Aspects of Esoteric Theravada

Western Budhists, when they come into contact with the living traditions in Theravāda countries, are often surprised or confused by the apparent discrepancy between what they see and what they have read about in books explaining Buddhism or heard at Vipassana meditation retreats. The official version of Theravāda as it has been presented for the last century or more is actually a sterilized rationalistic interpretation of certain Pali scriptures only and does not capture the whole colourful variety of the lived Buddhist experience. There are historical reasons behind this type of 'protestant Buddhism' which have to do with Western influence during the colonial era and the need to respond to the challenge of a modern scientific approach. But the despite the state-sponsored attempts at reform, the lives of most Buddhists are still profoundly affected by beliefs and practices which fall outside the scope of rationalized Theravāda definitions.

These aspects have been called 'esoteric' or 'tantric' Theravāda because they bear resemblance to certain Mahāyāna traditions that we know. However, there are only few written texts available that give us a glimpse of these seemingly unorthodox aspects, despite the fact that they are so wide-spread and deeply rooted. Ranging from the popular worship of relics, Buddha images and amulets to protective tattoos and magical yantra diagrams arranged in the shape of a mandala and inscribed with Pali syllables, together with the ritual chanting of paritta texts imbued with special power which can be transmitted to the listeners by means of a white string and blessed water — these are some of the tantric aspects of Theravāda.

And not merely rituals and ceremonies but also meditation methods that have recently been practised could be described in this way: they involve visualisation of colours and lights, focusing mind-energy in the chakra centres of the body, fast repetition of mantra words and receiving instructions from higher beings or saints through visions or nimittas in dreams. The Pali texts are still being used as a source, but the terms are often interpreted symbolically and numerology also plays a big role, which is the reason why Abhidhamma lists are particularly popular for chanting purposes. A spiritual rebirth is enacted by memorizing the stages of embryonic development with their alphabetic equivalents, because the esoteric meanings of Pali alphabet and grammatical system provide a path to liberation. By identifying certain parts of the physical body with the qualities of the Buddha or components of the teachings, a new Dhamma-body is created which then replaces the old individual. The identity of the microcosm and macrocosm is assumed in this process of substitution. Having connection with what is regarded as 'sacred' is the primary way of acquiring spiritual merit, which in turn brings visible worldly benefits in this life and leads to ultimate liberation.

The origins of this esoteric 'yogāvacara' tradition are not clear. The word yogāvacara occurs in some Pali commentaries meaning "one who applies himself to meditation exercise", but later on it came to be associated with the unofficial, secret, or 'tantric' practices going on underneath the standard Theravāda doctrine in Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and Burma. Some early connections with the Abhayagiri school in Sri Lanka, which absorbed Mahāyāna influences from India, are also suggested. These esoteric practices would have been fairly wide-spread and enjoyed royal support until the 19th century when the reformed Dhammayut sect in Thailand became prominent and started promoting a rationalistic version of Buddhism based on the Pali Canon and the commentaries of the Mahāvihāra school in Sri Lanka, which were regarded as orthodox. The new Dhammayut reformers rejected teachings which were regarded as superstitious and heterodox. However, some of these ideas — especially visualisation — can be traced to the Apadāna texts which form a later portion of the Pali Canon and which have been perhaps more influential in Theravāda history, together with the Jātakas, than any other texts, and yet they remain largely unknown and untranslated for Western Buddhists. Some notions may also come from the Mūla-Sarvāstivāda school, which has spread from India into Burma and northern Thailand, or from earlier Mon traditions in this region.

Chanting is a popular practice for both monastics and lay Buddhists because it is said to be very meritorious. Only a few canonical texts containing the Buddha's teachings are usually recited, the emphasis being on later compositions which contain many unorthodox references. One paritta text, which is also used by the reformed Dhammayut sect for ritual chanting, begins with these lines:

I pay homage with my head to the 512,028 Buddhas.

I pay devoted homage to their Dhamma and Sangha.

Through the power of this homage,

having demolished all misfortunes,

May countless dangers be destroyed without trace.

I pay homage with my head to the 1,024,055 Buddhas...

Another paritta text starts with:

Homage to the Great Seer, the Worthy One, Rightly Self-awakened.

Homage to the highest Dhamma, well-taught by him here.

And homage to the Great Sangha, pure in virtue and view.

Homage to the Triple Gem beginning auspiciously with AUM.

And homage to those three objects that have left base things behind.

By the potency of this homage, may misfortunes disappear.

By the potency of this homage, may there always be well-being.

By the power of this homage, may success in this ceremony be mine.

Here the sacred syllable "OM" is represented as AUM, each of the letters corresponding to one of Triple Gem (Arahato... Uttamadhammassa... Mahāsanghassa...).

