Buddhist Historical Narrative

[C T]

Its quite clear to me that the doctrine of dependent origination (Paticca samuppada) taught by the Buddha in the first turning is the very fabric from which Buddhist tantra came to be. This doctrine cannot be realised merely through intellectual investigation; some of the early practitioners who were guided by this doctrine knew about that, and subsequently devised practical and esoteric means towards the actualising the realisation of infinite regressiveness, which is basically what the dependent origination means, imo. These means later coalesced and congealed to form what is popularly known today as buddha-tantra. 

 

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"Now from the remainderless fading & cessation of that very ignorance comes the cessation of fabrications. From the cessation of fabrications comes the cessation of consciousness. From the cessation of consciousness comes the cessation of name-&-form. From the cessation of name-&-form comes the cessation of the six sense media. From the cessation of the six sense media comes the cessation of contact. From the cessation of contact comes the cessation of feeling. From the cessation of feeling comes the cessation of craving. From the cessation of craving comes the cessation of clinging/sustenance. From the cessation of clinging/sustenance comes the cessation of becoming. From the cessation of becoming comes the cessation of birth. From the cessation of birth, then aging & death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair all cease. Such is the cessation of this entire mass of stress & suffering." - accesstoinsight

 

That remainderlessness clearly alludes to infinite regression and refinement that ultimately leads to a complete calming of all discursive and dualistic patterns in the mental continuum. What makes buddha-tantra special is the assertion followed by a clear path of practice that enables a diligent practitioner to attain to a state where he or she has the ability to permanently remove subtle 'links' in this mental continuum - this in itself would be sufficient to cut through deluded mind and reveal the primordial side of mind, the very nature of mind itself, in its entirety. 

 

Hence, i would subscribe to the view that the Buddha had amply presented followers with the scope of tantra right from the beginning, but had kept the esoteric understanding 'secret' for obvious reasons. Im speculating that doing so is in keeping with his belief that we are all heirs of our own karma and therefore our individual freedom and emancipation lies nowhere and with no one except in the one who applies the methods and in the process fully embodies the Dharma by developing a trust and willingness to take full responsibility for the safe arrival to that other shore. 

[Apech]

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The term tantra and the tantric traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism have been subjected to a great deal of misunderstanding in both India and the West. There is a diverse range of attitudes toward the tantric traditions, ranging from their emic understandings as paths to liberation to the relatively widespread associations of the tantric traditions with sorcery and libertine sexuality. Likewise, tantric traditions are also extremely diverse, which has made it difficult to develop a definition broad enough to cover the various tantric traditions without being overly broad. There have also been many attempts to discern the origins of the tantric traditions. While there is very little evidence supporting the hypothesis that any of the tantric traditions existed before the 5th century ce, there have been attempts to trace back these traditions much earlier, to the time of the Buddha or the ancient Hindu sages, or even back to the Indus Valley civilization. In overviewing various attempts to date these traditions, it appears that the first tantric traditions to emerge in a distinct form almost certainly first emerged in a Hindu context around the mid-first millennium ce.

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An overview of the history of tantric traditions, then, should begin with a survey the development of the Hindu tantric traditions, from the mid-first millennium ce up to the colonial period, when tantric traditions in South Asia generally entered a period of decline, followed by a renaissance in the 20th century. The historical appearance of Buddhist tantric traditions occurs a few centuries later, during the 7th century. Buddhist tantric traditions were strongly influenced at their inception by preexisting Śaiva Hindu traditions, but they also drew on a growing body of ritual and magical practices that had been developing for several centuries, since at least the 5th century ce, in Mahāyāna Buddhist circles. The spread of tantric traditions quickly followed their development in India. They were disseminated to Nepal; Central, East, and Southeast Asia; and also, much later, to the West. Tantric Hindu and Buddhist traditions were also a significant influence on a number of other religious traditions, including Jainism, Sikhism, the Bön tradition of Tibet, Daoism, and the Shintō tradition of Japan.

