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Vajrayāna Buddhism in the Modern World

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Vajrayāna Buddhism in the Modern World Vajrayāna Buddhism in the Modern World Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Vajrayāna Buddhism, 28-30 March 2018, Thimphu, Bhutan དཔལ་འབག་ཞབ་འཇག་ལ་བ། Centre for Bhutan Studies & GNH Copyright © Centre for Bhutan Studies & GNH All rights reserved Centre for Bhutan Studies & GNH Langjophakha, Thimphu Phone: 975-2-321005, 321007 Fax: 975-2-321001 Post Box No. 1111 [email protected] www.bhutanstudies.org.bt www.grossnationalhappiness.com First published in 2018 ISBN 978-99980-35-00-3 Preface The Second International Conference on Vajrayāna Buddhism was held from 28-30 March 2018 at Thimphu, Bhutan. The conference was organized jointly by the Centre for Bhutan Studies & GNH (CBS) and the Central Monastic Body. More than 200 participants from about 30 countries took part in the conference besides the local participants. Vajrayāna Conference is a part of the several national events organised to celebrate the 50th anniversary of peace- ful diplomatic relation between the Royal Government of Bhutan and the Government of India. India and Bhutan share many common values and a rich history. Buddhism is one of the most exemplary aspects of this shared heritage. India gave rise to one of the greatest civilizations of humankind, and Buddhism is certainly one of India’s greatest gifts to the world. The papers included in this publication cover a wide range of themes, including Vajrayāna Buddhism’s role in the modern world, the application of Vajrayāna Buddhism in health and education, its interface with modern science, women in Vajrayāna, and Vajrayāna’s evolution and development in various countries. The organisers would like to thank the authors for their invaluable contributions. Contents Keynote address by His Excellency, Lyonchhen Dasho Tshering Tobgay, Hon’ble Prime Minister 1-7 of Bhutan Address by His Excellency Shri Jaideep Sarkar, 8-11 Ambassador of India to Bhutan Vajrayāna Buddhism in the Western World: A Brief History 12-33 Ian Baker Report on Some Physical Evidences and Oral Transmission about Tsangpa Gyare (1161-1211) Collected at the Ralung Monastery and the Druk 34-48 Monastery in Tibet Seiji Kumagai Remaining Legacy of Green Tara in Myanmar (Burmese) Traditional Believes 49-60 Khin Zaw Unveiling Feminine Presence and Expression in Vajrayāna Buddhist Symbolism: Empowerment 61-105 and Inspiration to Bhutanese Nuns Sonam Wangmo & Karma Tashi Choedron One Hundred Peaceful and Wrathful Deities: Observations on an Annual Ceremony by the 106-129 Ngakpas of Rebkong Georgios T. Halkias Yogic Perception: An Integrative Scientific Model Of Vajrayāna Meditational Practices 130-155 William C Bushell Neuroscience and Buddhist Practice: apparent bridges and barriers 156-168 Suzanne Cochrane Meditation and ethics in education 169-189 Tamara Ditrich Vajrayāna and Healing: The Interface of Imaging and Mantra with Mindbody Medicine 190-216 Asa Hershoff Meditative and yogic practices for mental health: Bridging psychotherapy and contemplative 217-232 practices Borut Škodlar Tantra and Tourists: Sharing Shingon Teachings at Yochi-in on Mt. Kôya, Japan 233-254 Barbara S. Morrison & Kaiji Yamamoto Social Constructionism and religious experience: Case of Tibetan Buddhist converts in Finland 255-288 Maria Sharapan Vajrayāna Buddhism’s Evolution and Development in Malaysia 289-297 Loka Ng Sai Kai The Importance of Generation Stage Yidam Practice in Vajrayāna 298-312 Maria Kozhevnikov & Elizabeth McDougal ར་ར་ཐག་པའ་སང་པ་མར་ལགས་རད་སའ་སར་ཆ་ལང་ཙམ་བརད་པ། 313-321 འབ་གང་ཆ་ཚང་འཕན་ལས་ལན་གབ། གསང་སགས་ཀ་བསན་པ་དར་ཚལ། 322-333 ལས་ཚོགས་སོབ་དཔོན་སངས་རས་རོ་ར། ཞ་གནས་དང་ལག་མཐང་ག་སར། 334-338 མཁན་ཆན་ཀན་བཟང་ཕན་ལས། དག་སང་མ་དཔལ་མའ་ལགས་ཀ་སང་གནས། 339-350 བཙན་མ་ཡ་ཤས་དཔལ་སན། Biographical profile of authors 351-361 Keynote address by His Excellency, Lyonchhen Dasho Tshering Tobgay, Hon’ble Prime Minister of Bhutan1 Your Eminences, Venerable Lams, Rinpoches, Excellencies, distinguished participants, ladies and gentlemen. I am pleased to welcome all of you to the opening of the International Conference on Vajrayāna Buddhism organiz- ed by the Centre for Bhutan Studies & GNH and the Central Monastic Body. On behalf of the government, I feel very heartened by the presence of so many dignitaries this evening to welcome the distinguished participants from abroad. Over the last few days, more than 250 participants from 33 countries have arrived in our country for the conference. The Vajrayāna conference was announced in September 2017. Within five months, these many partici- pants from thirty-three countries were confirmed for this conference. You have converged on Thimphu, coming here all the way from Austria, Australia, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Canada, China, Czec Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Netherlands, Nepal, Norway, Philippines, Portugal, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Slovenia, South Korea, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, UK, USA and Vietnam. I would like to express my deep appreciation for the time and effort you have made to be with us in Bhutan for this important celebratory, academic and spiritual gathering. 