Difference between revisions of "Psychoactive Plants in Tantric Buddhism"
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{{Centre|<big><big>Psychoactive Plants in Tantric Buddhism<br/> | {{Centre|<big><big>Psychoactive Plants in Tantric Buddhism<br/> | ||
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+ | {{Wiki|Cannabis}} and {{Wiki|Datura}} Use in [[Indo-Tibetan]] [[Esoteric Buddhism]]<br/> | ||
by R. C. Parker and Lux</big></big>}} | by R. C. Parker and Lux</big></big>}} | ||
+ | [[File:Monk-smoking.jpg|thumb|250px|]] | ||
+ | ''This article represents a fairly comprehensive survey of references to {{Wiki|datura}} and {{Wiki|cannabis}} in [[Indo-Tibetan]] [[tantric]] [[Buddhist texts]] that have been translated into English. The online version includes more [[Tibetan]] and [[Sanskrit]] transliterations, links to referenced articles, and additional related material. See Erowid.org/extracts/n14/tantra. The authors wish to thank {{Wiki|Professor}} [[David B. Gray]] and {{Wiki|Professor}} [[Geoffrey Samuel]] for their encouragement and many helpful suggestions. | ||
− | + | Since the beginning of {{Wiki|modern}} {{Wiki|discourse}} about [[psychedelics]] in [[American]] [[intellectual]] {{Wiki|culture}}, seminal authors have noted parallels between {{Wiki|psychedelic}} [[experiences]] and {{Wiki|contemplative}} practices of {{Wiki|Asia}}. In his 1954 essay {{Wiki|The Doors of Perception}}, {{Wiki|Aldous Huxley}} likened his [[experience]] of mescaline to the [[insights]] precipitated by [[yoga]] and [[meditation]]. Author {{Wiki|R. Gordon Wasson}} went further, arguing that some [[spiritual]] [[disciplines]] of [[India]] may be intended to evoke an [[experience]] that was originally {{Wiki|entheogenic}} in [[nature]].<ref>Wasson RG. [[Soma]]: [[Divine]] Mushroom of [[Immortality]]. Harcourt. 1972.</ref> | |
− | + | By the late 1960s, counterculture [[rhetoric]] strongly associated [[psychedelics]] and {{Wiki|Eastern mysticism}}. {{Wiki|Alan Watts}} tackled the topic in his 1962 [[book]] The [[Joyous]] [[Cosmology]]; {{Wiki|Timothy Leary}}, {{Wiki|Ram Dass}}, and {{Wiki|Ralph Metzner}} later wrote a guide to {{Wiki|psychedelic experiences}} based on the fourteenth-century [[tantric]] manual [[Bardo Thödol]], the so-called [[Tibetan Book of the Dead]].<ref>Leary T, Metzner R, Alpert R. The [[Psychedelic Experience]]: A Manual Based on the [[Tibetan Book of the Dead]]. Citadel. 1964.</ref> | |
− | + | {{Wiki|Psychedelic experience}} and Eastern [[meditation]] have become so intertwined in {{Wiki|Western culture}} that their [[roots]] are difficult to disentangle. Fortunately, in recent years several thoughtful [[book]] chapters and articles have appeared examining the complex relationship between the explosion of {{Wiki|psychedelic}} counterculture and the contemporaneous popularization of [[Buddhism]] in the [[United States]] in the 1950s and 1960s.<ref>Badiner [[AH]], Grey A. Zig [[Zag]] [[Zen]]: [[Buddhism]] and [[Psychedelics]]. Chronicle [[Books]] LLC. 2002.</ref> | |
− | + | Unfortunately, the history of {{Wiki|psychoactive}} plant use by [[Buddhists]] in {{Wiki|Asia}} has not been addressed with comparable rigor. Although [[interesting]] speculative work has been written on the [[subject]],<ref>[[Crowley]] M. “Secret [[Drugs]] of [[Buddhism]].” E-published in Earthrites Magazine. Accessed Apr 9, 2008; http://earthrites.org/magazine_article_drugplants_crowley.htm.</ref>,<ref>Hajicek-Dobberstein S. “[[Soma]] [[Siddhas]] and [[Alchemical]] [[Enlightenment]]: {{Wiki|Psychedelic}} Mushrooms in [[Buddhist Tradition]]”. J Ethnopharmacol. Oct 1995;48(2):99–118.</ref> a focused analysis of explicit textual {{Wiki|evidence}} has not been published. Over the last few decades, {{Wiki|university}} [[religious]] studies departments have produced translations of [[Buddhist]] [[tantric]] texts of unprecedented [[quality]], providing ample material for an {{Wiki|examination}} of {{Wiki|psychoactive}} plant use by [[Buddhists]] in {{Wiki|Asia}}. This article considers some of the {{Wiki|evidence}} with [[respect]] to [[tantric]] [[Buddhism]] in [[India]] and [[Tibet]], focusing on the use of {{Wiki|cannabis}} and {{Wiki|datura}}. | |
− | + | :::'''''{{Wiki|Psychedelic experience}} and Eastern [[meditation]] have become so intertwined […] that their [[roots]] are difficult to disentagle. | |
− | + | ===[[Tantric Buddhism]]=== | |
− | + | The term “[[tantra]]” refers to a great many [[religious]] practices and [[beliefs]]. It is so difficult to define, that some [[religious]] {{Wiki|historians}} argue the [[word]] has little meaning other than to mark extreme or {{Wiki|taboo}} practices.<ref>Urban HB. [[Tantra]]: {{Wiki|Sex}}, [[Secrecy]], Politics, and Power in the Study of [[Religion]]. {{Wiki|University of California Press}}. 2003.</ref> The [[Sanskrit]] [[word]] and its [[Tibetan]] {{Wiki|equivalent}} ([[rgyud]]) refer to the texts that [[form]] the [[scriptural]] basis for the [[religious]] {{Wiki|movement}}, and also mean “{{Wiki|continuum}}” or “[[lineage]]”. | |
− | + | Despite the difficulty in pinning down the term, different [[tantric]] [[lineages]] generally share some {{Wiki|characteristics}}. Practices and [[scriptures]] are often secret, with instructions given in private by [[teachers]] to students with whom they have [[consecrated]] a formal guru/disciple relationship. Many [[tantric practices]] must be authorized by [[empowerment]] {{Wiki|ceremonies}}, which sometimes last for days or weeks and may carry lifelong practice [[commitments]] as a [[condition]] of receiving them. | |
+ | [[File:D._stramonium,_Photo_by_Acidmon.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Wikipedia:Datura stramonium|D. stramonium]], Photo by Acidmon]] | ||
+ | Most [[tantric]] [[scriptures]] are practice oriented texts associated with specific [[deities]]. [[Tantric]] [[meditation]] and [[ritual]] often involve complex [[visualizations]] of these deities—so much so that the [[Tibetan]] polymath [[Tsong Khapa]] (1357–1419) proposed “[[deity yoga]]” as the defining [[characteristic]] of [[tantra]]. <ref>[[Dalai Lama]] HH (Tenzi n Gyatso), [[Tsong-kha-pa]], Hopkins PJ. [[Tantra]] in [[Tibet]]. [[Snow Lion Publications]]. 1987.</ref> Many [[tantric]] [[yogas]] are intended to elicit [[extraordinary]] states of [[consciousness]], [[including]] {{Wiki|sexual}} [[yoga]] with {{Wiki|real}} or [[visualized]] partners and [[energy]] [[yogas]] that {{Wiki|manipulate}} [[body]] heat, respiration, or [[Wikipedia:Dream|dreaming]]. | ||
− | + | The {{Wiki|concept}} of [[tantra]] as a sex-positive [[religion]] devoted to embracing the material [[world]] is a {{Wiki|modern}} construction that bears little resemblance to the historical [[tantric practices]] and [[beliefs]] of {{Wiki|Asia}}.<ref>White DG. Kiss of the [[Yoginī]]: “[[Tantric]] {{Wiki|Sex}}” in its [[Wikipedia:South Asia|South Asian]] Contexts. {{Wiki|University of Chicago Press}}. 2006.</ref> | |
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− | + | [[Tantra]] began to take shape as a major [[religious]] {{Wiki|movement}} in [[India]] between the sixth and ninth centuries CE.<ref>White DG. The [[Alchemical]] [[Body]]: [[Siddha]] [[Traditions]] of {{Wiki|Medieval India}}. {{Wiki|University of Chicago Press}}. 1996. p 19,118–9,412.</ref>,<ref>Davidson RM. [[Indian]] [[Esoteric Buddhism]]: A {{Wiki|Social}} History of the [[Tantric]] {{Wiki|Movement}}. {{Wiki|Columbia University Press}}. 2003. p 201.</ref> Many of the extant [[tantric]] texts were written in these years and the {{Wiki|movement}} reached a peak that lasted several centuries. Most [[tantras]] were composed in [[Sanskrit]] in [[India]] and {{Wiki|Central Asia}}, and many were eventually exported to [[China]] and [[Tibet]]. | |
− | + | During 950–1200 CE, [[Tibet]] underwent a period of upheaval followed by a “{{Wiki|renaissance}}”, in which the old [[Tibetan]] [[empire]] collapsed and reorganized into a {{Wiki|society}} ruled by a complex network of powerful {{Wiki|clans}} and [[religious]] {{Wiki|institutions}}. <ref>Davidson RM. [[Tibetan]] {{Wiki|Renaissance}}: [[Tantric Buddhism]] in the [[Rebirth]] of [[Tibetan]] {{Wiki|Culture}}. {{Wiki|Columbia University Press}}. 2005.</ref> During this {{Wiki|renaissance}}, enormous resources and labor were devoted to painstakingly translating [[Buddhist scriptures]] from [[Sanskrit]] into [[Tibetan]]. The [[Tibetan]] written [[language]] had been developed during the seventh century by a committee of [[religious]] [[scholars]] specifically for the {{Wiki|purpose}} of translating [[scriptures]] from [[Sanskrit]]. <ref>Snellgrove D, Richardson H. A {{Wiki|Cultural}} [[History of Tibet]]. Frederick A. Paeger, Inc. 1968.</ref> Many [[Buddhist]] [[tantras]] that are lost in their original [[Sanskrit]] [[forms]] still [[exist]] in the [[Tibetan]] [[scriptural]] [[canon]]. | |