 

 

The early history of Buddhist tantric traditions is far clearer than that of Hindu traditions. This is due to the international Buddhist network that led to the rapid dissemination of new Buddhist works. Many works of Buddhist tantric literature were rapidly translated into Tibetan and Chinese, and the date when a translation was made provides us with terminus ad quem for the respective work. While there are still many lacunae in our understanding of the early history of tantric Buddhist traditions, available evidence points to the mid-7th century as the most likely point at which historically datable traditions began to take shape. The earliest known dateable tantric text is the Awakening of Mahāvairocana Tantra (mahāvairocanābhisaṃbodhi-tantra), which was composed around the mid-7th century and was reportedly be one of the texts collected by the Chinese pilgrim Wu-xing (無行‎) c. 680 ce.68 The Chinese pilgrim Wu-xing also commented on the emergence of a new “teaching about mantra” (真言教法‎), which was very popular during his time in India.69

 

 

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The emergence of tantric Buddhist traditions at this times appears to have been the result of a slow process of development of magical literature in Mahāyāna Buddhist traditions over the course of several centuries. For at least two centuries, around the 5th century ce, Buddhists produced a growing number of works focusing on magical formulas known as dhāraṇī and ritual practices that employ them. These gradually became more sophisticated, leading ultimately to the composition of the “esoteric sūtras” and tantras.70 Many of the early Buddhist tantric scriptures, which later were labeled “ritual tantras” (kriyātantra), are basically grimoires, compilations of magical rituals which were purported to achieve various worldly ends. Interestingly, the same is true of the early Śaiva tantric scriptures that were composed around the same time, around the 7th century.71 More sophisticated tantric traditions developed during the 8th century and onward. These new traditions featured practices advocating union with a deity, and they typically claim to promote a secret method for the rapid achievement of Buddhahood. These traditions focused upon scriptures that were later classified as Yoga, Mahāyoga, and Yoginī tantras.72 There was considerable Śaiva influence on the developing Buddhist traditions. The Buddhist Yoginītantras in particular, which focus on female goddesses known as Yoginīs or Ḍākinīs and feature antinomian practices, and which were composed around the 8th century onward, drew heavily from Śaiva Vidyāpīṭha scriptures.73

 

Quotes from here:

 

http://religion.oxfordre.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.001.0001/acrefore-9780199340378-e-59

 

which sums the current academic understanding.

[Jeff]

52 minutes ago, Apech said:

 

 

Quotes from here:

 

http://religion.oxfordre.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.001.0001/acrefore-9780199340378-e-59

 

which sums the current academic understanding.

 

Thanks for the very interesting post. Also, can directly see the crossover from KS with the 84 mahasiddhas. Seems to make sense that the techniques were first developed with the KS masters, and then it was seen how useful they were in general, so then were modified into a Buddhist view/framework and a new approach was created.

 

But, I think it is very important to state that the difference in view/framework ultimately leads to different results (and potentials) of the tantric process.

[Apech]

2 minutes ago, Jeff said:

 

Thanks for the very interesting post. Also, can directly see the crossover from KS with the 84 mahasiddhas. Seems to make sense that the techniques were first developed with the KS masters, and then it was seen how useful they were in general, so then were modified into a Buddhist view/framework and a new approach was created.

 

But, I think it is very important to state that the difference in view/framework ultimately leads to different results (and potentials) of the tantric process.

 

 

I read somewhere that Tilopa (the teacher of Naropa) and a Mahasiddha is included in a list of Hindu Tantric masters - which might also suggest that the sharp distinction between Hindu and Buddhist was not always clear.

 

I know nothing about KS and I guess I should read up on the origins of that as well.