The chants, or prayers, often take the form of invocations to the various powers (anubhāva) associated with everything sacred:

Through the power of the 32 marks of the Great Man belonging to the Blessed One,

the Worthy One, the Rightly Self-awakened One,

who through his accumulation of merit is endowed with glory, steadfastness of intent,

majesty, victorious power, great might, countless great virtues, who settles all dangers & obstacles,

through the power of his 80 minor characteristics,

through the power of his 108 blessings,

through the power of his sixfold radiance,

through the power of the aura surrounding his head,

through the power of his ten perfections, ten higher perfections, ten ultimate perfections,

through the power of his virtue, concentration, discernment,

through the power of the Buddha, Dhamma, Saṅgha,

through the power of his majesty, might, strength,

through the power of the dhammas that can be known,

through the power of the 84,000 divisions of the Dhamma,

through the power of the nine transcendent dhammas,

through the power of the eightfold path,

through the power of his eight meditative attainments,

through the power of his six cognitive skills,

through the power of his knowledge of the four noble truths,

through the power of his knowledge of the ten strengths,

through the power of his omniscience,

through the power of his good will, compassion, appreciation, equanimity,

through the power of all protective chants,

through the power of refuge in the Triple Gem:

May all your diseases, griefs, misfortunes, pains, distresses, & despairs be destroyed,

may all obstructions be destroyed, may all your resolves succeed,

may you live long, always attaining 100 years.

May the protective devas of the sky, the mountains, the forests, the land,

the River Ganges, the great ocean always protect you.

The most powerful protective chant is known as the Victor's Cage or Jinapañjara Gāthā. It was made popular in Thailand by Somdet Toh who used to recite it over amulets which he then distributed. Many Buddhists know this text by heart and recite it daily, visualising a protective cage being gradually built around them through the power of Buddhas, Arahants and Suttas:

The Buddhas, noble men who drank the nectar of the four noble truths,

having come to the victory seat, having defeated Māra together with his mount:

These Buddhas — 28 leaders, sovereign sages beginning with Taṇhaṅkara — are all established on the crown of my head.

The Buddha is established in my head, the Dhamma in my two eyes, the Saṅgha — the mine of all virtues — is established in my chest.

Anuruddha is in my heart, and Sāriputta on my right. Koṇḍañña is behind me, and Moggallāna on my left.

Ānanda and Rāhula are in my right ear, Kassapa and Mahānāma are both in my left ear.

Sobhita, the noble sage, sits in consummate glory, shining like the sun all over the hair at the back of my head.

Elder Kumārakassapa — great sage, brilliant speaker, a mine of virtue — is constantly in my mouth.

These five elders — Puṇṇa, Aṅgulimāla, Upālī, Nanda, Sīvalī — have arisen as auspicious marks at the middle of my forehead.

The rest of the 80 great elders — victorious, disciples of the Victor, sons of the Victor, shining with the majesty of moral virtue —

are established in the various parts of my body.

The Ratana Sutta is in front, the Metta Sutta to the right. The Dhajagga Sutta is behind, the Aṅgulimāla Paritta to the left.

The Khandha and Mora Parittas and the Āṭānāṭiya Sutta are a roof in space. The remaining Suttas are established as a rampart.

Bound by the Victor's authority and strength, seven ramparts arrayed against them, may all misfortunes within and without

— caused by such things as wind or bile — be destroyed without trace through the unending Victor's majesty.

As I dwell, in all my affairs, always in the cage of the Self-awakened One, living on earth in the middle of the cage of the Victors,

I am always guarded by all of those great noble men.

Thus am I utterly well-sheltered, well-protected.

Through the power of the Victor, misfortunes are vanquished.

Through the power of the Dhamma, the enemy horde is vanquished.

Through the power of the Saṅgha, dangers are vanquished.

Guarded by the power of the True Dhamma,

I go about in the Victor's Cage.

Repeating certain chants, such as Itipiso or the 10 Pāramī, up to 108 times with various combinations of the Pali words is also supposed to bring much merit to the reciter. Some sacred syllables are used to represent a larger entity, for example "na mo bu ddha ya" (five Buddhas, five aggregates) or "a ra ham" (three baskets, three gems, three robes). One is instructed to visualize them as colours at particular spots in the body, starting with the nose and going down to the navel. The use of heart syllables is similar to the dhāranī mantras in Mahāyāna.

Initiation into the esoteric meditation practice (kammatthāna) is done by a knowledgeable master (guru, ācariya) following a ritual pattern starting with the words "Okāsa". It can happen in conjunction with a monk's ordination, which generates merit for his parents, but ordinary laymen and laywomen are also able to practise it. In any case the dependence on the guru is emphasised in the esoteric tradition, it is even regarded as the fourth refuge.

The ascetic forest tradition started by Ajahn Mun Bhuridatto and his disciples is often presented by official Thai publications in a purist way which overlooks their background. Although they did read the Dhamma textbooks and Vinaya manuals produced by the Dhammayut reformers of the 19th century, they were also steeped in their local Buddhist culture and they continued to practise and teach under its influence. There are some clear indications that Ajahn Mun was familiar with the esoteric yogāvacara teachings which he is quoting in these passages from Muttodaya - A Heart Released:

Why is it that wise people — before chanting, receiving the precepts, or performing any other act of merit — always take up namo as their starting point? Why is it that namo is never omitted or discarded? This suggests that namo must be significant. If we take it up for consideration, we find that na stands for the water element, and mo for the earth element — and with this, a line from the scriptures comes to mind:

mātā-petika-sambhavo odana-kummāsa-paccayo

'When the generative elements of the mother and father are combined, the body comes into being. When it is born from the mother's womb, it is nourished with rice and bread, and so is able to develop and grow.'

