Pure Land Buddhism as
Vaishnavism
Part Ten: Review and
Preview
By Bhakti Ananda Goswami
In a nutshell, the original Buddhism is actually a form of Radha-Krishna-centric Vaishnavism. It pre-dates the appearance of the historically late Sakyamuni by thousands of years, and was once the dominant Bhakti Tradition of major portions of the human family. The historical and theological core of this Bhakti Buddhism has been called 'Pure Land Buddhism' by modern scholars. This is taken from the title of one of the Tradition's most important Scriptures, the SUKHAVATI VYUHA. This Scripture describes, originally in Buddhist Sanskrit, the PURE LAND created by the ADI BUDDHA, ADI PURUSHA, DHARMA KAYA, CHAKRAVARTIN, BHAGAVAN, Supreme Buddha AMITABHA. The two-armed Form of Amitabha (HRIH) is worshiped as the Dharma Kaya or Original Body / Form of the Buddha in Northern, Mahayana or Pure Land Buddhism, from Nepal and Tibet (identified with CHEN REI ZEI), through Afghanistan, China, and Korea to Japan, where He is called AMIDA, KANNON, HRIH, and identified with various forms of LOKESHVARA (VISHNU FORMS).
HARE KRISHNA !
SRI SRI GURU and
Gauranga ki jaya !
Dear Saragrahis,
Please accept my humble
obeisances.
Because I have received
so many inquiries over the years regarding Buddhism, I began a series of short
articles on this site (please see) to outline my understanding of Buddhism,
based on my more than 3 decades of interdisciplinary study comparing Buddhism to
other ancient religious traditions in India and elsewhere. This series is thus a
little introduction to Buddhism, voiced to Vaishnavas in particular, who
generally mistakenly believe that all of Buddhism was originally atheistic.
Here is a summary of
what I have wanted to eventually cover in this series.
I have yet to finish my description of Nepalese-Tibetan Buddhism. This
will include an introduction to:
Pancaratrin-related
rites and Sanskrit Vaishnava prayers and mantras in the Cult of Tara,
The relationship of the
Egyptian Book of the Dead to the Tibetan Book of the Dead,
Common lila forms of
Lokeshvara and Vishnu,
Mahadeva (SHIVA) as AN
EXPANSION OF LOKESHVARA, Leontocephalous
Maha Kala or Kala Bhairab (Bhairava SHIVA) as Nara Hari Rupa,
YHVH worship as the
Bhagavad-Gita and Exodus-related wrathful Form of the Lord as Time, JAH HUM BAM
HOH at the Tibetan Buddhist 'Vatican' the PATALA,
The relationship of
Platonic Heliopolitan Egyptian PTAH etc. to BUDH's birth traditions, and
expansions and incarnations of Buddha-Lokeshvara in Egyptian and Heliopolitan
Jewish traditions,
The supposed origins of
'Buddhism' from Sakyamuni's time, in Nepal and India.
Then I hope to move on
and show:
Devotion to the Lord as
THE OPENER / PTAH in the Old Testament Tradition of PETACH-YAHU, PETU-EL, and
how He was invoked to enter and possess PERSONS, ICONS, AND TEMPLES, INCLUDING
THE GREAT TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM AT ITS CONSECRATION AND RE-CONSECRATION,
Connections to the GOOD
SHEPHERD Tradition of Rhodes and Christianity, including the amazing story of
Siddhartha Buddha's promise to return as THE GOOD SHEPHERD WHO WOULD DIE AS A
VEDIC SACRIFICE IN PLACE OF HIS SHEEP !
Connections between
ASCLEPIUS-SERAPIS, JESUS the GREAT PHYSICIAN, ANANTA BALARAMA as CHARAKA THE
AYUR VEDIC GREAT PHYSICIAN , and the Tradition of YAKUSHI-JI the 'MEDICAL
BUDDHA' Form of Lokeshvara in the HRIH (Amida) cult of Japan.
The association of
Sakya Muni Buddha with VISHNU, the Deity of the Shal Grove, in the traditional
story of His restoration to God-like beauty and power, just before his final
battle with Mara.
The pivotal TULASI and
RADHA Tradition in Buddhist lore, and connections between the Shaktis of
Amitabha-Lokeshvara and the Shaktis of Krishna-Vishnu.
How two schools of
Buddhist iconography emerged (Gandharan and Mathuran ), both showing Greek
Rhodian connections,
How the earliest
Buddhist centers were all Vaishnava centers.
I already touched-on
the 'Buddhism' of Ashoka, whose guru's ashram of 10,000 was IN MATHURA, and how
it is widely accepted by Western scholars that Ashoka's missionaries were
present in Judea, Greece, and Egypt. I
would like to write some more on this, and how Neo-Gnostics and New-Agers are
abusing the evidence of this to claim that Jesus Christ and other prominent
Mediterranean persons were THERAVADIN BUDDHIST ATHEISTS !
