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Hevajra the Tantric Diety

From Tibetan Buddhist Encyclopedia
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Synopsis

Hevajra, Tibetan Kye-rdo-rje, Mongolian Kevajra, in northern Buddhism, a fierce protective deity, the yab-yum (in union with his female consort, Nairatmya) form of the fierce protective deity Heruka. Hevajra is a popular deity in Tibet, where he belongs to the yi-dam (tutelary, or guardian, deity) class.The primary form of Buddhism practiced in Cambodia during Angkor times was Mahayana Buddhism, strongly influenced with Tantric tendencies.

The prevalence of Tantrayana in Java, Sumatra and Cambodia, a fact now definitely established by modern researches into the character of Mahayana Buddhism and Saivism in these parts of the Indian Orient. Already in Kamboja inscription of the 9th century there is definite evidence of the teaching of Tantric texts at the court of Jayavarman II. In a Kamboja record of the 11th century there is a reference to the 'Tantras of the Paramis'; and images of Hevajra, definitely a tantric divinity, have been recovered from amidst the ruins of Angkor Thom. A number of Kamboja inscriptions refer to several kings who were initiated into the Great Secret (Vrah Guhya) by their Hindu Brahmin gurus; the Saiva records make obvious records to Tantric doctrines that had crept into Saivism.


Hevajra is a popular deity in Tibet, where he belongs to the yi-dam (tutelary, or guardian, deity) class.The primary form of Buddhism practiced in Cambodia during Angkor times was Mahayana Buddhism, strongly influenced with Tantric tendencies.


The prevalence of Tantrayana in Java, Sumatra and Cambodia, a fact now definitely established by modern researches into the character of Mahayana Buddhism and Saivism in these parts of the Indian Orient. Already in Kamboja inscription of the 9th century there is definite evidence of the teaching of Tantric texts at the court of Jayavarman II.

In a Kamboja record of the 11th century there is a reference to the 'Tantras of the Paramis'; and images of Hevajra, definitely a tantric divinity, have been recovered from amidst the ruins of Angkor Thom. A number of Kamboja inscriptions refer to several kings who were initiated into the Great Secret (Vrah Guhya) by their Hindu Brahmin gurus; the Saiva records make obvious records to Tantric doctrines that had crept into Saivism.

Hevajra is one of the main yidams (enlightened beings) in Tantric, or Vajrayana Buddhism Hevajra's consort is Nairātmyā (Tibetan: bdag med ma).


India

The Hevajra Tantra, a yoginītantra of the anuttarayogatantra class, is believed to have originated between the late 8th (Snellgrove), and the late 9th or early 10th centuries (Davidson),[4] in Eastern India, possibly KamarupaTāranātha lists Saroruha and Kampala (also known as "Lva-va-pā", "Kambhalī", and "Śrī-prabhada") as its "bringers": .. the foremost yogi Virupa meditated on the path of Yamāri and attained siddhi under the blessings of Vajravārāhi,...His disciple Dombi Heruka..understood the essence of the Hevajra Tantra, and composed many śāstras like the Nairātmā-devi-sādhana and the Sahaja-siddhi. He also conferred abhiṣeka on his own disciples. After this, two ācāryas Lva-va-pā and Saroruha brought the Hevajra Tantra. ... Siddha Saroruha was the first to bring the Hevajra-pitṛ-sādhana.


Another lineage, mentioned by Jamgon Kongtrul, goes from Vilāśyavajra to Anangavajra to Saroruha and thence to Indrabhuti.

Jamgon Amyeshab, the 28th throne holder of Sakya, considers the Hevajra Tantra to have been revealed to Virupa by the Nirmanakaya Vajranairatma. This tantra is also considered by him to have been revealed to Dombhi Heruka, Virupa's senior disciple, by Nirmanakaya Vajranairatma, from whom the main Sakya exegetical lineage of the Hevajra tantra descends.


The Yogaratnamālā, arguably the most important of the commentaries on the Hevajratantra, was written by one Kṛṣṇa or Kāṇha, who taught Bhadrapada, another commentator, who in turn taught Tilopa, the teacher of Nāropa, who himself wrote a commentary. He, in turn, passed on his knowledge of this tantra to Marpa (1012-1097 AD), who also taught in Tibet. Marpa also received instruction in the Hevajratantra from Maitrīpa, alias Advayavajra, who was banished from Vikramashila for practicing with a yoginī during the time of Atīśa's abbothood.


