Notes on New Religious Movements in 6th Century BCE in India | REL 2027, Study notes of World Religions

Download Notes on New Religious Movements in 6th Century BCE in India | REL 2027 and more Study notes World Religions in PDF only on Docsity! EXAM #2 NOTES  New Religious Movements in 6th century BCE in India (especially Sikhism). o Early Vedic Era: tribes. o Middle Vedic Era: confederacies. o Late Vedic Era: great confederacies, aka Mahajanapadas (?).  From small agriculture communities to larger estates with more wealth & power. They built temples, etc.  Exchange of ideas within religion; reflect more on tradition.  Vedic tradition becomes philosophical.  Forest Teachers & Seekers. o Upanishadic rishis (seers).  Kshatriyas probably had less influence & power in early Vedic era, which was dominated by Brahmans. Brahman sons began to form their own philosophical religious groups.  Looking for spiritual guidance/teachers.  Rishis translated the Upanishads. o Carvakins - materialist school.  Did not embrace supernatural religious spirituality.  Atheist-ish. There was nothing guiding people.  These views eventually died out; they weren't prominent.  Small, significant group.  Not popular enough to attract many people to their views. o Ajivikas - fatalists.  Opposite of Carvakins; they believed in predetermination.  Karma was set.  Not popular enough & died out. o Gautama Buddha & followers--Buddhism.  No way of knowing whether a sect will take hold or not. It depends on the patronage.  In competition with other small sects, yet his group was preeminent. o Jains & Jainism.  Could have becomes a rival sect to Buddhism.  In India.  Numbers were small, but their influence was big.  Gandhi was influenced by Jainism. JAINISM o Northeast India (600 BCE). o Contemporaries.  Vardhamana Mahavira (599-527 BCE) - Jainism.  Gautama Buddha (664-486 BCE) - Buddhism.  Both are from the warrior caste.  Both advocated austerity & asceticism.  Both established communities in Maghada (Bihar). o Mahavira.  Most recent succession of 24 Tirthankaras ("path-makers").  Before him, other non-historical figures taught it too.  1st historical Jain figure.  Left privileged life at the age of 30 because he was discontent with his life of comfort.  Abandoned all possessions, including clothes. (Like St. Francis.)  Pulled out his hair by the roots. Very radical.  Attained moksha at age 42.  Practiced strict ahimsa (non-injury, non-violence).  Gathered followers. o 2 Branches of Jain Community, which are still in place today.  Renouncers.  Celibate; not practicing agriculture; get money from donations from laypeople.  Monks & Nuns. o Very strict; wear masks to not breathe in micro-organisms; sweep their path before they step. o 5 Great Vows: abstaining from violence, dishonesty, theft, sexual intercourse, personal possessions. o Culminating in sallekhana (self-starvation) & eventually kill themselves. o All vows are taken to the ultimate level.  Ex. Theft. You abstain from taking anything that has not been given to you to avoid a karmic stain. o Karma is the crud that imprisons you in the world & the goal is to rid yourself of it to become lighter. Moksha involves leaving the earth & spending eternity suspended in the universe.  Laypeople.  Offers a basis for living life, the ultimate reward of moksha, & acquiring religious & social prestige. Ex. Wealthy give money to temples & their name is known. Women can do this too.  Vows: abstaining from eating meat, drinking alcohol, falsehood, stealing, violence. o Root vegetables "kill" the plant. Believe life is in any kind of seed, so they avoid foods with lots of seeds too. o Alcohol requires micro-organisms to ferment. o Karma creates merit.  Laypeople will get a better deal in the next life. The goal is to practice as monks & nuns but some people aren't there yet.  Buddhists accept meat because of their compassion; Jains won't accept meat because they are concerned with their own karma.  Observe:  Distribution of wealth to poor & monks & nuns.  Fasts.  Pujas - ritual devotion toward Tirthankaras.  Avoid agriculture. Universally, Jains became merchants (Vaisya--wealthy--caste in Hinduism); diamond, traveling merchants. Their temples are lavish. o Division in Jain community.  First major patron: Mauryan Emperor Chandragupta (321-297 BCE).  