a female and male form of the elephant God making love),
or Kankiten (in
Ho-kai-ji Temple in Japan) - the same diety (spelled differently),
which priests in Japan hold from the public eyes and keep in great
respect.
Kukai went to China where Hui-Guo, a master
of Buddhism, initiated him to Chen-yen
or Zhenyan, which is Shingon in
Japanese (or Mantrayâna in Sanskrit). Most historians date the
presence of Ganesha in Japan back to times
when this great monk started his Shingon
sect in Japanese Buddhism. The
means of worshiping Ganesha, Ganabachi, Vinayaka,
or Kangiten hold attributes that make this cult different from
all other Buddhist streams.
Lama Drukpa Kunley
Bhutan has in
its history a great religious teacher,
Lama Drukpa Kunley, who is known
throughout Bhutan as "The Divine Fool."
Drukpa Kunley
was born in the 15th century and was
very peculiar as a child. He had allegedly full
memory of his previous incarnations
and later, after experiencing confrontation with his father's death,
he lost all previous beliefs in the establishment of the world and
dedicated himself to a religious life.
He finally became a monk and a mendicant. He wandered throughout the
country and developed great spiritual arts and skills in magic.
He ridiculed the establishment; especially corrupt
priests. He is known for performing miracles
like Jesus, which helped him
to morally treat other people. He made miracles like turning tiny
quantities of tea into amounts and instantaneously appearing at locations
far off wherefrom he disappeared.
He made outstanding poetic
statements such as: "I bow to
traders who exchange wisdom for wealth" or, "I
bow to renunciates who gather wealth secretly."
He was also a friend of alcohol and sex, which apparently
indicates that he was a Master of Tantric Buddhism.
Axel Munthe in his book about St. Michelle wrote
about elf like creatures if they were real.
Naree Pon
Naree Pons are
female fairies that appeared
to Buddha when he meditated. Then
they disappeared and merged with vegetation. It seems that the legend
about them in connection to Buddha mirrors a true story.
Naree Pons, the Thai
flower pod women - elf like creates, appeared on a few
TV channels like Discovery Channel. One Thai man had a dream and found
these strange creatures after he awoke. They are said to be located
at a place called Petchaboon in Thailand, some 500 km from Bangkok.
A video on youtube.com
is here.