Kanha was one of the authors of Charyapada

Some time in the early 11th century, Drogmi Lotsawa Shākya Yeshe ('brog mi lo ts'a ba sh'akya ye shes) (993-1077 AD) journeyed from Drompa-gyang in Lhatsé to Nepal and India, including Vikramashila, where he received instruction in the Hevajratantra from Śānti-pa (Ratnākaraśānti) and later to Bengal, where he encountered Prajñedraruci (Vīravajra) [7] who instructed him in the "rootless Margapala" (Tib. Lamdré) that is particularly concerned with the Hevajra tantra and its commentaries. Drakpa Gyeltsen writes in his Chronicle of the Indic Masters:

Now Lachen [[[Drokmi]]] first went to Nepal and entered into the door of mantra through [the teacher] Bhāro Ham-thung. Then he went to India itself and, realizing that the Āchārya Ratnākaraśānti was both greatly renowned and learned, he heard extensively the VinayaPrajñapāramitā, and mantra. Then having gone to the eastern part of India, he encountered Bhikṣu Vīravajra, who was the greatest direct disciple of Durjayachandra, who himself had held the lineage of Āchārya Virūpa's own disciple, Ḍombiheruka. From Bhikṣu Vīravajra he heard extensively the mantra material of the three tantras of Hevajra, complete in all their branches. He also requested the many instruction manuals of Acintyakrama and so forth, so that he heard the "Lamdré without the fundamental text" (rtsa med lam 'bras) as well. In this way, Drokmi lived in India for twelve years and became a great translator.


After twelve years he returned to central Tibet, probably by 1030, translated the Hevajratantra into Tibetan, and taught, among others, Dkon mchog ryal po (1034-1102 AD), the founder of the Sa-skya Monastery in 1073 AD. This was the beginning of the close relationship between the Sakya Order and the Hevajratantra. In the Blue Annals, Gos lotsawa suggests that both the Hevajra and the Kalachakra Tantras are commentaries on, or introductions to, the Guhyasamāja.


Other Countries

China

The Chinese version of the Hevajra Tantra (Taishō XVIII 892, p. 587-601) was translated by Fa-hu (Dharmapalā) at the Institute for Canonical Translations (Yi jing yuan) in the capital of the Northern Sung (960-1128 AD), Bian liang, present day Kaifeng in Henan province. The five-volume translation was presented to Emperor Jen-tsung at the end of Zhi he 1 (11 February 1054- 30 January 1055 AD) . However, the Hevajra Tantra did not become popular in China. The title of the Chinese version reads "The Scriptural Text of the Ritual of The Great King of the Teaching The Adamantine One with Great Compassion and Knowledge of the Void explained by the Buddha."

The preface reads:

From among the 32 sections of the general tantra of Mahāmāyā one has taken 2 rituals with Nairātmyā. Dharmapāla, Great Master who transmits Sanskrit (texts), thoroughly illuminated and enlightened with Compassion, Probationary Senior Lord of Imperial Banquets, Grandee of Imperial Banquets with the Honour of Silver and Blue, Tripiṭaka from India in the West during the Sung, received the honour of translating it by Imperial Mandate.


Cambodia and Thailand

Surviving images indicate that the Hevajra Tantra was brought to Cambodia during the Khmer Empire and its practice thrived both in Cambodia and Thailand from the 10th to 13th centuries.


Mongolia

In 1244 the grandson of Genghis KhanPrince Godan, invited Sakya Pandita to Mongolia and was initiated by him into the Hevajra teachings. In 1253 Kublai Khan invited Sakya Pandita's Nephew Chogyal Phagpa to court. As a result, Buddhism was declared the state religion and Phagpa was given authority over three of Tibet's provinces.


The West

The Hevajra Tantra became the first major Buddhist Tantra to be translated in its entirety into a Western language when David Snellgrove published his The Hevajra Tantra: A Critical Study in 1959. This work is in two volumes, the first volume containing his introduction including an "apology" explaining why such a text is worthy of study (apparently because of the unsavory reputation the tantras had acquired in the West early in the 20th century. Writing in 1959 he was able to say, "There is still a tendency to regard them as something corrupt, as belonging to the twilight of Buddhism."

The second volume contains his editions of the Sanskrit and Tibetan texts (the Tibetan text being taken from the snar thang Kengyur) as well as a Sanskrit text of the Yogaratnamālā. Another translation appeared in 1992 as The Concealed Essence of the Hevajra-tantra. by G.W. Farrow and I. Menon. This version contains the Sanskrit text and English translation of the tantra as well as a complete English translation of the Yogaratnamālā. An English translation from Fa-hu's Chinese version was made by Charles Willemen in 1983 and published as "The Chinese Hevajratantra". In 2008 the German scholar Jan-Ulrich Sobisch published a detailed literary history of Indian and Tibetan writings on Hevajra as it was seen through the eyes of A-mes-zhabs, a 17th-century master of the Sa-skya-pa tradition (Sobisch 2008).


Text: Originally written in mixed quality Sanskrit (with some verses in Apabhraṃśa), the present 750 verse text is reported to be but an excerpt or summary of a much larger, original text of up to 500,000 ślokas (verses) in 32 sections. Many Buddhist texts claim to be condensations of much larger missing originals, with most of the alleged originals either never having been found, or perhaps conceived of as "virtual" texts that exist permanently in some disembodied way. However, the existence of the 100,000 verse Prajnaparamita Sutra shows that works of such proportions were actually produced.


