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Trickster-Like Teachings in Tibetan Buddhism: Shortcuts Towards Destroying Illusions

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Trickster-Like Teachings in Tibetan Buddhism: Shortcuts Towards Destroying Illusions Asian Research Journal of Arts & Social Sciences 5(1): 1-9, 2018; Article no.ARJASS.38108 ISSN: 2456-4761 Trickster-Like Teachings in Tibetan Buddhism: Shortcuts towards Destroying Illusions Z. G. Ma1* 1California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), California, USA. Author’s contribution The sole author designed, analyzed and interpreted and prepared the manuscript. Article Information DOI: 10.9734/ARJASS/2018/38108 Editor(s): (1) Shiro Horiuchi, Faculty of International Tourism, Hannan University, Japan. (2) David Perez Jorge, Department of Teaching and –Educational research, University of La Laguna, Spain. Reviewers: (1) Dare Ojo Omonijo, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Nigeria. (2) Valentine Banfegha Ngalim, The University of Bamenda, Cameroon. (3) Lufanna Ching-Han Lai, Gratia Christian College, China. (4) Abraham K. Kisang, Kenyatta University, Kenya. (5) Uche A. Dike, Niger Delta University, Nigeria. Complete Peer review History: http://www.sciencedomain.org/review-history/22795 Received 6th November 2017 Accepted 11th January 2018 Opinion Article th Published 20 January 2018 ABSTRACT Trickster-like Dharma teachings in Tibetan Buddhism behave as a kind of shortcuts in the approach to leading people along the path of enlightenment. This essay collects three such teachings of different levels towards destroying illusions, i.e., Buddha’s silence, Guru’s paradox, and Ego’s kleshas. They are necessary as “an ace up the sleeve” for Buddha to destruct disciples’ metaphysical quagmire, for Guru to lead community toward perfect transcendence, and for individuals to attain self-consciousness. Keywords: Trickster; Buddhism; enlightenment; consciousness. 1. INTRODUCTION breaker of all taboos to enlighten minds through levity, humor, or creative mischief [1]. Appearing A trickster is any person or thing which acts as as a cunning and/or foolish role played in the not only the rebel against authority but also the myths of different cultural and historical _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ *Corresponding author: Email: [email protected]; Ma; ARJASS, 5(1): 1-9, 2018; Article no.ARJASS.38108 dimensions in different concepts, a trickster Thirdly, among the eastern philosophers brings about positive even sacred effects in cultivated by ancient Chinese culture, there taking the form of practical jokes or thievery to exists a cluster of Taoist Scholé (Leisure) violate commonly accepted social rules or norms, sages who are considered as trickster-type sometimes maliciously [2]. characters, like Zhuangzi (c. 369-286 BC). The definition of the trickster here is purely The definition of trickster varies pertaining to metaphysical, but different from both Jung’s different dimensions in the cultural practice of psychological concept and Hyde’s mythic idea, indigenous people and the metaphysical on that it refers to Aristotle-like synoptic thinkers reasoning of elites’ abstractive thinking. Each who are able to develop an over-arching theory trickster is unique in a specific practice and/or that ties together all aspects and fields, [8] while reasoning. A group of influential ones are employing various modes of rhetoric, mostly illustrated in Fig. 1. Firstly, Jungian psychology is expressed through philosophical demonstrations, one of the European metaphysical theories, and to “establish and legitimate normative authority shares intimate affinities with the Idealist tradition for the particular way of life” endorsed by them of philosophy [3]. In the Jungian paradigm, the [9]. trickster behaves as one figure in the claimed several metaphysical archetypes of the collective Lastly, the word of trickster is used in Tibetan unconscious to demonstrate “the importance of literature and religion respectively for different the individual psyche and the personal quest for purposes. On the one side, there is a popular wholeness” [4]. group of tricksters which exist in Tibetan folk tales. Among them is the famous AkhuTönpa Secondly, in contrast to the description of Native who demonstrates his wicked humors in the daily Americans that a trickster takes the form of life to help serfs and all the poor people in the earthbound human-like animals, e.g., coyote, struggle of survival against greedy, cunning, and which is constantly trying but always failing to scoundrel lords [10]. On the other side, the transcend the fate by attempting to fly, [5] Hyde stylistic and thematic hybrid during the 7th-15th presents a cultural definition which extends the centuries between the Han-Mahayana Buddhist trickster as one of the gods or the messenger of culture and the indigenous pre-Buddhist