At this time, there was a major schism into 2 communities.  Svetambaras - "white-clad". o North India & Gujarat.  Digambaras - "sky-clad", aka naked. o South India, primarily. But they do travel. SIKHISM o North & West India. o Developed in Punjab, an area of defense against invasion & militancy. o Founder, Guru Nanak (1469-1539 CE) - 15th-16th centuries.  Makes Sikhism the youngest major religion in the world.  From a merchant family in predominately Muslim Punjab during the Mogul dynasty.  Influenced by both Hindu bhakti & Muslim Sufism (mystic), which is in South Asia.  Sant tradition - bhakti tradition; poet Kabir was a member.  Epiphany at age 29.  Disappeared for 3 days.  Reemerged: "There is but One God...That True Lord is True, Forever True, & True is His Name (Sat Nam - God's name)."  How could an intelligent person take pleasure amid disaster? Ponders the miseries of birth, sickness, old age, death. He becomes deluded & doesn't see the connections that everyone will die & death is a part of the process. He can avoid it & despise it, but it will still happen.  Suddhodana hears of his son's despair & organizes a party, inviting friends & courtesans (ladies of the court & evening), who are well-educated in the arts themselves. Siddhartha does not enjoy the party. He becomes disgusted by court life because it is so diffused by pleasure. He is disgusted by the very drunk courtesans & thinks he sees the true nature of women.  Siddhartha determines he will leave the palace & renounce his kingdom to seek the truth. He orders Channa to bring his horse & heads through the palace in the middle of the night. He does kiss his wife & son before he leaves.  Four Sights: old age, sickness, death, ? o Asceticism & Enlightenment.  The countryside doesn't offer Siddhartha any solace. Agriculture involved plows tearing up the ground & injuring & killing creatures. He stops by a stream to bathe & sees the last sight: a renunciate/recluse/mendicant wandering with a begging bowl. The prince is impressed & intrigued & decides to adopt a homeless life "to win salvation...liberation from this world is what I wish." He takes his meal by the stream, takes off his helmet, & cuts off his kshatriya hair with his sword. He turns to Channa & tells him to take the horse back to the kingdom & not to let them search for him. Channa cries & Sidd tells him not to.  Back at the palace, all are grieving over the loss of the prince. Suddhodana sends men to find Siddhartha, but they are unsuccessful.  For 6 years, Siddhartha roams northeast India & spends time with 2 teachers, who teach him philosophy & meditation. But neither had the key to what he sought & he remains unsatisfied.  Group of ascetics in the town of Sarnath (near Benares). They practiced severe austerities: self-mortification & extreme fasting. o Dharmachakrapravartana Sutra/Sutta.  Means "turning of the wheel of dharma."  Dharma = duty, truth, teaching & truth of the Buddha.  Siddhartha leaves the ascetics & goes to Bodh Gaya, where he sees a Bodhi tree (tree of enlightenment) & sits beneath it until he discovers the truth. He will not cease meditating until he finds what he seeks. A young girl, Nandabala, skips through the woods & sees him. She is frightened because he is so skinny & thinks he is a tree spirit. She leaves him a pail of yogurt as an offering. Sidd eats it & has a realization about asceticism.  He meditates. Sees the God of love & death, Mara sends his 3 daughters, Lust, Discontent, & Craving, to tempt him. Sidd remains unperturbed & the daughters disperse.  He meditates some more & vows not to get up. On his first watch, he is able to recall all his previous births. On his second watch, he sees the heavenly eye & understands reality. On his third watch, he understand the life cycle & nature of karma. On his fourth watch, he achieves enlightenment & supreme consciousness (nirvana). He wins victory over the Truths & becomes The Buddha, "the one who woke up."  Buddha = physician, healer. o Nirvana.  The Buddha gets up & goes back to Sarnath, to the ascetics. They know something has happened to him because his charisma is magnetic.  Buddha delivers his first sermon, the Dharmachakrapravartana Sutra, which speaks of the 4 Noble Truths.  