The Hevajra Tantra has some material in common with other sources: II iii 29 of the Hevajratantra is the same as XVI 59c-60b of the Guhyasamajatantra, and an Apabhraṃśa couplet at II v 67 of the Hevajratantra appears in one of Saraha's songs. In the case of the Guhyasamaja, it is safe to assume that the Hevajra version is later, but the case is not as clear cut with the Saraha quote, since the relative dates are harder to establish with any certainty. Root Tantra

Hevajra mandala, 17th-century painting, Rubin Museum of Art RIGHT PIC Hevajra and Nairātmyā, surrounded by a retinue of eight ḍākinīsMarpa transmission.


Dvātriṃśatkalpoddhṛtaḥ kalpadvayātmako śrīhevajraḍākinījālasamvaramahātantrarājā

⦁ Manuscripts in the National Archives, ⦁ Kathmandu, ⦁ Nepal ⦁ No. 3-303. ⦁ No. 3-238. ⦁ No. 4-6. ⦁ No. 4-71. ⦁ Manuscript in the ⦁ Cambridge University Library, Add. 1340 ⦁ Manuscript belonging to the ⦁ Asiatic Society of Bengal, no. 11317 ⦁ Manuscripts in the ⦁ Tōkyō University Library: Nos 509-512⦁ [21] ⦁ Editions:

Snellgrove

⦁ Farrow and Meno


Tibetan:

kye'i rdo rje zhes bya ba rgyud kyi rgyal po - ⦁ Narthang ⦁ Kangyur, snar thang 369, vol. 80, rgyud (ka) 306b-351b ⦁ colophon: rgyud kyi rgyal po sgyu ma'i brtag pa zhes bya ba brtag pa sum cu rtsa gnyis las phyung ba brtag pa gnyis kyi bdag nyid kye'i rdo rje mkha' 'gro ma dra ba'i sdom pa'i rgyud kyi rgyal po chen po rdzogs so/ /rgya gar gyi mkhan po ga ya d+ha ra'i zhal snga nas dang/ bod kyi lo ts+tsha ba dge slong shAkya ye shes kyis bsgyur cing zhus te gtan la phab pa/


⦁ Edition: Snellgrove


kye'i rdo rje zhes bya ba rgyud kyi rgyal po (Hevajratantrarājanāma) Tōh. 417, sDe-dge Kangyur rgyud 'bum vol. nga, 1b-13b

⦁ colophon: kye'i rdo rje mkha' 'gro ma dra ba'i sdom pa las rdo rje snying po mngon par byang chub zhes bya ba brtag pa'i rgyal po rdzogs so

kye'i rdo rje zhes bya ba rgyud kyi rgyal po Urga Kangyur, urga 418, vol.79, rgyud (nga), 1r-30r

⦁ colophon: rgyud kyi rgyal po chen po sgyu ma'i brtag pa zhes bya ba brtag pa sum cu rtsa gnyis las phyung pa brtag pa gnyis kyi bdag nyid kye'i rdo rje mkha' 'gro ma dra ba'i sdom pa'i rgyud kyi rgyal po rdzogs so/ /rgya gar gyi mkhan po ga ya d+ha ra'i zhal snga nas bod kyi lo ts+tsha ba dge slong shAkya ye shes kyis bsgyur cing zhus te gtan la phab pa/slar yang lo ts+tsha ba gzhon nu dpal gyis 'gyur chad bsabs shing dag par bgyis pa'o/

kye'i rdo rje zhes bya ba rgyud kyi rgyal po Stog Palace Kangyur, stog 379, Volume 94, rgyud bum (ga), 107r-148v


⦁ colophon: rgyud kyi rgyal po sgyu ma'i brtag pa zhes bya ba brtag pa sum cu rtsa gnyis las phyung ba brtag pa gnyis kyi bdag nyid kye'i rdo rje mkha' 'gro ma dra ba'i sdom pa'i rgyud kyi rgyal po chen po rdzogs so/ /rgya gar gyi mkhan po ga ya d+ha ra'i zhal snga nas dang/ bod kyi lo tsa ba dge slong shAkya ye shes kyis bsgyur cing zhus te gtan la phab pa

kye'i rdo rje zhes bya ba rgyud kyi rgyal po Lhasa Kangyur, lhasa 380, volume 79, rgyud (ka), 672-761 ⦁ colophon: rgyud kyi rgyal po sgyu ma'i brtag pa zhes bya ba brtag pa sum cu rtsa gnyis las phyung ba brtag pa gnyis kyi bdag nyid kye'i rdo rje mkha' 'gro ma dra ba'i sdom pa'i rgyud kyi rgyal po chen po rdzogs so/ /rgya gar gyi mkhan po ga ya d+ha ra'i zhal snga nas bod kyi lo ts+tsha ba dge slong shAkya ye shes kyis bsgyur cing zhus te gtan la phab pa


Commentaries

Yogaratnamālā by KāṇhaŚrīhevajravyākhyākhyāvivaraṇa by BhadrapādaNetravibhanga by Dharmakīrtī ⦁ Smṛtiniṣpatti (?) by KāṇhaVajrapādasārasaṃgraha by Nāro ⦁ Muktāvalī by Ratnākaraśānti


Sanskrit edition from five manuscripts by Ram Shankar Tripathi and Thakur Sain Negi in the series Bibliotheca Indo-Tibetica Series XLVIII, Central Institute for Higher Tibetan Studies, Sarnath, 2001.

