Essay name: Hevajra Tantra (analytical study)
Author:
Seung Ho Nam
Affiliation: University of Kerala / Faculty of Oriental Studies
This is an English study of the Hevajra Tantra: an ancient Sanskrit text that teaches the process of attaining Buddha-hood for removing the sufferings of all sentient beings. The Hevajratantra amplifies the views and methods found in the Guhyasamaja Tantra (one of the earliest extant Buddhist Tantras) dealing with Yoga and Mandalas.
Chapter 1 - Tantric Buddhism
20 (of 63)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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the indolent, and expelled the wayward. His Second proclamation
commenced before one hundred years has passed in his lifetime. He went
to N膩ga-land, taught doctrine to the N膩gas, and brought back to this
continent' the "One Hundred Thousand Stanza Perfection of Wisdom Sutra
1, etc., along with a great quantity of clay from which he made almost
ten million reliquaries (st奴pa) and many images. He composed the Five
Collections of Reasonings that establish emptiness as the mode of
existence of all phenomena and thus founded the Madhyamika system
which avoids all extremes. At that time he was called N膩g膩rjuna. N膩gas,
or dragons, have their abode in the ocean, have treasures such as
wish-granting jewels, and spew forth fire from their mouths, burning fuel
and overcoming others.27
He did not newly invent the teachings of the Madhyamika system;
H墨nay膩na and Mah膩y膩na arose simultaneously during Sh膩kyamuni's
lifetime. After his death, the Mah膩y膩na S奴tras remained in the lands of
humans for forty years, but then with tumultuous times they disappeared.
This is why the Mah膩y膩na had to be brought back, making it necessary
for many authors to prove that it was the word of the Buddha-Maitreya
in his Ornament for the Mah膩y膩na Sutras (Mah膩y膩nas奴tr膩la峁僰膩ra),
Shantideva in his "Engaging in the Bodhisattva Deeds
(Bodhisattvachary膩vat膩ra), etc. Though one hundred and twenty years
after Buddha's death the great religious king Ashoka respected and spread
the teaching, it is clear that the Mah膩y膩na was then practically
non-existent among humans; however, it had spread widely in the lands
of gods and dragons and even in other areas. On this 'continent' it was
limited to Bodhisattvas abiding on the earth and to tantric yogis who
were secretly practicing it themselves and teaching it to the fortunate. 28
Because of the wide dissemination of the H墨nay膩na Hearer orders, the
Mah膩y膩na scriptures were as if non-existent. Though the great Brahmin
Saraha appeared and spread mainly the Mah膩y膩na tantric teaching, it was
27 Jeffrey Hopkins, Meditation on Emptiness, p.356.
28 Jeffrey Hopkins, Ibid, p.358.
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