Esoteric Buddhism

Buddhism, contrary to Hinduism, is a very homogenous path to liberation - the Buddha's Four Noble Truths clearly define it. Much of the Buddha's teaching is related to human "suffering", but the word "dukkha" (can be roughly translated as suffering) is not suffering as we are familiar with it, but the truth of the presence of suffering in conditioned existence (dukkha), which means that we condition ourselves by various expectations, prejudices, myths and we thus suffer as a consequence of it. The difference between Buddhism and Hinduism is that Buddhists do not consider Gods so important as Hindus do; for Buddhists only the PATH to liberation or to nirvana is relevant - Buddha described it very well. Buddhism has two basic schools - Pali Canon Theravada, also called the Southern School (Sri Lanka, Indonesia...) and Mahayana - the Northern School (Tibet, China...). These two schools have their subschools.

I received an e-mail from India and please think about it: I would like to say that your website on Shambhala is terrific! Most Hindu and Buddhist philosophy originated from there. Thanks again for the site!

Shingon

Shingon is an esoteric school of Buddhism which a mysterious monk named Kukai started in Japan at about the end of the first millennium (700-800 AD). This school of Buddhism in Japan is also known as Mikkyo (a secret path). Mikkyo originated in India and its practice (beliefs and rituals) is very similar to Ganapatyas (secret worshippers of Lord Ganesh who consider Ganesh, contrary to mainstream vaishnavists or shaivists, the Supreme God of the universe). Ganapatyas still exist in India, but they are not documented very well, as their practice is secret like that of Shingon. Most information from both teachings has never come out to the public. Shingon is typical with rituals, magic, with invoking Gods, etc., which you may also notice, for example, in the presence of quite unusual statues of Kantingen (two Ganeshas, a female and male form of the elephant God making love), or Kankiten (such a statue is in Ho-kai-ji Temple in Japan) - the same deity as Lord Ganesh, but priests in Japan hold it from the public eyes and keep it in great respect.

Kukai went to China where Hui-Guo, a master of Buddhism, initiated him to Chen-yen or Zhenyan, which is Shingon in Japanese (or Mantrayâna in Sanskrit). Most historians date the presence of Ganesha in Japan back to times when this great monk started his Shingon sect in Japanese Buddhism. The manner of worshiping Ganesha, Ganabachi, Vinayaka, or Kangiten holds attributes that make this cult different from all other Buddhist schools.

Lama Drukpa Kunley

Bhutan has in its history a great religious teacher - Lama Drukpa Kunley, who is known throughout Bhutan as "Divine Fool."

Drukpa Kunley was born in the 15th century and was very peculiar as a child. He had allegedly full memory of his previous incarnations and later, after experiencing confrontation with his father's death, he lost all previous beliefs in the establishment of the world and dedicated himself to a religious life. He finally became a monk and a mendicant. He wandered throughout the country and developed great spiritual arts and skills in magic.

He ridiculed the establishment; especially the corrupt priests. He is known for performing miracles like Jesus, which helped him to treat other people morally. He made miracles like turning tiny quantities of tea into large amounts and instantaneously appearing at locations far off wherefrom he disappeared.

He made outstanding poetic statements such as: "I bow to traders who exchange wisdom for wealth" or, "I bow to renunciates who gather wealth secretly."

He was also a friend of alcohol and sex, which apparently indicates that he was a Master of Tantric Buddhism.

Naree Pon

Naree Pons are female fairies that appeared to Buddha when he meditated. They disappeared then and merged with the surrounding vegetation. It seems that the legend about them in connection to Buddha mirrors a true story.

Naree Pons, the Thai flower pod women - elf like creates, appeared on a few TV channels like Discovery Channel. One Thai man had a dream and found these strange creatures after he awoke. They are said to be located at a place called Petchaboon in Thailand, some 500 km from Bangkok. A video on youtube.com is here.

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