[Apech]

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During the 10th century a new school of Śaivism developed, the Nondual School of Kashmir Śaivism. Alexis Sanderson argues that it was the product of the confrontation of the more conservative Śaiva Siddhānta tradition and the transgressive Kaula tradition. He describes this as follows:

By the tenth century the Śaiva scene was dominated by the confrontation of two radically opposed schools: on the one hand, a group of nondualistic traditions, principally the Trika and the Krama, and on the other, the dualistic Śaiva Siddhānta. The nondualists, upholding the doctrine that the world and persons are no more than the play of the power of a universal consciousness-self, operated from within transgressive cults “tainted” by the Kāpālika culture of the cremation grounds and the erotico-mystical soteriology of the Kaulas.⁴⁰

 

The Nondual School of Kashmir Śaivism integrated elements of both the transgressive nondualistic traditions and the more orthodox dualistic Śaiva Siddhānta. The end result was a nondualistic system in which the transgressive elements were internalized and hence rendered less offensive to the orthodox.

 

 

 

This from same website .

 

Seems that what we know as KS these days is a bit later than Vajrayana.  The older stuff being magical, sexual, 'violent' rituals and so on which are actually contemporary with Buddhist Kriya Tantras which are similarly worldly.

 

 

[Jeff]

15 minutes ago, Apech said:

 

 

This from same website .

 

Seems that what we know as KS these days is a bit later than Vajrayana.  The older stuff being magical, sexual, 'violent' rituals and so on which are actually contemporary with Buddhist Kriya Tantras which are similarly worldly.

 

 

 

Wasn't Tilopa 988-1069? And Abhinavagupta 950-1016?

 

Would you agree that the shift in buddhism was really around the mahasiddhas? That was the basis for the change?

 

Edited February 3, 2018 by Jeff

[Apech]

1 minute ago, Jeff said:

 

Wasn't Tilopa 988-1069? 

 

Would you agree that the shift in buddhism was really around the mahasiddhas? That was the basis for the change?

 

 

I think that is his dates more or less.

 

I think probably there are inner and outer causes - or indeed another about effectiveness.

 

Inner causes could include the realisations of the masters who became called the Mahasiddhas - including that they communicated their realisation of say, emptiness by breaking taboos and so on - to show to people that realisation is not ultimately dependent on pratimokshas and so on - i.e. not about purity per se. - also demonstrating 'magical' powers etc.  They did this of course because people needed it to break free from indentification and so on.

 

Outer causes lie in the social conditions which dictate how a tradition has to survive.  After the fall of the Guptas patronage to Buddhist monasteries changed and the trade guilds more or less collapsed (with which the sangha had had a symbiotic relationship).  The way in which monastic funding worked meant the closing of many local centres and the forming of a few 'super monasteries' where power and learning was focussed.  The laity were turning to reformed Hindu traditions and emerging bakhti traditions - so support for Buddhadharma was collapsing - and continued to do so from 500/660 AD till 1200 when the Muslims invaded and sacked Nalanda - which was the end basically of Buddhism in India.  The Mahasiddas were not monks and lived on the edge of society sometimes with travelling troupes of entertainers (circuses basically) and their lives reflect this by being bohemian  and picaresque.  I know this seems very 'outer' - but compare the spread of Tibetan Buddhism to the west post 1950s and the Chinese invasion - the dharma and Tibetan culture had to survive and they needed funds - so they courted at first Hippies, then Yuppies and so on who could provide income for building centres in the US, Canada, UK , France etc.  The style of teaching reflects this.

 

The last point is that while the fundamental truths behind the teachings are timeless - a style of practice has a shelf life - over time the number of realised practitioners declines and there have to be periodic revivals/renewals which may present themselves as 'back to basics' but are actually newly formulated to meet the conditions of the present.

 

Just some thoughts

 

 

[Jeff]

The following gives a good overview of the timeframe and fundamental shift that I am trying to describe...

.....

Transformation – the Space and Instruction series (11th-14th century)

Early Dzogchen was completely transformed in the 11th century,^[11] with the renaissance of Tibetan culture occurring from the late 10th century to the early 12th century,^[11]known as the later dissemination of Buddhism.^[11] New techniques and doctrines were introduced from India, resulting in new schools of Tibetan Buddhism,^[3][11] and radical new developments in Dzogchen doctrine and practice, with a growing emphasis on meditative practice.^[3] The older Bon and Nyingma traditions incorporated these new influences through the process of Treasure revelation.^[11] Especially the yogini tantras were influential, involving horrific imagery and violent rituals, erotic imagery, and sexual and somatic practices.^[11] These influences are reflected in the rise of subtle body representations and practices, new pantheons of wrathful and erotic Buddhas, increasingly antinomium rhetorics, and a focus on death-motifs.^[20]