This is basically the indirect claim of the rabidly anti-Catholic
Protestant Jesus Seminar Group and their allies the Kersten and Gruber 'Tomb of
Jesus' Ahmadi Muslim mayavadis, and
various related 'esoteric' groups. The
Theravadins have appropriated Ashoka, but there is NO evidence that his
'Buddhism' was Hinayana or atheistic. ALL the real evidence (not bogus tombs and
writings like those of N. Notovitch and L. Jacolliot) shows that originally
Buddhism, both before and AFTER SAKYAMUNI was at first indistinguishable from
Krishna-centric Vaishnavism. The
late and then practically insignificant heretical Theravadins, who were actually
suppressed by Ashoka etc., diffused to Southeast Asia through Sri Lanka, only
because they were driven out of India by the Bhakti Buddhists under the
patronage of Ashoka. I have already written some on the Sri Lankan
connections, but would like to post some photos of Vishnu's gate keepers at the
entrance to ancient Buddhist shrines there, as well as some painted icons from
the Buddhist shrine devalis showing the purely MAHAYANA / PURE LAND DOCTRINE OF
VISHNU DESCENDING TO INCARNATE AS BUDDHA.
I would also like to
describe how Vaishnava-related M. Buddhism spread to China, Korea and Japan,
with voidism corrupting it as an 'esoteric' tradition, associated with
nirvishesha, shunyavadi and mayavadi impersonalism in India (the Indian pilgrim
problem). Both Tantrism and Dhyana / Zen acted as vehicles for Theravadin anatta
soul-less impersonalism all the way into Japan, in the same way that magical and
elitist gnostic esoteric groups functioned to corrupt Western bhakti traditions
with impersonalism and voidism.
At least one article
should be devoted to the popular Mahayana Buddhist devotion to Sri Hanuman as
the Servant of Mother Tara, and patron protector of Pure Land Buddhism
throughout its northern range. Sri
Hanuman ji is extremely popular in Chinese Buddhism !
The worship of Krishna
and Radha, Vishnu and Lakshmi, devolved into the separated Chinese worship of MA
Kuan Yin, and Their attributes also merged as Mahayana Buddhism spread through
Korea (as KWANNON) and into Japan as ASAKUSA KANNON, to be merged there with
Krishna Kana worship from South India. I have already written a little on this
in my short article on this site describing the RASA LILA DANCE IN THE TANABATA
FESTIVAL in Japan. The merged
attributes of MANI PADME remain in Japanese Buddhism today.
After describing
ancient Japanese Pure Land, with its Catholic Mary and Lakshmi-related
'Goddesses', Alvar KANAN and Tana Bata Festival Rasa Lila, etc. connections, I
want to briefly describe the popular modern NEMBUTSU HARI NAM movements of HRIH
/ AMIDA and the JEWEL-LOTUS MANTRA in Japan...including the present's SOKKA
phenomenon.
Then I would like to
relate a few of my personal experiences with Pure Land Buddhism in Japan, and my
initiation into NEMBUTSU in the
inner sanctum of the High Altar of Amida / ASAKUSA KANNON'S MAIN TEMPLE in
Tokyo. It would be nice if we could
post both the ICON of KANNON and a picture of Kannon's HIGH ALTAR for everyone
to receive the darshana of AMIDA / HRIH as worshiped by the Japanese Pure Land
Buddhists.
Then, hopefully I will
finish with a description of the pre-Sakyamuni strata of Mahayana Buddhism,
beneath the late Sakyamuni Buddhism, in the ancient East (Bon and YAB-YUM in
Tibet, Chinese Taoist YANG-YIN [Purusha-Prakriti], the Japanese Shinto Pantheon
etc.), and how these ancient traditions were related to Vaishnavism in both
India and the Heliopolitan Federations of the Mediterranean.
By briefly outlining
these important Buddhist-related bhakti tradition connections, I hope to
establish the framework for a new interdisciplinary field of studies focusing on
in-depth research into these specific areas of interest. Vaishnava scholars have too long ignored Buddhism.
Christian scholars who have studied Pure Land Buddhism have ignored
authentic Vaishnavism to the extent that they are generally completely unaware
of the connections between Vaishnavism and the Pure Land Buddhist Traditions
they are trying to understand. In
every case, the real understanding of Catholic Christian and Pure Land Buddhist
commonalities, long a subject of Catholic and Buddhist scholarly interest, will
continue to elude everyone until they begin to seriously look at the BIG PICTURE
of these connections, as I have outlined them in brief here.
Scholars need to factor-in both the Heliopolitan Alexandrian-related
Proto-Catholic and the Indian Traditions of Vaishnavism, to really understand
the relationship of Buddhism to Catholicism.
Vaishnavism is the link.
Once I have outlined
these connections, I hope other scholars will flesh out the entire framework I
have introduced in this short introduction to Buddhism, in the context of World
Emanational and Incarnational, SALVIFIC Monotheism.
your aspiring servant,
Bhakti Ananda Goswami