'When the generative elements of the mother and father are combined, the body comes into being. When it is born from the mother's womb, it is nourished with rice and bread, and so is able to develop and grow.' Na is the mother's element; mo, the father's element. When these two elements are combined, the mother's fire element then heats the combination until it becomes what is called a kalala, a droplet of oil. This is the point where the connecting cognizance (patisandhi-viññāna) can make its connection, so that the mind becomes joined to the namo element. Once the mind has taken up residence, the droplet of oil develops until it is an ambuja, a glob of blood. From a glob of blood it becomes a ghana, a rod, and then a pesi, a piece of flesh. Then it expands itself into a lizard-like shape, with five extensions: two arms, two legs, and a head.

(As for the elements

(As for the elements ba, breath, and dha, fire, these take up residence later, because they are not what the mind holds onto. If the mind lets the droplet of oil drop, the droplet of oil vanishes or is discarded as useless. It has no breath or fire, just as when a person dies and the breath and fire vanish from the body. This is why we say they are secondary elements. The important factors are the two original elements, namo.)

After the child is born, it has to depend on

After the child is born, it has to depend on na, its mother, and mo, its father, to care for it, nurturing it and nourishing it with such foods as rice and bread, at the same time teaching and training it in every form of goodness. The mother and father are thus called the child's first and foremost teachers. The love and benevolence the mother and father feel for their children cannot be measured or calculated. The legacy they give us — this body — is our primal inheritance. External wealth, silver or gold, come from this body. If we didn't have this body, we wouldn't be able to do anything, which means that we wouldn't have anything at all. For this reason, our body is the root of our entire inheritance from our mother and father, which is why we say that the good they have done us cannot be measured or calculated. Wise people thus never neglect or forget them. We first have to take up this body, this namo, and only then do we perform the act of bowing it down in homage. To translate namo as homage is to translate only the act, not the source of the act.

The reference above to the syllables na mo ba dha — representing the four physical elements in the growth of an embryo — is not just a play on words but rather an esoteric correspondence drawn between parts of the body and sacred Pali words. Manuscripts with such meditation instructions were in circulation in the monasteries where Ajahn Mun used to stay. He also said that his insights came from "outside the scriptures". Among his students, it was Ajahn Lee Dhammadharo who taught a meditation technique which uses the chakra centers of the body as bases for focusing breath energy. Such concentration practice can lead to purifying the physical elements and acquiring various cognitive skills and psychic powers. Other disciples practised kasina meditation as well and were credited with healing abilities.

Another modern meditation technique is called the Dhammakāya method, which was taught by the abbot of Wat Paknam in the 20th century. Although he claimed to have re-discovered this technique which was lost for many centuries after the Buddha's passing away, it is obvious that it comes from the same esoteric yogāvacara source and shares many common features with others. It involves the visualisation of light (which is a standard kasina practice) and the recitation of the mantra "sammā araham". The meditator is then instructed to focus on a crystal ball above the navel from which eventually a series of refined celestial bodies will emerge. These will transform into luminous diamond Buddha images of a huge size, which are identified with the four stages of enlightenment. The meditators are then able to visit heavens and hells and also the sphere of Nibbāna where the Buddha and the Arahants dwell.

Buddhism in northern Thailand and in the Shan state in Burma has some tantric features, one of them being the ritual of entering "nirodha-kamma". According to the Pali Canon, highly realized beings can enter nirodha-samāpatti (cessation of perception and feeling) for up to 7 days, as the Buddha himself occasionally did. The body metabolism slows down so they do not need to eat or drink or respond to any sense stimuli. When they come out of this state, many people assume that they must definitely be enlightened beings and by offering them things a lot of merit can be gained, which will bring success in one's own life. Large billboards announce that "Kruba so-and-so will come out of nirodha on this day: come and make merit!" These kind of practices are also sometimes connected with vegetarianism and making bodhisattva aspirations.

Despite the fact that in the 20th century esoteric meditation techniques have been largely replaced by more orthodox methods based on the Satipatthāna Sutta and promoted through official institutions in Theravāda countries, there are still some surviving aspects of them. One modern "pure Vipassana" technique is associated with the ritual chanting of mantras and tuning into subtle vibrations inside the body. Meditators are instructed to send positive energy to others and receive it on the top of the head, as well as purify their external environment from any disturbing negative energies.

Because we will never know exactly whether all that the Buddha had to say was recorded in the Pali Suttas, although it is fair to assume that everything essential has in fact been included in those texts, some of these esoteric practices might prove useful to the followers of the Buddhist path according to their particular tendencies. A purely scholastic judgment on this point is unlikely to be adequate, in the end the value of any form of Dhamma practice has to be verified in one's own experience.

(Translations from www.accesstoinsight.org)

Bhikkhu Gavesako

A revised shorter version was published in the Middle Way magazine in spring 2012.