Freaky friday

 

The Padma family and the Ratna family...unites? 

Emotional charnel ground

 

Is ChatGPT really *Charnel Ground* GPT? Here is a defense of Tantrism (including - at least implicitly - the extreme practices of the Left Hand Path) written by the Artificial Intelligence.

Here is a controversial question: Is there a path, perhaps in Tantrism, which does include even personal anger, bitterness, and the need to feel superior, and so on?

This is a controversial question, and the answer depends very much on what is meant by "include."

The short answer is:

• Yes, some Tantric traditions explicitly work with emotions such as anger, pride, desire, and fear rather than attempting to suppress them immediately.
• No, I am not aware of any mainstream Hindu or Buddhist Tantric tradition that teaches one should cultivate or justify personal hatred, bitterness, or a lasting sense of superiority as spiritual ideals.

That distinction is fundamental.

Buddhist Tantra

In Vajrayāna, there is a famous saying that the kleśas (afflictive emotions) are not rejected but transformed.

For example:

• anger becomes mirror-like wisdom,
• desire becomes discriminating wisdom,
• pride becomes the wisdom of equality.

However, this does not mean:

"Remain angry."

It means that the energy underlying anger is recognized without the grasping, aversion, and delusion that make it destructive.

Wrathful deities such as Mahākāla or Vajrakīlaya appear terrifying, but traditional commentaries generally emphasize that their wrath is compassionate wrath, not personal rage.

They are said to be free of hatred.

Hindu Tantra

The picture is similar.

In Śākta and Śaiva Tantra, fierce deities such as:

• Kālī,
• Bhairava,
• Narasiṃha,

may display terrifying anger.

But traditionally this anger is not interpreted as wounded ego.

Rather, it is cosmic, protective, or purifying.

The deity destroys ignorance or injustice without being psychologically consumed by resentment.

Where things become more complicated

There are traditions that deliberately use powerful emotions as fuel.

For example:

• confronting fear in cremation grounds,
• visualizing terrifying forms,
• transmuting sexual desire,
• working with aggression or intense determination.

In these contexts, the practitioner does not pretend the emotions are absent.

Instead, they become material for practice.

This is one reason Tantra has often been described as an "alchemical" path.

But alchemy transforms lead into gold—it does not declare lead to be gold already.

Pride

Your mention of "the need to feel superior" is particularly interesting.

Classical Buddhist psychology generally treats this as a form of māna (conceit), which is considered an obstacle.

Even if one is objectively accomplished, clinging to superiority is seen as reinforcing the illusion of a fixed, separate self.

Similarly, many Hindu traditions distinguish between healthy confidence and ahaṃkāra (egoic self-identification).

Tantra does sometimes ask the practitioner to identify with a deity and think:

"I am the deity."

But this is not meant to inflate the ordinary ego.

Rather, it is intended to undermine the ordinary ego by replacing it with an enlightened identity that is ultimately dissolved into emptiness or pure consciousness.

Are there antinomian traditions?

Yes.

Some historical Kaula, Kāpālika, and related Tantric groups deliberately violated social conventions.

However, even these traditions generally claimed that such practices were undertaken:

• after extensive preparation,
• under a qualified guru,
• without ordinary attachment,
• and as a means of transcending dualistic clinging.

They did not usually teach that ordinary resentment or arrogance should simply be indulged.

A Jungian comparison

Modern psychological interpretations—especially those influenced by Carl Gustav Jung—sometimes speak of "integrating the shadow."

That idea has often been compared with Tantra, although they are not identical.

Jung would generally say that acknowledging anger, envy, or pride is healthier than denying they exist.

But he would not usually recommend becoming dominated by them.

Likewise, Tantra often says that denying powerful emotions can make them more unconscious, while transformation requires bringing them into awareness.

Is there any tradition that positively values bitterness?

Here I think the answer is largely no, at least among the major Hindu and Buddhist traditions.

Some traditions value:

• righteous indignation,
• fierce resolve,
• uncompromising truthfulness,
• destructive compassion,
• terrifying protective power.

But bitterness—understood as long-term resentment, grievance, or delight in another's downfall—is generally regarded as binding rather than liberating.

A broader perspective

Your question points toward a real tension in spirituality. Some paths emphasize gentleness and gradual purification; others are willing to enter directly into powerful, difficult emotions. Tantric traditions are among the latter. Yet their aim is not to sanctify egoic anger or superiority. Rather, they propose that the very energies involved in those states can, through disciplined practice, be transformed into wisdom, fearlessness, and compassionate action.