Padminī by Saroruha

⦁ Suviśuddhasaṃpuṭa by Ṭankadāsa

Ṣaṭsāhasrikā-Hevajra-Ṭīkā by Daśabhūmīśvara Vajragharba


Sanskrit edition from two incomplete mss, Tibetan edition, with English translation of Sanskrit portion and summary of remaining part, in Shendge, Malati J., 2004. Ṣaṭsāhasrikā-Hevajra-Ṭīkā: A Critical Edition. Pratibha Prakashan, Delhi. "On this shorter tantra of 750 verses containing many vajrapadas which is selected from abother big tantra of five lakhs (500,000) of verses, is revealed this commentary, which owes its inspiration to Hevajra and which is known to contain 6000 verses and following mulatantra, by the illustrious Vajragarbha." (1.4-6)


Explanatory Tantras

⦁ ==Ḍākinīvajrapañjaratantra==

⦁ ==Saṃpuṭatantra==


Jigdal Dagchen Rinpoche closes the Hevajra Mandala of colored sand using a gold dorje below statue of Sakya Pandita Hevajra has four forms described in the Hevajra Tantra and four forms described the Samputa Tantra:


Hevajra Tantra

Kaya Hevajra

The two armed Body (Kaya) Hevajra described in the Hevajra Tantra stands in an advancing posture on a multi-coloured lotus, corpse, and sun disk. He is dark blue in colour. His right hand holds a vajra club, and his left hand holds a vajra-marked skull cup. He embraces his consort Vajranairatma (rDo-rje bDag-med-ma). A khatvanga staff rests on his left shoulder and he is adorned with the six symbolic ornaments.

In the Sadhanamala this form of Hevajra is single (ekavira) - without a consort.


Vak Hevajra

The four armed Speech (Vak) Hevajra described in the Hevajra Tantra stands in an advancing posture on a multi-coloured lotus, corpse, and sun disk. He is dark blue in colour. One right hand holds a vajra and one left hand a skull full of blood, the other pair of arms embrace his consort Vajravarahi (rDo-rje phag-mo).


Citta Hevajra

The six armed Mind (Citta) Hevajra described in the Hevajra Tantra stands in an advancing posture with right leg extended and left bent on a multi-coloured lotus, corpse, and sun disk. He is dark blue in colour with three faces - C. blue, R. white and L. red. Each face has three blood shot eyes and four bared fangs, and frowns with knotted brows. His tawny hair streams up surmounted with a crossed vajra. Two right hands hold a vajra and a knife, two left a trident and a bell; the remaining pair of arms embrace his consort Vajrasrinkhala. Hevajra is imbued with the nine dramatic sentiments and adorned with a diadem of five dry skulls, a necklace of fifty fresh heads and the six symbolic ornaments or 'seals'.


Hrdaya Hevajra

The sixteen-armed, four-legged eight-faced Heart (Hrdaya) Hevajra described in the Hevajra Tantra stands with two legs in ardha-paryanka and the other two in alidha posture (left bent, right extended) on a multi-coloured eight petalled lotus, the four Maras in the forms of yellow Brahma, black Vishnu, white Shiva (Mahesvara) and yellow Indra and a sun disc resting on their hearts.


Sri Hevajra is 16 years old, black in color, naked, with eight faces, sixteen arms and four legs. His central face is black, the first right white, the first left red, the upper face smoke-coloured and ugly; the outer two faces on each side, black. All have three round blood shot eyes, four bared fangs, a vibrating tongue, and frowning with knotted brows. His lustrous tawny hair streams upward crowned with a crossed vajra. He is adorned with a diadem of five dry skulls. The sixteen hands hold sixteen skull cups.

The central pair of arms skull contain a white elephant and the yellow earth-goddess Prithvi, and embrace his consort Vajranairatma (rDo-rje bDag-med-ma) whose two legs encircle his body. Her right hands holds a curved knife (kartika), while the left is wrapped around the neck of her lord and holds a skullcup (kapala). In the other seven skull cups held in Hevajra's outer right hands are: a blue horse, a white-nosed ass, a red ox, an ashen camel, a red human, a blue sarabha deer, and an owl or cat.

In the skull cups in the outer seven left hands are the white water-god Varuna, the green wind-god Vayu, the red fire-god Agni / Tejas, the white moon god Chandra, the red sun god Surya or Aditya, blue Yama lord of death and yellow Kubera or Dhanada lord of wealth. Hevajra is adorned with the six symbolic ornaments: circlet, earrings, necklace, bracelets, girdle armlets and anklets and smeared with the ashes of the charnel ground. He wears a necklace of fifty freshly severed human heads.