 

These influences were incorporated in several movements such as the "Secret Cycle" (gsang skor),^[21] "Ultra Pith" (yang tig),^[21] "Brahmin's tradition" (bram ze'i lugs),^[21][21] the "Space Class Series,"^[3] and especially the "Instruction Class series",^[3] which culminated in the "Seminal Heart" (snying thig), which emerged in the late 11th and early 12th century.^[21]

The "Seminal Heart" belongs to the "Instruction series."^[21] The main texts of the instruction series are the so-called seventeen tantras and the two "seminal heart" collections, namely the bi ma snying thig (Vima Nyingthig,^[22] "Seminal Heart of Vimalamitra") and the mkha' 'gro snying thig (Khandro nyingthig,^[22] "Seminal Heart of the Dakini").^[3] The "Seminal Heart of Vimalamitra" is attributed to Vimalamitra, but was largely composed by their discoverers, in the 11th and 12th century.^[23] The "Seminal Heart of the Dakini" was produced by Tsultrim Dorje (Tshul khrims rdo rje)(1291-1315/17).^[23]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dzogchen

 

[Apech]

27 minutes ago, Jeff said:

The following gives a good overview of the timeframe and fundamental shift that I am trying to describe...

.....

 

 

 

You and your shifts

[Jeff]

6 minutes ago, Apech said:

 

You and your shifts

 

My theory is that they were smart and adopted some good new R&D. Didn’t think they knew it all and just use the old texts.

[Apech]

14 minutes ago, Jeff said:

 

My theory is that they were smart and adopted some good new R&D. Didn’t think they knew it all and just use the old texts.

 

Dzogchen is a bit different i think.  What is R&D?

[Jeff]

Just now, Apech said:

 

Dzogchen is a bit different i think.  What is R&D?

 

Bit different than what? Changing over time?

 

Research and Development.  

[Apech]

Just now, Jeff said:

 

Bit different than what? Changing over time?

 

Research and Development.  

 

It has its own terminology and is not tantric as such.

[9th]

The movement regarding practices variously referred to as "self-liberation" or "natural liberation" originated with the Mahasiddhas of India.  They were passed from the Mahasiddhas of India to Tibet, and then these practices were continued by the Tibetans and further developed by them.

 

https://earlytibet.files.wordpress.com/2007/06/vanschaik_2004.pdf

 

However, the application of yoga to cultivate the "siddhi of perfecting" was not a "recent" development in the middle ages.

[Jeff]

18 minutes ago, Apech said:

 

It has its own terminology and is not tantric as such.

 

Your kidding right?

 

........

For general purposes, Menngagde may also be known as Nyingthik.^[3] Germano & Gyatso (2000: p. 240) note a similarity of practice between Chan-like formless meditations and Nyingthik/Menngagde:

"...the Seminal Heart or Nyingthik (snying thig) form of the Great Perfection (rdzogs-chen) movement, ...a syncretic Tantric tradition consisting of Chan-like practices of formless meditation combined with exercises that cultivated spontaneous visions of buddhas."^[4]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menngagde

 

Or if you prefer, from the Dzogchen master Norbu...

 

Buddhism in its tantric form was principally introduced to Tibet by Padmasambhava, a master capable of miraculous lous activities, who came from his native Oddiyana at the invitation of King Trisong Detsen. With the aim of also furthering  the spread of the Dzogchen teachings in Tibet, Padmasambhava suggested to the King that he send a Tibetan betan named Vairocana to Oddiyana.

 

Edited February 3, 2018 by Jeff

[Apech]

5 minutes ago, Jeff said:

 

Your kidding right?

 

........

