[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
of the community for spiritual guidance and ritual intervention.
The opportunity for harmony between shamanic and Buddhist
worldviews can be found in the Tibetan appropriation of the core
Buddhist teaching on cause and effect in the concept of tendrel.
The equivalent Sanskrit term, prat¥tyasamutpåda (dependently arising
115
116 Dreamworlds of Shamanism and Tibetan Buddhism
together), emphasizes that all phenomena originate dependent on their
unique causes and conditions. This principle manifests in a series of
twelve interconnecting aspects that constitute the way in which the
psychophysical person and the corresponding cosmic environment arise
and continue. As Samuel points out, the latter emphasis on cosmic
and personal interconnectedness is taken up in the Tibetan view of
tendrel as connections that are not visible on the surface. 1 The Tibetan
interpretation, then, which accentuates the arising together aspect, the
co-incidence of things, provides the opportunity for the technical
translation of a key term in Buddhist philosophy to carry the mun-
dane meaning of omen or auspice. In other words, the basic Bud-
dhist theory of dependent origination allows for an approach to the
practical use of omens that does not do violence to fundamental as-
sumptions of Buddhism. Nevertheless, there is a defense to be main-
tained against the degradation of the soteriological aim. This defense
is apparent in the superior spiritual position that Buddhism claims
against all forms of shamanism.
As Young has shown, dream narrative proliferated in Tibetan
literature far beyond the Indian Buddhist material. Dreams related to
mythic themes of conception and liberation continued to appear, but
compared with the triumphal dreams of buddhas and bodhisattvas
recorded in Mahåyåna texts, dream narratives in Tibetan biographies
and autobiographies give the impression of recording the real-life
concerns of spiritual aspirants as they struggle to distinguish truth
from deception, mundane from supramundane, in their path to libera-
tion. Given the importance of dream in the spiritual lives of Tibetan
Buddhists, the purpose of this book has been to determine the signifi-
cance of the contradictory attitudes toward dream present in Tibetan
written and oral traditions the view of dream as spiritually and
materially significant alongside the view of dream as the illusory prod-
uct of a deluded mind. The contradiction cannot be properly under-
stood or any resolution proposed without taking into account the
variety of attitudes and worldviews that inform Tibetan culture. The
tensions evident in the Tibetan approach to dream reflect two forces
that are themselves manifestations of more complex issues. The first
force is the contradictory attitudes to dream that were already present
in the Buddhism adopted by Tibet, attitudes that echo even more
ancient ambivalencies inherited from the Indian Vedic and Upani"adic
traditions. The second force is the response of the Buddhist tradition
to the indigenous shamanic presence in Tibetan culture, especially in
relation to the role of dreams and visions privileged by both shaman-
ism and Buddhism as a means of religious authentification. Conflict-
ing statements in Tibetan Buddhist literature toward dreams are,
Conclusion 117
therefore, in part the inheritance of attitudes already established in
Mahåyåna Indian Buddhist texts and, in part, a manifestation of the
inevitable tensions arising out of the interface between two systems
that rest on very different premises.
What can be gleaned of the indigenous religious worldview
and behavior of the Tibetans indicates a strong affiliation with the
beliefs and rituals of shamanism as this complex has been provision-
ally defined in chapter 1. The world and its contents, including the
subjective self, are regarded as radically imbued with spirit and
capable of intentional interaction. The idea of spirit beings that
help or hinder one another is not limited to material or quasi-material
entities such as stones or souls but can embrace any conceptualization
whatever. If it has a name, it can manifest as friend or enemy; a
disease, a song, a dream, or a thought can act, communicate, and
contribute to the web of interrelationships that constitutes the uni-
verse. In this world of persons, dreams are regarded as a particularly
effective medium for the interaction and communication between
human beings and spirit beings. The shaman s calling is often insti-
gated or confirmed by the spirits through specific dreams; as he
learns to relate consciously to his trance and dream states, so he
learns to consciously communicate with, and relate to, the spirits
and the unseen dimension of all things.
From its Indian Buddhist background, Tibetan culture inherited
an overall approach to dream that can be analyzed according to three
perspectives: the psychophysical, the philosophical, and the ritual. The
psychophysical perspective is based on the Indian understanding of
mind and how it functions relative to sensory experience. Under this
heading comes the view of dream as caused by sickness or the physi-
cal condition of the person, dreams influenced by past karma or the
moral condition of the person, and dreams related either to negative
mental states or to religious practice and liberation.