1 The address was delivered at the Dinner Reception of the Vajrayāna Conference held at Royal University of Bhutan, Thimphu, Bhutan on 28 March 2018 2 Vajrayāna Conference In many ways, the series of conference on Vajrayāna is very special, if not unique, in the world, bringing academics and practioners together to share their experiences and findings. Discussions and debates in the conference and publications of the proceedings thereafter have contributed to an outstanding formation of a bridge between individuals in the academia and spirituality. I am particularly pleased to note that the esteemed Central Monastic Body and the Centre of Bhutan Studies and GNH have been cooperating very closely in this endeavour. They have worked together this time as well as in the last conference. This year too, the commitment of the Central Monastic Body is amply demonstrated in their positive roles in every aspect of the organization of this conference. Blessed by His Holiness the Je Khenpo, the supreme abbot of Bhutan, their eminences the masters of the Central Monastic Body have played a vital role in guiding the structure of the conference. The broader aim behind this series of conference is to explore social, economic, spiritual and cultural configure- tions of societies that favour the realization of the Vajrayāna view of human potentials. The fact that Vajrayāna ideas prevailed in Bhutan since the eight century in an uninter- rupted way means that certain type of ideas became more dominant than others in Bhutan over the millenium. There are now many other competing views of ideals of human existence and potentials which drive the activities of the people and states. But the Vajrayāna view of human potentials and the methods to realize them was what Guru Rinpoche brought to us in the Himalayas and Tibet from India in the eight century. Part of view and method of wisdom he brought was an approach to structuring the mind towards non-duality and the cultivation of a different kind of consciousness. The Vajrayāna teachings on the ideals of human existence and potentials were further consolidated by the Keynote Address 3 revered founder of Bhutan, Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyel. Our country was forged out of smaller valley kingdoms by uniting them into a nation by the revered Zhabdrung Rinpoche in 1626. As a Vajrayāna monk statesmen himself, the ultimate and ideal purpose of founding a Buddhist nation state out of smaller kingdoms was to not only promote mindfulness but non-dual mindfullness among the citizens as a part of realization of human potentials. Vajrayāna, with its root in esoteric Indian Buddhist traditions, was introduced in Bhutan by the great Indian saint Guru Padmasambhava. Guru came at a moment in history of Bhutan, the 8th century, when tantric practices dominated Buddhism in India. The word, Vajrayāna, itself had appeared in the tantric texts only in the late seventh century, although tantric texts appeared first in the 3rd century. Guru Rinpoche’s coming to Bhutan repeatedly, and to Tibet was tremendous socio-economic and political consequences, beyond his introduction of the sutra and mantra. Because of the spread of Buddhism by Guru Rinpoche and his disciples and their disciples during both the first and second transmissions, a particular world view took hold that influenced polity and culture. The stress on cultivation of peace within people led broadly to peace in communities. Guru Rinpoche’s coming to the Himalayas also led to the spread of enlightenment education through translations of Indian texts into classical Tibetan which are read increasing widely today among scholars. Guru himself was a colossal engine of translation and transmission of works from Indian civilization to the Himalayas. Among the sutras, some of the classic authors studied today like Vasubandhu, Nagarjuna, Santarakshita, Kamalasila, Asvagosha, Chandrakirti, Dina- ga, Asanga, Shantideva, Dharmakirti, and Arya Deva were translated at that time in Samye, under Guru Rinpoche with the patronage of the then Tibetan Emperer. Through the 4 Vajrayāna Conference transmission of learning based on these classic texts, the same ideas about cosmology and causation, that prevailed in Indian civilization, framed the views of most Bhutanese, until Western schooling started in the 1960s. Guru Padma- sambhava thus changed the spiritual landscape of Bhutan and the Himalayas, for which he is known as the second Buddha in this part of the world. Guru Rinpoche and his disciples started a profound spiritual reorientation of the Himalayas over the last thousand years. Of a shorter time scale but of great signifi- cance has also been the establishment of diplomatic relations between Bhutan and India. It was an event that spark profound changes in the social and economic spheres in Bhutan. In 1968, Bhutan ended its many centuries of self imposed isolation and established diplomatic relations with India to pave the way for development, in all spheres of modernization.
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