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Delivered at Monash University seminar 11/11/11 Role Reversals in Buddhist Rituals The process whereby Buddhism assimilated the Hindu gods and goddesses has been well documented. This process, however, was not merely one of absorbing these deities into the Buddhist pantheon to act as guardians of the Dharma. There are other layers of assimilation that perhaps are not so familiar. In Buddhist rituals involving Hindu divinities there is a recurrent theme of the reversal of the roles played by benign and malignant beings in the Hindu epics. In Buddhist rituals of subjugation evil demons are invoked to subjugate the very same gods and goddesses who the epics record as having conquered them. Another characteristic of the Buddhist rituals is the frequent recourse to the rhetoric of armed conflict and violent confrontation in the name of conquering non-Buddhist systems of belief. These themes are developed by reference to the Sanskrit mantras and seed syllables used in rituals of subjugation (kōfukuhō) practised in the Shingon School of Japanese Buddhism.
Cathy Cantwell, “To Meditate upon Consciousness as Vajra : Ritual 'Killing and Liberation' in the rNying-ma-pa Tradition,” in Tibetan Studies: IATS 7, Graz 1995 , ed. Helmut Krasser et al. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1997,
To Meditate upon Consciousness as Vajra: Ritual ''Killing and Liberation'' in the Rnying-ma-pa Tradition.2011 •
Lingue e Letterature d'Oriente e d'Occidente
Tantric Ritual and Conflict in Tibetan Buddhist Society The Cult of Yamāntaka2022 •
The article examines the employment of tantric ritual as a tool of conflict resolution in Tibetan Buddhist society. In particular, the analysis focuses on the cult of the tantric Buddhist deity Yamāntaka, who is often invoked in tantric ritual to resolve communal crisis or defend society against the enemies of Buddhism. Yamāntaka, whose cult in medieval times stretched from India, through the Tibetan plateau, to Mongolia, China, and Japan, is a prime example of a tantric "war-god" who has been adopted throughout the Buddhist world in the context of ritualized violence. The adoption of violent tantric ritual created fissures, especially in Tibetan Buddhist society, that led to various legal and ideological conflicts aimed at restricting its practice.
History of Religions
Jacob P. Dalton, The Taming of the Demons: Violence and Liberation in Tibetan Buddhism Review by: Cathy Cantwell History of Religions, Vol. 54, No. 1 (August 2014), pp. 106-1122014 •
This is the first and so far only detailed philological re-assessment of the Tibetan sources cited by Jacob Dalton in his book, Taming of the Demons: Violence and Liberation in Tibetan Buddhism. Cantwell calls into question several of Dalton's key readings.
Journal of Religious Violence
The Violent Subjugation of a History of Violence: A Review Essay on The Taming of the Demons: Violence and Liberation in Tibetan Buddhism, by Jacob Dalton,2015 •
A review essay reflecting on tantric sādhanas for killing, Tibetan history, translation issues, and general problems in the interpretation of the Buddhists ethics of harm from Aśokan studies to modernism. Enclosed is an otherwise unpublished argument that far from being a dramatic shift, the tantric ethics of killing is remarkably consistent with Mahāyāna thought.
Re-thinking India. Perceptions from Australia.
Esoteric 'abuse' in the Indo-Tibetan religious traditions and beliefs2013 •
This article examines how in the 19th and 20th century there has been a widespread misapplication of western esoteric paradigms on Indo-Tibetan culture and Far Eastern religious traditions and beliefs. This has produced misconceptions that often blur or betray meanings and superimpose classificatory patterns in relation to teachings, rituals, ritual objects and iconographic-symbolic forms, which overemphasise, or even create, the existence of a mysterious and secret dimension. The article argues that over the last two centuries, this 'esoteric' definition has become increasingly employed as a kind of common, auto-explanatory label, acquiring socio-cultural meanings and conceptual values which do not properly define the Asian religious contexts. This misapplication has not only heavily contributed to the shaping of a distorted Western mass perception, but it has also partially affected the objectivity of the more informed scholarly interpretation of historical and documentary evidence. In fact, scholars have not infrequently been influenced, to some extent, by the general attitude of referring to vague concepts of an 'esoteric nature' when dealing with the interpretation of practices and beliefs, in particular related to Tantric Vajrayāna Buddhism.
2013 •
This article is premised on the claim that all of the world’s major religions, Buddhism included, contain within them numerous malleable doctrines and associated practices that, under certain situations and circumstances, can be reconfigured or transformed into instruments that either actively or passively condone the use of violence against those identified as threats, and/or the death of those fighting against them. What makes these doctrines and practices, designated as 'violence-enabling mechanisms', so difficult to identify is that on the surface these entities appear to have little or nothing to do with sanctioning violence. Accompanied by ample concrete historical examples, this article asserts that such enabling mechanisms are to be found in all of Buddhism’s major traditions and schools, from the ancient past up through the latest newspaper headlines. It offers a challenge to all who believe that Buddhism is solely a religion of peace.
Journal of the American Oriental Society , Vol. 135, No. 4 (October–December 2015), pp. 859-861
Review of Spells, Images, and Mandalas: Tracing the Evolution of Esoteric Buddhist Rituals. By Koichi Shinonohara.2015 •
"This is a landmark study that greatly advances our understanding of the history of Buddhist ritual practice in both India and East Asia. Scholars currently at work on Esoteric Buddhism and on the broader history of related practices can now gratefully build on the new foundation Shinohara has made."
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