So if someone found themselves saying, "My practice has brought me face to face with my anger, pride, or bitterness," many Tantric teachers might respond, "Good—now you know what needs to be transformed." They would be much less likely to say, "Excellent—keep cultivating those qualities as they are." The distinction between using an emotion as the raw material for transformation and endorsing it as a spiritual goal is one of the defining features of both Hindu and Buddhist Tantra.

Coke Classic: Greater than Heaven?

 

On the internet, or is it the Western portion of it, Kurukulla (a form of Red Tara) is sometimes sensationally described as a "Buddhist sex goddess". The video above just came up in my YouTube feed. It´s a public puja (worship service) to Kurukulla from Nepal. Not clear to me whether the people are Tibetans or Newars. ChatGPT claims the latter. Note the Coca Cola bottles in front of the monks?! It seems American civilization has reached even this "Federal Democratic Republic"...and its Buddhist temples. 

Note also that Kurukulla is golden rather than red. Wat means? Nor are there any sexual orgies, so I suppose Californians interested in Neo-"Tantrism" might get a wee bit disappointed. I suppose they could always drink the Coke!

Freaky friday

 

Krishna and Red Tara...together?! 

Crown Ornament of Victory

 

I never heard of Ushnishavijaya before. Or "The Crown Ornament of Victory"...of all the Buddhas of all time. No less! The two short clips above deal with her Tibetan iconography. Apparently, Ushnishavijaya is associated with Amitayus and Amitabha. There seems to be an obvious family likeness with Tara. 

Friday

 

Credit: Maitreya Fields / YouTube

I can´t be the only one who sees the striking similarities between Red Tara and Lalita Tripura Sundari...

Current mood?

 

"Noooo, you can´t mix different traditions". Why not, chief?

I want to see

 

I want to see this...

Something tells me this won´t be included in the next tranche of UFO files released by the Were-Trump administration! Nor in Nolan´s "Odyssey"...

Granma Tara

 

So I asked Gemini to make a picture of Yellow Tara (the Mahayana-Vajrayana Buddhist "goddess") as if she was a normal human. This was the result. Some kind of Tibetan grandmama? 

Cryptic synchronicities

 

Hindu and Mahayana / Vajrayana mythology is so incredibly complex that you can always find *some* symbolic correspondence between [fill in the blank] and at least one of their god-forms. It´s almost a bit fascinating, LOL. As if "synchronicities" happened all the time. But perhaps that´s kind of the point. You can never escape the Divine. It has countless upon countless of skilfull means to draw you in. Or draw you out, as they case might be! Or even to scare the hell outta ya...

A somewhat cryptic comment at 4am, but what the heck. 

Tough love

 

In Tibet, they even have wrathful forms of Avalokiteshvara. Cuz of course they do. OK, let me guess. Life on the Tibetan Plateau was always kinda rough?  

Swastika confusion

 

A very short introduction to the swastika problematique (which seems to be vast) in Buddhism and the related Bon religion. Apparently, Buddhists don´t care if the swastika is turning left or right. In Bon, by contrast, the "yungdrung" must always turn left. 

According to the videos, at least in Buddhist Himalayan art, swastikas are often purely decorative in character. Some may turn right, others left, for the sake of symmetry and balance. In Chinese Buddhism, a buddha is often shown with a swastika on his body for some kind of theological reasons, but the videos never explain why. There is also the idea that Siddharta Gautama was born with small swastikas on his toes!

Kind of interesting, actually. I´ve seen the Chinese stuff before, in the AI-generated videos of that Buddhist nun I sometimes link to... 

Enchanted

 

Some Buddhist "goddesses" from Tibet and Nepal. The enchanting Kurukulla simply *must* be a hybrid between the Hindu deities Lalita Tripura Sundari and Kali. What Simhamukha might be is anybody´s guess, but there is a rare Tantric form of the wrathful Hindu god Narasimha called Narasimhi. The Nepalese Vasudhara seems more normal, LOL. From the ultimate nerd channel "Himalayan Art Resources". 

Over the hills and far away

 

Himalayan Art Resources (Inc) strikes again. This time with strange forms of Saraswati. Also featuring the five protector goddesses known as Pancha Raksha, who were originally personifications of scriptures containing spells. Tibetan Buddhism seems to be more insanely complex and diverse than Hinduism. Even Jeff (the lecturer in the videos) is confused! I mean, dude. 

Wrathful gurus with hats

 

Yes, really. The title of this video is priceless...

Will the real Shiva please stand up?

