Masters of Mahamudra: Songs and Histories of the Eighty-Four Buddhist Siddhas Free

FREE MASTERS OF MAHAMUDRA: SONGS AND HISTORIES OF THE EIGHTY-FOUR BUDDHIST SIDDHAS PDF

Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. Preview — Masters of Mahamudra by Keith Dowman. In Tibetan Buddhism, Mahamudra represents a perfected level of meditative realization: it is the inseparable union of wisdom and compassion, of emptiness and skillful means. These eighty-four masters, some historical, some archetypal, accomplished this practice in India where they lived between the eighth and twelfth centuries. Leading unconventional lives, the siddhas inc In Tibetan Buddhism, Mahamudra represents a perfected level of meditative realization: it is the inseparable union of wisdom and compassion, of emptiness and skillful means. Leading unconventional lives, the siddhas include some of the greatest Buddhist teachers; Tilopa, Naropa, and Masters of Mahamudra: Songs and Histories of the Eighty-four Buddhist Siddhas among them. Through many years of study, Keith Dowman has collected and translated their songs of realization and the legends about them. In consultation with contemporary teachers, he gives a commentary on each of the Great Adepts and culls from available resources what we can know of their history. Dowman's extensive Introduction traces the development of tantra and discusses the key concepts of the Mahamudra. In a lively and illuminating style, he unfolds the deeper understandings of Masters of Mahamudra: Songs and Histories of the Eighty-four Buddhist Siddhas that the texts encode. His treatment of the many parallels to contemporary psychology and experience makes a valualbe contribution to our understanding of human nature. Get A Copy. Paperbackpages. More Details Original Title. Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Masters of Mahamudraplease sign up. Lists with This Book. This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 4. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Jul 30, Jkl rated it liked it. I enjoyed this book for what it is. A description of the siddhas and some of their known possible factual information behind the stories told about them. Interesting read. A good introduction to the Mahamudra masters without specifically focusing on practice today. Jan 29, Scott Rennie rated it liked it. I was really looking forward to this book, hoping to pick out some insights into the ways in which the Mahasiddhas practised. Of course I learned a lot, but it really felt like a haphazard jumble of tales, some with pretty much no point to them. I would have thought that some sort of chronological order might be sensible, and appreciate that ins't entirely possible due to doubts over some of their dates, but still it seemed funny to first read about one Mahasiddha being the teacher in someone el I was really looking forward to this book, hoping to pick out some insights into the ways in which the Mahasiddhas practised. I would have thought that some sort of chronological order might be sensible, and appreciate that ins't entirely possible due to doubts over some of their dates, but still it seemed funny to first read about one Mahasiddha being the teacher in someone else's story and later read their full story. The biggest thing I took from this Masters of Mahamudra: Songs and Histories of the Eighty-four Buddhist Siddhas was the variety of different ways of practising and the degree of adaptation of practice to the individual student. Aug 07, Brian Gilman rated it it was amazing. Best overview the 84 Mahasiddhas available. Splitting each Mahasiddha into a story, practice commentary, and historiography makes each section easy to read and parse. A good introduction to the Buddhist Tantric literature. Jan 19, Marsha Altman rated it liked it Shelves: history. Thorough but repetitive, though I suppose the stories are supposed to be that way, because they're all more or less the same story. The historical bits are laughable, but I suppose there's nothing you can really do about that. If any of these Masters of Mahamudra: Songs and Histories of the Eighty-four Buddhist Siddhas were true then India should be nothing but Dakini paradises right now. Tom rated it it was amazing May 05, Elly Van rated it it was amazing Aug 31, Raiyan Ahsan rated it it was amazing Feb 25, Luke Fullagar rated it liked it Feb 28, John rated it it was amazing Oct 16, Dominic Ng rated it liked it Feb 01, Donatas rated it it was amazing Dec 03, Kristiina rated it liked it Mar 25, Alvaro Blanco rated it it was amazing Nov 