Samputa Tantra

The four forms of Hevajra described in the Samputa Tantra all dance on a lotus, corpse, blood-filled skull cup and sun disk throne.


Kaya Hevajra

The two armed Kaya-Hevajra (sku kyE rdo rje) - "Shaker of all the Three Worlds" ('jig-rten gsum kun-tu bskyod-pa) - stands in dancing posture on a multi-coloured lotus, corpse, blood-filled skull cup and sun disk. He is black in colour, with one face, three round red eyes, and two arms. His right hand wields a five pronged vajra club and the left hand holds a skull cup brimming with blood. He embraces his consort Vajranairatma (rdo-rje bdag-med-ma), blue in colour, with one face and two arms, holding curved knife and skull cup.


Vak Hevajra

The four armed Vak-Hevajra (sung kyE rdo rje), stands in dancing posture on a multi-coloured lotus, corpse, blood-filled skull cup and sun disk. He is black in colour with one face, three round red eyes two legs and four arms. The outer right hand wields a five pronged vajra club, the outer left hand holds a blood-filled skull-cup; the other pair of arms embrace his consort Vajravarahi (rDo-rje phag-mo), who is similar to him.


Citta Hevajra

The six armed Citta-Hevajra (thugs kyE rdo rje) stands in dancing posture (ardha paryanka) with his right toenails pressed against his left thigh on an eight-petaled multi-coloured lotus, corpse, skull-cup brimming with blood, and sun disc. He is black, with three faces: black, white and red - each face having three round blood shot eyes. His light yellowish hair streams upwards crested with a crossed vajra, and he wears a diadem of five dry skulls. He is adorned with a necklace of fifty freshly severed human heads, the six symbolic ornaments and clad in a tiger skin skirt. The first pair of hands hold a vajra and bell embracing is consort Vajrasrnkhala, who is similar to him. The other right hands hold an arrow and a trident. The other left hands hold a bow and a skull cup.


Hrdaya Hevajra

The sixteen-armed, four-legged Hrdaya Hevajra (snying po kyE rdo rje) stands with two legs in dancing posture (ardha paryanka) and two in aleedha posture (right leg extended) on an eight-petalled multicoloured lotus are, the four Maras (Skanda Mara in the form of yellow Brahma, Klesa Mara as black Vishnu, Mrtyu Mara as white Shiva, Devaputra Mara as pale yellow Śakra), a blood filled skull-cup and sun disc. He is black in colour with eight faces, sixteen arms and four legs. The central face is black and laughing loudly, the right is white and the left is red, and the upper face black and bears its fangs; the other eight faces are black.


Each face has three blod-shot eyes. His tawny hair flows upwards crested with a double vajra and he wears a diadem of five dry skulls. He is adorned with a necklace of fifty freshly severed human heads, the six symbolic ornaments and clad in a tiger skin skirt. His first pair of hands hold a vajra and bell, embracing his consort Nairatma blue in colour with two hands holding a curved knife (gri gug) and skull cup. Hevajra's remaining right hands hold a sword, arrow, wheel, skull cup, club, trident and hook; the remaining left hands hold a lotus, bow, trident, skull, jewel, threatening forefinger and noose.


Indonesian Esoteric Buddhism or Esoteric Buddhism in Maritime Southeast Asia refers to the traditions of Esoteric Buddhism found in Maritime Southeast Asia which emerged in the 7th century along the maritime trade routes and port cities of the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra as well as in Malaysia. These esoteric forms were spread by pilgrims and Tantric masters who received royal patronage from royal dynasties like the Sailendras and the Srivijaya.[1] 

This tradition was also linked by the maritime trade routes with Indian Vajrayana, Tantric Buddhism in SinhalaCham and Khmer lands and in China and Japan, to the extent that it is hard to separate them completely and it is better to speak of a complex of "Esoteric Buddhism of Mediaeval Maritime Asia." In many of the key South Asian port cities that saw the growth of Esoteric Buddhism, the tradition coexisted alongside Shaivism. Java under the Sailendras became a major center of Buddhism in the region, with monumental architecture such as Borobudur and Candi Sukuh. The capital of the Buddhist empire of Srivijaya in Palembang, Sumatra was another major center.The decline of Buddhist states and the rise of Islamic states in the region during the 13th-16th centuries saw the steep decline of this tradition.


13th century Javanese statue of Prajnaparamita, from the Cungkup Putri ruins near Singhasari temple.RIGHT A painting by G.B. Hooijer (c. 1916—1919) reconstructing the scene of Borobudur during its heyday

The diffusion of Esoteric Buddhism in the region began with the arrival of Indian Buddhist monks in the 7th century. These include the central Indian Atikuta (fl. 650s), the Chinese Punyodaya (fl 650s), Yijing (635-713), the South Indian Dharmaruci/Bodhiruci (d. 727), NagabodhiVajrabodhi and Bianhong (the 8th century teacher of Kukai). The Chinese Buddhist monk Yijing reports that in the 7th century there was a Buddhist center in Java named Kalinga (Heling) to which Chinese monks traveled in order to study.