− | + | ==Why Look to [[Tantra]]?== | |
− | + | There are several [[reasons]] to look to [[tantra]] for {{Wiki|psychoactive}} [[substance]] use in pre-modern [[Buddhist]] {{Wiki|Asia}}. The first and most important is that non-tantric [[monastic]] [[Buddhism]] is far less tolerant of violations of [[scriptural]] [[precepts]] than [[tantric]] [[Buddhism]]. [[Buddha’s]] injunction against consuming [[intoxicants]] precludes the open use of {{Wiki|psychoactive}} {{Wiki|substances}} by members of the [[Buddhist]] [[monastic]] establishment. In contrast, [[tantric]] [[Buddhism]] can allow for, and even applaud, shocking transgressions as a sign that the [[yogi]] has transcended ordinary patterns of valuation and {{Wiki|behavior}}. | |
− | + | While non-tantric [[Buddhist practice]] was overwhelmingly the purview of [[ordained]] [[monks and nuns]] in {{Wiki|medieval}} [[India]], the [[tāntrika]], or [[practitioner]] of [[tantra]], was often a [[layperson]]. | |
− | + | A mainstay of [[tantric]] {{Wiki|literature}} is the [[siddha]], a sorcerer-like [[yogi]] who achieves [[extraordinary]] [[powers]] such as flight or [[psychic]] {{Wiki|abilities}} through [[religious]] practice. Unlike the introverted [[monk]] quietly seeking [[liberation]] behind [[monastery]] walls, the [[siddha]] expresses [[spiritual]] [[attainment]] in the [[world]]. In their {{Wiki|biographies}}, [[tantric]] [[siddhas]] often commit outrageous acts of apparently reckless {{Wiki|violence}}, consumption of [[intoxicants]], or {{Wiki|sexual}} conduct. <ref>[[Abhayadatta]]. [[Buddha’s]] [[Lions]]: [[Lives]] of the [[Eighty-Four Siddhas]]. trans. by [[James B. Robinson]]. [[Dharma]] Publishing. 1997.</ref> In one famous legend, the [[guru]] [[Hāḍipā]] of the [[Nāth]] [[siddha]] [[lineage]] is said to have broken a five-year fast by consuming enormous quantities of hemp, Strychnos nux-vomica (Kucila, the “strychnine [[tree]]”), and {{Wiki|datura}}. <ref>[[Bhattacharyya]] B. An Introduction to [[Buddhist]] [[Esoterism]]. {{Wiki|Oxford University Press}}. 1931. p 73.</ref> | |
− | + | In addition to accommodating the use of psychoactives, [[tantric]] texts sometimes include {{Wiki|encyclopedic}} instructions for the use of {{Wiki|medicinal}} [[plants]]. [[Ayurvedic]] [[medicine]] and [[yoga]] are two important antecedents to [[tantra]],<ref>White DG. The [[Alchemical]] [[Body]]: [[Siddha]] [[Traditions]] of {{Wiki|Medieval India}}. {{Wiki|University of Chicago Press}}. 1996. p 19,118–9,412.</ref> and those [[disciplines]] provide a template for simultaneously developing both [[body]] and [[mind]] in the service of [[liberation]]. <ref>Fields GP. [[Religious]] Therapeutics: [[Body]] and [[Health]] in [[Yoga]] and [[Ayurvedic]] [[Medicine]]. Doctoral {{Wiki|Dissertation}}, {{Wiki|University of Hawaii}}. 1994.</ref> This {{Wiki|holistic}} approach to [[spiritual]] practice is preserved in several important [[Buddhist]] [[tantras]] in which [[physical]], [[mental]], and [[spiritual]] {{Wiki|ailments}} [[form]] a single complex of related concerns that must be treated in tandem. This approach is an easy [[Wikipedia:Rhetoric|rhetorical]] fit with pre-tantric [[Buddhist scriptures]], which sometimes describe [[Buddha]] as a doctor and [[suffering]] as an {{Wiki|illness}}. <ref>Stablein WG. The Mahākālatantra: A {{Wiki|Theory}} of [[Ritual]] [[Blessings]] and [[Tantric]] [[Medicine]]. Doctoral {{Wiki|Dissertation}}, {{Wiki|Columbia University}}. 1976. p 21–2,80,255–6,36,286,5.</ref> Consequently, some [[Buddhist]] [[tantras]] include compendious [[information]] about {{Wiki|medicinal}} [[plants]], [[including]] {{Wiki|cannabis}} and {{Wiki|datura}}. | |
− | In | + | =={{Wiki|Datura}} in [[Buddhist Tantra]]== |
+ | [[File:Cannabis4432.jpg|thumb|250px|]] | ||
+ | Both {{Wiki|Datura stramonium}} and {{Wiki|Datura metel}} are well-documented in [[India]] and [[Tibet]]. In [[Sanskrit]] {{Wiki|datura}} is known as dhattūra, while in [[Tibetan]] the plant is da dhu ra. Datura’s effects were described in several [[ayurvedic]] [[materia medica]]. It is mentioned in the [[Kāmasūtra]] (ca. 4th–6th century CE), which says: “If [[food]] be mixed with the fruit of the thorn apple (dathura) it [[causes]] [[intoxication]]”. <ref>[[Vātsyāyana]]. The [[Kama]] [[Sutra]] of [[Vatsyayana]]. trans. Richard Burton. {{Wiki|Modern}} Library. 2002. p 188,181.</ref> It also advises a man to anoint his {{Wiki|penis}} with [[honey]] [[infused]] with [[datura]] and long peppers ({{Wiki|pippali}} = Piper lungum) before {{Wiki|sexual}} intercourse to make his partner “[[subject]] to his will”. <ref>[[Vātsyāyana]]. The [[Kama]] [[Sutra]] of [[Vatsyayana]]. trans. Richard Burton. {{Wiki|Modern}} Library. 2002. p 188,181.</ref> | ||
− | + | ::'''''[…] [[tantric]] [[siddhas]] often commit outrageous acts of apparently reckless {{Wiki|violence}}, consumption of [[intoxicants]], or {{Wiki|sexual}} conduct. | |
− | + | [[Datura]] is associated with several [[Hindu]] and [[Buddhist]] [[deities]]. [[Wikipedia:Vamana Purana|Vāmana Purāṇa]], a pre-modern devotional text dedicated to [[Vishnu]] (date unknown), tells that [[datura]] sprouted from the {{Wiki|chest}} of the [[god]] [[Śiva]].<ref>Rätsch C. {{Wiki|Encyclopedia}} of {{Wiki|Psychoactive}} [[Plants]]. Park Street Press. 2005. p 204,204,203.</ref> Its [[flowers]] are sometimes used as {{Wiki|ceremonial}} offerings—a practice that continues to this day in [[Nepal]].<ref>Rätsch C. {{Wiki|Encyclopedia}} of {{Wiki|Psychoactive}} [[Plants]]. Park Street Press. 2005. p 204,204,203.</ref> [[Wrathful deities]] in [[tantric]] [[Buddhism]] are said to be fond of [[datura]],<ref>De [[Nebesky-Wojkowitz]] R. {{Wiki|Oracles}} and {{Wiki|Demons}} of [[Tibet]]: The {{Wiki|Cult}} and {{Wiki|Iconography}} of the [[Tibetan]] [[Protective Deities]]. [[Book]] [[Faith]] [[India]]. 1996. p 346,489.</ref> which is sometimes used as a [[ritual]] [[offering]] to placate these deities.ref>De [[Nebesky-Wojkowitz]] R. {{Wiki|Oracles}} and {{Wiki|Demons}} of [[Tibet]]: The {{Wiki|Cult}} and {{Wiki|Iconography}} of the [[Tibetan]] [[Protective Deities]]. [[Book]] [[Faith]] [[India]]. 1996. p 346,489.</ref> References to {{Wiki|datura}} in the pre-eleventh century [[Vajramahabhairava Tantra]] have been used to argue on behalf of an Old [[World]] origin of {{Wiki|Datura metel}}.<ref>Siklós B. “[[Datura]] [[Rituals]] in the [[Vajramahabhairava-tantra]]”. Curare. 1993;16(2):71–76. p 73,74,73,73.</ref> | |
+ | [[File:Mokingmonk11.jpg|thumb|250px|]] | ||
+ | ::'''''This compound “becomes an ointment for the [[eyes]]. After applying it one revolves around and around like a bee.” | ||
− | : | + | The {{Wiki|psychoactive}} effects of {{Wiki|datura}} have long been [[recognized]] in [[Tibet]]. The [[religious]] author [[Sachen Kunga Nyingpo]] (1092–1158) used the effects of [[datura]] to illustrate how our [[senses]] can be distorted, [[writing]]: “When [[datura]] […] is eaten, [[appearances]] [[manifest]] as [[yellow]].”<ref>[[Stearns]] C. Taking the Result as the [[Path]]: Core Teachings of the [[Sakya]] [[Lamdré]] [[Tradition]]. [[Wisdom Publications]]. 2006. p 432.</ref> The third [[Dodrup Chen Rinpoche]] (1865–1926), a [[Tibetan]] scholar-yogi, compares a cryptic “[[nectar]] rendering [[liberation]]” to the power of [[datura]]. He writes, “If one takes the [[nectar]] by itself the ([[subtle body]]) will receive [[blessings]] spontaneously and {{Wiki|excellent}} accomplishments will be achieved, like being {{Wiki|intoxicated}} by [[alcohol]] […] and being deluded with [[visions]] by [[Datura]] or thorn apple[…]”.<ref>[[Thondup Rinpoche]] T. [[Hidden Teachings of Tibet]]. [[Wisdom Publications]]. 1997. p 152–3.</ref> |
− | Datura | + | [[Datura]] [[intoxication]] may have been widespread in [[siddha]] {{Wiki|culture}}. In [[Indian]] [[Esoteric Buddhism]], [[Ronald M. Davidson]] observes: |
− | : | + | :Many of the [[siddha]] [[scriptures]] discuss ointments and [[drugs]], especially those applied to the [[eyes]] or feet. The use of the various {{Wiki|species}} of [[datura]] (especially ({{Wiki|Datura metel}}) ) is particularly evident. Sometimes termed the “crazy [[datura]]” (unmattadhattura) or “[[Śiva’s]] {{Wiki|datura}},” it was generally employed as a narcotic paste or as [[wood]] in a [[fire]] {{Wiki|ceremony}} and could be easily absorbed through the {{Wiki|skin}} or the {{Wiki|lungs}}.<ref>Davidson RM. [[Indian]] [[Esoteric Buddhism]]: A {{Wiki|Social}} History of the [[Tantric]] {{Wiki|Movement}}.{{Wiki|Columbia University Press}}. 2003. p 201.</ref> |