The 4 Noble Truths. o Core philosophy of Buddhism; attributed to Buddha. o Within the text, the Dharmachakrapravartana Sutra, is the first real major Buddha teaching.  Sutra - book - genre of religious literature in India consisting of short aphorisms strung together in a "thread" which makes them easier to memorize.  All teachings of the Buddha were transmitted orally.  Pali Canon - early literature written in the early dialect of Sanskrit the Buddha spoke, Pali.  Authentic, organized, accepted teachings. o Dukkha - suffering, painfulness, impermanence, unsatisfactoriness.  Interested in alleviating suffering everywhere. To do that, you must name it, call it out first.  3 kinds of suffering.  Ordinary - illness, death, losing a job, natural disasters.  Suffering Produced by Change - things are always changing; the nature of life is change, yet humans don't accept change well. Instead, they project stability & permanence on the world; they expect things to last forever & be the same. Yet, death doesn't change.  Suffering of Conditioned States - toward explanation of anatman/anatta ("no self"). o Major disagreement with Hindu philosophies. o Buddha says there is no atman. It's all change, all impermanent. Everything you call yourself is a construction, an assemblage of parts. There is no oneness & to call it out at all is to distort it. o Instead of self, there is the 5 Skandas/Khandas (aggregates), which are energies, phenomena, principles in the life of a being & interacting which gives the impression of singularity/singular person.  Matter.  Sensations.  Perceptions.  Mental Formations.  Consciousness.  Everything is dependent on these interactions.  There is misperception of continuity, but in reality, there is no ultimate continuity. There is no soul, self, or permanence, yet the goal of Buddhism is still the same: liberation from the wheel of samsara.  If there is no self, then what transmigrates? There is continuity in the way that you light a candle & use it's energy/heat to light another candle. Is the flame same or different? It's both. There is no substance in either, only energetic activity that happens. Karma is like that: conditioning is transferred from 1 lifetime to another. o Samudaya - "arising of dukkha"  Dukkha is not unconditioned or uncaused. There is no first cause or original sin; dukkha is in the fabric of nature itself.  Trishna/tanha = desire, thirst, craving.  Pulls us away from reality.  Desire is a conditioned response to phenomena, moment to moment reactions. We use it to protect the shell of self-hood, which is an illusion. We must crack it & be free to experience the world as it really is & be free from suffering.  Levels of desire: o For sense pleasures. o For existence & becoming. We want to live. o For non-existence.  3 poisons - represented by rooster, snake, & pig. Desires takes these characteristic forms. o Attraction/Greed (rooster). o Aversion/Hatred (snake). o Confusion/Ignorance (pig). o All suffering comes from a primordial ignorance that we're governed by the first 2 poisons, that it's all about the mind & all happiness comes from the mind.  Wheel of Life (samsara). o At the center is the 3 poisons. o Yama = death. o 6 Realms of Existence: gods (beings with a long life & good karma, but still on the wheel), demi-gods, humans (best birth; mixed karma), animals (lower birth; more suffering & less understanding), hungry ghosts (big stomachs & small mouths), hell (demons).  None are permanent.  Used metaphorically to talk about our lives. o Nirodha - "cessation of dukkha."  Nirvana/Nibbana - unconditioned, beyond all conditioning, including language; unlimited.  "annihilation of illusion of false idea of self" - get rid of all illusions.  "absolute freedom"  You cannot achieve it by describing it. You cannot know it from where you are, you must become it. o How could a frog describe dry land to a tadpole? o The Noble Eightfold Path - the Middle Path between pleasure & austerity.  Marga = path.  Supported by:  Karuna - compassion.  Panna - wisdom.  3 divisions:  Ethical conduct - sila. (good morals) o Right Speech - beneficial, honest, doesn't hurt, not frivolous, positive, supportive of compassion. o Right Action - not killing, lying, or stealing. o Right Livelihood - right way of making a living, must not hurt animals or humans.  