Another source of this Indonesian Tantric tradition was from Sri Lanka's Abhayagiri vihāra, a well known center of Vajrayana study and practice, which even established a branch monastery in Central Java in the 8th century with Sailendra patronage.


A stronghold of Esoteric Buddhism, the empire of Srivijaya (650 CE–1377 CE) patronized Buddhist monks and institutions and thus attracted pilgrims and scholars from other parts of Asia.[7] These included the Chinese monk Yijing, who made several lengthy visits to Sumatra on his way to study at Nalanda University in India in 671 and 695, and the Bengali Buddhist scholar Atisha (982-1054 CE) who played a major role in the development of Vajrayana Buddhism in Tibet

Yijing praised the high level of Buddhist scholarship in Srivijaya and advised Chinese monks to study there prior to making the journey to the great institution of learningNalanda Vihara, India.


He wrote:

In the fortified city of Bhoga, Buddhist priests number more than 1,000, whose minds are bent on learning and good practice. They investigate and study all the subjects that exist just as in India; the rules and ceremonies are not at all different. If a Chinese priest wishes to go to the West in order to hear and read the original scriptures, he had better stay here one or two years and practice the proper rules.


Yijing was also responsible for the translation of a large numbers of Buddhist scriptures from Sanskrit into Chinese. He translated more than 60 sutras into Chinese such as the Golden Light Sutra. The Account of Buddhism sent from the South Seas & Buddhist Monks Pilgrimage of Tang Dynasty are two of Yi Jing's best travel diaries, describing his adventurous journey to Srivijaya and India, the society of India and the lifestyles of various local peoples.


In Java, the 8th century Shailendra dynasty promoted large scale Buddhist building projects such as Borobudur. Later central Javanese bronze and silver Buddhist images show Tantric themes such as mandalas and the Five Tathagatas


In the 13th century Buddhism thrived in Eastern Java, the Singhasari kingdom of King Kertanegara of Singhasari patronized Vajrayana. Buddhism continued to thrive under the Hindu-Buddhist Majapahit Empire (1293–1527). Their capital Trowulan had many annual festivities for BuddhismShaivism, and Vaishnavism. Some of their kings were Vajrayana practitioners, such as King Adityawarman (1347–79) whose inscriptions state he was "always concentrated on Hevajra". A feature of Javanese Buddhism was the deification and worship of kings as Buddhas or Bodhisattvas. Important Buddhist deities included Prajnaparamita, Tara, Bhairava and Lokesvara.


The fall of Majapahit and the rise of Muslim states such as the Sultanate of Malacca saw the decline of Buddhism in the region. Many fled to the island of Bali after the end of Majapahit rule, where Buddhism was merged into Balinese Hinduism. This process of merging Buddhism and Hinduism predated the fall of the Majapahit however, and many textual sources from the later Hindu-Buddhist kingdom state that Hinduism and Buddhism are both two paths to the same reality and also equate the five Buddhas with five forms of Shiva. Likewise, some Majapahit temples depict both Buddhist and Shaiva elements.


The oldest extant esoteric Buddhist Mantranaya literature in Old Javanese, a language significantly influenced by Sanskrit, is enshrined in the San Hyan Kamahayanikan (possibly 8th century). The San Hyan Kamahayanikan claims that its teachings come from Dignaga.


The Tibetan Buddhist canon includes translations of texts written by Javanese masters, such as the Durbodhaloka (a commentary on the Abhisamayalamkara) of Suvarnadvipa Dharmakīrti.


Another work by an Indonesian Tantric Buddhist is Bianhong's Ritual Manual for Initiation into the Great Mandala of the Usnisa-Cakravartin which survives in the Chinese Taisho Tripitaka (T. 959).The Japanese master Kukai wrote a biography of Bianhong.


Architecture

Bahal temple I, in Padang Lawas, North Sumatra. One of the remnants of Pannai Kingdom.

Borobudur Stupas./The statue of Dhyani Buddha VairocanaAvalokitesvara, and Vajrapani inside the Mendut temple


Various unique forms of Buddhist architecture developed in Indonesia and Malaysia the most common of which is the stone Candi which shows Indic influences as has been interpreted as a symbol of Mount Meru.


The Sailendras built many Buddhist structures in Java, including the massive stupa of Borobodur, as well as Candi Sukuh, Candi MendutCandi Kalasan and Candi Sewu. The Srivijayans also built Buddhist temple complexes in Sumatra, such as Muara Takus and Bahal temple and also in the Malay Peninsula, such as in their regional capital at Chaiya.[18] Majapahit also built Candis, such as Jabung, and Penataran.


Other architecture types include punden, small terraced sanctuaries built on mountains and pertapaan, hermitages built on mountain slopes.