− | The | + | The use of [[datura]] in various [[rites]] is prescribed by a number of seminal [[tantras]] that exerted a profound influence on [[Indian]] and [[Tibetan]] [[religious]] {{Wiki|culture}}. Most of the known {{Wiki|datura}} references pertain to magico-religious [[rites]] of attack intended to [[cause]] enemies to go insane, to destroy their [[wealth]], or to drive them away. |
− | + | The [[Guhyasamāja Tantra]] (ca. 8th century CE) is generally considered one of the earliest extant [[Buddhist]] [[tantras]].<ref>Urban HB. [[Tantra]]: {{Wiki|Sex}}, [[Secrecy]], Politics, and Power in the Study of [[Religion]]. {{Wiki|University of California}} Press. 2003.</ref> This key [[scripture]] describes the basic [[architecture]] of [[tantric]] practice and is venerated by several schools of [[Tibetan]] Buddhism—particularly the [[Gelukpas]], who take it as the central [[tantra]].<ref>Cozort D. [[Highest Yoga Tantra]]: An Introduction to the [[Esoteric Buddhism]] of [[Tibet]]. [[Snow Lion Publications]]. 1986. p 13.</ref> In the [[Guhyasamāja Tantra]], [[Buddha]] [[Vajradhara]] gives instructions for {{Wiki|undertaking}} the destruction of evil-doers: | |
− | : | + | :Making an image of the enemy with the excrement and {{Wiki|urine}} of those who follow the great [[Dharma]], [[wrathfully]] burn it in a [[fire]] of thorn-wood, and even the [[Buddha]] will certainly perish. […] So he said black mustard-seeds, [[salt]], oil, [[poison]], and thorn-apple ({{Wiki|datura}}), these are [[taught]] as the supreme destroyers of all the [[Buddhas]].<ref>[[Fremantle]] F. A Critical Study of the [[Guhyasamāja Tantra]]. Doctoral {{Wiki|Dissertation}}, {{Wiki|University of London}}. 1971. p 103.</ref> |
− | + | Similarly, the [[Cakrasamvara Tantra]] (ca. late 8th century CE) is highly venerated in [[Tibet]] to this day. It states: “Should the well-equipoised one immolate mustard oil with [[crows]]’ wings and (the victim’s [[name]]) in a {{Wiki|datura}} [[fire]], he will immediately be expelled or killed.”<ref>Gray DB. The [[Cakrasamvara Tantra]] (The {{Wiki|Discourse}} of [[Śrī Heruka]]): A Study and Annotated Translation. The [[American]] Institute of [[Buddhist Studies]]. 2007. p 371,352,362,373–4.</ref> | |
− | The | + | The [[Cakrasamvara Tantra]] also tells that a [[tāntrika]] can drive an enemy insane using [[magical]] implements, [[including]] a [[charnel ground]] cloth [[bound]] around the “five [[intoxicants]]”. The [[Tibetan]] commentator Budön [[Rinchen Drup]] explains that “five [[intoxicants]]” refers to the [[root]], stem, leaves, [[flower]], and fruit of the {{Wiki|datura}} plant<ref>Gray DB. The [[Cakrasamvara Tantra]] (The {{Wiki|Discourse}} of Çré [[Heruka]]): A Study and Annotated Translation. The [[American]] Institute of [[Buddhist Studies]]. 2007. p 371,352,362,373–4.</ref>—all of which contain {{Wiki|psychoactive}} {{Wiki|alkaloids}}.<ref>Rätsch C. {{Wiki|Encyclopedia}} of {{Wiki|Psychoactive}} [[Plants]]. Park Street Press. 2005. p 204,204,203.</ref> In another reference to {{Wiki|datura}}, the [[tantra]] claims that immolating “one hundred and eight golden {{Wiki|fruits}}” (kanakaphala, explicated as “{{Wiki|datura}} fruit” by the commentator [[Jayabhadra]]) will allow one to become insubstantial.<ref>Gray DB. The [[Cakrasamvara Tantra]] (The {{Wiki|Discourse}} of [[Śrī Heruka]]): A Study and Annotated Translation. The [[American]] Institute of [[Buddhist Studies]]. 2007. p 371,352,362,373–4.</ref> |
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− | + | The [[Vajramahabhairava Tantra]] (ca. 10th century CE) contains instructions for {{Wiki|killing}} an enemy saying that the [[practitioner]] should perform a [[rite]]: “naked, with disheveled [[hair]] and facing [[south]], draw the sixteen-section [[wheel]] of [[Vajramahabhairava]] […] on a shroud in venom, {{Wiki|blood}}, [[salt]], black mustard, nimba (Azadirachta indica) and {{Wiki|Datura}} juice using a pen made from a [[raven]] feather or from [[human]] bone.”<ref>Siklós B. “[[Datura Rituals]] in the [[Vajramahabhairava-tantra]]”. Curare. 1993;16(2):71–76. p 73,74,73,73.</ref> | |
− | + | This [[tantra]] also provides instructions for using the ash of {{Wiki|datura}} [[wood]] to {{Wiki|magically}} break a relationship between a man and woman, or to drive [[people]] away.<ref>Siklós B. “[[Datura Rituals]] in the [[Vajramahabhairava-tantra]]”. Curare. 1993;16(2):71–76. p 73,74,73,73.</ref> {{Wiki|Datura}} fruit may be used in [[magical]] [[rituals]] to drive an enemy insane: | |
+ | :[…The [[practitioner]]) takes {{Wiki|Datura}} fruit and, mixing it with [[human]] flesh and worm-eaten sawdust, offers it in [[food]] or drink. He recites the [[mantra]] and that [[person]] will instantly go insane and then [[die]] within seven days.<ref>Siklós B. “[[Datura Rituals]] in the [[Vajramahabhairava-tantra]]”. Curare. 1993;16(2):71–76. p 73,74,73,73.</ref> | ||
− | + | and to destroy [[wealth]]: | |
− | + | :Then if, wanting to turn [[wealth]] into {{Wiki|poverty}}, [he] performs a hundred and eight [[burnt offerings]] at night in a [[fire]] of cotton using {{Wiki|Datura}} fruit, (that [[wealth]]) will indeed become trifling.<ref>Siklós B. “[[Datura Rituals]] in the [[Vajramahabhairava-tantra]]”. Curare. 1993;16(2):71–76. p 73,74,73,73.</ref> | |
+ | [[File:Cannabis_Leaf.jpg|thumb|250px|Cannabis Leaf, Image by Tganja]] | ||
+ | {{Wiki|Datura}} was sometimes included in [[ritual]] [[fire offerings]] that may have produced {{Wiki|psychoactive}} smoke. A key eleventh century commentary on the [[Kālachakra]] [[Tantra]] by [[Puṇḍarīka]] describes: “When the oblation is [[offered]] in the [[octagonal]] pot, [on a [[fire]] made with arka faggots, with thorn-apples ({{Wiki|datura}}) and kusumadyas [[offered]] into the [[fire]], it accomplishes stupefactions [of the enemy] […]”.<ref>Hartzell, JF. [[Tantric Yoga]]: A Study of the {{Wiki|Vedic}} Precursors, Historical [[Evolution]], Literatures, Cultures, [[Doctrines]], and Practices of the 11th Century Kaśmīri [[Śaivite]] and [[Buddhist]] Unexcelled [[Tantric]] [[Yogas]]. Doctoral {{Wiki|Dissertation}}, [[Columbia]] {{Wiki|University}}. 1997. p 1270,363.</ref> [[Arka]] has been identified as milkweed and kusumadyas as Assyrian plum. | ||
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+ | The [[Mahakala Tantra]] (ca. 8th–12th century CE) contains extensive [[materia medica]] and [[magical]] instructions. In [[chapter]] twelve, “On Ointments”, it instructs practitioners to harvest {{Wiki|datura}} and two other [[plants]], and mix them with the {{Wiki|bile}} of a black {{Wiki|cat}} and [[honey]]. This compound “becomes an ointment for the [[eyes]]. After applying it one revolves around and around like a bee.”<ref>Stablein WG. The Mahākālatantra: A {{Wiki|Theory}} of [[Ritual]] [[Blessings]] and [[Tantric]] [[Medicine]]. Doctoral {{Wiki|Dissertation}}, [[Columbia]] {{Wiki|University}}. 1976. p 21–2,80,255–6,36,286,5.</ref> In a similar vein, [[tantra]] historian [[Ronald Davidson]] notes that the use of {{Wiki|datura}} in [[tantric]] [[rituals]] “may have something to do with the [[siddha]] fascination with flying or perhaps inform[s] their {{Wiki|iconography}}, for a common report from the use of {{Wiki|datura}} is the [[sensation]] of aerial transport or the [[feeling]] of being half-man and half-animal.”<ref>Davidson RM. [[Indian]] [[Esoteric Buddhism]]: A {{Wiki|Social}} History of the [[Tantric]] {{Wiki|Movement}}. {{Wiki|Columbia University Press}}. 2003. p 201.</ref> | ||
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+ | The [[Mahakala Tantra]] also offers instructions to find lost [[treasure]] by creating a [[magical]] pill that includes {{Wiki|datura}}: | ||
+ | |||
+ | :After having ground the following {{Wiki|medicines}} one should make pills: the seed grain of khoḍiyā, the seed of sesbania, the juice of the leaf of the waved-leaf fig [[tree]], the juice of Villarsia cristata, the powder of the regurgitation of {{Wiki|cow}}, the juice of [[Śiva’s]] intoxicant (= {{Wiki|datura}}), the juice of the [[root]] of the wormseed and onion leaf together with the {{Wiki|bile}} of a {{Wiki|snake}} and [[honey]] which has been kept under the ground. When two days [have] gone by, at a cool [[time]] (of the day) one should anoint (the [[eyes]]) and one will see a hole in the ground. <ref>Stablein WG. The Mahākālatantra: A {{Wiki|Theory}} of [[Ritual]] [[Blessings]] and [[Tantric]] [[Medicine]]. Doctoral {{Wiki|Dissertation}}, [[Columbia]] {{Wiki|University}}. 1976. p 21–2,80,255–6,36,286,5.</ref> | ||
+ | |||