24, Jon rated Masters of Mahamudra: Songs and Histories of the Eighty-four Buddhist Siddhas really liked it Dec 31, Meike rated it it was amazing Jan 20, Michele rated it it was amazing Jun 07, Wayman rated it it was amazing Jan 24, Nicole rated it it was amazing Apr 16, Marc rated it it was amazing Oct 14, Henrique Maia rated it really liked it Sep 12, Aelia rated it liked it Sep 01, Patrick rated it it was amazing Jan 02, Darren Littlejohn added it May 20, Nick marked it as to-read Sep 02, Sady Wootten marked it as to-read May 24, Maha Mudra marked it as to-read Jun 23, Yinzadi marked it as to-read Aug 31, Pat Posner added it Oct 11, Toryn Green added it Oct 21, Rodney marked it as to-read Nov 24, Marek marked it as to-read Mar 23, Enlight marked it as to-read May 17, Seth Ligo added it Jul 27, Faina marked it as to-read Jan 14, Duk Raj added it Jan 22, Ona Kiser added it Mar 18, John Scott marked it as to-read May 03, Martin Cufre is currently reading it Jun 26, Billy Candelaria marked it as to-read Jul 22, Michele marked it as to-read Jan 08, Juraj marked it as to-read Feb 12, There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Readers also enjoyed. About Keith Dowman. Keith Dowman. Books by Keith Dowman. Escape the Present with These 24 Historical Romances. You know the saying: There's no time like the present Masters of Mahamudra: Songs and Histories of the Eightyour Buddhist Siddhas by Keith Dowman

Mahasiddhas were practitioners of yoga and tantraor tantrika s. Their historical influence throughout the Indian Masters of Mahamudra: Songs and Histories of the Eighty-four Buddhist Siddhas and the Himalayas was vast and they reached mythic proportions as codified in their songs of realization and hagiographiesor namtarsmany of which have been preserved in the Tibetan Buddhist canon. The Mahasiddhas are the founders of Vajrayana Masters of Mahamudra: Songs and Histories of the Eighty-four Buddhist Siddhas and lineages such as Dzogchen and Mahamudra. Robert Thurman explains the symbiotic relationship between Tantric Buddhist communities and the Buddhist universities such as Nalanda which flourished at the same time:. The Tantric communities of India in the latter half of the first Common Era millennium and perhaps even earlier were something like "Institutes of Advanced Studies" in relation to the great Buddhist monastic "Universities". Inverse astronauts, the psychonauts voyaged deep into "inner space", encountering and conquering angels and demons in the depths of their subconscious minds. The exact genealogy and historical dates of the Mahasiddhas are contentious. Dowman holds that they all lived between and CE. Abhayadatta Sri is an Indian scholar of the 12th century who is claimed to have recorded the hagiographies of the eighty-four siddhas in a text known as The History of the Eighty-four Mahasiddhas Sanskrit: Caturasitisiddha pravrtti ; Wylie : grub thob brgyad bcu tsa bzhi'i lo rgyus. Dowman holds that the eighty-four Mahasiddha are spiritual archetypes :. The number eighty-four is a "whole" or "perfect" number. Thus the eighty-four siddhas can be seen as archetypes representing the thousands of exemplars and adepts of the tantric way. The siddhas were remarkable for the diversity of their family backgrounds and the dissimilarity of their social roles. They were found in every reach of the social structure: kings and ministers, priests and yogins, poets and musicians, craftsmen and farmers, housewives and whores. Reynolds states that the mahasiddha tradition "evolved in North India in the early Medieval Period 3—13 cen. Philosophically this movement was based on the insights revealed in the Mahayana Sutras and as systematized in the Madhyamaka and Chittamatrin schools of philosophy, but the methods of meditation and practice were radically different than anything seen in the monasteries. In complete contrast to the settled monastic establishment of their day, which concentrated the Buddhist intelligenzia [ sic. The charnel ground conveys how great mahasiddhas in the Nath and Vajrayana traditions such as Tilopa — and Gorakshanath fl. The charnel ground is not merely the hermitage; it can also be discovered or revealed in completely terrifying mundane environments where practitioners find themselves desperate and depressed, where conventional worldly aspirations have become devastated by grim reality. Tilopa attained realization as a grinder of sesame seeds and a procurer for a prominent prostitute. These circumstances were charnel grounds because they were despised in Indian society and the siddhas were