Mental discipline - samadhi. (bad actions start in the mind.) o Right Effort - take control, do something about the wrong. o Right Mindfulness - speech, mind, body, breath; know you are breathing & notice everything about life. o Right Concentration - dhyana.  Wisdom - panna. o Right Thought - compassionate, beneficial, creative, constructive. o Right Understanding - of the 4 Noble Truths & of the world the way it is.  Indian Buddhism. o 3 Jewels/Triple Refuge - how to declare yourself a Buddhist.  Buddham saranam gacchami: I go for refuge to the Buddha.  Dhammam saranam gacchami: I go for refuge to the Dharma.  Basis of truth will always apply.  Sangham sarana gacchami: I go for refuge to the sangha.  Sangha = community; all practitioners or monks/nuns (monastics).  Necessary to have 2 wings of the sangha. o Monastics - monks/nuns.  One of the earliest monastic religion in the world.  Abandon family life & adopt the life of living together & being celibate.  Earliest, meant wandering together; no monasteries. o Lay - material support of monastics. o The Pali Canon - early text. o Early Resources for Community (in Pali Canon).  King Bimbisara of Magadha - gave land to monastic community.  Ambapali, a woman, lived in the city of Vaisali. She gave land for the Bamboo Grove Park in the city of Rajagriha. o Schism:  Sthaviravadins, aka Theravadins, "School of the Elders."  Term used in 4th century CE.  Mahasanghikas, aka Mahayana, "Members of the Great Sangha."  Mahayana = Great Vehicle. o Even during the Buddha's life, there were many sects of Buddhism within the same monastery. o Points of Disagreement.  EARLY THERAVADA (conservatives)  EARLY MAHAYANA (liberals)  Buddha's attainment of enlightenment is open to all.  Buddha is a man but with supernormal abilities.   Buddha trajectory begins in previous lifetimes.   Difference between achieving enlightenment & Buddhahood.  Strictest interpretation of rules of monastic conduct.  Somewhat looser interpretation of rules of monastic conduct.  THERAVADA BUDDHISM. o Origins attributed to Asoka. o In south & southeast Asia. Spreads south through South India to Sri Lanka (Ceylon). o Asoka sent his son & daughter (monk & nun), Mahinda & Sanghamitta, to Sri Lanka, an island nation off the tip of India.  Officially a Buddhist country.  Son & daughter meet with King Devanampiya, who converts to Buddhism.  Builds first great monastery, Mahavihara, in the city of Anuradhapura.  History of Chakravartin kings.  The Temple of the Tooth in Kandy.  A nun brought a tooth of the Buddha to Sri Lanka & it is housed there today. It is a pilgrimage site.  Order of nuns dies out in 11th century CE & hasn't been officially reestablished. o Intellectual figures.  Bhadantacariya Buddhaghosa (5th century CE).  From a Brahman family in North India.  Interested in religious philosophy early in life. He was a Hindu & debated as a Hindu apologist, but he converted to Buddhism by the superiority of Abhidharma and their intense philosophical & metaphysical discussions.  Moved to Sri Lanka to study with Theravada monks because it was the center of Buddhist learning at the time.  Wrote Visuddhimagga (Path of Purity) & commentaries on texts of the Pali Canon. o Most important Theravada text today, outside of the Pali Canon. o Countries.  150 million people are Theravadins today.  Theravada = Sinhalese (from Sri Lanka); first established in SL.  Sri Lanka is the first Buddhist & Theravada Buddhist country in the world.  Texts spread throughout southeast Asia: Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia. Not exclusively established in southeast Asia until 12th century CE. o Rituals & Festivals.  Buddha Sasana ("Buddha context") - pursue enlightenment in their individual capacities; idea that everyone is on the path at different stages.  Uposatha - ritual of confession within the monastery; held on the new & full moons; monks gather & have public confession; open monastery to laypeople & to hear teachings.  Festivals.  New Year - in April; fresh beginnings, honor elders & dead.  Vesakha - in May; commemorates birth, enlightenment, & death of the Buddha.  Vassa ("rain") - beginning of the rainy season; a turning inward to give up certain things & fast.  