+ | The fourth [[chapter]] of Kṛṣṇa-yāmari (ca. 10th century) gives instructions for a [[wrathful]] [[ritual]] [[visualization]] in which the [[yogi]] makes “the index finger [[red]] with the resins from the thorn-apple leaves and also the [[seeds]] of ({{Wiki|datura}})”. <ref>Hartzell, JF. [[Tantric Yoga]]: A Study of the {{Wiki|Vedic}} Precursors, Historical [[Evolution]], Literatures, Cultures, [[Doctrines]], and Practices of the 11th Century Kaśmīri [[Śaivite]] and [[Buddhist]] Unexcelled [[Tantric]] [[Yogas]]. Doctoral {{Wiki|Dissertation}}, [[Columbia]] {{Wiki|University}}. 1997. p 1270,363.</ref> | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==[[Cannabis]] in [[Buddhist Tantra]]== | ||
+ | [[File:Cannabispickerindu.jpg|thumb|250px|]] | ||
+ | Like {{Wiki|datura}}, {{Wiki|cannabis}} has a long history in {{Wiki|Asia}}. [[Scholars]] have argued that [[cannabis]] may have been first cultivated in [[China]] in {{Wiki|Neolithic}} times<ref>Touw M. “The [[Religious]] and Medicinal Uses of [[Cannabis]] in [[China]], [[India]] and [[Tibet]].” J {{Wiki|Psychoactive}} [[Drugs]]. 1981 Jan– Mar;13(1):23–34. p 24,25,28,28,28.</ref> and the plant has been well-known throughout [[India]], [[Nepal]], and [[Tibet]] for millennia. {{Wiki|Cannabis}} is referred to in the [[Vedas]] as “[[source of happiness]]” and “liberator”. <ref>Touw M. “The [[Religious]] and Medicinal Uses of [[Cannabis]] in [[China]], [[India]] and [[Tibet]].” J {{Wiki|Psychoactive}} [[Drugs]]. 1981 Jan– Mar;13(1):23–34. p 24,25,28,28,28.</ref> | ||
+ | [[File:Marijuana_smoker.jpg|thumb|250px|]] | ||
+ | Perhaps the earliest-known {{Wiki|literary}} reference to [[cannabis]] appears in the [[Hindu]] [[scripture]] {{Wiki|Satapatha Brahmana}} (ca. 800 BCE).<ref>Rätsch C. [[Plants]] of [[Love]]. Ten Speed Press. 1997. p 82,86,82.</ref> [[Cannabis]] also appears in an early {{Wiki|medicinal}} work, the [[Sushruta Samhita]] (written sometime between 400 BCE and 600 CE) as an antiphlegmatic.<ref>Touw M. “The [[Religious]] and Medicinal Uses of [[Cannabis]] in [[China]], [[India]] and [[Tibet]].” J {{Wiki|Psychoactive}} [[Drugs]]. 1981 Jan– Mar;13(1):23–34. p 24,25,28,28,28.</ref> In early works of [[Ayurveda]], [[cannabis]] is said to “increase gastric [[fire]]”, i.e., {{Wiki|digestion}} and appetite. <ref>Touw M. “The [[Religious]] and Medicinal Uses of [[Cannabis]] in [[China]], [[India]] and [[Tibet]].” J {{Wiki|Psychoactive}} [[Drugs]]. 1981 Jan– Mar;13(1):23–34. p 24,25,28,28,28.</ref> Vaìgasena’s Compendium of the [[Essence]] of [[Medicine]], an eleventhcentury {{Wiki|Bengali}} {{Wiki|medicinal}} text, describes [[cannabis]] ([[bhanga]]) as “a {{Wiki|drug}} like {{Wiki|opium}}” and prescribes it as a [[medicine]] to enhance longevity. <ref>Wujastyk D. “[[Cannabis]] in [[Traditional]] [[Indian]] Herbal [[Medicine]]”. In Ana Salema (ed.), [[Ayurveda]] at the Crossroads of Care and Cure. Proceedings of the {{Wiki|Indo-European}} Seminar on [[Ayurveda]] held at Arrábida, {{Wiki|Portugal}}, in November 2001. 2002. p 45–73.</ref> | ||
− | + | Like {{Wiki|datura}}, [[cannabis]] has been prominently associated with the [[Hindu]] [[god]] [[Śiva]] since {{Wiki|ancient}} times. [[Cannabis]] plays an important role in some [[Hindu]] [[tantra]] [[lineages]], where it may have been used during [[tantric rites]] to help {{Wiki|adepts}} overcome their aversions to taboo-breaking [[religious]] practices. <ref>Wujastyk D. “[[Cannabis]] in [[Traditional]] [[Indian]] Herbal [[Medicine]]”. In Ana Salema (ed.), [[Ayurveda]] at the Crossroads of Care and Cure. Proceedings of the {{Wiki|Indo-European}} Seminar on [[Ayurveda]] held at Arrábida, {{Wiki|Portugal}}, in November 2001. 2002. p 45–73.</ref>,<ref>[[Bharati]], A. The [[Tantric]] [[Tradition]]. Rider & Co. 1965.</ref> In the [[Mahāyāna tradition]], [[Buddha]] is said to have subsisted for six years of [[ascetic]] practice on [[nothing]] but hemp [[seeds]].<ref>Rätsch C. Marijuana [[Medicine]]. [[Healing]] [[Arts]] Press. 2001. p 45.</ref> | |
− | + | [[Tantra]] [[scholar]] [[David Gordon White]] notes that [[cannabis]] use was a widespread part of the influential [[Nāth]] [[siddha]] [[lineage]]. <ref>White DG. The [[Alchemical]] [[Body]]: [[Siddha]] [[Traditions]] of {{Wiki|Medieval India}}. {{Wiki|University of Chicago Press}}. 1996. p 19,118–9,412.</ref> Additionally, he notes that in the [[Buddhist]] [[Tārā]] [[Tantra]], [[cannabis]] is “[[essential]] to {{Wiki|ecstasy}}”. <ref>White DG. The [[Alchemical]] [[Body]]: [[Siddha]] [[Traditions]] of {{Wiki|Medieval India}}. {{Wiki|University of Chicago Press}}. 1996. p 19,118–9,412.</ref> In that [[tantra]], [[Buddha]] says that drinking wine without having consumed [[cannabis]] “cannot produce {{Wiki|real}} {{Wiki|ecstasy}}”. <ref>Maitra AK (ed.). Tārātantra. [[Varendra]] Res. Soc. 1983.</ref> In this context “{{Wiki|ecstasy}}” is a technical term describing the [[experience]] of [[bliss]] [[caused]] by particular [[yogic]] achievements, and an important step in becoming [[enlightened]]. | |
− | + | [[Cannabis]] serves a magico-medicinal [[function]] in several major [[tantras]]. [[Including]] its {{Wiki|datura}} references described above, much of the [[Mahakala Tantra]] concerns the search for the “{{Wiki|perfect}} [[medicine]]”, a [[psycho-spiritual]] elixir that will [[transform]] the [[body]] and [[mind]] in the service of [[liberation]]. <ref>[[Vātsyāyana]]. The [[Kama]] [[Sutra]] of [[Vatsyayana]]. trans. Richard Burton. {{Wiki|Modern}} Library. 2002. p 188,181.</ref> This [[lineage]] extols the use of {{Wiki|medicinal}} herbs (ausadhi) to achieve “[[attainments]]” or “[[powers]]”. | |
− | [[ | ||
− | |||
− | + | ::'''''Like {{Wiki|datura}}, [[cannabis]] has been prominently associated with the [[Hindu]] [[god]] [[Shiva]] since {{Wiki|ancient}} times. | |
− | + | Forty-two of the [[Mahakala Tantra]]’s fifty chapters include [[formulas]] for using {{Wiki|medicinal}} [[plants]], and many of these [[plants]] are {{Wiki|psychoactive}}. A partial list includes [[plants]] that have been identified as {{Wiki|Acorus calamus}}, {{Wiki|Areca catechu}}, Artemisia spp., {{Wiki|Cannabis sativa}}, {{Wiki|Cinnamomum camphora}}, {{Wiki|Datura metel}}, {{Wiki|Myristica fragrans}}, {{Wiki|Nelumbo nucifera}}, {{Wiki|Peganum harmala}}, and {{Wiki|Valeriana wallichii}}. The [[plants]] are employed to attain [[health]], [[wealth]], [[wisdom]], and [[supernatural powers]] such as [[seeing]] underground and flying. These [[formulas]] include [[cannabis]] in several different [[forms]], [[including]] leaves, resin, and other plant material.<ref>[[Vātsyāyana]]. The [[Kama]] [[Sutra]] of [[Vatsyayana]]. trans. Richard Burton. {{Wiki|Modern}} Library. 2002. p 188,181.</ref> Given that these [[cannabis]] products are included in the “{{Wiki|perfect}} [[medicine]]” [[formulas]] of the [[Mahākāla]] [[Tantra]], [[cannabis]] may perhaps be considered a significant part of this [[tantric]] [[lineage]]. | |
+ | :'''''[…] [[Buddha]] says that drinking wine without having consumed [[cannabis]] “cannot produce {{Wiki|real}} {{Wiki|ecstasy}}”. | ||
+ | The [[Cakrasamvara Tantra]] (described in the [[datura]] section above) also emphasizes the magico-medical role of [[cannabis]], stating that a mixture of compounds [[including]] [[cannabis]] will help one “become a [[yogin]] who does what he pleases and stays anywhere whatsoever.”<ref>Gray DB. The [[Cakrasamvara Tantra]] (The {{Wiki|Discourse}} of [[Śrī Heruka]]): A Study and Annotated Translation. The [[American]] Institute of [[Buddhist Studies]]. 2007. p 371,352,362,373–4.</ref> The [[translator]] notes that all the [[plants]] in this recipe are edible, and this [[formula]] may therefore refer to the preparation of material for oral consumption, possibly as “siddhi-pills”. | ||
+ | {| style="text-align: center;margin: 30px;float: left;background: #d2d6be;" width="300px" | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | | [[File:Cannadeity.png|frameless|250px|]] | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | |'''<big>[[Cannabis]] & {{Wiki|Sexual}} [[Tantra]]</big><br/> | ||
+ | Anthropologist {{Wiki|Christian}} Rätsch has argued that [[cannabis]] is used in [[tantric]] {{Wiki|sexual}} [[yoga]], pointing out centuries of [[belief]] about its {{Wiki|sexual}} effects in {{Wiki|Asia}}.<ref>Touw M. “The [[Religious]] and Medicinal Uses of [[Cannabis]] in [[China]], [[India]] and [[Tibet]].” J {{Wiki|Psychoactive}} [[Drugs]]. 1981 Jan– Mar;13(1):23–34. p 24,25,28,28,28.</ref>,<ref>Rätsch C. [[Plants]] of [[Love]]. Ten Speed Press. 1997. p 82,86,82.</ref> However, because Rätsch focuses on the Hindu/Buddhist {{Wiki|syncretic}} [[tantric]] {{Wiki|culture}} of [[Nepal]], relying on [[Hindu]] sources for textual support,<ref>Aldrich MR.“Tantric [[Cannabis]] Use in [[India]]”. J {{Wiki|Psychedelic}} [[Drugs]]. 1977;9(3):227–233.</ref> the relevance of his findings to historical [[Buddhist tantra]] is unclear. | ||
