The Vajrayāna for the West

I have suggested that the Vajrayāna may not achieve Zen’s popularity in the West because many of the people attracted to oriental forms of mysticism do not care for ceremonial usages. Though the Vajrayāna does include paths wholly free from set forms of any kind, by and large, it makes elaborate use of rites because the power generated by emotion and by aesthetic satisfaction is a force too valuable to waste. The rites have a tremendous psychological value, and this may, in time, become more fully appreciated by those temperamentally not fond of ritual. Meanwhile, it is likely that some people will, from the first, find the Vajrayāna’s colorful techniques a boon to their spiritual practice and that even some non-Buddhists may wish to adapt them — especially the technique of visualization — for use in the context of their own religions. Though prayer wheels may never turn in Madison Square or prayer-flags flutter from the roofs of Westminster, already there are lovely Tibetan style shrine rooms tucked away in many private houses.

The varied rites and meditative practices within the Vajrayāna afford to widely different kinds of people means to still the monkey-like leaping of their thoughts, develop their latent spiritual powers, and, by entering ever-deepening states of consciousness, to be flooded, at last, by the dazzling light of wisdom. Concurrently, they develop an enviable attitude to life, learn to transmute ugliness into beauty, become expert in harnessing the energy of their passions, and presently discover that their own nature soaringly transcends man’s highest conception of the ultimate. The choice between Zen and the Vajrayāna is not a choice of goal but of method, and even the methods are alike

of the Buddha Amitābha, Guan-yin (Kuan-yin) forms part of a ruling triad, along with Amitābha and the Bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta. Images of the three are often placed together in temples, and Guan-yin (Kuan-yin) is shown in paintings welcoming the dead to the Western Paradise. This cult of Guan-yin (Kuan-yin) is based on scriptures of the Pure Land school that were translated into Chinese between the 3rd and 5th centuries C.E. The Bodhisattva was introduced into

Tibet in the 7th century, where he quickly became the most popular figure in the Lamaist pantheon, successively reincarnated in each Dalai Lama. He is credited with introducing the prayer formula Og Mazi Padme Hūg! (frequently translated “the jewel is in the lotus”) to the people of Tibet. The cult of Guan-yin (Kuan-yin) probably reached Japan (there called Kannon) by way of Korea soon after Buddhism was first introduced into the country; the earliest known images at the Horyu-ji in Nara date from the mid-7th century. The worship of the Bodhisattva was never confined to any one sect and continues to be widespread

throughout Japan. As in China, some confusion exists about Kannon’s gender. In Japan, Kannon’s ability to assume innumerable forms has led to seven major representations: (1) Sho Kannon, the simplest form, usually shown as a seated or standing figure with two hands, one of which holds a lotus; (2) Ju-ichi-men Kannon, a two- or four-handed figure with eleven heads; (3) Senju Kannon, the Bodhisattva with 1,000 arms; (4) Jun-tei Kannon, one of the least common forms, represented as a seated figure with 18 arms, sometimes related to the Indian goddess Cunti (mother of 700,000 Buddhas); (5) Fuku-kenjaku Kannon, a form popular

with the Tendai sect, whose special emblem is the lasso; (6) Ba-to Kannon, shown with a fierce face and a horse’s head in the hairdress, probably related to the Tibetan protector of horses, Hayagriva; (7) Nyo-i-rin Kannon, shown seated, with six arms, holding the wish-fulfilling jewel. The virtues and miracles of Avalokiteśvara are accounted in many Buddhist Sūtras (scriptures). The Avalokiteśvara Sūtra was incorporated into the widely popular Lotus Sūtra in the 3rd century C.E., though it continues to circulate as an independent work in China and is the main scripture of his cult worship there.

in that both deal with the mind at a level that transcends conceptual thought; but the Vajrayāna caters to people who find it easier to use symbols and concepts as the very weapons with which to do away with concepts, instead of trying to banish them from the first. With Zen we start, so to speak, at the Ph.D. level; with the Vajrayāna, we may enter the path at any level from kindergarten to professor.

For a long time to come, the main impediment will be finding a suitable teacher. Few accomplished adepts from Tibet are really proficient in a Western language; of the Tibetans young enough to have acquired the language proficiency necessary for the task, not many have advanced far enough along the path to teach the sacred practice. What can be hoped for is that the older non-English speaking Lamas will be able to continue training their disciples at places of refuge in the Himalayan foot-hills on the Indian side of the frontier and that these disciples will acquire a fluent knowledge of one or more Western languages.

Meanwhile, another great obstacle is being removed. The Lamas, to ensure that the teaching is transmitted before the older generation passes away, are making everything as easy as possible by relaxing the precautionary rules as far as can be safely done. Advanced teaching is sometimes given to Westerners who have not completed the all-important preliminary training, on the understanding that they will do so before proceeding with the main practice. Were this condition to be ignored, the relaxation would defeat its object, inasmuch as the advanced techniques of visualization cannot be successfully used without sufficient preparation of the mind.

There is likely to be a rather unfortunate division of effort. Some Lamas have been attracted to universities which have the means to pay their passages from India, support them, and buy whatever texts are needed for building up good Tibetan libraries. Their services will naturally be utilized for scientific purposes, and their students will seldom be people who intend to put the teachings into practice. On the other hand, those Lamas who found small gompas for

teaching purposes will be short of money for acquiring texts, of which few copies are available outside Tibet; moreover, many of their Western pupils will not be able to spend more than a few days or weeks at a time away from their ordinary work, with the result that the teaching will have to be of a very elementary or general kind. Unless this problem can be overcome, treasures of wisdom lovingly preserved throughout the centuries will be lost to the world or fossilized in scholarly works unconnected with spiritual practice.