Borobodur

The largest Buddhist stupa in the world is the 9th-century complex at Borobudur in central Java, built as a Mandala, a giant three-dimensional representation of Esoteric Buddhist cosmology. The temple shows Indian and local influences and is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues. The reliefs depict stories from the Lalitavistara SutraJataka tales and the Gandavyuha sutra.


Borobudur was abandoned sometime in the classic period, whether caused by human activity; of war or political turmoil, or natural disasters, as it lies on a volcanic plain of Merapi and other active volcanoes in central Java. There is no mention of Borobudur in any of Majapahit sources, implies that this structure already forgotten in the last classic-period. A major restoration project was undertaken between 1975 and 1982 by the Indonesian government and UNESCO and the monument is now a World Heritage Site. It is the most visited tourist attraction in Indonesia and it is still used by Buddhists for pilgrimage.


Candi Sukuh

Candi Sukuh is a fifteenth-century Javanese-Hindu-Buddhist temple (candi) that demonstrates strong tantric influence. Candi Sukuh is located on the western slope of Mount Lawu (elev. 910 m or 3,000 feet (910 m) above sea level) on the border between Central and East Java provinces. The monument was built around 1437, as written as a chronogram date on the western gate, meaning that the area was under the rule of the Majapahit Kingdom during its end (1293–1500). The distinctive Dancing Ganesha relief in Candi Sukuh has a similarity with the Tantric ritual found in the history of Buddhism in Tibet written by Taranatha

The Tantric ritual is associated with several figures, one of whom is described as the "King of Dogs" (SanskritKukuraja), the mahasiddha who taught his disciples by day, and by night performed Ganacakra in a burial ground or charnel ground. Importantly, Ganesha also appears in Buddhism, not only in the form of the Buddhist god Vināyaka, but also portrayed as a Hindu demon form also called VināyakaGanesha's image may be found on Buddhist sculptures of the late Gupta period. As the Buddhist god Vināyaka, Ganesha is often shown dancing, a form called Nṛtta Ganapati that was popular in North India and adopted in Nepal and then into Tibet.


Hevajra in Cambodia: Hevajra may be a populatr diety in Tibet but a multiarmed form of Hevajra, but without his female consort, is found in Cambodia and Thailand. Tibet is where he belongs to the yi-dam (tutelary, or guardian, deity) class. His worship is the subject of the Hevajra Tantra, a scripture that helped bring about the conversion of the Mongol emperor Kublai Khan (1215–94).

Hevajra united with his female consort; Lamaist bronze, early 19th century; in the Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde, Leiden, Neth. Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde, Leiden, Netherlands


Hevajra is represented in art as blue in colour, with a headdress of skull crowns topped by a figure of the buddha Akshobhya. He is characteristically shown with 8 heads, 4 legs, and 16 arms. The arms on the left hold skull cups containing various divinities, the ones on the right their steeds.

The term Hevajra is a name of the central male deity of the maṇḍala described in the text of that name, the Hevajra Tantra. The image of Hevajra, which is an idealized image of a yogin, has arisen due to a tradition and also the associated textual and ritual practices, originated among the communities of renunciants, who constituted what might be termed the "siddha movement" and who from the eighth century onward were an important influence on the development Buddhist Tantric traditions.


The Hevajra Tantra, while a Buddhist scripture with identifiably Buddhist elements, was heavily influenced by this movement. Composed by the late eighth century, the Hevajra Tantra exhibits the charnel-ground culture of the siddha movement, with its emphasis on transgressive practices, particularly in the areas of sexuality and food consumption. Classified as a "Yoginī" or "Mother" Tantra, it also places great emphasis upon female deities, although it is arguable to what extent, if any, this translated into increased respect for women.

Like most Tantras, the majority of the text deals with ritual, with great focus placed upon magical rites employing mantras, often for worldly purposes such as affecting the weather. It is also noticeable for its employment of songs written in the Apabraṃśa dialect, as well as its prescription of a "coded language" (sandhyā-bhāṣā ) for use by yogins and yoginīs in their Tantric feasts.

This has been a topic of great interest for scholars, past and present. In traditional Indian and Tibetan Buddhist contexts, the Hevajra Tantra played an important role in the development of Tantric hermeneutics, and it thus made an important contribution to Buddhist scholarship from the ninth century onward. This "coded language," which has been previously translated as "twilight language," has also been a serious object of study since the mid-twentieth century, and its interpretation has inspired some controversy.


The Hevajra Tantra and its ritual and meditative traditions focus upon a maṇḍala as its central iconographic feature. The maṇḍala also functions as the premier site for its ritual practices, such as consecration (abhiṣeka ) ceremonies, and its meditative practice, since many meditations in the tradition require that the adept either visualize himself or herself within the maṇḍala, or view the maṇḍala as existing within his or her body.