+ | |} | ||
− | : | + | ===[[Discussion]]=== |
+ | [[File:Ganja_Aware.jpg|thumb|250px|]] | ||
+ | While ample textual {{Wiki|evidence}} [[exists]] to establish that [[cannabis]] and {{Wiki|datura}} have appeared in some [[Buddhist]] [[tantras]], the [[relative]] importance placed on {{Wiki|psychoactive}} [[plants]] in [[Buddhism]] remains an open question. In his [[discussion]] of {{Wiki|psychoactive}} [[plants]] in the [[Mahākāla]] [[Tantra]], [[William George Stablein]] argues that the use of {{Wiki|psychoactive}} [[plants]] in [[Buddhism]] may constitute an {{Wiki|entheogenic}} [[tradition]], [[writing]]: | ||
− | + | :To the extent that the ([[Mahākāla]] [[Tantra]]) speaks | |
+ | for itself it is clear that what we are calling [[Tantric]] [[medicine]] includes pharmacologically induced [[experiences]] that could indeed be called [[religious]]. This may indicate a unique [[transmission]] of [[Buddhist Tantra]] that is not unlike the {{Wiki|psychedelic}} [[phenomenon]] in the New [[World]] [[shamanism]] and the {{Wiki|Vedic}} [[rite]].<ref>Stablein WG. The [[Mahākāla]] [[tantra]]: A {{Wiki|Theory}} of [[Ritual]] [[Blessings]] and [[Tantric]] [[Medicine]]. Doctoral {{Wiki|Dissertation}}, [[Columbia]] {{Wiki|University}}. 1976. p 21–2,80,255–6,36,286,5.</ref> | ||
− | + | While it is natural to assume that any [[ritual]] involving {{Wiki|datura}} or [[cannabis]] would capitalize on the [[plants]]’ psychoactivity, both [[plants]] were associated with important [[deities]] for many centuries before any [[tantras]] were written. They may have been valued for their [[symbolic]] importance rather than for their effects. | |
− | + | In the case of {{Wiki|datura}}, many of the references do not clearly direct the [[yogi]] to ingest the plant material. For example, the [[Guhyasamāja Tantra]], the [[Cakrasamvara Tantra]], and the [[Vimalaprabhā]] of [[Puṇḍarīka]] tell that {{Wiki|datura}} is to be burned. While it is possible that the smoke from such a [[fire]] would be {{Wiki|psychoactive}} if inhaled, it may not have been part of the [[ritual]] to inhale the smoke. | |
− | + | [[Ronald Davidson]] claims that the smoke of {{Wiki|datura}} [[fire offerings]] was indeed {{Wiki|psychoactive}}, saying {{Wiki|datura}} “was generally employed as a narcotic paste or as [[wood]] in a [[fire]] {{Wiki|ceremony}} and could be easily absorbed through the {{Wiki|skin}} or the {{Wiki|lungs}}.”<ref>Davidson RM. [[Indian]] [[Esoteric Buddhism]]: A {{Wiki|Social}} History of the [[Tantric]] {{Wiki|Movement}}. {{Wiki|Columbia University Press}}. 2003. p 201.</ref> In support of this position, it is worth noting that Gustav Schenk described experiencing profound {{Wiki|psychoactive}} effects after inhaling smoke from an unknown number of {{Wiki|henbane}} [[seeds]], which contain some of the same {{Wiki|psychoactive}} {{Wiki|alkaloids}} as {{Wiki|datura}}, although in lesser concentrations.<ref>Schenk G. The [[Book]] of [[Poisons]]. trans. by Michael Bullock. Rinehart. 1955. p 44,73.</ref> Schenk also describes {{Wiki|datura}} smoke as {{Wiki|psychoactive}}.<ref>Schenk G. The [[Book]] of [[Poisons]]. trans. by Michael Bullock. Rinehart. 1955. p 44,73.</ref> | |
− | + | There is textual {{Wiki|evidence}} that datura’s {{Wiki|psychoactive}} effects may have played a part in some [[tantric]] [[rituals]]. The [[Mahākāla Tantra]] says the [[yogi]] who applies a [[datura]] ointment will “revolve like a bee”. Parts of the {{Wiki|datura}} plant are referred to in the [[Cakrasamvara Tantra]] as “the five [[intoxicants]]”. The [[Vajramahabhairava Tantra]] may be saying that if you put {{Wiki|datura}} in someone’s [[food]], they will go insane. | |
− | Tantra | + | Were {{Wiki|psychoactive}} [[plants]] regarded as helpful for achieving [[liberation]]? The [[Tārā Tantra]] seems to say so; the [[scripture]] quotes [[Buddha]] as saying that wine without [[cannabis]] will not produce “{{Wiki|ecstasy}}”, a key [[attainment]] in the technique of [[subtle energy]] [[yoga]] that it describes.<ref>White DG. The [[Alchemical]] [[Body]]: [[Siddha]] [[Traditions]] of {{Wiki|Medieval India}}. {{Wiki|University of Chicago Press}}. 1996. p 19,118–9,412.</ref>,<ref>Maitra AK (ed.). [[Tārā tantra]]. [[Varendra]] Res. Soc. 1983.</ref> However, the [[Tārā Tantra]] is a relatively minor [[scripture]] and did not exert a strong influence on [[Buddhist]] [[religious]] {{Wiki|culture}}. |
− | + | The value placed on {{Wiki|psychoactive}} [[plants]] is less clear in the more important [[tantras]]. The [[datura]] references found in the [[Guhyasamāja Tantra|Guhyasamāja]] and [[Cakrasamvara Tantra]]s pertain to magico-religious [[rites]] that may be useful, but would probably not be considered [[essential]] to the [[attainment]] of [[liberation]] by most [[Buddhists]]. | |
− | + | [[Geoffrey Samuel]], author of several [[books]] and {{Wiki|essays}} on [[Buddhist]] [[religious]] {{Wiki|culture}}, suggests that the use of {{Wiki|psychoactive}} [[plants]] in the [[Indian]] [[siddha]] {{Wiki|cultural}} {{Wiki|milieu}} may have been similar to current use observed among {{Wiki|modern}} itinerant [[ascetics]] ([[sadhus]]) in {{Wiki|Asia}}.<ref>Samuel G. Personal {{Wiki|Communication}}. 2008.</ref> Such use has been documented throughout the [[Himalayas]], where the [[plants]] are consumed by [[sadhus]] for a variety of goals, [[including]] [[healing]], recreation, and [[yoga]].<ref>Müller-Ebeling C, Rätsch C, [[Shahi]] SB. [[Shamanism]] and [[Tantra]] in the [[Himalayas]]. Inner [[Traditions]]. 2002.</ref> Given its large number of applications, it may indeed be that [[cannabis]] was regarded by [[sadhus]] and [[siddhas]] of {{Wiki|medieval}} [[India]] as a useful tool. | |
− | + | The Stablein {{Wiki|thesis}} that a strong parallel [[exists]] between {{Wiki|psychoactive}} plant use in [[Tibet]] and in New [[World]] entheo-shamanism, however, appears to go beyond the available {{Wiki|evidence}}. While {{Wiki|psychoactive}} [[plants]] appear in [[Tibetan]] recipes for [[alchemical]] elixirs and [[sacred]] {{Wiki|medicines}}, Samuel proposes that such use was “not aiming at the more dramatic transformations of [[consciousness]] with which we are familiar when [[looking at]] the use of {{Wiki|entheogens}} in other cultures.”<ref>Samuel G. Personal {{Wiki|Communication}}. 2008.</ref> | |
+ | [[File:Medicalthankacanna.jpg|thumb|700px|centre|Medical Thangka, from SD Rubin Foundation]] | ||
+ | Even in the paradigmatic {{Wiki|entheogen}} using [[traditions]] of Meso- and {{Wiki|South America}}, it can be difficult to make a clear {{Wiki|distinction}} between “[[worldly]]” and “[[spiritual]]” use. {{Wiki|Ayahuasca}} in {{Wiki|South America}} and {{Wiki|psilocybin}}-containing {{Wiki|mushrooms}} in {{Wiki|Mexico}} have been used to treat [[illnesses]] and perform [[magical]] feats such as locating lost objects—does this disqualify the [[traditions]] from being considered {{Wiki|entheogenic}}? Surely not. Given the complex motivations and interests that drive use of {{Wiki|entheogens}} the [[world]] over, it may indeed be appropriate to call [[Buddhist]] use of {{Wiki|psychoactive}} [[plants]] {{Wiki|entheogenic}}. However, the {{Wiki|ayahuasca}} vine is venerated by the {{Wiki|ayahuasca}} {{Wiki|cults}} of {{Wiki|South America}}, while it is much less clear that any [[Buddhist tradition]] has venerated the use of {{Wiki|psychoactive}} [[plants]] to a comparable {{Wiki|degree}}. {{Wiki|Entheogens}} may have been viewed as important in some [[tantric]] sects, but the available textual {{Wiki|evidence}} is not sufficient to establish that the use of these [[plants]] was regarded as a central part of [[spiritual]] practice for most [[tāntrikas]] of [[India]] and [[Tibet]]. | ||
+ | {{reflist}} | ||
{{R}} | {{R}} | ||
+ | by R. C. Parker and Lux<br/> | ||
[http://vajrayana.faithweb.com/erowid_extracts14-13_pg6-11.pdf vajrayana.faithweb.com] | [http://vajrayana.faithweb.com/erowid_extracts14-13_pg6-11.pdf vajrayana.faithweb.com] | ||
+ | |||
+ | [[Category:Tantric Buddhism]] |
Latest revision as of 05:43, 17 February 2024
Psychoactive Plants in Tantric Buddhism
Cannabis and Datura Use in Indo-Tibetan Esoteric Buddhism
by R. C. Parker and Lux
This article represents a fairly comprehensive survey of references to datura and cannabis in Indo-Tibetan tantric Buddhist texts that have been translated into English. The online version includes more Tibetan and Sanskrit transliterations, links to referenced articles, and additional related material. See Erowid.org/extracts/n14/tantra. The authors wish to thank Professor David B. Gray and Professor Geoffrey Samuel for their encouragement and many helpful suggestions.
