Story of a Tibetan Buddhist deity

[tenzinchoje]

This is something that eventually any Buddhist would encounter. It's about Dorje Shugden, the supposedly demon that the Dalai Lama has banned. I believe that everyone deserves to know both sides of the story and thus, they should at least learn about Dorje Shugden's origins before deciding that that he is bad. I am not going against the Dalai Lama or anything, but shouldnt we as Buddhists have a right investigate and learn before we actually believe in something? 10 out of 10 people out there who are against Dorje Shugden have no idea how he originated and who was his previous incarnation. They only know he's bad because the Dalai Lama says so. There are many resources on him online, so I am hoping that before anyone makes a judgement or decision, please do at least learn about him before deciding. At least, knowing 2 sides of the story is better than following one side blindly.

[holistichealer]

Having studied Buddhism while in College and participated in Zen, I am by no means an "expert" on the subject. But I do have a "working knowledge" of Buddhism in general.

The first thing that comes up for me in reading your post is your reference to a "deity", which you say that the Dalai Lama has banned and termed a "demon".

I am not familiar with the story, however, as I understand it, the term, "deity" refers to a being who is a facet of the Creator, while a "demon" is a lower entity. I am surprised to find a concept of "deity" in Buddhism, although I do understand that Tibetan Buddhism has a shamanic "Bonn" origin and therefore is unique. Many people see Tibetan Buddhism as a mix of Hinduism and Buddhism. And Hinduism certainly has many "deities".

I have a strong interest in crystal healing. I have studied with several teachers and have numerous books on the subject. Years ago, I ran across a "Phurba" made of smoky quartz, from Tibet. I was very interested to know what such a thing was for and was advised to stay away from it by several intuitive people, because such an instrument was fashioned specifically to fight "demons", and having one in your possession, especially without extensive training, would be foolhardy. So, I have encountered the concept of "demons" in the Tibetan tradition before your post.
I have immense respect for the Dalai Lama. And I would heed his advice.

[holistichealer]

It is my impression that the various "demons" in Buddhist tradition are actually representations of the various facets of the ego, which, in essence, are "opponents" to be subdued and overcome on the way to enlightenment.

I don't know if this is true for Tibetan Buddhism, but the concept does ring true with me.

However, at the same time, due to one modality of healing ("Spirit Releasement Therapy")that I have experience with, as well as personal past life experience, I do know that dark entities do exist.

Once again, I would certainly defer to the Dalai Lama.

[sparklekaz]

Very interesting post and replies. I have come across the concept of demons in Buddhism while reading a book by Alexandra David-Neel called 'Magic & Mystery in Tibet'. Particularly when moving around within the 'Bardo', (which is known more by the term Astral Realm). I would concur with you in regard to the Crystal that was empowered to deal with these kind of entities only being used by someone who was an adept in the practice of getting rid of lower or demonic entities.

Love and light
Kaz

[holistichealer]

It occurred to me last night that there may be a "parallel" of sorts in Judaism.

Most people are not familiar with the story of "Lilith", because it's not in the Christian "Bible". But Lilith is said in Jewish lore to be the first wife of Adam (Eve being the second- not the first).

Lilith was not submissive to Adam. She did not like the way he wanted to have sex with her, and she rebelled and left. God sent an angel to reason with her and to get her to return, but she refused. So she was cursed by God and became, "The Mother of all Demons", as the story goes.

Yet many women in particular see Lilith as a role model and say that she was misunderstood. There is even a "Lilith Fair" music festival which mainly, if not exclusively, features women, primarily lesbian women.

[holistichealer]

Mar 21, 2013 19:20:51 GMT sparklekaz said:

I would concur with you in regard to the Crystal that was empowered to deal with these kind of entities only being used by someone who was an adept in the practice of getting rid of lower or demonic entities.

Love and light
Kaz

Hi, Kaz.

That particular smoky quartz Phurba, in the hands of an untrained novice, could be the open door to many troubles for the novice, as I understand it. This is because it has an energy that attracts negative entities, much like a challenge, or a gauntlet being thrown down. Using it would require not just an "adept" at dealing with such entities, but someone who was trained in the use of a Phurba in particular.

I mentioned it to a friend of mine who trained in Tibet and is also the protoge' of Marcel Vogel (of Vogel Crystals fame), so his knowledge of both Tibetan mysticism and crystals makes him uniquely- qualified, IMO, and he strongly urged me to stay clear of it.

I have this picture in mind of a time in the "Old West" U.S. history, in a town full of gun- slingers, when a guy shows up in all new clothes with a shiny silver pistol on each hip- and know real skill of using them, but being the center of attention and inevitable challenges, nonetheless, to his detriment.

"But I just got these pistols today in the mail."s an answer.

[sparklekaz]

Hi Holistic,

I have a large smokey quartz crystal of my own. As I understand crystal lore, this particular type of crystal is very powerful in absorbing negative energies. It is extremely important that it is regularly cleansed. Maybe the danger in coming across a crystal of this type, might be that if the crystal has been used frequently in drawing out and absorbing negative or malevolent energies, they may still be retained within the crystal. A novice may unwittingly absorb some of these energies into themselves when holding or trying to use it, if it has not been properly cleansed first. Just a thought!

Thank you for sharing, I find your posts very interesting.

Love and light
Kaz

[holistichealer]

Hi, Kaz.

Thank you.

Energetically, Smoky Quartz is useful for removing negative. "heavy", "stuck" energy from a person's energy field. The darker the quartz, the heavier the energy it can "pull". As a result, lighter Smoky Quartz is useful for working with finer energies, darker Smoky Quartz is better for more "gross" energies.

Put another way, darker Smoky is better at pulling energies from the physical realm, lighter Smoky from higher realms.

(A note of interest: Marcel Vogel determined a specific angle for Quartz to be faceted (i.e., cut by a technician) at, to make it most efficient at working with energy. And the more facets a Quartz crystal was cut with, the higher the energy vibration it could address, as well as all energies below it, according to him. I have a Vogel quartz crystal cut with 4 sides. I've seen them with as many as 32. And I've heard of them with 64.)

A "relative" of Smoky Quartz, Smoky Citrine, has very much the same properties as Smoky Quartz, with the exception that it does not retain negative energy.

I have encountered the concept of "capturing" an entity inside of a crystal only once in my studies. And that was in the book, "Healer, Shaman, Sage", by Alberto Villoldo. I am not familiar with the Tibetan "way", so I can't speak to that as a rule. But maybe you're onto something. At the same time, Villoldo (as I recall) didn't suggest using the crystal as a long- term "prison" for the offensive entity. So, I suspect that the same is true for the Tibetan tradition.

Villoldo did say that the crystal used has to be flawless- no inclusions, ghosts, etc., because such a flaw would make it a painful trap for the spirit enclosed inside.

The Phurba I mentioned above was flawless and light in color- like honey.

It's been a long time since I read Villoldo's book, but as I recall, he did describe a way to release the entities constructively and clean the crystal after- the- fact.

On a similar note: One of my teachers emphatically states that once a pendulum is used for any form of "dowsing", it must not be used in a person's energy field, such as in chakra diagnosis and adjustment. She states that the reason why is that once used as a dowsing tool, a vortex is opened, which is connected with the pendulum. And you don't want to hold an open vortex over a person's energy field and chakras, since to do so would potentially act as a "gate" for other energy to come through and enter their field.