Bön the gods, which is “the mythic embodiment of culture leads to the formation of three types of ambiguity and ambivalence, doubleness and special tricksters as the “Illusion” destroyers in duplicity, contradiction and paradox” to perform Tibetan Bön-Buddhist (simply hereafter, as both a boundary-crosser and a boundary- Buddhist) religious practices: the subtle Buddha- creator of the world by crossing physical and/or trickster, the charismatic Guru-trickster, and the social boundaries [6]. Based on his discussions, abstruse Ego-trickster. artists and some creative individuals often have much of the trickster in them [7]. Fig. 1. Nomenclature of tricksters in cultural practice and metaphysical reasoning 2 Ma; ARJASS, 5(1): 1-9, 2018; Article no.ARJASS.38108 This essay introduces the unusual trickster-like Does Buddha neither survive nor not survive teachings in Tibetan Buddhism to lead people death? [15]. along the path of enlightenment. The methodology employed to carry out the study lies The Buddha’s silence demonstrates the core of in the following two steps: (1) Offering a general Buddhist doctrine, the Middle Path between characterization and classification of different Eternalism or Nihilism, to manifest the principle types of tricksters; (2) Exposing the significance of Dependent Origination (Pratītyasamutpāda) in of the trickster-like teachings to guide beings the way of destroying illusions and transforming away from rigid, irreconcilable facets in reality. insights into Emptiness (śūnyatā). The silence The layout of the paper is as follows. Section 2 ignores the principle of non-contradiction, and focuses on Buddha’s trickster-like teaching offers a paradoxical view to illustrate the ineffable presented in his tricking silence to metaphysical reality of some logical questions like, either A or questions. Section 3 describes Guru-trickster B; neither A nor B; or, not neither A nor B: [13] on teaching, by taking Dalai Lama as an example, the one hand, the silence implies to admit some shown in his tricking argument on the cosmic validity of the words, symbols, or metaphors to evolution. Section 4 elaborates the Ego-trickster describe the ineffable reality; on the other hand, and its tricking properties in the transcendence of it entails that the words, symbols, or metaphors self-consciousness. Finally, Section 5 gives are not the perfect tools to describe the ineffable conclusions. realm. 2. BUDDHA-TRICKSTER TO DESTRUCT The trick of silence reflects the wisdom of Buddha to destroy the illusions for the exact METAPHYSICAL QUAGMIRE answers of these metaphysical questions which are helpless in spiritual awakening: First of all, Fundamentally as a literary character in the early the questions do not have much to do with the Pali Canon of Buddhism [11], Buddha appears basic teachings of the Buddha: (1) Three as a compassionate trickster whose actions Dharma Seals (Tri-drsti-namitta-mudrā), i.e., embody the paradoxical and/or provocative impermanence, non-self, and nirvana; (2) Four states of the unconditioned, both deceptive and Noble Truths (cattāriariyasaccāni), i.e., suffering, illusive, tricks to “enable those who experience cause of suffering, end of suffering, and, the path them to put an end to defilements through that leads to the end of suffering; (3) Noble unmistakable and often funny encounters with Eightfold Path (ariyoaṭṭhaṅgikomaggo), i.e., right their own impermanent limitations” along the path view, resolve, speech, conduct, livelihood, effort, to awakening [12]. mindfulness, and, prefect meditation; and, (4) Twelve Nidānas (paṭicca-samuppāda-aṅga), i.e., The dominant trick Buddha used is his silence ignorance, fabrication, rebirth consciousness, when facing 14 metaphysical questions, a name & form, six entrances, contact, sense, treatment of the fundamental Buddhist tradition craving, attachment, becoming, birth, and aging- to destroy metaphysical illusions and stimulate deceasing. Secondly, the questions are so spiritual growth for enlightenment. It influences abstract that they lead people to go astray, lose Madhyamika, Yogacara, and in particular, Zen the way, and waste the time in the ego- Buddhism [13], These questions are divided into transcending practice (Sādhana) during the short four groups: [14] Group 1 deals with Time, secular life. Thirdly, they are so inscrutable due including (1) Is the Universe eternal? (2) Is the to the limitations of language, which is bounded Universe non-eternal? (3) Is the universe at one merely within the ranges of familiar things and and the same time eternal and non-eternal? (4) ideas confined to time, space and origin, that Is the Universe neither eternal nor non-eternal? normal people are unable to understand the Group 2 deals with Space, including (5) Is the answers. Finally, Buddha is not a computer to Universe infinite? (6) Is the Universe finite?
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