Since the beginning of modern discourse about psychedelics in American intellectual culture, seminal authors have noted parallels between psychedelic experiences and contemplative practices of Asia. In his 1954 essay The Doors of Perception, Aldous Huxley likened his experience of mescaline to the insights precipitated by yoga and meditation. Author R. Gordon Wasson went further, arguing that some spiritual disciplines of India may be intended to evoke an experience that was originally entheogenic in nature.[1]
By the late 1960s, counterculture rhetoric strongly associated psychedelics and Eastern mysticism. Alan Watts tackled the topic in his 1962 book The Joyous Cosmology; Timothy Leary, Ram Dass, and Ralph Metzner later wrote a guide to psychedelic experiences based on the fourteenth-century tantric manual Bardo Thödol, the so-called Tibetan Book of the Dead.[2]
Psychedelic experience and Eastern meditation have become so intertwined in Western culture that their roots are difficult to disentangle. Fortunately, in recent years several thoughtful book chapters and articles have appeared examining the complex relationship between the explosion of psychedelic counterculture and the contemporaneous popularization of Buddhism in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s.[3]
Unfortunately, the history of psychoactive plant use by Buddhists in Asia has not been addressed with comparable rigor. Although interesting speculative work has been written on the subject,[4],[5] a focused analysis of explicit textual evidence has not been published. Over the last few decades, university religious studies departments have produced translations of Buddhist tantric texts of unprecedented quality, providing ample material for an examination of psychoactive plant use by Buddhists in Asia. This article considers some of the evidence with respect to tantric Buddhism in India and Tibet, focusing on the use of cannabis and datura.
- Psychedelic experience and Eastern meditation have become so intertwined […] that their roots are difficult to disentagle.
Tantric Buddhism
The term “tantra” refers to a great many religious practices and beliefs. It is so difficult to define, that some religious historians argue the word has little meaning other than to mark extreme or taboo practices.[6] The Sanskrit word and its Tibetan equivalent (rgyud) refer to the texts that form the scriptural basis for the religious movement, and also mean “continuum” or “lineage”.
Despite the difficulty in pinning down the term, different tantric lineages generally share some characteristics. Practices and scriptures are often secret, with instructions given in private by teachers to students with whom they have consecrated a formal guru/disciple relationship. Many tantric practices must be authorized by empowerment ceremonies, which sometimes last for days or weeks and may carry lifelong practice commitments as a condition of receiving them.
![](/en/images/thumb/5/52/D._stramonium%2C_Photo_by_Acidmon.jpg/250px-D._stramonium%2C_Photo_by_Acidmon.jpg)
Most tantric scriptures are practice oriented texts associated with specific deities. Tantric meditation and ritual often involve complex visualizations of these deities—so much so that the Tibetan polymath Tsong Khapa (1357–1419) proposed “deity yoga” as the defining characteristic of tantra. [7] Many tantric yogas are intended to elicit extraordinary states of consciousness, including sexual yoga with real or visualized partners and energy yogas that manipulate body heat, respiration, or dreaming.
The concept of tantra as a sex-positive religion devoted to embracing the material world is a modern construction that bears little resemblance to the historical tantric practices and beliefs of Asia.[8]
Tantra began to take shape as a major religious movement in India between the sixth and ninth centuries CE.[9],[10] Many of the extant tantric texts were written in these years and the movement reached a peak that lasted several centuries. Most tantras were composed in Sanskrit in India and Central Asia, and many were eventually exported to China and Tibet.
During 950–1200 CE, Tibet underwent a period of upheaval followed by a “renaissance”, in which the old Tibetan empire collapsed and reorganized into a society ruled by a complex network of powerful clans and religious institutions. [11] During this renaissance, enormous resources and labor were devoted to painstakingly translating Buddhist scriptures from Sanskrit into Tibetan. The Tibetan written language had been developed during the seventh century by a committee of religious scholars specifically for the purpose of translating scriptures from Sanskrit. [12] Many Buddhist tantras that are lost in their original Sanskrit forms still exist in the Tibetan scriptural canon.
Why Look to Tantra?
There are several reasons to look to tantra for psychoactive substance use in pre-modern Buddhist Asia. The first and most important is that non-tantric monastic Buddhism is far less tolerant of violations of scriptural precepts than tantric Buddhism. Buddha’s injunction against consuming intoxicants precludes the open use of psychoactive substances by members of the Buddhist monastic establishment. In contrast, tantric Buddhism can allow for, and even applaud, shocking transgressions as a sign that the yogi has transcended ordinary patterns of valuation and behavior.
While non-tantric Buddhist practice was overwhelmingly the purview of ordained monks and nuns in medieval India, the tāntrika, or practitioner of tantra, was often a layperson.
A mainstay of tantric literature is the siddha, a sorcerer-like yogi who achieves extraordinary powers such as flight or psychic abilities through religious practice. Unlike the introverted monk quietly seeking liberation behind monastery walls, the siddha expresses spiritual attainment in the world. In their biographies, tantric siddhas often commit outrageous acts of apparently reckless violence, consumption of intoxicants, or sexual conduct. [13] In one famous legend, the guru Hāḍipā of the Nāth siddha lineage is said to have broken a five-year fast by consuming enormous quantities of hemp, Strychnos nux-vomica (Kucila, the “strychnine tree”), and datura. [14]
In addition to accommodating the use of psychoactives, tantric texts sometimes include encyclopedic instructions for the use of medicinal plants. Ayurvedic medicine and yoga are two important antecedents to tantra,[15] and those disciplines provide a template for simultaneously developing both body and mind in the service of liberation. [16] This holistic approach to spiritual practice is preserved in several important Buddhist tantras in which physical, mental, and spiritual ailments form a single complex of related concerns that must be treated in tandem. This approach is an easy rhetorical fit with pre-tantric Buddhist scriptures, which sometimes describe Buddha as a doctor and suffering as an illness. [17] Consequently, some Buddhist tantras include compendious information about medicinal plants, including cannabis and datura.
Datura in Buddhist Tantra
Both Datura stramonium and Datura metel are well-documented in India and Tibet. In Sanskrit datura is known as dhattūra, while in Tibetan the plant is da dhu ra. Datura’s effects were described in several ayurvedic materia medica. It is mentioned in the Kāmasūtra (ca. 4th–6th century CE), which says: “If food be mixed with the fruit of the thorn apple (dathura) it causes intoxication”. [18] It also advises a man to anoint his penis with honey infused with datura and long peppers (pippali = Piper lungum) before sexual intercourse to make his partner “subject to his will”. [19]
- […] tantric siddhas often commit outrageous acts of apparently reckless violence, consumption of intoxicants, or sexual conduct.
Datura is associated with several Hindu and Buddhist deities. Vāmana Purāṇa, a pre-modern devotional text dedicated to Vishnu (date unknown), tells that datura sprouted from the chest of the god Śiva.[20] Its flowers are sometimes used as ceremonial offerings—a practice that continues to this day in Nepal.[21] Wrathful deities in tantric Buddhism are said to be fond of datura,[22] which is sometimes used as a ritual offering to placate these deities.ref>De Nebesky-Wojkowitz R. Oracles and Demons of Tibet: The Cult and Iconography of the Tibetan Protective Deities. Book Faith India. 1996. p 346,489.</ref> References to datura in the pre-eleventh century Vajramahabhairava Tantra have been used to argue on behalf of an Old World origin of Datura metel.[23]
- This compound “becomes an ointment for the eyes. After applying it one revolves around and around like a bee.”
The psychoactive effects of datura have long been recognized in Tibet. The religious author Sachen Kunga Nyingpo (1092–1158) used the effects of datura to illustrate how our senses can be distorted, writing: “When datura […] is eaten, appearances manifest as yellow.”[24] The third Dodrup Chen Rinpoche (1865–1926), a Tibetan scholar-yogi, compares a cryptic “nectar rendering liberation” to the power of datura. He writes, “If one takes the nectar by itself the (subtle body) will receive blessings spontaneously and excellent accomplishments will be achieved, like being intoxicated by alcohol […] and being deluded with visions by Datura or thorn apple[…]”.[25]
Datura intoxication may have been widespread in siddha culture. In Indian Esoteric Buddhism, Ronald M. Davidson observes:
- Many of the siddha scriptures discuss ointments and drugs, especially those applied to the eyes or feet. The use of the various species of datura (especially (Datura metel) ) is particularly evident. Sometimes termed the “crazy datura” (unmattadhattura) or “Śiva’s datura,” it was generally employed as a narcotic paste or as wood in a fire ceremony and could be easily absorbed through the skin or the lungs.[26]
The use of datura in various rites is prescribed by a number of seminal tantras that exerted a profound influence on Indian and Tibetan religious culture. Most of the known datura references pertain to magico-religious rites of attack intended to cause enemies to go insane, to destroy their wealth, or to drive them away.
The Guhyasamāja Tantra (ca. 8th century CE) is generally considered one of the earliest extant Buddhist tantras.[27] This key scripture describes the basic architecture of tantric practice and is venerated by several schools of Tibetan Buddhism—particularly the Gelukpas, who take it as the central tantra.[28] In the Guhyasamāja Tantra, Buddha Vajradhara gives instructions for undertaking the destruction of evil-doers:
- Making an image of the enemy with the excrement and urine of those who follow the great Dharma, wrathfully burn it in a fire of thorn-wood, and even the Buddha will certainly perish. […] So he said black mustard-seeds, salt, oil, poison, and thorn-apple (datura), these are taught as the supreme destroyers of all the Buddhas.[29]
Similarly, the Cakrasamvara Tantra (ca. late 8th century CE) is highly venerated in Tibet to this day. It states: “Should the well-equipoised one immolate mustard oil with crows’ wings and (the victim’s name) in a datura fire, he will immediately be expelled or killed.”[30]
The Cakrasamvara Tantra also tells that a tāntrika can drive an enemy insane using magical implements, including a charnel ground cloth bound around the “five intoxicants”. The Tibetan commentator Budön Rinchen Drup explains that “five intoxicants” refers to the root, stem, leaves, flower, and fruit of the datura plant[31]—all of which contain psychoactive alkaloids.[32] In another reference to datura, the tantra claims that immolating “one hundred and eight golden fruits” (kanakaphala, explicated as “datura fruit” by the commentator Jayabhadra) will allow one to become insubstantial.[33]
The Vajramahabhairava Tantra (ca. 10th century CE) contains instructions for killing an enemy saying that the practitioner should perform a rite: “naked, with disheveled hair and facing south, draw the sixteen-section wheel of Vajramahabhairava […] on a shroud in venom, blood, salt, black mustard, nimba (Azadirachta indica) and Datura juice using a pen made from a raven feather or from human bone.”[34]
This tantra also provides instructions for using the ash of datura wood to magically break a relationship between a man and woman, or to drive people away.[35] Datura fruit may be used in magical rituals to drive an enemy insane:
- […The practitioner) takes Datura fruit and, mixing it with human flesh and worm-eaten sawdust, offers it in food or drink. He recites the mantra and that person will instantly go insane and then die within seven days.[36]
and to destroy wealth:
- Then if, wanting to turn wealth into poverty, [he] performs a hundred and eight burnt offerings at night in a fire of cotton using Datura fruit, (that wealth) will indeed become trifling.[37]
Datura was sometimes included in ritual fire offerings that may have produced psychoactive smoke. A key eleventh century commentary on the Kālachakra Tantra by Puṇḍarīka describes: “When the oblation is offered in the octagonal pot, [on a fire made with arka faggots, with thorn-apples (datura) and kusumadyas offered into the fire, it accomplishes stupefactions [of the enemy] […]”.[38] Arka has been identified as milkweed and kusumadyas as Assyrian plum.
