CultureRenewalInitiative
HEALING THE PLANET
To begin with yourself
SOME PRINCIPLES
All patriarchal religions have tried to destroy original Mother worship
Buddhism was no exception e.g. had a very mysogynist attitude
One of the main way to neutralize female deities was to make them demons e.g. "protectors" to the Dharma
That is excactly what Padmasambhava, missionary to Tibet, did
He had every reason to do so, because originally Bön was firmly rooted in a feminine world view
Its "creation myth" is based on Dark Emptiness as the Origin, together with a Cosmic Egg, from which all creatures are born
It still worships Satri Ersang as Primordial Mother, together with Her manifestations: Chamma (Loving Mother), Chucham Gyalmo ("from Whom all life originates") and Sipa'i Gyalmo, Her wrathful form
A "demon" is always alien, the "other", an entity coming from "outside", in this case it "helped" that this "demon" from the Greek culture was around: the Gorgon/Medusa
The latter was a nmanifestation of the Original Great Mother, destroyed by a patriarchal hero, Perseus, a very suitable story indeed!
From very early on Buddhism went to the West - Bactria, Afghanistan, even as far as Egypt and Rome - so they had all opportunity to imitate the image
Moreover, Alexander the Great had a Gorgon on his aegis or protection shield!
This was the origination of the "Kirtimukha", the demon/protector of both Hinduism and Buddhism, the latter introducing it (Her) to Tibet
Please, proceed
Bön-Tibetan Buddhism 1
A common Thangka image Lama on top of Lotus (Womb) and under him all attributes of Great Mother: throne, lions, shell, cauldron and cymbals! He has its right foot down making contact with maternal dimension |
MY THESIS The Universal Truth of the Cosmic Mother and Her Son/Lovers (Daughters), originated in Mesopotamia spread both to the East and to the West. Both are part of one tradition. The archetype of the Lady and Her Beasts plays a central role. Later in the West it culminated in the Black Madonna with the Green Men. Recently I extended by investigations to Asia: India, China, Tibet, Cambodia and Java. If enough evidence can be found, then the foundation for a worldwide "Original Tradition" can be laid. In the course of 2012 it will be completed by a visit to Meso-America (Maya). My first question now: can traces of the Primordial Mother and Her Son be found in Tibet?
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Bön Tonpa Shenrab with Green Fioliage |
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the timeless Primordial Mother, while Buddhism only invents new images. Poor
Avalokiteswara (bodhisattva). He always is saddled with it when Buddhism needs a new
Goddess (Kuan Yin, Tara) to calm down people who call for the Real Mother PS. The similarity with the Virgin Mary in Roman Catholicism is striking! |
Kirtimukha from Zha Mei Bön-Tibetan Buddhist temple |
Some might think that I am found of demons. I am NOT AT ALL. The reason that they keep me busy is that they represent Major Deities from pre-patriarchal (Buddhist) times. In Reality they were glorious! Typically enough "Kirtimukha" means the glorious face! |
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ADDITIONAL "FACTS" Bön can be considered as a transition between ancient Mother worship and a patriarchal religion Its orientation has been the West, thus to Gandhara (Indus), Iran and Mesopotamia. Probably also Central Asia, the part that had received insights from the (Anatolian) Great Mother Kybele cult The original tradition of "dying and resurrecting Gods" is still reflected by strong emphasis on funerals and the intermediairy state, later taken over by Buddhism ("Bardo") The practice of the "Dark Retreat" stands for returning to the Cosmic Womb" in order to become illuminated. It exclusively belongs to Bön* * Later Esoteric Buddhism copied it The "dualism" between good and evil as practised by Bön (and many other religions) represents Creation and Destruction, the two Cosmic Forces of the Great Mother |
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| A spicy detail about Padmasambhava is his own relationship with the feminine. He considered the Ultimate Reality to be his Mother (Samantabhadri)! Moreover, he had five major female tantric companions, who helped him....to subjugate the previous female deities from Tibet, through turning them into demons. Last but not least his"consort practice" with Princess Sakya Devi from Nepal, with whom he experienced the "four stages of ecstasy" culminating into Complete Enlightenment....Thus, in order to introduce his own "companions" he destroyed the previous ones! |
A Makara is the Eastern counterpart of "our" Green Man ("Son") aspect of Kirtimukha with foliage coming out of his mouth (also with counterclockwise turning svastika's, proof of Bön background) |
It is very difficult to trace pre-Buddhist
feminine cosmologies. First of all, they were suppressed by Bön men themselves. Parts of
the "Old Bön" people even had to flee e.g. to Yunnan. There one can indeed find
descendents. Many living in mother-centered tribes or have some strong memory of Her. The
Mosuo and the Naxi are two examples (part of the legendary "Female Kingdom").
Other related tribes consider it very normal that women have more "husbands" SEE: THE MOSUO |
 Green Men Semur en Auxois |
Secondly, the oppression and persecutions of Buddhism. It is not a fairy tale at all that the lama's from very early on - supported by the king - exercised a VERY harsh rule. Every lama had to be "economically sponsored" by seven families. In the early 20th century - many decades before the Chinese oppression - a wellknown botanist wrote that "the exploitation of common people by the monasteries was more than appalling, nay absolutely intolerable |
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| So did I "prove" a direct connection between East and West? I think so. Both still revere the Realities of Cosmic Mother and Son (Daughter) In the East these are Kirtimukha (also Kali, Mahakala and Kala) as the suppressed images of the Mother and Makara as Her God/Son, while in the West the former is embodied by the Black Madonna's, while the latter is represented by the Green Men The Daughter aspect is manifested by the countless Goddesses (also Dakini's etc) , both in the East as in the West Both "wings" are a continuum, something I have called The Original Tradition! |
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THE SON/LOVER
Tonpa Shenrab, the Founder of Bön, lived in "archaic" times, another way of saying that he originates from the times of the Mother
He had supernatural power, which indicates he was a "vegetation God", a Son/Lover to the Mother
Eternal Bön claims to have "no name" e.g.to be a universal tradition, which can only have been the Mother/Son worship
For the latter was practised from Western Europe to as far as Eastern Siberia
In the very early days the "Son" was sacrified to ensure the ongoing cycle of nature. Later animals were slaughtered for the same purpose
It is the reason that Shenrab is said to have forbidden animal sacrifices
However, death and rebirth still has a prominent place among Bönpo's. It again confirms its link with the archaic dying and resurrecting (Vegetation) Gods
Shenrab is often depicted with green foliage coming out of his head, just like the Western Green Men
The svastika is Shenrab's main (Son!) symbol. It is said that Bön is built on the solid rock of svastika's
Later Shenrab was depicted as a Buddha. This may have been true (compare Gilgamesh searching for immortality) or is an adaptation to Buddhist principles
The most important Bön text is called Mother Tantra ("Ma Gyud")
1997-2011
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Last revising: 02/14/15