For general purposes, Menngagde may also be known as Nyingthik.^[3] Germano & Gyatso (2000: p. 240) note a similarity of practice between Chan-like formless meditations and Nyingthik/Menngagde:

"...the Seminal Heart or Nyingthik (snying thig) form of the Great Perfection (rdzogs-chen) movement, ...a syncretic Tantric tradition consisting of Chan-like practices of formless meditation combined with exercises that cultivated spontaneous visions of buddhas."^[4]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menngagde

 

Well I know very little about Dzogchen so I'll leave that subject for the very many Dzogchen threads that exist

 

I was trying to say that Dzogchen has its own lineage and so on - and what i was trying to discuss was the emergence of Vajrayana in 7th century CE and where exactly it came from.  Where Dzogchen came from is a different and probably an even more opaque question.

 

 

[9th]

Might as well bring this into the mix for some additional enrichment:

 

Tibetan Zen.pdf

[Apech]

Just now, 9th said:

Might as well bring this into the mix for some additional enrichment:

 

Tibetan Zen.pdf

 

 

Yeah I've read that.  Good book.  But again not the subject I wanted to discuss.  If you want to talk about the Chinese influence on Tibet and Buddhism generally - that's an interesting subject too

[Jeff]

6 minutes ago, Apech said:

 

Well I know very little about Dzogchen so I'll leave that subject for the very many Dzogchen threads that exist

 

I was trying to say that Dzogchen has its own lineage and so on - and what i was trying to discuss was the emergence of Vajrayana in 7th century CE and where exactly it came from.  Where Dzogchen came from is a different and probably an even more opaque question.

 

 

Here is some more on the timeframe and you can see it came much later in the 12th century, with the more advanced Tantra stuff coming in the 14th century. Even in the tradition itself, they say that everything was buried in the 7th century because the world was not ready for it.

 

The Seminal Heart teachings became the dominant Dzogchen-teachings,^[24] but was also criticized by conservative strands within the Nyingma-school.^[24] The most important Nyingma of the 12th century, Nyangrel Nyingma Özer (Nyang ral nyi ma 'od zer, 1136-1204^{[note 3]} ) developed his "Crown Pith" (spyi ti) to reassert the older traditions in a new form.^[24] His writings, which were also presented as revelations, are marked by a relative absence of yogini tantra influence, and transcend the prescriptions of specific practices, as well as the rhetoric of violence, sexuality and transgression.^[24]

Longchenpa's Seven Treasuries (14th century)

A pivotal figure in the history of Dzogchen was Longchenpa Rabjampa (1308-1364, possibly 1369). He systematized the Seminal Heart teachings^[24] and other collections of texts that were circulating at the time in Tibet,^[28] in the Seven Treasuries (mdzod bdun), the "Trilogy of Natural Freedom" (rang grol skor gsum), and the Trilogy of Natural Ease (ngal gso skor gsum).^[3][24] Longchenpa refined the terminology and interpretations, and integrated the Seminal Heart teachings with broader Mahayana literature.^[24]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dzogchen

 

 

[Apech]

@Jeff

 

Sure the transmission of dharma to Tibet came from this same period in India - i.e. 500 - 1200 AD in various phases - and as it was from both the Mahasiddhas and the monastic tradition (e.g. Atisha) that's why they ended up with the 'mix' that they have.

[C T]

Not sure how relevant this is, but apparently only the Chinese meticulously dated religious texts. 

According to a source, the earliest literary usage of Vajrayana mantra (in this instance the Sarvatathāgata-tattvasaṃgraha ) was discovered in China around 723CE. It was an Indian manuscript found that was translated into Chinese by Vajrabodhi, an Indian Buddhist monk and master of Buddhist esoteric teachings during the Tang Dynasty. 

 

 

Significance of the Tattvasamgraha Tantra --

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tattvasaṃgraha_Tantra

 

 

 

[C T]

Apech - this might interest you. Not directly related to the topic, but at some point perhaps the info on this site might become useful. 

 

http://public.dha.ac.cn/content.aspx?id=598699867894

[Creation]

1 hour ago, C T said:

Not sure how relevant this is, but apparently only the Chinese meticulously dated religious texts. 