While there are many different types of Hevajra maṇḍalas, probably the best-known version is the relatively simple "skull cup–bearing" (kapāladharin ) maṇḍala, so called because it centers upon Kapāladharī Hevajra, who in this form has sixteen arms, each of which holds a skull cup. He is depicted as being in sexual union with his consort, Nairātmyā. They are in turn surrounded by a circle of eight yoginīs : GaurīŚavarī, Caurī, Caṇḍalī, VetālīḌombinī, Ghasmarī, and Pukkasī. Because the central deity couple are said to be "nondual," it is described as being a nine-deity maṇḍala.


The Hevajra tradition is particularly noted for its theory of the four joys (caturānanda ) achieved via sexual union in the context of Perfection Stage meditation practices that involve focused attention upon the subtle body, and the manipulation of "winds" of vital energy and "drops" of subtle sexual fluids within this body's channels.

Of greatest importance is the fourth of these, the "natural joy" (sahajānanda ). The concept of the "natural" sahaja state became an important element in the discourse of the siddha movement in India, and it has retained its significance to this day among communities of Tantric Buddhists, particularly in Nepal, Tibet, Mongolia, and elsewhere in the diaspora.


The Hevajra Tantra was translated into Chinese by Dharmapāla (963–1058) in 1055 ce, but like other Buddhist Tantras that were translated into Chinese at this time, its practice does not appear to have taken root in China. It was, however, successfully transmitted to Tibet. It was one of the central teachings that the Tibetan scholar Mar pa (Marpa, 1002/12–1096) received from the Indian saint Nāropa (c. 966–1040), and Mar pa in turn passed it on to his famous disciple Mi la ras pa (Milarepa, 1028/40–1111/23), whose disciples would found the Bka' brgyud (Kagyu) orders of Tibetan Buddhism, which continue to transmit the Hevajra tradition as one of their central teachings.

It was also transmitted to Tibet by one of Mar pa's contemporaries, the translator-scholar 'Brog mi (Dok-mi, 992–1072), who studied at Vikramaśila in Northeast India with Ratnākaraśānti (c. eleventh century). He in turn instructed Dkon mchog rgyal po (Könchog Gyalpo, 1034–1102), one of the founders of the Sa skya (Sakya) school of Tibetan Buddhism. The Hevajra Tantra would become one of the central teachings of the Sa skya school, and it provides the basis for its "Path and Fruit" (lam 'bras ) system of Perfection Stage yoga.

The Sa skya school also played an essential role in the dissemination of Buddhism to the Mongols. During the Yuan dynasty, the Mongols achieved hegemony over Tibet and appointed the Tibetan Sa skya Paṇḍita (Sakya Paṇḍita, 1182–1251) to be their governor of Tibet in 1249. His nephew, the Sa skya lama 'Phags pa (Pakpa, 1235–1280), became a friend and advisor of Kublai Khan (1216–1294). Tibetan interactions with the Mongols continued for centuries following the collapse of the Yuan dynasty in 1368 ce, and the Hevajra Tantra was among the many texts and traditions successfully transmitted to the Mongols.


Four Vajra-Deities

These four deities from a large set of small bronze sculptures discovered in 1913 in the village of Chandi Reja in East Java illustrate the importance of Vajrayana (Esoteric) Buddhism in Java. The figures were once part of a larger set of perhaps as many as ninety sculptures that formed a three-dimensional mandala, or cosmic diagram. Scholars generally agree that these sculptures were part of a Diamond Realm (Vajradhatu) mandala.

In Vajrayana Buddhist thought, mastery of both the Diamond Realm, which symbolizes wisdom, and the Womb Realm (Garbhadhatu), which symbolizes practice, is necessary in order to achieve enlightenment. The small size of these figures suggests that they were placed in the outer rings of the mandala, where they functioned as attendants for the more important deities in the inner part. The crowns and jewelry are different for each deity as are the objects they hold in their hands.


Nairatmya, Central Tibet, sixteenth century. Gilt copper inset with turquoise, painted with red pigment, H9.25 in. (23.5 cm). Los Angeles County Museum of Art, From the Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection, purchase, M.70.1.4. Nairatmya represented as a seated yogini, her face ablaze with all-seeing wisdom.

Nairātmyā or Dagmema (Wyliebdag med ma) is a yoginī in Buddhism, the consort of Hevajra in the Hevajra-tantra. The name means "she who has no self (ātman)". Nair-ātmyā is the feminine form of nairātmya which comes from nirātman (the Sanskrit negative particle "niḥ" combined with the masculine noun for self-"ātman"); nairātmya means "of nirātman", and in the feminine form, nairātmyā, "she who has no self". Nairātmyā, the no-self female, that is, she who has no self. She is an embodiment of the Buddhist philosophical concept of anātman (anatta in Pāli).


There is also a presence of Hevajra and other tantric deities at Angkor. These have been the subject of much speculation, and art historians in particular have done much to locate these deities in Angkor’s religious world. There continue to be many different hypotheses, but none, as far as I can tell, present an explanation of the extent of tantric practice. Perhaps these deities were understood much as bodhisattvas mentioned above, powerful and wise deities to be invoked for merit, material benefit, and (for some) to be internalized as components of consciousness.


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