viewed as failures, marginal and defiled. In his study of the Hevajra Tantra, David Snellgrove outlines the typical tantric siddha or yogi. After experiencing the consummation of enlightenment in the embrace of a female consort:. Thereafter the pupil is free to pursue the practice of strenuous meditation and physical self-control, and after five years or more he will perhaps succeed. He receives the five symbolic adornments, crown, ear-rings, necklace, bracelets, girdle, signs of his success. These he wears on those set occasions, the eighth or fifteenth day of the dark-fortnight, when perfected yogins and yoginis come together, to consume the flesh and wine, to sing and dance, and realize their consummation of bliss. He is free Masters of Mahamudra: Songs and Histories of the Eighty-four Buddhist Siddhas all conventions and wanders as he pleases, knowing no distinction between friend or foe, clean or unclean, good or evil. According to Ulrich von Schroeder, Tibet has different traditions relating to the mahasiddhas. Among these traditions, two were particularly popular, namely the Abhayadatta Sri list and the so-called Vajrasana list. The number of mahasiddhas varies between eighty-four and eighty-eight, and only about thirty-six of the names occur in both lists. In many instances more than one siddha with the same name exists, so it must be assumed that fewer than thirty siddhas of the two traditions actually relate to the same historical persons. In the days when the siddhas of the later Tibetan traditions flourished in India i. Sometimes a disciple would have the same name as his guru, while still other names were based on caste or tribe. In such a context the distinction between siddhas of the same name becomes blurred. The entire process of distinguishing between siddhas with the same name of different texts and lineages is therefore to large extent guesswork. The great variation in phonetic transcription of Indian words into Tibetan may partly be the result of various Tibetan dialects. In the process of copying the Tibetan transcriptions in Masters of Mahamudra: Songs and Histories of the Eighty-four Buddhist Siddhas times, the spelling often became corrupted to such an extent that the recognition or reconstitution of the original names became all but impossible. Whatever the reasons might be, the Tibetan transcription of Indian names of mahasiddhas clearly becomes more and more corrupt as time passes. Local folk tradition refers to a number of icons and sacred sites to the eighty-four Mahasiddha at Bharmour formerly known as Brahmapura in the Chaurasi complex. It is also very significant that nowhere else, except at Bharmaur in Chamba district, may be seen the living tradition of the Eighty-four Siddhas. In the Chaurasi temple complex, near which the famous temple of goddess Lakshana 8th century A. A number of archaeological sacred sites require iconographic analysis in the Chaurasi complex in Chamba, Himachal Pradesh. Although it might be hagiographical accretion and folk lore, it is said that in the reign of Sahil Varman :. Tantric techniques Masters of Mahamudra: Songs and Histories of the Eighty-four Buddhist Siddhas. Only Tibetan translations of this Sanskrit text seem to have survived. It has been suggested that Abhayadatta Sri is identical with the great Indian scholar Mahapandita Abhayakaragupta late 11th—early 12th centurythe compiler of the iconographic compendiums VajravaliNispannayogavaliand Jyotirmanjari. There exist several Tibetan versions of the list of mahasiddhas based on the Vajrasana text. However, these Tibetan texts differ in many cases with regard to the Tibetan transcriptions of the Indian mahasiddhas names. By convention there are eighty-four Mahasiddhas in both Masters of Mahamudra: Songs and Histories of the Eighty-four Buddhist Siddhas and Tibetan Buddhist traditions, with some overlap between the two lists. The number is congruent with the number of siddhi or occult powers held in the Indian Religions. In Tibetan Buddhist art they are often depicted together as a matched set in works such as thangka paintings where they may be used collectively as border decorations around a central figure. Each Mahasiddha has come to be known for certain characteristics and teachings, which facilitates their pedagogical use. Some of the methods and practices of the Mahasiddha were codified in Buddhist scriptures known as Tantras. Traditionally the ultimate source of these methods and practices is held to be the historical Buddha Shakyamuni, but often it is a transhistorical aspect of the