According to a source, the earliest literary usage of Vajrayana mantra (in this instance the Sarvatathāgata-tattvasaṃgraha ) was discovered in China around 723CE. It was an Indian manuscript found that was translated into Chinese by Vajrabodhi, an Indian Buddhist monk and master of Buddhist esoteric teachings during the Tang Dynasty. 

 

 

Significance of the Tattvasamgraha Tantra --

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tattvasaṃgraha_Tantra

Very good.  I read somewhere, but can't dig up the reference, about a definitive dating of the period Tantra becoming popular in Indian Buddhism coming from a mention of "some (few) practicing the way of mantra" in one of Santideva's works, and the Chinese pilgrim Yijing reporting that the way of mantras had become very popular in India.  So that puts the explosion of tantra's popularity in mid 7th century.

 

Another interesting thing I read (where in the world was I reading this stuff?) is a scholar of Chinese Buddhism discovered the earliest known mention something resembling deity yoga in a Buddhist context in an apocryphal Chinese Buddhist sutra that actually plagiarized a Daoist scripture (n.b. both groups appropriated and reworked each other's scriptures).  The Daoist scripture instructed to visualize one's self as a Celestial Official when performing an exorcism rite, and the Buddhist copy changed this to visualizing one's self as a Buddha with the 32 major and minor marks.

 

At any rate, one key to making sense of Buddhist tantra is that it is structured like a system of ceremonial magic, in which visualizing one's self as a deity is a way to attain magical power.  This is not just practiced in Hindu and Buddhist tantra, but also in Western ceremonial magic and Daoist magic.  That Buddhahood is the supreme power ("Siddhi") is the foundation for Tantra being an independent vehicle of Mahayana.

 

 

Now, as Weinberger's thesis on Yoga Tantra and the Tattvasamgraha Tantra explains, Tantra as an independent vehicle of Mahayana separate from the Paramitayana did not exist prior to the central Yoga Tantra, the Sarvatathagata-Tattvasamgraha.  This text introduced empowerment and deity yoga as a complete path to Buddhahood, complete with a tantric reworking of Shakyamuni's enlightenment under the Bodhi tree (which I mention in a previous post), and a five-family mandala of peaceful deities and a five-family mandala of wrathful deities (prefiguring the Guhyagarbha/Shitro mandala).  These wrathful deities are not Herukas (which presumably were a import from Shaivism) but "Wisdom Kings".

 

As for tantras "lower" than Yoga Tantra, texts that were later classified as Kriya tantra were precisely those late Mahayana sutras that were manuals for magical rituals invoking Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and the only Carya tantra is the Mahavairocana tantra, which was like a bridge between these sutras and the full fledged "Vajrayana" of the Tattvasamgraha Tantra.

 

Now, a Chinese transmission of Yoga tantra has the Tattvasamgraha Tantra as the central tantra of a cycle of tantras which include the Guhyasamaja, which is the first tantra to introduce sexual ritual and the concept of the completion stage practiced after the generation stage (which was initially synonymous with the sexual ritual, i.e. no tummo yet).  Note the deity Guhyasamaja is not a Heruka.  So the Guhaysamaja is the bridge between Yoga tantra and the Mahayoga and Yogini tantras, which center around Herukas and sexual/energetic practices in the completion stage.  These are the tantras that were definitely influenced by Shaivism, but there is not any evidence that I have seen that the Tattvasamgraha (and maybe the Guhyasamaja) was anything other than an internal development of Mahayana.

 

And in the spirit of sharing thought provoking articles:

"Proto-Tantric Elements in The Gandavyuha sutra"

http://enlight.lib.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-MAG/mag204407.pdf?origin=publication_detail

 

 

Edited February 3, 2018 by Creation

[Apech]

A light touch but surprisingly clear presentation I found on youtube:

 

 

[C T]

I wandered a bit into the ether forest and came back with this.. quite informative too. 

 

A COMPARISON OF SHAIVA AND BUDDHIST TANTRA 

 

http://www.sutrajournal.com/the-tantric-age-a-comparison-of-shaiva-and-buddhist-tantra-by-christopher-wallis