The Mahakala Tantra (ca. 8th–12th century CE) contains extensive materia medica and magical instructions. In chapter twelve, “On Ointments”, it instructs practitioners to harvest datura and two other plants, and mix them with the bile of a black cat and honey. This compound “becomes an ointment for the eyes. After applying it one revolves around and around like a bee.”[39] In a similar vein, tantra historian Ronald Davidson notes that the use of datura in tantric rituals “may have something to do with the siddha fascination with flying or perhaps inform[s] their iconography, for a common report from the use of datura is the sensation of aerial transport or the feeling of being half-man and half-animal.”[40]
The Mahakala Tantra also offers instructions to find lost treasure by creating a magical pill that includes datura:
- After having ground the following medicines one should make pills: the seed grain of khoḍiyā, the seed of sesbania, the juice of the leaf of the waved-leaf fig tree, the juice of Villarsia cristata, the powder of the regurgitation of cow, the juice of Śiva’s intoxicant (= datura), the juice of the root of the wormseed and onion leaf together with the bile of a snake and honey which has been kept under the ground. When two days [have] gone by, at a cool time (of the day) one should anoint (the eyes) and one will see a hole in the ground. [41]
The fourth chapter of Kṛṣṇa-yāmari (ca. 10th century) gives instructions for a wrathful ritual visualization in which the yogi makes “the index finger red with the resins from the thorn-apple leaves and also the seeds of (datura)”. [42]
Cannabis in Buddhist Tantra
Like datura, cannabis has a long history in Asia. Scholars have argued that cannabis may have been first cultivated in China in Neolithic times[43] and the plant has been well-known throughout India, Nepal, and Tibet for millennia. Cannabis is referred to in the Vedas as “source of happiness” and “liberator”. [44]
Perhaps the earliest-known literary reference to cannabis appears in the Hindu scripture Satapatha Brahmana (ca. 800 BCE).[45] Cannabis also appears in an early medicinal work, the Sushruta Samhita (written sometime between 400 BCE and 600 CE) as an antiphlegmatic.[46] In early works of Ayurveda, cannabis is said to “increase gastric fire”, i.e., digestion and appetite. [47] Vaìgasena’s Compendium of the Essence of Medicine, an eleventhcentury Bengali medicinal text, describes cannabis (bhanga) as “a drug like opium” and prescribes it as a medicine to enhance longevity. [48]
Like datura, cannabis has been prominently associated with the Hindu god Śiva since ancient times. Cannabis plays an important role in some Hindu tantra lineages, where it may have been used during tantric rites to help adepts overcome their aversions to taboo-breaking religious practices. [49],[50] In the Mahāyāna tradition, Buddha is said to have subsisted for six years of ascetic practice on nothing but hemp seeds.[51]
Tantra scholar David Gordon White notes that cannabis use was a widespread part of the influential Nāth siddha lineage. [52] Additionally, he notes that in the Buddhist Tārā Tantra, cannabis is “essential to ecstasy”. [53] In that tantra, Buddha says that drinking wine without having consumed cannabis “cannot produce real ecstasy”. [54] In this context “ecstasy” is a technical term describing the experience of bliss caused by particular yogic achievements, and an important step in becoming enlightened.
Cannabis serves a magico-medicinal function in several major tantras. Including its datura references described above, much of the Mahakala Tantra concerns the search for the “perfect medicine”, a psycho-spiritual elixir that will transform the body and mind in the service of liberation. [55] This lineage extols the use of medicinal herbs (ausadhi) to achieve “attainments” or “powers”.
Forty-two of the Mahakala Tantra’s fifty chapters include formulas for using medicinal plants, and many of these plants are psychoactive. A partial list includes plants that have been identified as Acorus calamus, Areca catechu, Artemisia spp., Cannabis sativa, Cinnamomum camphora, Datura metel, Myristica fragrans, Nelumbo nucifera, Peganum harmala, and Valeriana wallichii. The plants are employed to attain health, wealth, wisdom, and supernatural powers such as seeing underground and flying. These formulas include cannabis in several different forms, including leaves, resin, and other plant material.[56] Given that these cannabis products are included in the “perfect medicine” formulas of the Mahākāla Tantra, cannabis may perhaps be considered a significant part of this tantric lineage.
The Cakrasamvara Tantra (described in the datura section above) also emphasizes the magico-medical role of cannabis, stating that a mixture of compounds including cannabis will help one “become a yogin who does what he pleases and stays anywhere whatsoever.”[57] The translator notes that all the plants in this recipe are edible, and this formula may therefore refer to the preparation of material for oral consumption, possibly as “siddhi-pills”.
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Cannabis & Sexual Tantra Anthropologist Christian Rätsch has argued that cannabis is used in tantric sexual yoga, pointing out centuries of belief about its sexual effects in Asia.[58],[59] However, because Rätsch focuses on the Hindu/Buddhist syncretic tantric culture of Nepal, relying on Hindu sources for textual support,[60] the relevance of his findings to historical Buddhist tantra is unclear. |
Discussion
While ample textual evidence exists to establish that cannabis and datura have appeared in some Buddhist tantras, the relative importance placed on psychoactive plants in Buddhism remains an open question. In his discussion of psychoactive plants in the Mahākāla Tantra, William George Stablein argues that the use of psychoactive plants in Buddhism may constitute an entheogenic tradition, writing:
for itself it is clear that what we are calling Tantric medicine includes pharmacologically induced experiences that could indeed be called religious. This may indicate a unique transmission of Buddhist Tantra that is not unlike the psychedelic phenomenon in the New World shamanism and the Vedic rite.[61]
While it is natural to assume that any ritual involving datura or cannabis would capitalize on the plants’ psychoactivity, both plants were associated with important deities for many centuries before any tantras were written. They may have been valued for their symbolic importance rather than for their effects.
In the case of datura, many of the references do not clearly direct the yogi to ingest the plant material. For example, the Guhyasamāja Tantra, the Cakrasamvara Tantra, and the Vimalaprabhā of Puṇḍarīka tell that datura is to be burned. While it is possible that the smoke from such a fire would be psychoactive if inhaled, it may not have been part of the ritual to inhale the smoke.
Ronald Davidson claims that the smoke of datura fire offerings was indeed psychoactive, saying datura “was generally employed as a narcotic paste or as wood in a fire ceremony and could be easily absorbed through the skin or the lungs.”[62] In support of this position, it is worth noting that Gustav Schenk described experiencing profound psychoactive effects after inhaling smoke from an unknown number of henbane seeds, which contain some of the same psychoactive alkaloids as datura, although in lesser concentrations.[63] Schenk also describes datura smoke as psychoactive.[64]
There is textual evidence that datura’s psychoactive effects may have played a part in some tantric rituals. The Mahākāla Tantra says the yogi who applies a datura ointment will “revolve like a bee”. Parts of the datura plant are referred to in the Cakrasamvara Tantra as “the five intoxicants”. The Vajramahabhairava Tantra may be saying that if you put datura in someone’s food, they will go insane.
Were psychoactive plants regarded as helpful for achieving liberation? The Tārā Tantra seems to say so; the scripture quotes Buddha as saying that wine without cannabis will not produce “ecstasy”, a key attainment in the technique of subtle energy yoga that it describes.[65],[66] However, the Tārā Tantra is a relatively minor scripture and did not exert a strong influence on Buddhist religious culture.
The value placed on psychoactive plants is less clear in the more important tantras. The datura references found in the Guhyasamāja and Cakrasamvara Tantras pertain to magico-religious rites that may be useful, but would probably not be considered essential to the attainment of liberation by most Buddhists.
Geoffrey Samuel, author of several books and essays on Buddhist religious culture, suggests that the use of psychoactive plants in the Indian siddha cultural milieu may have been similar to current use observed among modern itinerant ascetics (sadhus) in Asia.[67] Such use has been documented throughout the Himalayas, where the plants are consumed by sadhus for a variety of goals, including healing, recreation, and yoga.[68] Given its large number of applications, it may indeed be that cannabis was regarded by sadhus and siddhas of medieval India as a useful tool.
The Stablein thesis that a strong parallel exists between psychoactive plant use in Tibet and in New World entheo-shamanism, however, appears to go beyond the available evidence. While psychoactive plants appear in Tibetan recipes for alchemical elixirs and sacred medicines, Samuel proposes that such use was “not aiming at the more dramatic transformations of consciousness with which we are familiar when looking at the use of entheogens in other cultures.”[69]
Even in the paradigmatic entheogen using traditions of Meso- and South America, it can be difficult to make a clear distinction between “worldly” and “spiritual” use. Ayahuasca in South America and psilocybin-containing mushrooms in Mexico have been used to treat illnesses and perform magical feats such as locating lost objects—does this disqualify the traditions from being considered entheogenic? Surely not. Given the complex motivations and interests that drive use of entheogens the world over, it may indeed be appropriate to call Buddhist use of psychoactive plants entheogenic. However, the ayahuasca vine is venerated by the ayahuasca cults of South America, while it is much less clear that any Buddhist tradition has venerated the use of psychoactive plants to a comparable degree. Entheogens may have been viewed as important in some tantric sects, but the available textual evidence is not sufficient to establish that the use of these plants was regarded as a central part of spiritual practice for most tāntrikas of India and Tibet.
Footnotes
- ↑ Wasson RG. Soma: Divine Mushroom of Immortality. Harcourt. 1972.
- ↑ Leary T, Metzner R, Alpert R. The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead. Citadel. 1964.
