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.From simple to complex in orderly progression the imaginative structure is elaborated.The chief Gods appear successively, followed by the minor deities.Spaces, regions, directions are carefully determined.Attributes, colors, symbols, sounds are all minutely prescribed and deftly worked in, and explications carefully given.A miniature world is evolved, seething with elemental forces working in the universe as cosmic forces and in man as forces of body and spirit.Most of the quantities on this elaborate notation are taken from the body of indigenous religious teaching and mythology.Some are so universal and transparent that the non-Tibetan reader can appreciate them even without a knowledge of the religious technical terms of Tibet.But anyhow, an attentive reading and re-reading reveals something, even to the outsider, of the force of this symbological structure, and makes him intuitively feel that here we are assisting in the unfolding of a grand spiritual drama, sweeping up the mind to heights of exaltation and nobility.As to the terminological side of the text, the Editor's abundant notes prove as valuable as useful.They may disturb the elevated unity of the whole at first, but after some assiduous familiarizing, lead to fuller and deeper comprehension.Even a single reading is sufficient to gain the impression that a stately and solemn mental drama is enacted before us with an inherent impressiveness which would attach, for instance to a Christian, to the performance of a ritual in which all the more primary biblical persons, human and superhuman, were introduced, in suitable ways, as actors.And the superlative cleverness of this structure! Starting from a single basic note, this is developed into a chord, which again expands into a melody, which is then elaborately harmonized.Indeed the meditation is in its essence both music and ritual.The initial motives are developed, repeated, elaborated, and new ones introduced.These again are treated in the same way.A symphony is evolved and brought to a powerful climax, and then again this full world of sound, form, meaning, color, power is withdrawn, limited, taken back into itself, folded up and dissolved, turned inwards again and finally returned into utter stillness and rest, into that tranquil void from which it was originally evoked and which is its eternal mother.I do not know of any literature which in its nature is so absolutely symphonic, so directly akin to music, as this sample of a Tibetan meditational exercise.And curiously enough, it makes us think of another manifestation of Indian religious art, for in words this document is akin to the Indian temple decoration, especially the South Indian gopura, which in its endless repetitions and elaborations seems indeed instinct with the same spirit which has given birth to this scheme of imagination taught in these Tantras.Only, in stone or plaster, the mythological host is sterile and immovable, whilst, as created in the living mind, the similar http://www.sacred-texts.com/tantra/sas/sas10.htm (4 of 7)07/03/2005 16:02:49Chapter Ten: A Tibetan Tantrastructure partakes of the life of the mind within and without.The sculptural embodiment is, therefore, serviceable to the less evolved mind.The Tantra is for the religious thinker who possesses power.But we said that our meditational structure was also akin to ritual.What we mean by this is that all the figures and images evoked in the mind in this meditation are, after all, only meant, as the words, vestures and gestures in a ritual, to suggest feelings, to provoke states of consciousness, and to furnish (if the simile be not thought too pathetic) pegs to hang ideas upon.Like as a fine piece of music, or a play, can only be well rendered when rehearsed over and over again, and practiced so that the form side of the production becomes almost mechanical, and all power in the production can be devoted to the infusion of inspiration, so can this meditation only be perfectly performed after untold practice and devotion.It would be a totally mistaken idea to read this book as a mere piece of literature, once to go through it to see what it contains, and then to let it go.Just as the masterpieces of music can be heard hundreds of times, just as the great rituals of the world grow in power on the individual in the measure with which he becomes familiar with them and altogether identifies himself with the most infinitely small minutiae of their form and constitution, so this meditation ritual is one which only by repetition can be mastered and perfected.Like the great productions of art or nature, it has to "grow" on the individual.This meditational exercise is not for the small, nor for the flippant, nor for those in a hurry.It is inherently an esoteric thing, one of those teachings belonging to the regions of "quiet" and "tranquillity"and "rest" of Taoistic philosophy.To the ignorant it must be jabber, and so it is truly esoteric, hiding itself by its own nature within itself, though seemingly open and accessible to all.But in connection with this meditation we do not think of pupils who read it once or twice, or ten times, or a hundred, but of austere thinkers who work on it as a life-work through laborious years of strenuous endeavor.For, what must be done to make this meditation into a reality? Every concept in it must be vivified and drenched with life and power.Every god in it must be made into a living god, every power manipulated in it made into a potency.The whole structure must be made vibrant with forces capable of entering into sympathetic relation with the greater cosmic forces in the universe, created in imitation on a lower scale within the individual meditator himself.To the religious mind the universe is filled with the thoughts of the gods, with the powers of great intelligences and consciousnesses, radiating eternally through space and really constituting the world that is."The world is only a thought in the mind of God." It must take years of strenuous practice even to build up the power to visualize and correctly produce as an internal drama this meditation given in our book.To endow it with life and to put power into this life is an achievement that no small mind, no weak devotee, can hope to perform.So this meditation is a solemn ritual, like the Roman Catholic Mass; only it is performed in the mind instead of in the church, and the mystery it celebrates is an individual and not a general sacrament.In what we have said above we have tried to give some outlines of the chief characteristics of this remarkable work, now brought within the reach of the general reading public, and especially of benefit to those among them interested in the study of comparative religion along broad lines.We owe, indeed, a debt of gratitude to Arthur Avalon, whose enthusiasm for and insight into the Indian religious and philosophical mind have unearthed this particular gem for us.We may be particularly grateful that his http://www.sacred-texts.com/tantra/sas/sas10.htm (5 of 7)07/03/2005 16:02:49Chapter Ten: A Tibetan Tantraenthusiasm has not set itself a limit, so as to prevent him from dealing with other than Sanskrit lore alone, and from looking for treasure even beyond the Himalayas [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]