Buddha or deity Vajradhara or Samantabhadra who reveals the Tantra in question directly to the Mahasiddha in a vision or whilst they dream or are in a trance. This form of the deity is known as a sambhogakaya manifestation. The sadhana of Dream Yoga as practiced in Dzogchen traditions such as the Kham, entered the Himalayan tantric tradition from the Mahasiddha, Ngagpa and Bonpo. Four of the eighty-four Mahasiddhas are women. Some of the most important Tibetan Buddhist monuments to have survived the Cultural Revolution between and are located at Gyantse rGyal rtse in Tsang province Masters of Mahamudra: Songs and Histories of the Eighty-four Buddhist Siddhas Central Tibet. The detailed information gained from the inscriptions with regard to the sculptors and painters summoned for the work testifies to the regional distribution of workshops in 15th-century Tsang. The sculptures and murals also document the extent to which a general consensus among the various traditions or schools had been achieved by the middle of that century. Bearing in mind that these murals are the most splendid extant painted Tibetan representations of mahasiddhas, one wonders why they have never been published as a whole cycle. Several scholars have at times intended to study these paintings, but it seems that difficulties of identification were the primary obstacle to publication. Although the life-stories of many of the eighty-four mahasiddhas still remain unidentified, the quality of the works nevertheless warrants a publication of these great murals. This is due to the fact that the inscription below the paintings mentions eighty siddhaswhereas actually eighty-four were originally represented. Tucci mentions eighty-four, Masters of Mahamudra: Songs and Histories of the Eighty-four Buddhist Siddhas Erberto Lo Bue assumed that only eighty siddhas were shown, as stated in the inscription. Lo Bue, E. Gyantse Revisited, pp. Of these eighty-four siddhas painted on the walls, two are entirely destroyed G55, G63 and another retains only the lower section; the name has survived G Thus, the inscribed Tibetan names of eighty- two mahasiddhas are known. In Vajrayana Buddhism there are eighty-four Mahasiddhas. The list in alphabetical order below includes their name and their epithet. An asterisk after their name denotes a female Mahasiddha. It is therefore also wrong to state that in Buddhism are 84 Mahasiddhas. The correct title should therefore be Names of the 84 Mahasiddhas according to the Abhayadatta Sri Tradition. This means that many Sanskrit names of Masters of Mahamudra: Songs and Histories of the Eighty-four Buddhist Siddhas Abhayadatta Sri tradition had to be reconstructed and perhaps not always correctly. According to Ulrich von Schroeder for the identification of Mahasiddhas inscribed with Tibetan names it is necessary to reconstruct the Indian names. This is a very difficult task because the Tibetans are very inconsistent with the transcription or translation of Indian personal names and therefore many different spellings do exist. When comparing the different Tibetan texts on mahasiddhas, we can see that the transcription or translation of the names of the Indian masters into the Tibetan language was inconsistent and confused. The most unsettling example is an illustrated Tibetan block print from Mongolia about the mahasiddhas, where the spellings in the text vary greatly from the captions of the xylographs. In the same illustrated Tibetan text we find another inconsistency: the alternate use of transcription and translation. Examples are Nagarjuna [Skt. For the identification of individual mahasiddhas the concordance lists published by Ulrich von Schroeder are useful tools for every scholar. The purpose of the concordance lists published in the appendices of his book is primarily for the reconstitution of the Indian names, regardless of whether they actually represent the same historical person or not. The index of his book contains more than different Tibetan spellings of mahasiddha names. Tibetan Buddhist masters of various lineages are often referred to as mahasiddhas grub thob chen po or tul shug. There is a long tradition of hagiographies of these Tibetan adepts, called namtar. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Someone who embodies and cultivates the "siddhi of perfection". Tantrism Mahasiddha Sahaja. Buddhahood Bodhisattva Kalachakra. Ganachakra Ullambana Puja. Tantric texts. Symbols and tools. Ordination and transmission. Pointing-out instruction Samaya Vajracharya. Gray, ed. Thomas F. Retrieved Retrieved 18 June