Kathina - end of the rainy season; robes & offerings made to monks by the laity; Festival of Lights; pilgrimages. o Effects of British Colonialism on Sri Lankan Buddhism.  Protestant missionaries are given free reign by the colonial government in Sri Lanka & India.  Supplant & close Buddhist schools run by monks & replace them with Christian schools.  Confine monks to clerical role.  Secularism is a Western idea. It doesn't work in the East because religion is part of the way of life.  Resistance & Buddhist revival in 19th century to separation of church & state.  Supported by Western Theosophical Society. o Cultists that drew on Asian ideas & were especially interested in Buddhism.  Anagarika Dharmapala - male figure in the revival; helped to organize the ideas by the Theosophical Society. o Reformer who made Vipassana meditation available to the middle (lay) classes. o Makes Buddhism available to laypeople. o Pali Canon was not read readily by laypeople before this time. o Rethought practices for non-monastics to practice, such as vipassana meditation.  Pali Text Society (British) - at Oxford; can become a member today; took on a translation project of the translating the Pali Canon into English.  MAHAYANA BUDDHISM - "The Great Vehicle" (from 100 BCE). o A reform movement that becomes a major world tradition. It begins to coalesce ritually, spiritually, & artistically into a major religion, the form most people are familiar with. o Geographical range: primarily in east Asia - Nepal, China (greatest flourishing), Korea, Japan, Vietnam. o Unique elements.  Many Buddhas.  A suggestion that since the Buddha's accomplishments aren't unique to him, there are other Buddhas.  Elevation into cosmic realms.  Amitabha Buddha - Buddha of Infinite Life & Infinite Light. o Buddha of Western Paradise or Pure Land Buddhism, a sect of Buddhism he is a figure in. o Several sutras refer to him. Became a Buddha because in his former life, he was a bodhisattva (buddha in the making) named Dharmakara. He made a vow that if he attained Buddhahood, he will never neglect those who call upon him with a Pure mind at the time of death & will bring them to the Pure Land. He claimed there was only one more lifetime for him before he became a Buddha.  Since he became a Buddha, his vow is pure & true.  Emphasizes faith in the vow more than other schools/sects.  "stream winners" - those born in the Pure Land (paradise).  Power of the vow - another power you can rely on & give yourself to. o Basis for Pure Land Buddhism, a sect of Mahayana. o Would suggest Theravada Buddhism as implausible.  The Bodhisattva - an enlightened being.  The most important element of Mahayana Buddhism.  Theravada Enlightened Beings: the Buddha, arahants.  Mahayana Enlightened Beings: Buddhas, bodhisattvas, pratyekabuddhas, arahants. o Bodhisattvas are people who have attained enlightenment & make a vow that they will not become a Buddha but will be reborn within samsara to help all beings attain enlightenment.  Refined consciousness.  A shred of dualism, "I will help them," is refined that they begin to encompass all living things until they become Buddhas and reach a state of perfect compassion & expanded consciousness. o Pratyekabuddhas - people who attain enlightenment on their own without Buddhist teachings. o Arahants - enlightened, but there is something unfulfilled; not an expansion of consciousness.  Bodhisattva vow. o Career starts here. o Most famous bodhisattvas/a pantheon:  Avalokitesvara (Mercy & Compassion) - "the Lord looking down."  Most important figure in Mahayana Buddhism next to the Buddha himself.  Depicted with multiple arms & sometimes eyes.  Starts in India.  In China, merges with a local female goddess, Guan Lin.  In Japan, Guan Lin is known as Kannon.  In Tibet, he's male again, Chenrezig.  Manjusri (Transcendent Wisdom).  A figure in Zen Buddhism & meditation.  There are 10 stages, or bhumis ("platforms, grounds") on the bodhisattva path to Buddhahood.  Mahayana Sutras - written until 650 CE.  In Sanskrit, not Pali.  "Expanded Discourses" - not necessarily verbally communicated but they are in the mind-stream of bodhisattvas, not from the Buddha himself. o Accepted as canonical by Mahayanas, but not by Theravadins.  