- ↑ Badiner AH, Grey A. Zig Zag Zen: Buddhism and Psychedelics. Chronicle Books LLC. 2002.
- ↑ Crowley M. “Secret Drugs of Buddhism.” E-published in Earthrites Magazine. Accessed Apr 9, 2008; http://earthrites.org/magazine_article_drugplants_crowley.htm.
- ↑ Hajicek-Dobberstein S. “Soma Siddhas and Alchemical Enlightenment: Psychedelic Mushrooms in Buddhist Tradition”. J Ethnopharmacol. Oct 1995;48(2):99–118.
- ↑ Urban HB. Tantra: Sex, Secrecy, Politics, and Power in the Study of Religion. University of California Press. 2003.
- ↑ Dalai Lama HH (Tenzi n Gyatso), Tsong-kha-pa, Hopkins PJ. Tantra in Tibet. Snow Lion Publications. 1987.
- ↑ White DG. Kiss of the Yoginī: “Tantric Sex” in its South Asian Contexts. University of Chicago Press. 2006.
- ↑ White DG. The Alchemical Body: Siddha Traditions of Medieval India. University of Chicago Press. 1996. p 19,118–9,412.
- ↑ Davidson RM. Indian Esoteric Buddhism: A Social History of the Tantric Movement. Columbia University Press. 2003. p 201.
- ↑ Davidson RM. Tibetan Renaissance: Tantric Buddhism in the Rebirth of Tibetan Culture. Columbia University Press. 2005.
- ↑ Snellgrove D, Richardson H. A Cultural History of Tibet. Frederick A. Paeger, Inc. 1968.
- ↑ Abhayadatta. Buddha’s Lions: Lives of the Eighty-Four Siddhas. trans. by James B. Robinson. Dharma Publishing. 1997.
- ↑ Bhattacharyya B. An Introduction to Buddhist Esoterism. Oxford University Press. 1931. p 73.
- ↑ White DG. The Alchemical Body: Siddha Traditions of Medieval India. University of Chicago Press. 1996. p 19,118–9,412.
- ↑ Fields GP. Religious Therapeutics: Body and Health in Yoga and Ayurvedic Medicine. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Hawaii. 1994.
- ↑ Stablein WG. The Mahākālatantra: A Theory of Ritual Blessings and Tantric Medicine. Doctoral Dissertation, Columbia University. 1976. p 21–2,80,255–6,36,286,5.
- ↑ Vātsyāyana. The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana. trans. Richard Burton. Modern Library. 2002. p 188,181.
- ↑ Vātsyāyana. The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana. trans. Richard Burton. Modern Library. 2002. p 188,181.
- ↑ Rätsch C. Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants. Park Street Press. 2005. p 204,204,203.
- ↑ Rätsch C. Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants. Park Street Press. 2005. p 204,204,203.
- ↑ De Nebesky-Wojkowitz R. Oracles and Demons of Tibet: The Cult and Iconography of the Tibetan Protective Deities. Book Faith India. 1996. p 346,489.
- ↑ Siklós B. “Datura Rituals in the Vajramahabhairava-tantra”. Curare. 1993;16(2):71–76. p 73,74,73,73.
- ↑ Stearns C. Taking the Result as the Path: Core Teachings of the Sakya Lamdré Tradition. Wisdom Publications. 2006. p 432.
- ↑ Thondup Rinpoche T. Hidden Teachings of Tibet. Wisdom Publications. 1997. p 152–3.
- ↑ Davidson RM. Indian Esoteric Buddhism: A Social History of the Tantric Movement.Columbia University Press. 2003. p 201.
- ↑ Urban HB. Tantra: Sex, Secrecy, Politics, and Power in the Study of Religion. University of California Press. 2003.
- ↑ Cozort D. Highest Yoga Tantra: An Introduction to the Esoteric Buddhism of Tibet. Snow Lion Publications. 1986. p 13.
- ↑ Fremantle F. A Critical Study of the Guhyasamāja Tantra. Doctoral Dissertation, University of London. 1971. p 103.
- ↑ Gray DB. The Cakrasamvara Tantra (The Discourse of Śrī Heruka): A Study and Annotated Translation. The American Institute of Buddhist Studies. 2007. p 371,352,362,373–4.
- ↑ Gray DB. The Cakrasamvara Tantra (The Discourse of Çré Heruka): A Study and Annotated Translation. The American Institute of Buddhist Studies. 2007. p 371,352,362,373–4.
- ↑ Rätsch C. Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants. Park Street Press. 2005. p 204,204,203.
- ↑ Gray DB. The Cakrasamvara Tantra (The Discourse of Śrī Heruka): A Study and Annotated Translation. The American Institute of Buddhist Studies. 2007. p 371,352,362,373–4.
- ↑ Siklós B. “Datura Rituals in the Vajramahabhairava-tantra”. Curare. 1993;16(2):71–76. p 73,74,73,73.
- ↑ Siklós B. “Datura Rituals in the Vajramahabhairava-tantra”. Curare. 1993;16(2):71–76. p 73,74,73,73.
- ↑ Siklós B. “Datura Rituals in the Vajramahabhairava-tantra”. Curare. 1993;16(2):71–76. p 73,74,73,73.
- ↑ Siklós B. “Datura Rituals in the Vajramahabhairava-tantra”. Curare. 1993;16(2):71–76. p 73,74,73,73.
- ↑ Hartzell, JF. Tantric Yoga: A Study of the Vedic Precursors, Historical Evolution, Literatures, Cultures, Doctrines, and Practices of the 11th Century Kaśmīri Śaivite and Buddhist Unexcelled Tantric Yogas. Doctoral Dissertation, Columbia University. 1997. p 1270,363.
- ↑ Stablein WG. The Mahākālatantra: A Theory of Ritual Blessings and Tantric Medicine. Doctoral Dissertation, Columbia University. 1976. p 21–2,80,255–6,36,286,5.
- ↑ Davidson RM. Indian Esoteric Buddhism: A Social History of the Tantric Movement. Columbia University Press. 2003. p 201.
- ↑ Stablein WG. The Mahākālatantra: A Theory of Ritual Blessings and Tantric Medicine. Doctoral Dissertation, Columbia University. 1976. p 21–2,80,255–6,36,286,5.
- ↑ Hartzell, JF. Tantric Yoga: A Study of the Vedic Precursors, Historical Evolution, Literatures, Cultures, Doctrines, and Practices of the 11th Century Kaśmīri Śaivite and Buddhist Unexcelled Tantric Yogas. Doctoral Dissertation, Columbia University. 1997. p 1270,363.
- ↑ Touw M. “The Religious and Medicinal Uses of Cannabis in China, India and Tibet.” J Psychoactive Drugs. 1981 Jan– Mar;13(1):23–34. p 24,25,28,28,28.
- ↑ Touw M. “The Religious and Medicinal Uses of Cannabis in China, India and Tibet.” J Psychoactive Drugs. 1981 Jan– Mar;13(1):23–34. p 24,25,28,28,28.
- ↑ Rätsch C. Plants of Love. Ten Speed Press. 1997. p 82,86,82.
- ↑ Touw M. “The Religious and Medicinal Uses of Cannabis in China, India and Tibet.” J Psychoactive Drugs. 1981 Jan– Mar;13(1):23–34. p 24,25,28,28,28.
- ↑ Touw M. “The Religious and Medicinal Uses of Cannabis in China, India and Tibet.” J Psychoactive Drugs. 1981 Jan– Mar;13(1):23–34. p 24,25,28,28,28.
- ↑ Wujastyk D. “Cannabis in Traditional Indian Herbal Medicine”. In Ana Salema (ed.), Ayurveda at the Crossroads of Care and Cure. Proceedings of the Indo-European Seminar on Ayurveda held at Arrábida, Portugal, in November 2001. 2002. p 45–73.
- ↑ Wujastyk D. “Cannabis in Traditional Indian Herbal Medicine”. In Ana Salema (ed.), Ayurveda at the Crossroads of Care and Cure. Proceedings of the Indo-European Seminar on Ayurveda held at Arrábida, Portugal, in November 2001. 2002. p 45–73.
- ↑ Bharati, A. The Tantric Tradition. Rider & Co. 1965.
- ↑ Rätsch C. Marijuana Medicine. Healing Arts Press. 2001. p 45.
- ↑ White DG. The Alchemical Body: Siddha Traditions of Medieval India. University of Chicago Press. 1996. p 19,118–9,412.
- ↑ White DG. The Alchemical Body: Siddha Traditions of Medieval India. University of Chicago Press. 1996. p 19,118–9,412.
- ↑ Maitra AK (ed.). Tārātantra. Varendra Res. Soc. 1983.
- ↑ Vātsyāyana. The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana. trans. Richard Burton. Modern Library. 2002. p 188,181.
- ↑ Vātsyāyana. The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana. trans. Richard Burton. Modern Library. 2002. p 188,181.
- ↑ Gray DB. The Cakrasamvara Tantra (The Discourse of Śrī Heruka): A Study and Annotated Translation. The American Institute of Buddhist Studies. 2007. p 371,352,362,373–4.
- ↑ Touw M. “The Religious and Medicinal Uses of Cannabis in China, India and Tibet.” J Psychoactive Drugs. 1981 Jan– Mar;13(1):23–34. p 24,25,28,28,28.
- ↑ Rätsch C. Plants of Love. Ten Speed Press. 1997. p 82,86,82.
- ↑ Aldrich MR.“Tantric Cannabis Use in India”. J Psychedelic Drugs. 1977;9(3):227–233.
- ↑ Stablein WG. The Mahākāla tantra: A Theory of Ritual Blessings and Tantric Medicine. Doctoral Dissertation, Columbia University. 1976. p 21–2,80,255–6,36,286,5.
- ↑ Davidson RM. Indian Esoteric Buddhism: A Social History of the Tantric Movement. Columbia University Press. 2003. p 201.
- ↑ Schenk G. The Book of Poisons. trans. by Michael Bullock. Rinehart. 1955. p 44,73.
- ↑ Schenk G. The Book of Poisons. trans. by Michael Bullock. Rinehart. 1955. p 44,73.
- ↑ White DG. The Alchemical Body: Siddha Traditions of Medieval India. University of Chicago Press. 1996. p 19,118–9,412.
- ↑ Maitra AK (ed.). Tārā tantra. Varendra Res. Soc. 1983.
- ↑ Samuel G. Personal Communication. 2008.
- ↑ Müller-Ebeling C, Rätsch C, Shahi SB. Shamanism and Tantra in the Himalayas. Inner Traditions. 2002.
- ↑ Samuel G. Personal Communication. 2008.
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