The philosophical perspective has two aspects. One is concerned [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl szkicerysunki.xlx.pl
of the community for spiritual guidance and ritual intervention.
The opportunity for harmony between shamanic and Buddhist
worldviews can be found in the Tibetan appropriation of the core
Buddhist teaching on cause and effect in the concept of tendrel.
The equivalent Sanskrit term, prat¥tyasamutpåda (dependently arising
115
116 Dreamworlds of Shamanism and Tibetan Buddhism
together), emphasizes that all phenomena originate dependent on their
unique causes and conditions. This principle manifests in a series of
twelve interconnecting aspects that constitute the way in which the
psychophysical person and the corresponding cosmic environment arise
and continue. As Samuel points out, the latter emphasis on cosmic
and personal interconnectedness is taken up in the Tibetan view of
tendrel as connections that are not visible on the surface. 1 The Tibetan
interpretation, then, which accentuates the arising together aspect, the
co-incidence of things, provides the opportunity for the technical
translation of a key term in Buddhist philosophy to carry the mun-
dane meaning of omen or auspice. In other words, the basic Bud-
dhist theory of dependent origination allows for an approach to the
practical use of omens that does not do violence to fundamental as-
sumptions of Buddhism. Nevertheless, there is a defense to be main-
tained against the degradation of the soteriological aim. This defense
is apparent in the superior spiritual position that Buddhism claims
against all forms of shamanism.
As Young has shown, dream narrative proliferated in Tibetan
literature far beyond the Indian Buddhist material. Dreams related to
mythic themes of conception and liberation continued to appear, but
compared with the triumphal dreams of buddhas and bodhisattvas
recorded in Mahåyåna texts, dream narratives in Tibetan biographies
and autobiographies give the impression of recording the real-life
concerns of spiritual aspirants as they struggle to distinguish truth
from deception, mundane from supramundane, in their path to libera-
tion. Given the importance of dream in the spiritual lives of Tibetan
Buddhists, the purpose of this book has been to determine the signifi-
cance of the contradictory attitudes toward dream present in Tibetan
written and oral traditions the view of dream as spiritually and
materially significant alongside the view of dream as the illusory prod-
uct of a deluded mind. The contradiction cannot be properly under-
stood or any resolution proposed without taking into account the
variety of attitudes and worldviews that inform Tibetan culture. The
tensions evident in the Tibetan approach to dream reflect two forces
that are themselves manifestations of more complex issues. The first
force is the contradictory attitudes to dream that were already present
in the Buddhism adopted by Tibet, attitudes that echo even more
ancient ambivalencies inherited from the Indian Vedic and Upani"adic
traditions. The second force is the response of the Buddhist tradition
to the indigenous shamanic presence in Tibetan culture, especially in
relation to the role of dreams and visions privileged by both shaman-
ism and Buddhism as a means of religious authentification. Conflict-
ing statements in Tibetan Buddhist literature toward dreams are,
Conclusion 117
therefore, in part the inheritance of attitudes already established in
Mahåyåna Indian Buddhist texts and, in part, a manifestation of the
inevitable tensions arising out of the interface between two systems
that rest on very different premises.
What can be gleaned of the indigenous religious worldview
and behavior of the Tibetans indicates a strong affiliation with the
beliefs and rituals of shamanism as this complex has been provision-
ally defined in chapter 1. The world and its contents, including the
subjective self, are regarded as radically imbued with spirit and
capable of intentional interaction. The idea of spirit beings that
help or hinder one another is not limited to material or quasi-material
entities such as stones or souls but can embrace any conceptualization
whatever. If it has a name, it can manifest as friend or enemy; a
disease, a song, a dream, or a thought can act, communicate, and
contribute to the web of interrelationships that constitutes the uni-
verse. In this world of persons, dreams are regarded as a particularly
effective medium for the interaction and communication between
human beings and spirit beings. The shaman s calling is often insti-
gated or confirmed by the spirits through specific dreams; as he
learns to relate consciously to his trance and dream states, so he
learns to consciously communicate with, and relate to, the spirits
and the unseen dimension of all things.
From its Indian Buddhist background, Tibetan culture inherited
an overall approach to dream that can be analyzed according to three
perspectives: the psychophysical, the philosophical, and the ritual. The
psychophysical perspective is based on the Indian understanding of
mind and how it functions relative to sensory experience. Under this
heading comes the view of dream as caused by sickness or the physi-
cal condition of the person, dreams influenced by past karma or the
moral condition of the person, and dreams related either to negative
mental states or to religious practice and liberation.
The philosophical perspective has two aspects. One is concerned [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]