Message that extolls Mahayana over Hinayana ("small vehicle" - among these sects is Theravada). Hinayana sects are criticized by Mahayanas for being lacking & not as highly developed with their practices & interpretations. o Lotus Sutra.  One of the most important parables is the burning house. If a house is on fire & children are inside & won't come out, you should appeal to them & lure them out with toys. You should appeal to them on their level & use devices to engage their understand.  As a Mahayana people, you must do things to engage people. o Vimalakirti Nirdesa Sutra.  Vimalakirti - a layperson who attained the highest realization.  It gives the idea that laypeople can attain enlightenment too.  Human birth is the most beneficial to achieve enlightenment. o Prajnaparamita Sutras (Perfection of Wisdom).  Basis for philosophical elaboration in monasteries.  Extolling wisdom of the great bodhisattvas.  Bodhisattvas extoll wisdom. (mahasattvas ->Avalokitesvara & Manjusri.)  Diamond Cutter Sutra.  Pure Land is an easier path of faith. o Shan-Tao - third master.  Organized schools to recite "Nammo Amit'o-fo"  Became one of the most important evangelists for Buddhism; preached for 30 years.  Wrote liturgical manuals.  Established the structure of Pure Land worship. o By the 9th century CE, there is no need for patriarchs; it becomes a religion of the people. o Appeals to those in social & economic turmoil. o Completely established by the 9th century. There are still monastics, but they aren't necessary.  Ch'an. o From Sanskrit word, dhyana, which the Chinese misheard as "ch'an" and the Japanese heard as "zen." o Focuses on meditation. o Traces its lineage to the monk, Kasyapa, a direct disciple of the Buddha, who understood the Buddha's dharma. o 9th century CE - flourishing of the school. o Buddha Nature: all beings have the capacity for enlightenment & to become Buddhas. We must discover we are Buddhas. Meditation leads to the discovery of the Buddha Nature. o Bodhidharma - first patriarch.  Arrived in Canton in 470 CE. Eventually went north until 502 CE. Lived in a cave & meditated for 9 years staring at the wall.  LEGEND: In Canton, he met Emperor Wu of Liang & emperor asked him if lifelong temple donations earned merit. Bodhidharma told him no, it did not, & the emperor banished him. o Monk Hui-k'o - second patriarch.  Heard about Bodhidharma & wanted to be initiated by him. He went to the cave where he was & asked outside the cave. He waited through the winter. Bodhidharma told him he could not be initiated because his mind was too shallow & arrogant. So, Hui-k'o cut off his arm & gave it to Bodhidharma. Bodhidharma told him he had cleared his mind & Hui-k'o achieved enlightenment.  Satori - sudden enlightenment (Japanese).  Reifying his mind vs. arm (concept) as an abstraction. The monk realizes this, that his disturbed mind was in the way of a calm mind. o Hung-Jen (601-674 CE) - fifth patriarch.  Leader of a community of over 1,000 disciples. o Hui-Neng (638-713 CE) - sixth patriarch; student of Hung-Jen.  Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch.  Born into a poor family & one day he heard someone reciting the Diamond Cutter Sutra. Went to a monastery as a kitchen cook. The other monks made fun of him because he was illiterate. There was a contest of poetry and they were to submit poems as a demonstration of attainment on the wall. The principle heir to the throne wrote a verse in the night anonymously. Neng heard the verse & got someone to write his (winning) verse on the wall below it. His verse captured the idea of emptiness.  Dharma seal. o Schools:  Cao-Dong/Soto school - Japanese.  Principle practice is zazen (sitting meditation).  Rigorous; monks in rows in meditation hall sitting for many hours.  Lin-Ji/Rinzai.  Gong-an/koan - riddle without a prescribed meaning contemplated to allow a response to emerge; must go to Ch'an master & present a response. Ex. Does a dog have the Buddha Nature? Mu! - means no, but the tone of voice was what was important.  Zazen - sitting meditation.  Satori. o No texts; more concerned with meditation & realization.  VAJRAYANA BUDDHISM - "Diamond/Thunder Bolt Vehicle" o Hardness/blast that cuts through illusion. o Gupta Dynasty (320-600 CE).  Golden Age of Indian culture.  Religious exchange, toleration, flourishing.  