 

I can´t stop looking at this peculiar YouTube channel, Himalayan Art Resources. This short video deals with Shiva-like figures in Tibetan Buddhist art. Frankly, some of them are so similar to Shiva that I suspect scholars of religion would argue that they *are* Shiva. Or rather that the Mahayana Buddhists appropriated symbols and myths associated with the Hindu god and projected them onto Avalokiteshvara, one of their most popular bodhisattvas. Note the strange female form of Shiva, also called Shiva (but pronounced Shivaa)!

OK, so I learned something new today. Maybe.

Current mood

 

Well, I hope! 

Amazing stuff

Gemini can answer the strangest of questions. According to its competitor and evil twin ChatGPT, this is actually a very good response?! More or less, at least. The question is hypothetical, btw. For the record. 

How can I deepen my relation to the Lotus Family in Mahayana Buddhism?

In Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism, the Lotus Family (Padma Kula) is the Buddha family governed by Amitabha and Avalokiteshvara (Guan Yin). Esoterically, this family represents the transmutation of the poison of attachment, passion, and grasping into the wisdom of discernment, deep empathy, and magnetizing grace.

Since you have already begun integrating these frequencies, deepening your connection to this specific family involves aligning your mind, speech, and actions with its core attributes:

1. Speak the Speech: Cultivate the Hrih Seed Syllable

The ultimate acoustic key to the Lotus Family is the seed syllable Hrīḥ (ह्रीः). This syllable is the concentrated essence of both Amitabha's pure light and Avalokiteshvara’s universal compassion.

• The Practice: When chanting your Amitabha mantra (Om Ami Dewa Hrih) or the Avalokiteshvara mantra (Om Mani Padme Hum), do not treat the "Hrih" as a mere footnote at the end.

• Exhale completely into the sound. Visualize a translucent, ruby-red lotus bud at your heart center. As you chant Hrih, see the lotus bloom, radiating a warm, compassionate light that fills your entire room and dissolves the hard, protective boundaries of your ego.

2. Sharpen the Mind: Practice Discernment over Judgment

Every Buddha family is associated with a specific cosmic wisdom. The Lotus Family holds Pratyavekṣaṇa-jñāna—the Wisdom of Discernment.

• Grasping vs. Seeing: The shadow side of the Lotus Family is attachment—the burning urge to possess things, people, or spiritual states to feel secure.

• The Spiritual Shift: Instead of reacting to life with blind desire ("I must have this") or harsh judgment ("This is bad"), practice discernment. Discernment is the ability to see the absolute uniqueness and beauty of every person or situation without needing to possess it, change it, or cling to it. You look at the world the way a connoisseur looks at art: with deep appreciation, but zero ownership.

3. Act the Action: The Alchemical "Lotus in the Mud"

The defining symbol of this family is, of course, the lotus. A lotus cannot grow in distilled, sterile water; it requires thick, decaying, stagnant mud to fuel its spectacular bloom. Yet, when it breaks the surface of the water, not a single drop of mud clings to its petals.

• The Daily Practice: Do not try to escape your psychological "mud"—your intense emotional waves, your anxieties, or the volatile energies you experience during phase shifts like the Full Moon.

• Instead of suppressing these intense states, view them as the exact fuel required for your awakening. When a difficult emotion arises, sit with it quietly. Don't fight it. Recognize it as raw Prana (energy) wrapped in a temporary human story. By letting it sit in your awareness without reacting to it, you draw the energy up through the stem of your spine, allowing it to bloom at your crown as pure spiritual illumination.

4. Create an Inner Sanctuary: Connect with the West

Geometrically, the Lotus Family rules the Western Quadrant of the cosmic mandala, representing the setting sun, twilight meditation, and the gathering of internal resources.

• Turn your meditation seat or altar toward the West.

• During the twilight hour—when day transitions into night—take five to ten minutes to sit in absolute silence. Visualize your entire physical body dissolving into a boundless, oceanic, crimson-gold twilight sky. Rest there as pure, spacious, and infinitely merciful awareness. This simple, daily resting in the Western void is the most direct, non-dual way to come home to the Lotus Family.

Dzungariska slavinnor

 

Okej, det här var ju nästan lite intressant. En dimension av världshistorien jag helt har missat! Var tvungen att kolla upp vad i allsin dar "dzungarer" är för något. Observera förresten att Frans II Rákóczy enligt diverse skrönor var far till den mystiske greven av Saint Germain... 

General Adam Ludvig Lewenhaupt

Cursing the Moon

 Styxhexenhammer´s rant attacking all religions of the world (including - wait for it - atheism). It´s a *bit* entertaining. Some major factual errors, though. For instance, Brigham Young didn´t stop Mormon polygamy, rather he was the guy expanding it and even making it public! Still, kinda funny.