Pure Land Buddhism as Vaishnavism
Part Three: A Basic
Principle for Studying Vaishnava Goddess Connections in Buddhism
By Bhakti Ananda Goswami
(The exchange below has been edited a little for this site.)
Dear Bhakti Ananda Maharaja,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada! Thank you very much for your kind letter with so vast and nice explanations. So I need a time to investigate it. Thanks to you, I again started my research work in Buddhism and other interfaith subjects. Right, all ancient methods derived from mystical Radha-Krsna Union: Korea - Celestial Mother and Tangun, Japan: Amaterasu, Izanami & Izanagi, Vietnam: Lac Long Quan & Au Co, Kouros & Rhoda etc.
Hare Krishna ! Sri
Sri Guru and Gauranaga ki jaya !
Dear ..............Das,
Please accept my humble obeisances. Remember in your studies that
the specific forms of Shakti and the Lord in Mahayana Buddhism and Shinto,
Taoism, Confucianism etc. correspond to different forms of Radha-Krishna and
their expansions or emanations.
So, when you are tracing out these connections, keep in mind that
sometimes, even though it is demonstrably the same deity, certain forms of that
deity may not be comparable. In other words, Lakshmi, Sarasvati, and Bhumi
are all ultimately manifest from Radharani who is the source of all the feminine
expressions of the divine. When She, Radha-Shakti, is contemplated
as the origin of all the 'Goddesses', She may be praised in litanies as Lakshmi,
Sarasvati, Bhumi, Durga, etc. However, this does not mean that Her forms
such as Lakshmi, Sarasvati, Bhumi, Durga etc. are comparable to each other.
Each of these manifestations has Her own quite specific characteristics and
attributes.
When studying the 'Supreme Goddesses' like Rhoda (Mary Rosa Mystica), Shekinah,
Shakti, Tara, Kuanyin, 'Celestial Mother' , Amaterasu, Juno, Isis, etc., one may
find in their litanies that they contain the names and forms,
characteristics and thea-logical attributes of many other so-called lesser
goddesses.
So when making your comparisons, be sure to clarify when the connections are
specific to a particular Nama-Rupa / Name-Form, and when, as with the 'Supreme
Goddesses', the connections are due to a generalized inclusiveness of the
various specific names and forms.
For instance, the following are examples of specific Japanese connections:
In Japanese Shinto, Sarasvati was worshiped as Benzai-ten at the shrine of
Tsurugaoka Hachiman.
Sri Lakshmi was worshiped as Kichijo-ten (picture) at the great Buddhist temple
complex of Yakushi-ji during the Nara period.
Shakti - Harini / Shekinah - Coronis (the feminine hakti, aura / halo,
corona or ray-energy of the 'solar' deity) was worshiped at the Shinto shrine of
Ise as Amaterasu Omikami, who may be considered the supreme object of
worship in the Shinto religion.
The divine celestial lovers of the Tanabata festival circle dances are
definitely related to Radha-Krishna / Rhoda-Kouros and their rasa lila chorus
dances.
These are all very specific connections.
An example of the generalized connectedness of the 'Supreme Goddesses' is seen
in the various forms of the Tibetan Tara as Yum (the feminine aspect of Yab-Yum
, source of all the benevolent and wrathful feminine goddesses), the Chinese
Kuan Yin, the concept of yin in the yin-yang of Taoism, Radha-Shakti,
Shakti-Lakshmi, the Shakti-Devi of the Shaivite-related groups, Prakriti as in
Prakriti and Purusha, Juno and Tyche-Fortuna as the feminine counterpart to
Polieus in the Greco-Roman world, and the Ishish-Shekinah and Isis-Mary-Shekinah
(Rosa Mystica) of the Mediterranean traditions. All of these devis
or 'goddesses' traditionally contain in themself the attributes and
characteristics of many or all other manifestations of the feminine divine.
I am very encouraged that you are studying these bhakti tradition connections !
May Our Lady bless you in your continued service to Her servant's servants !
Your aspiring servant,
Bhakti Ananda Goswami.