Proliferation of trade & Buddhism to the south & southeast.  Increased royal patronage of Vaishnavism (worship of Vishnu) & Buddhism declined in India. o Pala Dynasty (8th-12th centuries CE) - East India.  Emergence of Vajrayana Buddhism; rooted in Tantrism.  Tantrism - esoteric tradition; hidden or elite tradition; included mystical & heterodox practices.  Medieval India.  Overlapped Hinduism & Buddhism.  Siddhas - holy men & women; "accomplished"; mystical/magical techniques; great control over the mind; not monastics or ascetical.  Mantras - bija (seed) mantras, especially single syllables put together in a phrase; usually associated with particular deities, which are contemplated & evoked for aid. o Ex. Aum Mani Padme Hum" in Tibet. ("The jewel is in the lotus.") A lotus is said to grow out of the mud of the world. o Everything worldly can be a basis for spirituality. You take it onto the path & synthesize all experiences.  Mandalas/thangkas - painted diagrams that depict lineages, lands, etc. & are used as objects of meditation.  Saktis - female energy; males are depicted with female (wisdom) in yab yums (sexual embraces) in mandalas. o Symbolic of the synthesis of "other"; sexual differences are a sense of dualism.  Ritual sexuality - not for pleasure but as a way of overcoming duality.  Anti-nomianism - things that go against the norms of society; in relation with esoteric. o Taboos are confronted as a way of confronting fears & to challenged dualism in society.  Vajrayana in Tibet. o Outgrowth of Mahayana. o Practiced in monasteries in India. Takes root in Tibet in the 7th century CE.  After, China & east Asia.  Practitioners are isolated in Tibet.  King Songtsengempo (620-649 CE) - patron of Buddhism in Tibet.  Initial introduction.  Opposition by indigenous people/religions.  Padmasambhava arrived in 779 CE. Name means "lotus-born." o Tamed local deities of Tibetan landscape. o Formal practice takes time to establish. o Lamas - monks that practice Vajrayana in Tibet.  Rimpoche - "Precious One" - title monks/Tibetan teachers are addressed as. o Texts.  Mahayana sutras.  Tibetan tantras - province of siddhas/esoteric elements; always require a teacher because written in twilight language (symbolic, metaphorical).  Hagiography - adoring biography of a holy person. Ex. Padmasambhava has a status like Sakyamuni Buddha does; he's a siddha, yogi, but never a monk. o Schools.  Buddhism was a civilizing force in Tibet.  There was no cultural resistance.  Schools related in origins to first diffusion of Buddhism in Tibet.  Nyingmapa - "Old School" o Siddhas wandered; there are monasteries for them now. o Started by Padmasambhava, an Indian mahasiddha recognized as a Buddha.  Visited Tibet in latter part of the 8th century CE.  Bon/Bon Po. o Heterodox school that wasn't always accepted as properly Buddhist. o Known for shamanistic & magical practices. o Old School too.  Schools that originated with Indian Tantric masters.  Vajrayana in Tibet is a matter of chance. Tantrism was established first in Tibet; it was a good fit with cultural shamanistic practices.  Sakyapa. o Started by Drok-mi, an Indian (992-1072 CE). o Disciple was Koncheg Gyelbo (1034-1102), who founded a monastery in 1073.  Kagyupa. o Established by Marpa (10012-1096 CE), an Indian translator & scholar. o Disciple was Milarepa (1052-1135 CE) - greatest & very popular Tibetan saint.  Schools that emphasize the importance of monastic discipline.  Kadampa. o Atisa, an Indian scholar (982-1054 CE).  Reformed Tibetan Buddhism.  Author of texts, especially concerning lojong practice - mind training.  Most complete texts of Mahayana & Tibetan Buddhism are in Tibet.  Gelukpa. o Tsong-kha-pa (1357-1419 CE) - reformer & scholar. o Absorbed Kadampa school. o Rise of the Dalai Lama.  Current within Gelukpa school (monastic tradition). o Special Practices.  Deity ritual.  Chanting & mantra recitation.  No worship of creator god, etc.  In Vajrayana, there is a method besides meditation of using deity figures (Luddhas, bodhisattvas, etc.) as objects of contemplation to overcome dualism/distance between you & the deity. You visualize yourself as the deity & break down the sense of not being enlightened. At the end, you visualize the deity dissolving into light & into you.  Lojong - mind training.